EX-99 2 dex99.htm COMPANY ISSUED NEWS RELEASE Company issued news release

EXHIBIT 99

 

Date: October 25, 2007

 

Subject: Baldor Electric Company

  

3rd Quarter 2007 Results and Discussion

 

Page: 1 of 3

Fort Smith, Arkansas – Baldor Electric Company (NYSE:BEZ) markets, designs, and manufactures industrial electric motors, power transmission products, drives, and generators and is based in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Today Baldor announced unaudited results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2007.

 

     3rd Quarter          Year-To-Date       
     2007    2006          2007    2006       
(in thousands except per share data)    Sep 29, 2007    Sep 30, 2006    % Chg     Sep 29, 2007    Sep 30, 2006    % Chg  

Net Sales

   $ 480,595    $ 212,905    126 %   $ 1,367,904    $ 610,826    124 %

Cost of Sales

     336,208      158,318        962,371      450,175   
                                

Gross Profit

     144,387      54,587    165 %     405,533      160,651    152 %

SG&A

     77,193      33,890        217,096      99,955   
                                

Operating Profit

     67,194      20,697    225 %     188,437      60,696    210 %

Other Income

     110      456        1,780      835   

Interest Expense

     28,821      1,680        79,733      4,562   
                                

Earnings Before Income Taxes

     38,483      19,473    98 %     110,484      56,969    94 %

Income Taxes

     13,838      7,291        39,758      21,023   
                                

Net Earnings

   $ 24,645    $ 12,182    102 %   $ 70,726    $ 35,946    97 %
                                

Earnings Per Share – Diluted

   $ 0.53    $ 0.37    43 %   $ 1.58    $ 1.09    45 %

Dividends Per Share

   $ 0.17    $ 0.17    0 %   $ 0.51    $ 0.50    2 %

Average Shares Outstanding

     46,559      32,627        44,904      32,989   

John McFarland, Chairman and CEO, commented on the Company’s results, “We are pleased to announce sales for the third quarter of $481 million, a 126% increase. Earnings increased 102% to $25 million, and earnings per share increased 43% to $0.53. For the quarter, gross profit improved to 30% and operating profit improved to 14%. During the quarter, we reduced debt by an additional $33 million bringing our total repayment to $158 million for the year. We expect to meet our goal of $175 million in debt reduction during 2007. These results include the operations of Reliance Electric Company which was acquired on January 31, 2007.

“Part of our strategy in acquiring Reliance Electric Company is to have two strong sales forces, one focused on Dodge® power transmission products and one focused on Baldor-Reliance® motors, drives and generators. This has now been accomplished. With these larger, more dedicated sales forces, we believe our customers will receive better service, and we expect to achieve higher sales growth.”

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA (preliminary, unaudited)

 

     3rd Qtr    2nd Qtr         Year-To-Date
     2007    2007         2007    2006
(in thousands)    Sep 29, 2007    Jun 30, 2007    (in thousands)    Sep 29, 2007    Sep 30, 2006

Cash

   $ 41,931    $ 82,700   

Total Depr & Amortization

   $ 53,300    $ 14,567

Trade Receivables – net

     295,025      279,669   

Cash Flow from Operations

     114,912      39,060

Inventories

     321,077      327,687   

Capital Expenditures

     23,474      14,351
        

Dividends

     23,375      16,291

Total Assets

     2,851,568      2,920,260         

Total Debt

     1,394,025      1,427,025   

Depr & Amortization for purchase accounting

     

Shareholders’ Equity

     800,583      780,249         16,100   


Date:      October 25, 2007     

For more information contact

 

Subject:

 

    

 

Baldor Electric Company

3rd Quarter 2007 Results & Discussion

    

Baldor Electric Company

P O Box 2400

Fort Smith, Arkansas 72902

John McFarland

Ronald Tucker

Tracy Long

  

Phone:

Fax:

Website:

  

479-646-4711

479-648-5701

www.baldor.com

Chairman & CEO

President & COO

VP Investor Relations

               
Page:      2 of 3           

We have prepared answers to a list of questions recently asked by shareholders.

Q… How was business during the quarter?

Orders and shipments during the quarter were good in July and September but flat during August. For the entire quarter, sales to original equipment manufacturers were up 8% while sales to distributors were up less than 2%.

Compared to third quarter 2006, industrial motor sales (61% of revenue) were up 7%, power transmission product sales (29% of revenue) were up 5%, drives sales (7% of revenue) were down 11% and generator sales (3% of revenue) were down 6%. These growth rates include comparable sales for Dodge and Reliance. Throughout the business we saw strength in agriculture, industrial air conditioning, compressor, and conveyor applications.

