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No letdown for Whirlpool
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April 15, 1999: 6:03 p.m. ET
Appliance firm overcomes Brazilian devaluation to post 10 percent gain
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Whirlpool Corp. spun well past Wall Street's earnings expectations after the bell Thursday, leveraging record North American and European revenues into a 10-percent gain in net operating profits.
The Benton Harbor, Mich.-based home appliance manufacturer posted net operating profits of $88 million, or $1.15 per diluted share for the first quarter compared to $80 million or 90 cents a share a year earlier.
That tally did not include $60 million in charges related to the Brazilian currency devaluation, which lowered the earnings per share to 36 cents. Analysts had been expecting a quarterly profit of 91 cents a share before one-time charges, according to First Call.
Overall, Whirlpool's (WHR) net sales ticked up only slightly to $2.49 billion from $2.46 billion a year ago. But the firm held the line on overall expenses, helping generate the rise in overall profits.
Company operations in North America posted record first-quarter profits after appliance shipments grew nine percent. Company officials now expect shipments from Whirlpool's North American appliance industry unit to grow between two percent and three percent for the full year.
Strong demand for Whirlpool products in Europe also translated double-digit revenue gains and a 66 percent gain in quarterly operating profits from that unit's operations. Company officials are now projecting a one percent to two percent gain in European appliance unit shipments this year.
Whirlpool saw slightly less profitable gains in Asia and Latin America, where weak economic conditions resulted in lower sales. In Brazil alone, Whirlpool expects a 10 percent to 15 percent reduction in full year appliance shipments.
The company's stock closed the day up 3-1/8 to 54-5/8.
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Whirlpool
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