By Michael Calia
Sherwin-Williams Co. said its second-quarter earnings jumped 13%
as revenue growth was driven by higher sales volume in its paint
stores and benefits from acquisitions.
The results were in line with the higher end of the company's
expectations, while its outlook for the year improved.
The Dutch Boy paint maker raised its full-year earnings guidance
to $8.50 to $8.70 a share. It had been calling for $8.12 to $8.32 a
share.
Sherwin-Williams terminated its agreement to buy the Mexican
business of coatings maker Consorcio Comex SA earlier this year,
although it completed an acquisition of Comex's U.S. and Canadian
businesses in September.
The acquisitions are performing better than the company expected
this year, although they're boosting sales by only a slight margin
while hitting per-share earnings for the year by 35 cents, the
company said Thursday.
For the third quarter, the company said it expected earnings to
come in at $3.15 to $3.25 a share, with net sales growing 9% to
14%. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected $3.06 a
share and 10% revenue growth.
In the most recent period, Sherwin-Williams recorded a profit of
$291.4 million, or $2.94 a share, up from $257.3 million, or $2.46
a share, a year earlier.
Net sales rose 12% to $3.04 billion.
The company in April projected a per-share profit of $2.80 to $3
and sales growth of 8% to 14%.
Gross margin widened to 46.3% from 45.5% as input costs rose
10%.
Same-store sales rose 9.8%.
Sales in the paint-stores group rose 17% to $1.88 billion,
mostly because of higher architectural paint sales. The consumer
group posted a 10% sales increase to $433.4 million. Sales in the
global finishes group rose 6.1% to $544.6 million.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
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