General Cable Corporation (BGC) swung to a net profit for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2017. The company has made a net profit of $12.40 million, or $ 0.24 a share in the quarter, against a net loss of $4.70 million, or $0.10 a share in the last year period. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were at $0.27 for the quarter compared with $0.19 in the same period last year. Revenue during the quarter dropped 8.43 percent to $918.20 million from $1,002.70 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 186 basis points over the previous year period to 12.92 percent. Total expenses were 97.41 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 97.96 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 55 basis points in operating margin to 2.59 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $23.80 million, compared with $20.50 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted operating income for the quarter stood at $44.70 million compared to $41.60 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted operating margin improved 72 basis points in the quarter to 4.87 percent from 4.15 percent in the last year period.
Michael T. McDonnell, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We’re very pleased with our strong first quarter results. First quarter adjusted operating income was above expectations driven in part by the execution of our strategic initiatives in North America and substantial improvement in Latin America. We continue to be encouraged with the progress of North America as we execute our strategic roadmap. We expect to see improvement in Europe through the remainder of 2017 as we are continuing to address delays in a European restructuring project while also driving favorable performance in our land turn-key project business and improved backlog in our subsea project business. Overall, we are moving our businesses forward despite declines in certain key end markets over the recent past, and we maintain a positive outlook on our ability to execute against our roadmap in 2017.”
For the second-quarter, General Cable Corp forecasts revenue to be in the range of $925 million to $975 million. The company forecasts operating income to be in the range of $20 million to $35 million for the second-quarter. The company forecasts adjusted operating income to be in the range of $30 million to $45 million for the second-quarter. The company expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.05 to $0.20 for the second-quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.15 to $0.30 for the second-quarter.
Working capital declines
General Cable Corp has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $832.50 million as at Mar. 31, 2017, down 5.72 percent or $50.50 million from $883 million on Apr. 01, 2016. Current ratio was at 2.01 as on Mar. 31, 2017, up from 1.88 on Apr. 01, 2016. Cash conversion cycle (CCC) has decreased to 66 days for the quarter from 107 days for the last year period. Days sales outstanding went down to 67 days for the quarter compared with 68 days for the same period last year.
Days inventory outstanding has decreased to 46 days for the quarter compared with 84 days for the previous year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding went up to 47 days for the quarter from 45 for the same period last year.
Debt comes down
General Cable Corp has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $1,052.50 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, down 8.21 percent or $94.10 million from $1,146.60 million on Apr. 01, 2016. Total debt was 45.88 percent of total assets as on Mar. 31, 2017, compared with 44.31 percent on Apr. 01, 2016. Debt to equity ratio was at 5.81 as on Mar. 31, 2017, up from 4.38 as on Apr. 01, 2016. Interest coverage ratio improved to 1.15 for the quarter from 0.94 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
