Diversified U.S. manufacturer Illinois Tool Works Inc. reported quarterly earnings that were a penny shy of expectations even as a host of its business units reported double-digit sales growth.
The company, which makes everything from industrial fasteners and adhesives to professional kitchen equipment and flooring, also issued a profit forecast for the current quarter that was higher than the average Wall Street view.
ITW posted a fourth-quarter profit of $392.79 million, or 79 cents a share, down from $507.4 million, or $1.01 a share, a year earlier.
The prior-year results were lifted by 37 cents a share by a tax adjustment. Stripping that out, ITW said income from continuing operations rose 30 percent.
Sales increased 11 percent, to $4.17 billion, with double-digit organic growth in its welding, electronics, industrial packaging, and test and measurement businesses.
Analysts, on average, had expected the Glenview-based company to report a profit of 80 cents a share on sales of $4.09 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
ITW said it expects to report a profit of 81 to 87 cents a share in the first quarter. Analysts, on average, expect 76 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
