Eaton (ETN) Tops Q2 EPS by 3c; Plans Cost Cuts, Trims FY15 EPS Outlook

Eaton (NYSE: ETN) reported Q2 EPS of $1.16, $0.03 better than the analyst estimate of $1.13. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.37 billion versus the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion.

Alexander M. Cutler, Eaton chairman and chief executive officer, said, “Our second quarter operating earnings per share came in above the midpoint of our guidance for the quarter. Operating earnings per share were up 5 percent over the second quarter of 2014, driven by strong operating margin performance and tightly controlled costs, partially offset by a 5 percent negative impact from currency translation. Without the negative currency impact, our second quarter operating earnings per share would have grown 10 percent.

“Revenue was slightly below expectations due to weaker conditions in most of our markets,” said Cutler. “The 7 percent sales decline in the second quarter consisted of a decline of 6 percent from currency translation and a decline of 1 percent in organic sales.

“Following weaker than expected market conditions in the first quarter, we had expected our end markets to strengthen during the balance of this year,” said Cutler. “While demand in the second quarter did strengthen, we do not expect further strengthening over the balance of the year. Accordingly, we now believe our organic revenue growth will be just modestly positive in 2015, likely coming in between 0 and 1 percent, down 2 percent from our prior expectation.

“As a result, we are taking additional actions to reset our cost structure to the lower activity levels we are seeing,” said Cutler. “We anticipate taking charges to implement these actions of $120 million in the second half of 2015, with $110 million in the third quarter and $10 million in the fourth quarter, and $25 million in 2016. The restructuring actions will allow us to realize $45 million of benefits in 2015 and $125 million of benefits in 2016.

“We anticipate operating earnings per share for the third quarter of 2015, which exclude an estimated $14 million of charges to integrate our recent acquisitions, but include the cost and benefits of the restructuring program, to be between $1.00 and $1.10,” said Cutler. “Due to our lower organic growth forecast and the impact of the restructuring actions, we are lowering our full year 2015 guidance for operating earnings per share to between $4.40 and $4.60, a decline of 6 percent from the midpoint of our prior guidance. Of the 6 percent reduction, 3 percent is due to the net cost of the restructuring program,” said Cutler.

Guidance:

Eaton sees FY2015 EPS of $4.40 - $4.60, versus the consensus of $4.56.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Eaton (ETN) click here.

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