MILWAUKEE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 21, 2008–Brady Corporation (NYSE: BRC), a world leader in identification solutions, today announced record third quarter sales and earnings for its fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2008.
Sales for the quarter were $381.9 million, up 10.3 percent compared to sales of $346.3 million in the fiscal 2007 third quarter. Organic sales were down 1 percent compared to the prior year, acquisitions contributed 5 percent to sales growth, and currency exchange added 6 percent to sales results in the quarter. Regionally, sales increased 14 percent in Brady Americas, 20 percent in Europe, 1 percent in Asia/Pacific and remained flat in Direct Marketing & People Identification Americas.
Net income for the quarter was up 18.5 percent to $34.4 million compared to $29.0 million in the same quarter last year. Earnings per diluted Class A Common Share were up 18.9 percent to $0.63 compared to $0.53 in the prior year. Fiscal 2008 earnings per share calculations reflect the completed repurchase of approximately 944,000 shares in the quarter.
Sales for the nine months ended April 30, 2008, rose 12.6 percent to $1.126 billion compared to $999.9 million in the same period last year. Net income for the nine-month period was $97.4 million, up 17.2 percent compared to $83.1 million in the prior year. Nine-month earnings per share were $1.77, up 16.4 percent compared to $1.52 per share in the period last year.
“This has been a strong quarter for us with good improvement in both gross margin and earnings per share. Our year-to-date operating cash flow is up 91 percent to $152 million from $80 million last year. Our pro-active efforts to adjust our cost structure and control working capital to cope with a slowing economy have clearly paid off,” said Brady President and Chief Executive Officer Frank M. Jaehnert.
“Based on current trends and including the two acquisitions made earlier this year, we are increasing sales guidance from $1.43-$1.46 billion to $1.50-$1.52 billion. While we continue to be concerned about economic softness in some of our key markets, we believe that our operational improvements allow us to reconfirm our net income guidance of $129-$135 million. We are, however, increasing our earnings per share guidance by $0.02 to $2.33-$2.44 to account for shares repurchased in the quarter,” said Brady Chief Financial Officer Thomas J. Felmer.
A Web cast of a conference call regarding the company’s fiscal 2008 third quarter results will be available at www.investor.bradycorp.com beginning at 9:30 a.m. Central Time today.
Brady Corporation is an international manufacturer and marketer of complete solutions that identify and protect premises, products and people. Its products help customers increase safety, security, productivity and performance and include high-performance labels and signs, safety devices, printing systems and software, and precision die-cut materials. Founded in 1914, the company has more than 500,000 customers in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, education, medical and a variety of other industries. Brady is headquartered in Milwaukee and employs about 8,000 people at operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia/Pacific. Brady’s fiscal 2007 sales were approximately $1.363 billion.
More information is available on the Internet at www.bradycorp.com.
Brady believes that certain statements in this news release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements related to future, not past, events included in this news release, including, without limitation, statements regarding Brady’s future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations are forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project” or “plan” or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain and are subject to risks, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond Brady’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For Brady, uncertainties arise from future financial performance of major markets Brady serves, which include, without limitation, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, laboratory, education, governmental, public utility, computer, transportation; difficulties in making and integrating acquisitions; risks associated with newly acquired businesses; Brady’s ability to retain significant contracts and customers; future competition; Brady’s ability to develop and successfully market new products; changes in the supply of, or price for, parts and components; increased price pressure from suppliers and customers; interruptions to sources of supply; environmental, health and safety compliance costs and liabilities; Brady’s ability to realize cost savings from operating initiatives; Brady’s ability to attract and retain key talent; difficulties associated with exports; risks associated with international operations; fluctuations in currency rates versus the US dollar; technology changes; potential write-offs of Brady’s substantial intangible assets; risks associated with obtaining governmental approvals and maintaining regulatory compliance for new and existing products; business interruptions due to implementing business systems; and numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive and regulatory nature contained from time to time in Brady’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, but not limited to, those factors listed in the “Risk Factors” section located in Item 1A of Part II of Brady’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended July 31, 2007. These uncertainties may cause Brady’s actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in its forward-looking statements. Brady does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.
