HOUSTON (AP) -- Robbins & Myers Inc.'s fiscal third-quarter profit tumbled 38 percent on tough comparisons to last year's quarter, which was boosted by $52 million in profit from discontinued operations, the engineered equipment supplier said Tuesday.
The company's fourth-quarter outlook fell short of expectations, and its shares fell in morning trading.
For the quarter ended May 31, the Houston-based company earned $44.2 million, or $1.02 per share, down from $71 million, or $1.54 per share, in the same quarter last year.
The recent quarter's results included one-time gains related to tax-accrual adjustments and a legal settlement totaling 10 cents per share. Excluding those items, the company's adjusted profit was 92 cents per share.
Revenue rose 12 percent to $266.3 million from $237.1 million, as energy services sales rose 21 percent to $175 million, while process and flow control sales edged down 1.6 percent to $91.3 million.
Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 90 cents per share on $267.2 million in revenue, according to a FactSet poll. Analysts' estimates usually exclude one-time gains and losses.
Excluding the effects of exchange rates, the company said its sales rose 14 percent. Orders rose 10 percent to $286 million.
Based on its recent financial results, the company narrowed its fiscal 2012 profit guidance to a range of $3.45 to $3.55 per share from its previous prediction of $3.40 to $3.60 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $3.57 per share.
Robbins & Myers said it expects to post a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of between 90 cents and $1 per share, below average analysts' expectations of $1.05 per share.
The company also said Tuesday that its board approved a new stock buyback program allowing the repurchase of an additional 2 million shares of its common stock.
During the third quarter and in the weeks since, the company said it has bought back about 1.9 million shares of its stock, substantially completing its previous 4 million-share buyback program.
Robbins & Myers shares fell $1.53, or 3.7 percent, to $39.85 in morning trading.
