The Roadtec RP 170 with a Carlson EZ Screed equipped with heated end gates.Astec Industries reported net sales of $301.9 million for the second quarter of 2017, a 3 percent increase compared to the same period in 2016. Profit however fell 22 percent during the quarter to $14.4 million, or $0.62 per diluted share.
Domestic sales decreased 2 percent to $236.9 million during Q2, while international sales increased 25 percent to $65.0 million.
Net sales for the first half of 2017 were $620.3 million compared to $573.1 million during the same period in 2016, an 8 percent increase. Profit fell 18 percent during the first half of the year to $29.5 million or $1.27 per diluted share. Domestic sales increased 3 percent to $490.4 million for the first half, while international sales increased 34 percent to $129.9 million for the first half of 2017.
The company’s backlog as of June 30 was $352.4 million compared to $371.3 million on June 30, 2016, a decrease of 5 percent. Domestic backlog decreased 13 percent, while the international backlog increased 39 percent. Excluding pellet plant backlogs of $65.1 million and $144.4 million on June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, the June 30, 2017, backlog increased $60.4 million or 27 percent when compared to June 30, 2016.
Commenting on the earnings report, CEO Benjamin Brock, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Although we were not pleased with our net income for the quarter, we were pleased that we were able to grow sales while also shipping several new products during the quarter. While the costs associated with building new products and getting them going in the field negatively affected our results as we expected, significantly lower than expected margins on pellet plant installation were our primary disappointment for the quarter.”
“Excluding pellet plants, our backlog is up 27 percent versus last year,” Brock continued. “We are pleased that, excluding pellet plants, each of our financial reporting groups increased backlog versus last year. Non-pellet plant backlog increased both in domestic and international markets. Domestically, we continue to experience a good market for our products, mainly as a result of the federal highway bill and other state and local level funding mechanisms. Internationally, our strategy of keeping our sales and service structure in place despite the challenge of the strong U.S. Dollar, which increases our sales prices globally for export equipment, has allowed us to earn orders mainly as a result of pent up demand meeting improved global market conditions. Given our current backlog and quote activity, we are optimistic on our outlook for the balance of 2017.”
