Astec Industries (NASDAQ: ASTE) reported Q2 EPS of $0.51, $0.18 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.69. Revenue for the quarter came in at $268 million versus the consensus estimate of $290.65 million.

Commenting on the announcement, Benjamin G. Brock, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “While we are disappointed with our second quarter results, we are pleased with our performance for the first half with sales up 8% and earnings up 12% over the first half of last year.”

Mr. Brock continued, “Although the strong US dollar has hampered our international sales and backlog, we remain committed to our international sales effort and we will continue to develop new products for targeted global markets. With regard to our domestic market, we are encouraged that our infrastructure equipment customers have good backlogs of work overall, particularly in the private sector, and we are optimistic that our federal government will pass a long-term highway bill with increased funding by year end. This bill will provide the visibility that our customers need in order to increase their capital spending on equipment. In the meantime, we have seen the efforts in some states to fund highway projects through their own new funding mechanisms start to show up in the form of new project proposals and bids in those states.”

Mr. Brock concluded, “Despite the current headwinds in our international sales we are in a position to improve on last year’s third quarter results which will put us in a position to finish this year ahead of 2014’s full year results.”

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