Roper Industries Q4 Profit Beats View; Sees Q1, 2015 Earnings In Line

(RTTNews) - Industrial solutions provider Roper Industries, Inc. (ROP) on Monday reported a 12 percent increase in profit for the fourth quarter from last year, reflecting higher sales and improved margins amid new order growth.

Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' expectations, while revenues missed their estimates. Looking ahead, the company provided earnings guidance for the first quarter and fiscal 2015 in line with Street expectations.

Brian Jellison, Roper's Chairman, President and CEO said, "Our leading positions in favorable niche markets combined with outstanding execution by our businesses delivered record levels for sales, net earnings, EBITDA and cash flow."

The Sarasota, Florida-based company's net earnings for the fourth quarter were $185.94 million or $1.84 per share, up from $165.70 million or $1.65 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the quarter was $1.85 per share, compared to $1.65 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, nine analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.79 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter increased 6 percent to $946.15 million from $889.17 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted revenue for the quarter was $947.5 million, but missed analysts' consensus estimate of $954.88 million.

In the adjusted sales growth, organic revenue increased 7 percent, while acquisitions resulted in a 2 percent increase.

Industrial technology net sales for the quarter grew 10 percent to $219.64 million, while energy systems & controls sales rose 2 percent to $200.01 million. Medical & scientific imaging sales increased 12 percent to $268.41 million, and RF technology sales improved 1 percent to $240.08 million.

Roper Industries' operating margin percentage improved 100 basis points from the year-ago period to 30.0 percent.

Total new orders for the quarter increased 3 percent from last year to $924.34 million.

For fiscal 2014, Roper Industries' net income rose to $646.03 million or $6.40 per share from $538.29 million or $5.37 per share last year. Adjusted earnings for the year were $6.42 per share, compared to $5.65 per share in the prior year.

Net sales for the year rose 10 percent to $3.55 billion from $3.24 billion in the previous year. Adjusted revenue for the year were $3.55 billion.

Street expected the company to earn $6.36 per share for the year on revenues of $3.56 billion.

Looking ahead to the first quarter, Roper Industries forecast adjusted earnings between $1.47 and $1.53 per share.

For fiscal 2015, Roper Industries forecast adjusted earnings in a range of $6.70 and $6.94 per share. The company's guidance for both the periods exclude future acquisitions or divestitures.

Analysts expect the company to earn $1.51 per share for the first quarter and $6.79 per share for the full-year.

Jellison said, "We expect continued organic growth, led by our Medical and RF segments. Our acquisition pipeline remains active and we expect to deploy over $1 billion in 2015."

ROP closed Friday's trading at $149.70, down $0.53 or 0.35 percent on a volume of 622,364 shares.