Lindsay Corporation announced results for its second quarter ended February 28, 2017.
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Second quarter fiscal 2017 revenues were $124.1 million compared to revenues of $120.6 million in the prior year’s second quarter.
Net earnings for the quarter were $5.0 million or $0.47 per diluted share compared with a net loss of $4.1 million or $0.37 per diluted share in the second quarter of the prior year.
The prior year period included $13.0 million of environmental remediation expenses which, on an after-tax basis, reduced net earnings by $8.5 million, or $0.78 per diluted share.
Irrigation segment revenues for the second quarter increased three percent to $106.2 million from $103.1 million in the prior year’s second quarter.
U.S. irrigation revenues of $61.5 million declined 15 percent, as harsh winter weather conditions in the Northwest resulted in lower irrigation equipment unit volume and lower revenue from other irrigation businesses.
International irrigation revenues were $44.7 million, an increase of 46 percent compared to the second quarter of the prior year, driven primarily by improved demand and project activity in South America, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States region.
Infrastructure segment revenues for the second quarter increased two percent to $17.9 million, as increased demand for road safety products and higher Road Zipper® system sales and lease revenue was offset in part by a decline in sales volume for rail products.
Gross margin for the second quarter of fiscal 2017 was 26.5 percent of sales compared to 26.9 percent of sales in the prior year’s second quarter.
Improved margin in the infrastructure segment was more than offset by lower margin in the irrigation segment, as improved U.S. irrigation margin was offset by a higher mix of international revenue at comparatively lower margins.
Improved infrastructure margin resulted from increased cost absorption in Road Zipper® system production and volume leverage from road safety product sales.
Operating expenses for the second quarter of fiscal 2017 were $24.4 million, a decrease of $12.7 million compared to the second quarter in the prior year.
Excluding the impact of the environmental remediation expenses in the prior year’s second quarter, operating expenses were slightly higher in the current year primarily due to increased new product development and testing costs.
Operating expenses were 19.7 percent of sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2017 compared with 30.8 percent of sales in the second quarter of the prior year.
Operating margins were 6.9 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2017, unchanged compared to the second quarter of the prior year after excluding the environmental expenses.
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the second quarter were $102.8 million compared to $101.2 million at the end of the prior fiscal year and $89.5 million at the end of the prior year’s second quarter.
There were no share repurchases made during the second quarter of fiscal 2017. A total of $63.7 million remains available under the company’s share repurchase program as of February 28, 2017.
The backlog of unshipped orders at February 28, 2017 was $62.3 million compared with $52.6 million at February 29, 2016.
Order backlogs were improved in both the irrigation and infrastructure in comparison to the prior year. ■