Kadant operating income up in Q1

28 Apr '08

3 min read

“Operating income in our Pulp and Papermaking Systems segment was up 14 percent over last year and was 13.1 percent of segment revenues, compared to 11.4 percent last year. The operating loss in our Corporate and Other category was $1.1 million higher than last year, due to reduced profitability in our fiber-based granules business and to $0.5 million of additional non-cash employee equity compensation expense.

“We did see mixed revenue and booking results geographically in the quarter. In general, our European businesses, especially in fluid handling, posted solid performances, while we saw a slowdown in activity in Asia and North America. Encouragingly, we ended the quarter with a record backlog of $119 million, up 40 percent over the backlog at the end of the first quarter of 2007. Our cash flows from continuing operations were $6.3 million and we purchased $12 million of our common stock during the quarter.

“We believe there are several aspects of our business which mitigate the impact of the worsening worldwide economic climate of the past few months, including our diverse geographic footprint and a stable aftermarket business.

For these reasons, along with our record backlog at the end of the first quarter of 2008 and encouraging fluid handling bookings and revenues in Europe, we are maintaining our full year earnings and revenue guidance.

For the full year, we expect to report GAAP diluted EPS of $1.85 to $1.90 from continuing operations on revenues of $385 to $395 million. For the second quarter, we expect to report GAAP diluted EPS of $.41 to $.43 from continuing operations on revenues of $94 to $96 million."

Kadant Inc is a leading supplier to the global pulp and paper industry, with a range of products and services for improving efficiency and quality in pulp and paper production, including paper machine accessories and systems for stock preparation, fluid handling, and water management. Our fluid-handling products are also used to optimize production in the steel, rubber, plastics, food, and textile industries.

Kadant Inc

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