Aug 6 (Reuters) – Emerson Electric Co reported a
sharp drop in quarterly profit on Tuesday, hurt by an impairment
charge for its embedded computing and power business, and said
it was selling a majority stake in the unit for about $300
million.
The diversified U.S. manufacturer said it would sell 51
percent of the business, which supplies technology used in
communications and computing equipment, to private equity firm
Platinum Equity and retain a noncontrolling interest.
“Continued weakness in the technology equipment and mobile
device markets that this business serves has resulted in lower
sales and earnings growth expectations,” Emerson said in a
statement.
The St. Louis-based company will take a $503 million pretax
goodwill impairment charge related to the business.
Net income fell to $194 million, or 27 cents per share, in
the third quarter ended June 30 from $770 million, or $1.04 per
share, a year earlier.
Excluding the impairment charge as well as one for
repatriating cash from the embedded computing unit, Emerson
reported earnings of 97 cents per share. That was a penny below
the analysts’ average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S.
Revenue fell 2.2 percent to $6.34 billion, about $100
million below Wall Street’s target.
Source Article from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/06/emerson-results-idUSL1N0G70A020130806
