Foreign currency exchanges and recent acquisitions helped Pentair PLC report a robust third quarter with sales growth of 9 percent.
The pump-and-filtration giant, which is managed out of Golden Valley but officially based in Manchester, England, saw total profits rise 22 percent to $141 million, or 77 cents a share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
Still, on a day where many companies reported challenging quarters, its stock was down nearly 5 percent to close at $55.92.
Sales from two businesses — water quality systems and the thermal and enclosures technical solutions unit — grew during the quarter, while sales from Pentair's flow/filtration solutions business fell during the quarter.
In speaking with analysts in a call Tuesday, Chief Executive Randy Hogan called the results "strong" and said they were in line with his expectations following key cost and cash control measures.
"We no longer expect to see the typical end-of-year push on capital spending," Hogan explained. "We do not believe it is prudent to enter our planning cycle for next year expecting any dramatic recovery in growth and therefore we are aggressively aligning our cost structure with the reality of a continued slow-growth world."
For full-year 2016, Pentair is forecasting earnings of $2.50 per share and for sales to grow 7 percent to $4.9 billion.
Dee DePass • 612-673-7725
