HB Fuller posts 63 percent gain in 3Q profit

HB Fuller reports 63 percent rise in 3rd-quarter profit, helped by gain from settlement

• On 6:16 pm EDT, Tuesday September 22, 2009

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- H.B. Fuller Co., which makes adhesives, sealants, paints and other specialty chemicals, said Tuesday its fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 63 percent, helped by a gain from the settlement of a lawsuit.

Net income rose to $35.4 million, or 72 cents per share, for the three months ended Aug. 29. That compares with $21.7 million, or 44 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier.

The latest results include a gain of $18.8 million before taxes -- $11.8 million, or 24 cents per share, after taxes -- related to the settlement of a lawsuit filed against the former owners of the Roanoke Cos. Group, which was acquired by H.B. Fuller in 2006.

Excluding the settlement, net income would have been 48 cents per share.

Revenue dropped 13 percent to $315.3 million from $362 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 36 cents per share on revenue of $315.5 million. Those estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The company said weak end-market demand continued throughout the third quarter, but that the year-over-year decline in volume -- down 12.4 percent -- was less than the decline in the second quarter -- 15.1 percent.

"We achieved a sequential increase in net revenue and boosted both operating profit margin and dollars despite the significant end-market challenges that continued during the quarter," Michele Volpi, H.B. Fuller's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"As the global economy continues its recovery we are gaining momentum on the top-line and we expect this to continue as we further invest in the business," she said.

In the fourth quarter, the company said it expects revenue of about $330 million. Analysts expect revenue of $332.1 million.

Shares of H.B. Fuller rose 13 cents to close at $21.28. In after-hours trading, they rose another $1.02, or 4.8 percent, to $22.30.

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