Oshkosh Q1 Earnings Increase Above Estimates; Lifts Annual Outlook Better Than View

(RTTNews) - Oshkosh Corporation (OSK), a manufacturer of specialty vehicles, Thursday reported higher profit for the first quarter, helped by growth in revenue. Profit as well as revenue beat analysts' view. The company also raised its full-year outlook above the Street expectations.

"Based on our strong first quarter results and a combination of solid demand and operational execution, we are raising our full-year earnings per share outlook," said John Pfeifer, president and chief executive officer of Oshkosh Corporation.

First-quarter net income was $179.4 million, or $2.71 per share, significantly higher than $88.5 million, or $1.34 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were $191.1 million, or $2.89 per share, that beat the average estimate of 14 analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters of $2.25 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales for the quarter increased 12.2 percent to $2.544 billion from $2.268 billion last year, primarily due to sales related to the AeroTech acquisition of $176.1 million, improved organic volume and pricing. The consensus estimate was for $2.48 billion.

The company's Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, to be payable on May 28, to shareholders of record as of May 13.

For the full year, Oshkosh now expects earnings per share to be in the range of $10.55 and adjusted earnings per share of about $11.25. This compares with previous outlook of $9.45 and $10.25 respectively. Sales outlook for the year has been raised to about $10.7 billion from $10.4 billion.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $10.36 per share on revenue of $10.3 billion for the year.