UPDATE: Valspar Posts Higher FQ2 Profit, Reaffirms FY14 Earnings Forecast

The Valspar

reported a 12% gain in its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Valspar's quarterly profit surged to $86 million, or $0.99 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $76.9 million, or $0.84 per share. Excluding certain items, its adjusted earnings rose to $1.07 from $0.91 per share. Its net sales climbed 9.6% to $1.13 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.04 per share on revenue of $1.11 billion. Valspar's net sales in the Paints segment rose 8% to $472 million, while net sales in the Coatings segment climbed 12% to $603 million. Volume growth in the US surged over 10%. Gary E. Hendrickson, chairman and chief executive officer said, “We are pleased to report another strong quarter of volume and sales growth from both our Coatings and Paints segments.” Valspar also reaffirmed its earnings forecast for the full year. The executive continued, “We are successfully executing our growth plans by integrating acquisitions, scaling new business wins and improving productivity. These efforts are evident in our results as sales for the first half of the fiscal year increased 9 percent and adjusted diluted EPS is up 17 percent. We remain focused on executing these initiatives to achieve our full year sales and earnings growth objectives.” Valspar shares rose 0.07% to close at $73.33 on Friday.