Toro's sales plow ahead in Q2

The Toro Company made solid progress in the second fiscal quarter of 2014, with net sales up 5.8% and earnings pushing ahead 11.1%.

Total sales for the three-month period ended May 2, 2014 were $745.0 million, up from $704.5 million a year ago. Sales for the six-month period were also up 3.6%.

Meanwhile, net earnings came in at $87.1 million for the quarter, compared to $78.4 million in 2013. 

“I’m proud of our team’s execution that delivered record sales and earnings for the quarter despite challenging spring weather conditions for the second straight year,” said Chairman and CEO Michael Hoffman. “Although retail sales of some residential products were hampered by the late spring, we experienced strong growth in our landscape maintenance business."

Despite challenging winter weather conditions that impacted sales across the industry, Toro attributed part of its success to strong demand for snow products and landscape maintenance equipment.

"Contractors who benefited from the robust snow season last winter invested in more new turf equipment during the quarter, favoring our productivity-enhancing mowers," added Hoffman. "In addition, shipments of golf equipment and irrigation products increased due to channel demand for our innovative new product offerings, including the recently introduced INFINITY sprinklers.”