Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI)

[sumisu]

Demand for efficient buildings lifts Johnson Controls profit

Wednesday April 16, 4:46 pm ET

By Emily Fredrix, AP Business Writer

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080416/earns_johnson_controls.html?.v=5

Demand for efficient buildings boosts Johnson Controls 2Q profit by 27 percent


MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Global demand for energy efficient buildings helped boost second-quarter profit 27 percent at Johnson Controls Inc., a maker of building and auto systems.
The news lifted shares of the Milwaukee-based company by as much as 9 percent during Wednesday trading. The stock closed at $34.52, up $1.89, or 5.8 percent.

Johnson Controls said Wednesday it earned $289 million, or 48 cents per share, in the quarter ending March 31, compared with $228 million, or 38 cents, in the same period a year earlier.

Quarterly sales rose 11 percent to $9.41 billion.

The results just beat expectations of analysts, who had expected earnings of 47 cents per share on revenue of $9.37 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

Building efficiency sales climbed 11 percent to $3.3 billion due to growing demand for such systems in nonresidential buildings, the company said. The systems improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The backlog of uncompleted contracts at the end of March was up 15 percent from the previous year to $4.5 billion.

Power solutions sales, which includes batteries, leapt 47 percent to $1.5 billion in the quarter. The increase was mainly due to higher prices because of increased lead costs, the company said.

Sales of automotive interiors increased 2 percent to $4.6 billion, but the U.S. sector continued to slump. Sales in North America slipped 7 percent, while U.S. light vehicle production fell 8 percent. But in Europe, sales of interiors gained 9 percent, as light vehicle production edged up 1 percent. In Asia/Pacific, sales of automotive interiors advanced 8 percent.

The company maintained its expectations for third-quarter earnings of between 74 and 76 cents per share. But Johnson Controls increased by $1 billion its full-year sales forecast, to $39 billion.

Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen A. Roell said the company will be able to achieve its predicted growth.

"We are well positioned to achieve sustainable, profitable growth and are confident in our ability to achieve our financial targets," he said.

AP Business Writer Samantha Bomkamp in New York contributed to this report.

Johnson Controls: http://www.johnsoncontrols.com