Crane Co Reveals 2020 Results And Provides 2021 Outlook

Article by : Helen Feb 8, 2021

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Crane Payment & Merchandising Technologies, the American conglomerate manufacturing high-tech electronic payment technologies and other engineered industrial products and providing payment processing services to other industries, announced that it would maintain its regular quarterly dividend in the Q1 despite the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The dividend will be equal to US$0.43 per share and will be payable on March 10, 2021.

In one of its latest press-releases, Crane also revealed its quarterly and annual results that turned out to be weaker than expected. In Q4, Crane Co reported a US$46.8-million profit, compared to a US$112.6 million loss in the same period in 2019. The difference is not big because of the US$181-million provision paid for asbestos-related injury claims in the last quarter of 2019. A positive result of the 2020 fourth quarter may seem to be promising at first sight, but in fact, the company’s net sales dropped 13.4% to US$726.4 million, compared to US$837.5 million generated in the previous year quarter.

As for the annual results, Crane’s net sales amounted to US$2.93 billion, down 10.5% year-on-year. On the other hand, the full-year profit totaled US$181.0 million, which is 35% more than the 2019 figure.

The company’s report includes net sales from four different segments: Fluid Handling, Aerospace & Electronics, Engineered Materials, and Payment & Merchandising Technologies. Casino-related products are included in the latter segment that also saw the net sales drop in the fourth quarter to US$282.6 million, 10% less compared to the 2019 Q4 net sales in the given segment. The core sales dropped 25% year-on-year but were partially made up for by a 13% acquisition-related benefit and a 2% gain from the foreign exchange operations. The company claims that the COVID-19 pandemic mostly hurt the core sales.

The annual result also turned out to be weak in the Payment & Merchandising Technologies sector. The operating profit barely reached US$100 million, which is 43% less than the result of the previous comparable year.

While we adjusted our cost base in 2020, delivering approximately US$105 million of gross cost savings, we did not reduce investments in any key growth area of the business, and we continued to make significant progress on our technology roadmaps, positioning us for long-term success.

Investors wondering how things may change for the stock in the coming months may take a closer look at the company’s earnings outlook that reflects the current expectations regarding the quarterly earnings. Thus, for 2021, Crane Co expects the adjusted earnings per share to bounce between US$4.90 and US$5.10. The net sales are expected to hit US$3.05 billion, bringing a 2% growth year-over-year. As for Q1 2021, the earnings per share are predicted to range between US$1.15 and US$1.24, with the consensus estimate of US$1.19 per share. The net sales may reach US$766 million, suggesting a 4% drop compared to the first quarter of 2020.