CANTON, OH — Timken has reported record sales of $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2004, an increase of 31 percent from the prior year. Adjusted to include pro forma results for Torrington for the full first quarter of 2003, sales were up 11 percent. Sales were higher across all three business groups, automotive, industrial and steel, the company said, compared to the first quarter of 2003. Timken completed its $840 million strategic acquisition of The Torrington Company on February 18, 2003.
Timken reported $0.32 per diluted share, more than double the $0.15 per diluted share from a year ago. Excluding special items, adjusted earnings per share were $0.31, or 63 percent higher than the $0.19 last year. This compared favorably to previous company estimates of $0.25 to $0.30 per diluted share, excluding special items. Special items in 2004 totaled $0.7 million of pretax income, with $7.7 million of income received under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA) virtually offset by integration expenses related to Torrington. In the first quarter of 2003, special items were $3.6 million of pretax expense.
For the quarter, the company achieved pretax integration savings of $17 million, driven by leveraging the combined purchasing of Torrington and Timken. The company is on track to achieve its target of $80 million of pretax integration savings during 2005.
Total debt at March 31, 2004 was $812.3 million, 42.3 percent of capital. Debt was higher than the 2003 year-end level of $734.6 million due to cash contributions to domestic pension plans and seasonal working capital. The company expects its leverage to be lower at the end of this year compared to last year.
To learn more about Timken, go to: www.timken.com.
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