A bad winter dented Pentair's sales, and the company said Tuesday it will miss first-quarter financial goals.
The company, which is headquartered in England but largely managed from Golden Valley, also downgraded its full-year guidance as a result of the earnings miss.
Wall Street reacted by tamping down Pentair's stock by nearly 14 percent. The shares ended the day at $39.13.
"Our first quarter was significantly impacted by the adverse cold and wet weather in our higher-margin aquatics and ag-related businesses," said Pentair CEO and President John Stauch in a statement. "While we are disappointed with the slow start to the year, we are pleased with our recent acquisitions and remain confident about the long term outlook of our businesses."
The maker of pumps and filtration systems for pools, aquatic farms and factories reported preliminary earnings fell 6 percent over the same period last year to 30 cents a share. That was well below company expectations. Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings fell 14 percent to 43 cents a share.
Both results were far off the company's internal expectations. It had forecast earnings of 47 to 50 cents a share from continuing operations and adjusted earnings of 52 to 55 cents per share. The results also missed Wall Street forecasts as analysts on average expected to see adjusted earnings of 53 cents a share.
The tough quarter marks one of the few reported since Pentair spun off its electrical and enclosures business nearly a year ago into a separate public company called nVent Electric.
Pentair had expected first quarter sales to rise 1 percent. Instead, the preliminary results show revenue down 6 percent to $689 million. Even when excluding currency translations, acquisitions and divestitures, preliminary core sales declined 4 percent.
Full quarterly results will be formally posted April 17, followed by a call with Wall Street analysts.
Pentair lowered its guidance for full-year 2019 to $2.04 to $2.09 a share, down from a previous range of $2.29 to $2.39 a share. Adjusted earnings are now projected at $2.30 to $2.35 a share, down from a projected $2.50 to $2.60 a share.
The company now expects annual sales to rise 1 to 2 percent instead of 5 to 6 percent.
Dee DePass • 612-673-7725
