Acuity Brands Q4 Profit Up 22%, Results Beat View

(RTTNews) - Lighting fixtures maker Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) on Wednesday reported a 22 percent increase in profit for the fourth quarter from last year, reflecting double-digit sales growth. Both earnings per share and quarterly revenues beat analysts' expectations.

Vernon Nagel, chairman, president and CEO of Acuity Brands said, "The year-over-year increase in fourth quarter net sales reflects continued favorable trends in our order rates as well as the continued adoption of LED lighting solutions, which nearly doubled over the prior year. Sales of LED-based lighting solutions represented approximately 40 percent of our total fourth quarter net sales."

The Atlanta, Georgia-based company's net income for the fourth quarter was $54.8 million or $1.26 per share, up from $44.9 million or $1.03 per share in the prior-year quarter.

On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.22 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter grew 15 percent to $668.7 million from $579.8 million in the same quarter last year, and beat analysts' consensus revenue estimate of $649.22 million.

The company attributed the sales growth to a 17 percent increase in sales volume amid broad-based sales growth across most product categories and in virtually all key sales channels. This was partially offset by the impact of an unfavorable change in product prices and the mix of products sold of one percentage point, and the impact of an unfavorable change in foreign currency rates of approximately one-half percentage point.

For fiscal 2014, Acuity Brands net income increased to $175.8 million or $4.05 per share from $127.4 million or $2.95 per share in the previous year. Adjusted earnings for the year were $3.97 per share, compared to $3.31 per share last year.

Net sales for the year increased 14 percent to $2.39 billion from $2.09 billion in the prior year.

Street expected the company to report earnings of $3.93 per share for the year on revenues of $2.37 billion.

Looking ahead, Acuity Brands noted that third-party forecasts as well as key leading indicators suggest fiscal 2015 growth rate in the mid-to-upper single digit range for the North American lighting market, which includes renovation and retrofit activity.

In addition, overall demand in the company's end markets is expected to continue to experience solid growth over the next several years.

The company expects to continue to outperform the growth rates of the markets it serves, due to benefits from growing renovation and tenant improvement projects, further expansion in underpenetrated geographies and channels, and growth from the introduction of new products and lighting solutions.

Nagel concluded, "We believe the lighting and lighting-related industry will experience solid growth over the next decade, particularly as energy and environmental concerns come to the forefront along with emerging opportunities for digital lighting to play a key role in the Internet of Things. We believe we are well positioned to fully participate in this exciting industry."

AYI is currently trading at $122.06, up $4.35 or 3.70 percent on a volume of 91,989 shares.