Lindsay Corporation announced results for its first quarter ended November 30, 2015.
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Revenues were $121.6 million versus $134.8 million of revenues in the same prior year period.
Net earnings were $6.9 million or $0.62 per diluted share compared with $7.6 million or $0.62 per diluted share in the prior year.
Total irrigation equipment revenues decreased 12 percent to $101.3 million from $114.7 million in the prior fiscal year’s first quarter.
U.S. irrigation revenues of $59.2 million decreased 6 percent due to a decrease in units sold partially offset by sales in Elecsys Corporation, which was acquired during the second quarter last year.
International irrigation revenues of $42.1 million decreased 19 percent due to the impact of currency exchange rates and lower sales in Brazil and certain export markets.
Infrastructure revenues increased 1 percent to $20.3 million with increases in road safety and Road Zipper products and leases offset by the impact of currency exchange rates and lower rail and contract product sales.
Gross margin was 28.3 percent of sales compared to 27.4 percent of sales in the prior year’s first quarter.
Gross margin in irrigation increased by approximately 1 percentage point and infrastructure gross margin also increased by approximately 1 percentage point.
Irrigation gross margin increased primarily as a result of a change in sales mix with the addition of Elecsys in the current year. Competitive pricing persists, but has primarily consisted of passing-through the steel price declines realized. The increase in infrastructure gross margin was primarily due to sales mix.
Operating expenses decreased $2.3 million to $22.7 million compared to the first quarter of the prior fiscal year.
The prior year included $2.1 million of expenses related to an increase in the estimated environmental liability and acquisition related expenses, while the current year includes $2.4 million of incremental expenses related to the operation of Elecsys Corporation.
Excluding these items, operating expenses decreased by $2.6 million due primarily to reductions in personnel expenses and collections of accounts receivable that were reserved for in prior periods.
Operating expenses were 18.6 percent of sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2016 compared with 18.5 percent of sales in the prior year period. Operating margins were 9.7 percent in the first quarter, versus 8.8 percent in the prior year period.
Cash and cash equivalents of $129.3 million were $10.0 million lower compared to the prior year first quarter.
The company repurchased 136,263 shares for $9.2 million during the first quarter. $102.8 million remains available under the company’s share repurchase program.
Backlog of unshipped orders at November 30, 2015 was $61.9 million compared with $68.3 million at November 30, 2014 and $48.0 million at August 31, 2015.
The November 30, 2015 backlog included $8.1 million of backlog for Elecsys Corporation while the prior year backlog included $12.7 million related to the Golden Gate Bridge project. ■