Pall Q1 Profit Tops Estimate - Update

(RTTNews) - Filtration products maker Pall Corp (PLL), Tuesday reported an increase in first-quarter profit, driven by double-digit revenue growth and improved gross margins, with both results topping Wall Street estimates.

Pall reaffirmed its earnings guidance for the full year 2015.

CEO Larry Kingsley said while a strong U.S. dollar will result in significant earnings headwind for the year, the company expects to offset that by sustaining momentum in its operations.

Following the announcement, Pall shares gained about 3 percent in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Pall, based in Port Washington, New York, posted first-quarter net earnings of $88 million or $0.81 a share, compared with $71.5 million or $0.63 a share last year.

Excluding items, proforma earnings for the quarter were $0.89 a share, compared with $0.70 a share in the prior year, including a detriment of approximately $0.05 from foreign currency translation.

On average, nine analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.81 a share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the first quarter rose 11 percent to $696.5 million from $629.8 million in the prior year, topping analysts' expectations of $684 million.

In local currency, revenues for the quarter rose 13 percent from a year ago.

Both its life sciences and industrial segments registered strong growth.

Gross margin for the quarter improved 20 basis points from last year to 51.9 percent.

For the full year 2015, Pall continues to expect proforma earnings of $3.75 to $3.95 a share, while analysts currently expect $3.88 a share.

Pall stock is trading at $97.40, up $2.71 or 2.86%, on a volume of 214 k shares.