Acuity Q3 Profit Weak, Adj. Profit Beats Street; Stock Gains

Acuity Brands

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(RTTNews) - Shares of Acuity Inc. were gaining around 6 percent in the early morning trading on the NYSE after the industrial technology company's third-quarter profit beat market estimates with strong year-over-year growth in net sales. The third-quarter profit on a reported basis, meanwhile, was lower than last year, hit by a significant charge related to Lighting segment.

Neil Ashe, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acuity, said, "We grew net sales, expanded our adjusted operating profit and adjusted operating profit margin and we increased our adjusted diluted earnings per share. We generated strong cash flow and allocated capital effectively.""

In the quarter, company's net earnings came in at $98.4 million or $3.12 per share, lower than last year's $113.9 million or $3.62 per share. Earnings per share dropped 13.8 percent year-over-year.

The latest result was hurt by special charges of $29.7 million in Acuity Brands Lighting or ABL segment due to the accelerated productivity actions, including the elimination of brands, associate severance, and facility reorganization.

Adjusted earnings were $161.5 million or $5.12 per share for the period, compared to $130.7 million or $4.15 in the prior year.

The Wall Street analysts on average expected the company to report earnings of $4.44 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Operating profit was $139.8 million in the third quarter, a decrease of 3.8 percent from the prior year. Operating margin was 11.9 percent, 310 basis points lower than last year.

Adjusted operating profit of $221.7 million grew 32.7 percent year-over-year and adjusted operating profit improved 150 basis points to 18.8 percent.

The company's net sales for the period rose 21.7 percent to $1.18 billion from $968.1 million last year with strong sales growth in both Lighting and Intelligent Spaces segments.

ABL generated net sales of $923.2 million in the third quarter, an increase of 2.7 percent, compared to the prior year.

Acuity Intelligent Spaces or AIS generated net sales of $264.1 million, up 248.9 percent from last year, mainly with the addition of $172.8 million net sales from three months of QSC performance.

On the NYSE, Acuity shares are trading at $304.94, up 6.10 percent.

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