Briggs & Stratton Cuts FY19 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Briggs & Stratton Corp. (BGG) revised its fiscal 2019 earnings outlook to $1.10 to $1.30 per diluted share, before business optimization costs and other charges, from previous guidance of $1.40 to $1.60 per diluted share. The company said the revision reflects the weather-related market softness in Europe and Australia and the impact of the Sears bankruptcy. Net sales are now expected to be in a range of $1.90 billion to $1.96 billion (previously $1.95 billion to $2.01 billion), a $50 million reduction.

"The market headwinds caused by the drought conditions in Australia and Europe as well as the Sears bankruptcy have resulted in a decrease to our fiscal 2019 outlook, but we expect much of these headwinds to ease by next season. Despite these near-term issues, the continued strong growth in commercial and high placement in residential demonstrate that our strategy has us on the right path to deliver long-term growth in sales and profitability as well as greater business diversification. By the end of fiscal 2019, we expect to have our business optimization initiative largely completed, which positions us well to support our strong commercial sales momentum and deliver meaningful profitability improvement," said Todd Teske, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

For the second-quarter, excluding items, adjusted net income was $8.4 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared to $10.7 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, in the prior year. Net sales were $505 million, an increase of 13.2%, from $446 million in the prior year.