By Dean Seal
Ferguson Enterprises recorded a smaller profit in its fiscal first quarter as a pullback in prices constrained its sales growth.
The plumbing and heating materials distributors posted a profit of $470 million, or $2.34 a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31. That's down from $519 million, or $2.54 a share, a year ago.
Stripping out one-time items, adjusted earnings were $2.45 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting $2.62 a share.
Sales ticked up by less than 1% to $7.77 billion. Analysts had been projecting a bigger jump to $7.81 billion, according to FactSet.
Revenue declined on an organic basis, though acquisitions lifted the top line. Volumes were up about 3%, but weakness in certain commodity-related categories drove prices down about 2%, Ferguson said. Costs were higher in part due to the higher volumes, weighing on gross margin.
Chief Executive Kevin Murphy said the year started "largely as expected" and that the company is sticking by its fiscal 2025 guidance for low-single-digit percentage sales growth.
Shares fell 6.6% to $203.27 in premarket trading.
Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 10, 2024 07:12 ET (12:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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