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Honeywell's fourth quarter profits more than double; to sell consumer products unit for $950m

Last updated: 19:45 28 Jan 2011 GMT, First published: 20:45 28 Jan 2011 GMT

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Diversified manufacturer Honeywell (NYSE: HON) said Friday its fourth quarter profits more than doubled as it benefited from an improving economy.

Separately, the company also announced today that it will sell its consumer products group (CPG) business, currently reported as part of the transportation systems unit, to New Zealand-based private investment firm Rank Group in a $950 million deal. The CPG segment, which includes brands like FRAM filters, Prestone antifreeze and Autolite spark plugs, made $1 billion in sales last year.

"We are pleased to announce the sale of CPG - while CPG is a good business, it doesn't fit with our portfolio of differentiated, global technologies," said chairman and CEO Dave Cote.

For the fourth quarter, New Jersey-based Honeywell posted net income attributable to the company of $369 million, or $0.47 per share, up from $150 million, or $0.20 per diluted share in the prior year period.

Excluding the cost of pension-related expenses, the company made $0.87 per share, compared to $0.83 a year earlier. Fourth quarter sales increased 12% to $9.0 billion.

"Our orders are trending higher across our businesses, and with the continued improvement we're seeing in the global economy, we're confident in our outlook for higher revenues, and 20% plus earnings growth in 2011," added Cote.

Honeywell's automation and control solutions segment, the company's largest by revenue to which it added more than 400 new products in 2010, posted 15% year-over-year growth in sales during the period and 2% growth in segment profit.

The aerospace division, the second largest, saw its sales improve 6% in the fourth quarter due to higher commercial OEM volumes, as well as higher military and government services sales. Segment profit was up 5% year-over-year.

Sales from its transportation systems business were up 18% in the fourth quarter on higher volumes of its products.

Looking ahead, the company raised its earnings guidance for 2011 to $3.60 to $3.80 per share, up from $3.50 to $3.70 per share, excluding any pension-related markdowns. Honeywell also reiterated its sales outlook for this year of between $35.0 to $36.0 billion. The outlook excludes the negative impact of the CPG sale and the anticipated book gain, the company said.

In 2010, Honeywell reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.00 on revenues of $33.4 billion.



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