AptarGroup shares decline on lower 3Q profit

AptarGroup shares drop after company posts lower 3Q profit; analyst reiterates 'Hold' rating

• On 12:18 pm EDT, Thursday October 15, 2009

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Shares of AptarGroup Inc. fell Thursday, a day after the maker of dispensers for perfumes and other liquids reported a 16 percent decline in third-quarter earnings due partly to weaker sales.

The Crystal Lake, Ill.-based company said Wednesday its net income dropped to $33.5 million, or 48 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That's down from $39.7 million, or 57 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier.

Sales decreased 11 percent to $473.7 million from $532.2 million a year earlier. Product and custom tooling sales dropped 7 percent. Currency exchange rate changes accounted for 5 percent of the decline and acquisitions added 1 percent.

Peter Pfeiffer, the company's president and CEO, said in a statement that many of the company's customers "remained cautious in the quarter, but we believe inventory reductions were reaching an end in certain markets and our third-quarter results improved sequentially over our second-quarter results."

For the fourth quarter, the company said it expects earnings of 43 cents to 48 cents per share versus 46 cents per share in the year-earlier period. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, expect 46 cents per share.

In a note to investors, KeyBanc analyst Christopher D. Manuel wrote that his firm boosted its AptarGroup profit estimate for the fourth quarter to 47 cents per share from 45 cents and its 2009 estimate to $1.79 per share from $1.72. The firm also raised its 2010 estimate to $2.05 per share from $1.95 "to reflect the gradually improving outlook."

Manuel reiterated the firm's "Hold" rating on the shares.

AptarGroup dropped $1.52, or 4 percent, to $37.37 in afternoon trading.

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