COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --Mettler-Toledo International Inc. today announced third quarter results for 2009. Provided below are the highlights:
Third Quarter Results
Olivier Filliol, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “As we continued to face challenging market conditions and comparisons with very favorable results last year, our local currency sales declined as expected. However, gross margin increased strongly due to favorable mix as well as our initiatives in pricing and procurement. I am also very pleased with the benefit we are seeing from our cost reduction program. Finally, we again had excellent cash flow generation in the quarter.”
EPS was $1.21, compared with the prior-year amount of $1.52. Adjusted EPS was $1.36, compared with the prior-year amount of $1.44.
Sales were $435.7 million, compared with $509.1 million in the prior year, reflecting a 12% decline in local currency sales. Reported sales declined by 14%, which included a 2% negative currency impact. By region, local currency sales decreased 16% in Europe, 12% in the Americas and 6% in Asia / Rest of World. Adjusted operating income amounted to $73.2 million, a 4% decrease from the prior-year amount of $76.5 million. Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP measure, and a reconciliation to earnings before taxes is provided in the attached schedules.
Cash flow from operations was $79.6 million, compared with $76.6 million in 2008.
Nine-Month Results
EPS was $3.02, compared with the prior-year amount of $3.96. Adjusted EPS was $3.48, compared with the prior-year amount of $3.85.
Sales were $1.217 billion, compared with $1.464 billion in 2008, reflecting a 12% decline in local currency sales. Reported sales declined by 17% due to a negative 5% currency impact. By region, local currency sales decreased 15% in Europe, 13% in the Americas and 4% in Asia / Rest of World. Adjusted operating income amounted to $187.2 million, an 11% decrease from the prior-year amount of $210.0 million.
Cash flow from operations was $188.5 million, compared with $160.6 million in 2008.
Cost Reduction Program
Earlier in the year, the Company announced a Cost Reduction Program aimed at reducing costs by approximately $100 million annually. The Program, which is substantially completed, consisted primarily of work force reductions and other cost efficiency measures. The Company reported that the Program will meet its target. Total restructuring charges associated with the Program are expected to be $40 million, of which $34.8 million has been incurred to date.
Fourth Quarter Outlook
The Company stated that forecasting continues to be difficult given the ongoing uncertainty in the global economy. For the fourth quarter 2009, management expects a local currency sales decline in the range of -6% to -7% and Adjusted EPS in the range of $1.90 to $2.00. For the full-year 2009, this results in a local currency sales decline of approximately -10% and Adjusted EPS in the range of $5.39 to $5.50. This compares with previous full-year Adjusted EPS guidance of $4.92 to $5.42.
Adjusted EPS excludes purchased intangible amortization, discrete tax items, restructuring charges and other one-time items. While the Company has provided an outlook for Adjusted EPS, it has not provided an outlook for EPS. EPS guidance would require an estimate of non-recurring items for 2009, which are not yet known.
Conclusion
Filliol concluded, “We have executed the necessary cost reduction measures and believe our cost structure is well aligned for the remainder of this year and into 2010. Our new product pipeline remains strong, and our sales and marketing programs are focused on capturing growth. Our strong leadership positions, track record for execution and our ability to continue to invest for growth during this difficult environment strongly position us to capture growth and gain market share. We remain convinced we will emerge from this downturn in a stronger competitive position.”
Other Matters
The Company will host a conference call to discuss its third quarter results today (Thursday, October 29) at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To hear a live webcast or replay of the call, visit the investor relations page on the Company’s website at www.mt.com/investors. The presentation referenced in the conference call will be located on the website prior to the call.
METTLER TOLEDO is a leading global supplier of precision instruments and services. The Company is the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of weighing instruments for use in laboratory, industrial and food retailing applications. The Company also holds top-three market positions in several related analytical instruments and is a leading provider of automated chemistry systems used in drug and chemical compound discovery and development. In addition, the Company is the world’s largest supplier of metal detection and other end-of-line inspection systems used in production and packaging and holds a leading position in certain process analytics applications. Additional information about METTLER TOLEDO can be found at “www.mt.com.”
Statements in this press release which are not historical facts constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our businesses’ actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see the discussion on forward-looking statements in our current report on Form 8-K to which this release has been furnished as an exhibit. All of the forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed under the captions “Factors affecting our future operating results” and in the “Business” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recently completed fiscal year, which describe risks and factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in those forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Mary T. Finnegan, Treasurer, Investor Relations, Mettler-Toledo
International Inc., +1-614-438-4748, Fax: +1-614-438-4646
Web site: http://www.mt.com/