Astec Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASTE) reported results for their first quarter ended March 31, 2018, including a small rise in net sales.
Net sales for the first quarter of 2019 were $325.8 million compared to $325.5 million for the first quarter of 2018. Domestic sales decreased 2.7 percent to $262.8 million for the first quarter of 2019 from $270.1 million for the first quarter of 2018.
International sales increased 13.7 percent to $63.0 million for the first quarter of 2019 from $55.4 million for the first quarter of 2018.
Earnings for the first quarter of 2019 were $14.3 million or $0.63 per diluted share, compared to $20.3 million or $0.87 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2018, a decrease in earnings per share of 27.6 percent. As adjusted for the impact of pellet plant activity in the first quarter of 2018, earnings per diluted share decreased $0.33 or 34.4 percent.
Commenting on the announcement of the quarterly results, Richard J. Dorris, Interim Chief Executive Officer, stated “We are disappointed that our performance in the first quarter did not meet our expectations. All three segments experienced pricing pressure from competitors in a tighter market and temporary weather related shutdowns at seven of our subsidiaries impacted our ability to build and ship equipment.”
Mr. Dorris continued, “Lower than expected volumes impacted our gross margins at several of our subsidiaries. As we’ve previously discussed, our SGA&E is also temporarily at a higher run rate than normal due to our ongoing strategic sourcing project. Bookings were also affected by the weather as customers were unable to work in unusually wet or icy conditions in much of the U.S.”
The company’s backlog at March 31, 2019 was $236.5 million, a decrease of $208.4 million or 46.8 percent compared to the March 31, 2018 backlog of $444.9 million. Domestic backlog decreased 52.6 percent to $161.8 million at March 31, 2019 from $341.1 million at March 31, 2018. The international backlog at March 31, 2019 was $74.7 million compared to $103.8 million at March 31, 2018, a decrease of 28 percent. Adjusted for pellet plant backlog included in the March 31, 2018 backlog, the Company’s backlog decreased $143.8 million or 37.8 percent.
Mr. Dorris concluded, “While we are paying close attention to the decrease in our backlog, we note that we experienced historical high points in our backlogs in the first quarter of 2018. We have already made a number of moves to adjust our capacity and, while we’ve seen some positive developments in recent order intake, we will continue to monitor the backlog and make adjustments where necessary.”