Margin Growth Boosts Honeywell Earnings; Full-Year Sales Forecast Trimmed

The company also revised its fiscal 2015 guidance. Adjusted EPS is now forecast to rise by about 10% to a total of $6.10, compared with a prior estimate of $6.05 to $6.15. The sales projection was cut 4% from a prior range of $39.0 billion to $39.6 billion to a new total of approximately $38.7 billion. Honeywell also raised guidance on its operating income margin from a prior range of 17.5% to 17.7% to a new total of 17.9%.

The company’s CEO said:

In a slower growth environment, we generated earnings growth of 10% when normalized for tax, reaching the high end of our EPS guidance range. This included $34 million in net restructuring charges in the quarter, which position us for continued long-term margin expansion. In addition, Free Cash Flow for the quarter of $1.4 billion increased 43%, with Free Cash Flow conversion of 110%. We are confirming our full-year EPS guidance at approximately $6.10, representing estimated full-year earnings growth of approximately 10% and our sixth consecutive year of double-digit earnings growth. … Looking ahead to 2016, we’re planning for a continuation of the slow growth macro environment, but we expect to deliver continued margin expansion and earnings outperformance driven by our balanced portfolio, relentless seed planting in new products and technologies, High Growth Region penetration, over $300 million of funded restructuring, and the deployment of our key process initiatives.

Lower sales were attributed to currency translation effects, the divestiture of the company’s Friction Materials business and lower pass-through pricing in the resins and chemicals business. Honeywell expects to complete its $5.1 billion acquisition of Elster in the second quarter of next year.

Honeywell’s shares closed up about 0.2% at $98.50 on Thursday and were inactive in premarket trading Friday. The stock’s 52-week range is $87.00 to $107.41. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of $113.74 before this latest report.

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