Parker Hannifin shares jump on 1Q earnings beat

Parker Hannifin posts 71 percent drop in 1Q profit, but beats predictions; shares rise

• On 10:29 am EDT, Tuesday October 20, 2009

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Parker Hannifin Corp. said Tuesday its fiscal first-quarter profit tumbled 71 percent, citing lower sales stemming from the global recession.

But the results beat Wall Street predictions and the company also boosted its full-year profit guidance, sending shares of the motion and control technologies maker up $2.94, or 5.3 percent, to $58.20 in early trading after hitting a 52-week high of $59.36 shortly after the market opened.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the company posted a profit attributable to common shareholders of $73.5 million, or 45 cents per share, down from $250.2 million, or $1.50 per share, in the same quarter last year. Sales dropped 27 percent to $2.24 billion from $3.06 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 17 cents per share on $2.17 billion in revenue.

Industrial North America sales fell 29 percent to $783.1 million, while industrial international sales dropped 31 percent to $850.3 million. Aerospace sales fell 13 percent to $416.9 million and climate and industrial controls sales dropped 27 percent to $187 million.

The company said that while its orders for the quarter fell 25 percent from year-ago levels, they have improved sequentially. It also credited its cost cutting efforts with improving its margins.

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