Currency Changes Shave Profits At Barnes Group

Swings in the currency values, the dollar especially, downgraded what could have been a stellar fourth quarter for the Barnes Group, the company reported Friday.

The Bristol parent company of Associated Spring, Barnes Aerospace, Männer, Synventive and other businesses booked a 6.5 percent increase in sales in the last quarter of 2014. But the jump could have been closer to 10 percent if the growing strength of the dollar had not cut about $9 million from its revenues.

Like other industrial companies who sell products around the world, Barnes’ foreign sales were diminished as they translated into the company’s home currency, the U.S dollar, which has gained in value through the end of last year.

And releasing its outlook for 2015, the Barnes Group said Friday that foreign exchange costs could take another $10 million from its profits by the year’s end, cutting projections for earnings growth to as little as 3 percent.

But even with currency movements shaving its profits, the fourth quarter was a good one for the company.

The Barnes Group made $33.3 million, or 60 cents per diluted share, from its continuing operations in the fourth quarter, a 27.7 percent increase compared to the $26.3 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, during the same period the year prior.

Adjusted for one-time acquisition and restructuring costs, the earnings were 62 cents per share, beating Wall Street estimates by a penny.

In a statement, Chief Financial Officer Christopher J. Stephens Jr. said, “Enhanced investments in our businesses, and the smooth integration of recent acquisitions that brought innovative technologies to Barnes Group have advanced our ability to deliver differentiated industrial technologies to market.”

Fourth quarter sales were $310 million, the company said.

The company’s largest division, its industrial business, reported $198.2 million of the total revenues, up from $183.7 million in the same period the year prior. The sales were helped by having an extra month of sales in the quarter from a business it acquired in the middle of the quarter last year.

Its aerospace division reported $112.0 million in sales, up from $107.4 million in the same period the year prior. The improved sales came from more original equipment revenues and aftermarket, overhaul and maintenance work.

For all of 2014, sales increased 15.6 percent to $1.26 billion from $1.09 million the year prior. Profits from continuing operations jumped 67 percent to $120.5 million from $72 million in the same quarter the year prior.

The company’s stock jumped $2.83, or 7.61 percent, to close at $40.03, on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.