Q… How were sales of premium-efficient motors?

Premium-efficient motors continue to grow at more than twice the rate of our standard motor line as more and more customers realize the savings that can be achieved by using high-efficiency motors. Over 25% of all electricity consumed in the United States is used to run motors like those we make. As a result, we believe sales of these products will continue to grow faster than standard motors.

Q… How were operating cash flows during the quarter?

Operating cash flows amounted to approximately $3 million for the third quarter. The decrease in operating cash flows from the second quarter was largely due to the timing of interest payments on our acquisition debt. During the third quarter we made interest payments totaling $42 million, compared to $6 million in the second quarter. We make semi-annual interest payments of $24 million on our bond debt, the first of which was paid during the third quarter. For the first nine months of 2007 we have realized $115 million in operating cash flows, allowing us to make good progress on reducing our term loan debt.

Q… Explain the new sales force structure and why it’s so important.

In order to provide our customers with better service and to generate faster sales growth, we have established two larger sales organizations, one for Dodge power transmission products and one for Baldor-Reliance motors, drives and generators. This strategy gives us more sales people to work with our current and new customers.

Q… Nearly nine months after your acquisition took place, are you pleased with the progress you’ve made?

Yes. We have been extremely impressed with the people, products and facilities that are now part of Baldor. Combined, our organizations complement each other in many ways. Our integration plan is working, and we are ahead of many of our targets, including debt reduction. As a single company, we are better positioned to take care of our customers and grow our business globally.

Q… What other events happened during the quarter?

Since the Company was founded in 1920, we have been committed to producing energy-efficient motors that have a minimal impact on the environment. This quarter, we created goals to help us reduce our environmental footprint. Those goals are to:

   

reduce the solid waste we send to landfills by 25%

   

reduce our electricity consumption by 20%

   

reduce our natural gas consumption by 5%

   

reduce our water consumption by 10%

   

plant 5,000 trees at our 26 locations

   

further improve the efficiency of our products

We expect to accomplish these goals over the next three years.


Date:      October 25, 2007     

For more information contact

 

Subject:

 

    

 

Baldor Electric Company

3rd Quarter 2007 Results & Discussion

    

Baldor Electric Company

P O Box 2400

Fort Smith, Arkansas 72902

John McFarland

Ronald Tucker

Tracy Long

  

Phone:

Fax:

Website:

  

479-646-4711

479-648-5701

www.baldor.com

Chairman & CEO

President & COO

VP Investor Relations

               
Page:      3 of 3           

Q… How does business look for fourth quarter 2007?

We expect net sales to be lower in the fourth quarter than they were in the third quarter due to holidays. However, we expect the rate of sales growth in the fourth quarter to be slightly higher than the rate of sales growth in the third quarter.

Q… When will your next update be?

We will hold a conference call on Friday, October 26, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. central time. Participants may listen to the discussion through the Company’s website at www.baldor.com or by calling 888-397-5335. A replay will be available through November 3, 2007 and can be accessed by calling 888-203-1112 (passcode 4020536).

We will also make presentations at the Baird Industrial Conference in Chicago on November 7, 2007, the Stephens Investment Conference in New York on November 15, 2007, the Bear Stearns Capital Goods Conference in New York on November 28, 2007, and the Merrill Lynch Growth Conference in New York on December 13, 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This document contains statements that are forward-looking, i.e. not historical facts. The forward-looking statements contained in this document (including “estimate”, “believe”, “will”, “intend”, “expect”, “may”, “could”, “future”, “susceptible”, “unforeseen”, anticipate”, “would”, “subject to”, “depend”, uncertainties”, “predict”, “can”, “expectations”, “if”, “unpredictable”, “unknown”, “pending”, “assumes”, “continued”, “ongoing”, “assumption” or any grammatical forms of these words or other similar words) are based on the Company’s current expectations and some of them are subject to risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, you are cautioned that any such forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of various factors. The factors that might cause such differences include, among others, the following: (i) changes in economic conditions, (ii) developments or new initiatives by our competitors in the markets in which we compete, (iii) fluctuations in the costs of select raw materials, (iv) the success in increasing sales and maintaining or improving the operating margins of the Company, and (v) other factors including those identified in the Company’s filings made from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s most recent annual report (as well as the Company’s Form 10-K and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission) containing a discussion of the Company’s business and of various factors that may affect it.