Fortune Brands 2Q profit falls 27 percent
Fortune Brands Inc., the maker of Titleist golf balls and Moen faucets, cut its full-year earnings forecast after predicting "challenging" sales in its golf and home products units.
Earnings excluding expenses this year will be $2 to $2.30 a share, the Deerfield-based company said today in a statement. In May, it forecast $2 to $2.50 while analysts on average anticipated earnings of $2.26.
Chief Executive Officer Bruce Carbonari reduced the earnings forecast because of "significantly lower discretionary spending on golf in the U.S. and Europe," according to the statement. Second-quarter sales in the company's golf division fell 19 percent to $365.8 million dollars while home and hardware fell 25 percent to $775 million.
Fortune, which also makes Jim Beam bourbon, fell 60 cents to $38.61 at 11:15 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange Composite trading. The shares had fallen 5 percent this year before today.
Net income in the quarter ended June 30 dropped to $99.8 million, or 66 cents a share, from $136 million, or 88 cents, a year earlier. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 63 cents. Sales fell 17 percent to $1.74 billion.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.fortunebrands.com/news/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=398809&ReleaseType=Earnings">Officials release </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>