L.B. Foster earnings beat Street; business backlog rises

L.B. Foster Co. reported Tuesday that its third-quarter net income rose 6.0% to $6.5 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, vs. $6.1 million or $0.60 per share in the 2009 quarter. Analysts had expected per-share earnings of $0.55. Third quarter 2010 net sales increased 28.3% to $125.6 million compared to $97.9 million in the prior year quarter.

The company noted that results included a pretax gain on of $1.2 million or $0.07 per diluted share from the sale of marketable securities.

“Sales and profitability were up across all segments in the third quarter of 2010 and our backlog continued at a substantially higher level than it was a year ago. While business activity continues to be inconsistent, especially in the industrial and heavy civil markets, we continue to see a moderate strengthening in most of our businesses,” said Stan Hasselbusch, president and chief executive officer.

“Bookings for the quarter were $124.8 million compared to $114.3 million last year, a 9.2% increase and backlog was $204.9 million, up 23.6% from last year,” said Hasselbusch. “With regard to the Portec acquisition, we are moving forward with a process to divest the assets employed in Portec’s insulated bonded rail joint business in order to satisfy the concerns of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and gain its approval to close the acquisition.”

For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, L.B. Foster reported net income of $14.3 million or $1.38 per diluted share. Net sales increased 9.4% to $327.1 million compared to $298.8 million in the prior year.