Astec Industries, Inc., facing what its new CEO says is “a challenging environment,” reported a 57% drop in third quarter net income on relatively flat sales this summer.
The Chattanooga-based road-building and construction equipment maker said Tuesday its net income attributable to controlling interest totaled $3 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, on sales of $255.8 million in the three months ended Sept. 30. In the same period a year earlier, the comparable net income totaled $7 million, or 30 cents per share, on sales of $256.6 million.
The third quarter profits were 11 cents per share below the average forecast by analysts who follow Astec and sales were also slightly below industry expectations. The company also disclosed that its backlog of orders at the end of the quarter was down 21% from a year ago.
Nonetheless, Astec’s stock rose 58 cents per share, or 1.75%, to close Tuesday at $33.76 per share in trading on the Nasdaq Exchange.
“We are actively aligning the business to meet the current demand,” Astec CEO Barry Ruffalo said. “Despite margin compression due to softer market conditions, I am confident we are taking the steps necessary to align production with demand and position ourselves for profitable growth over the long-term.”