Toro reports multipronged growth in Q2
The Toro Company reported a "record" second quarter that involved solid growth across many areas of its business.
Net sales came in at $872.8 million for the quarter ended May 5, an increase of 4.3% from last year.
Meanwhile, net earnings of $120.5 million were up 14.0% year-over-year (from the previous year's $105.7 million).
“Solid performance in both our professional and residential segments contributed nicely to the revenue growth we achieved for the quarter,” said Richard Olson, Toro’s president and chief executive officer. “The golf equipment business continues to perform well as customers enhance their fleets with innovative turf solutions like the compact and lighter weight Reelmaster fairway mower and the Greensmaster TriFlex hybrid mower, which delivers the precision cutting capabilities of a walk greens mower with the productivity of a riding unit. We are also pleased by the performance of our rental and specialty construction businesses. Expanding our product lineup, particularly in the rental channels, has been successful.”
“The annual Toro Days sales event generated solid results in our residential business for the quarter,” said Olson. “We saw strong demand for our walk power mowers during the early part of spring and that momentum continues. We are also particularly excited about the new Personal Pace PoweReverse mower with reverse assist for ease of use and maneuvering. This revolutionary new design delivers power where it’s needed by featuring a self-propel system that activates in both forward and reverse.”
Toro updated its guidance to include revenue growth of 4.5% for fiscal 2017, as well as net earnings per share to increase to about $2.35. For the third quarter, the company expects net earnings per share to be about $0.56.
“As we look across all of our businesses, we are encouraged by the retail momentum we are seeing, but we acknowledge that we still have much of the key selling season ahead of us. I am pleased by the steady progress we are making on our working capital initiatives and the other Destination PRIME goals. As we enter the second half of the fiscal year, we will continue to execute against our customers’ expectations by delivering value-added innovations in the markets and industries we serve, while maintaining operational flexibility and prudently managing expenses.”