FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AZZ Inc.
(NYSE: AZZ), a global provider of metal coatings services, welding
solutions, specialty electrical equipment and highly engineered
services, today updated revenue and earnings per share guidance for
its fiscal year 2018, which ends on February
28, 2018.
Tom Ferguson, president and chief
executive officer of AZZ Inc., commented, "Given recent events, we
have completed a thorough evaluation of our businesses. We assessed
the impact of the recent hurricanes - Harvey and Irma - on our
refinery turnaround activity; market conditions in the US nuclear
market with the closure of the VC Summer Nuclear Project and the
ongoing fallout from the Westinghouse Nuclear bankruptcy; lower
than expected electric utility spending in Saudi Arabia; and our current shippable
backlog. Based on this evaluation we reduced our full year
guidance for fiscal 2018. We now anticipate revenue
will be in the range of $825 million to $885
million, compared to the previous guidance of $880 million to $950 million. For full
fiscal year 2018, we now anticipate earnings per share will be in
the range of $1.80 to $2.30 per fully
diluted share, as compared to previous guidance of $2.60 to $3.10 per fully diluted share."
Mr. Ferguson continued, "Looking forward, we believe the
refinery turnaround activity is likely to improve early next year,
which will positively impact our fiscal year 2019. We also
see improving markets for our Metal Coating segment. We have taken
appropriate realignment actions to improve our margins and
competitiveness in both business segments, while maintaining our
ability to handle the growth we see for next year.
Additionally, we are pleased with our recent acquisitions of
Enhanced Powder Coating, Ltd., ("EPC") and Powergrid Systems, Inc.
("PSI") and the integrations of both these businesses are going
smoothly and on schedule, and we have a strong pipeline of
acquisitions. While there are clearly market headwinds, we
are confident that we have taken the appropriate actions to benefit
operational and financial results as market conditions improve. AZZ
is a company with a track record of long-term success and we fully
expect to continue on that trend for years to come."
AZZ Inc. previously announced that it will report financial
results and conduct a conference call for its second quarter of
fiscal 2018 on October 3,
2017.
About AZZ Inc.
AZZ Inc. is a global provider of metal coatings services,
welding solutions, specialty electrical equipment and highly
engineered services to the markets of power generation,
transmission, distribution and industrial in protecting metal and
electrical systems used to build and enhance the world's
infrastructure. AZZ Metal Coatings is a leading provider of metal
finishing solutions for corrosion protection, including hot dip
galvanizing to the North American steel fabrication industry. AZZ
Energy is dedicated to delivering safe and reliable transmission of
power from generation sources to end customers, and automated weld
overlay solutions for corrosion and erosion mitigation to critical
infrastructure in the energy markets worldwide.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements herein about our expectations of future
events or results constitute forward-looking statements for
purposes of the safe harbor provisions of The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking
statements by terminology such as, "may," "should," "expects,"
"plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts,"
"potential," "continue," or the negative of these terms or other
comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are based
on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and
management's views and assumptions regarding future events. Such
forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and investors
must recognize that actual results may differ from those expressed
or implied in the forward-looking statements. This release may
contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties including, but not limited to, changes in customer
demand and response to products and services offered by AZZ,
including demand by the power generation markets, electrical
transmission and distribution markets, the industrial markets, and
the hot dip galvanizing markets; prices and raw material cost,
including zinc and natural gas which are used in the hot dip
galvanizing process; changes in the political stability and
economic conditions of the various markets that AZZ serves, foreign
and domestic, customer requested delays of shipments, acquisition
opportunities, currency exchange rates, adequacy of financing, and
availability of experienced management and employees to implement
AZZ's growth strategy. AZZ has provided additional information
regarding risks associated with the business in AZZ's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2017 and other filings with the SEC,
available for viewing on AZZ's website at www.azz.com and on the
SEC's website at www.sec.gov. You are urged to consider these
factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements
herein and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such
forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety
by this cautionary statement. These statements are based on
information as of the date hereof and AZZ assumes no obligation to
update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events, or otherwise.
Contact:
Paul Fehlman, Chief Financial
Officer
AZZ Inc. (817) 810-0095
Internet: www.azz.com
Lytham Partners (602) 889-9700
Joe Dorame, Robert Blum or Joe
Diaz
Internet: www.lythampartners.com
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SOURCE AZZ Inc.