DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Cintas Corp.'s (CTAS) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 28% as
the uniform and business-supplies company booked
stronger-than-expected revenue and as cost controls gave a boost to
margins.
For the new year, it projected earnings of $1.97 to $2.05 a
share on revenue of $4 billion to $4.1 billion. Analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters were looking for $1.83 and $4.01 billion,
respectively.
Shares were up 7% at $33.01 after hours on the outlook and on
the results' easily topping expectations.
Cintas's top line has been rising recently, which Chief
Executive Scott Farmer has attributed to sales-resource investments
the company made as it noticed the economy reviving. The provider
of corporate apparel and business supplies endured two years of
rough business in the recession when high unemployment stifled
demand. The latest monthly employment report from the Labor
Department was discouraging, however, as the U.S. job market barely
grew and the unemployment rate rose to its highest level of the
year.
After it reported fiscal-third-quarter results in May, Standard
& Poor's Ratings Service cut its rating on Cintas a notch
because of what it said was the company's aggressive financial
policy and weaker credit ratios.
For the quarter ended May 31, the company posted a profit of
$70.8 million, or 49 cents a share, from $55.5 million, or 36 cents
a share, a year earlier. The previous year's results included a
penny restructuring gain. Revenue increased 11% to $1.01
billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 43
cents on revenue of $967 million.
Operating margin widened to 12.7% from 11.2%.
-By Joan E. Solsman and Lauren Pollock, Dow Jones Newswires;
212-416-2356; lauren.pollock@dowjones.com