Industrial segments fuel record Q1 profits at Teledyne
Industrial business drove record first-quarter sales and profits at Teledyne Technologies, prompting the Thousand Oaks-based conglomerate to raise its full-year outlook.
Teledyne said Wednesday that first-quarter sales inched up 0.7 percent to $573.5 million. Profits jumped 13.4 percent to $45.8 million and earnings per share increased 12.1 percent to $1.20.
“With the significant cost reduction actions taken in 2013, a higher margin commercial sales mix and a well-funded pension, we were also able to generate meaningful margin improvement,” Teledyne Chairman, President and CEO Robert Mehrabian said in a statement.
Orders exceeded total sales by about 7 percent in the quarter, he said, largely due to demand for Teledyne’s marine oil and gas instrumentation products.
The firm’s instrumentation business saw sales jump 11.3 percent in the quarter to $258.9 million. Teledyne’s energy systems sales decreased $0.9 million while sales of turbine engines increased slightly.
But defense-spending cuts drove lower sales in Teledyne’s engineered systems, aerospace and defense electronics businesses. The firm’s engineered systems segment saw first-quarter profits plummet 16.6 percent to $59.4 million, reflecting lower sales of missile defense systems. Sales in its aerospace and defense electronics segment slipped 6 percent to $153.3 million while its digital imaging revenue dipped 0.5 percent to $101.9 million.
“Despite the anticipated year-over-year reduction in sales within our aerospace and defense electronics segment, greater sales of commercial avionics and communication equipment improved margins and helped offset the decline in sales,” Mehrabian said. “Finally, cash flow was strong, especially for a first quarter, providing continued flexibility for acquisitions.”
Based on the first-quarter earnings boost, Teledyne raised its full-year earnings outlook to the $5.10 to $5.14 range, up from previous estimates of $5.06 to $5.12
