By Rob Curran

Emerson Electric posted brisk fiscal fourth-quarter earnings growth, forecast a higher profit for the year ahead and divulged plans to buy out the part of industrial software company AspenTech it doesn't already own.

The St. Louis maker of electrical, laboratory and engineering components posted a profit of $996 million, or $1.73 a share, for the quarter ended Sept 30, up from $744 million or $1.29 a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out one-time items, adjusted earnings were $1.48 a share.

Sales rose 13% to $4.62 billion, topping the average analyst estimate of $4.57 billion, as per FactSet.

Separately, Emerson offered to buy the part of industrial-software maker AspenTech it doesn't already own for $240 a share in cash, which would value the whole company at about $15.3 billion. Emerson currently owns about 57% of publicly traded AspenTech.

The deal will strengthen Emerson's automated software portfolio and provide cost efficiencies, the company said. Emerson anticipates the deal will be neutral to earnings for the year ending September 2025. The deal will be funded with cash on hand, established lines of credit and any other available funds.

Further, Emerson said it's exploring strategic alternatives for its Safety & Productivity unit, weighing options including a cash sale. In the fiscal year 2024, Emerson estimated the unit generated $1.4 billion in sales. The unit sells a range of products including fire-safety wares.

Emerson plans to buy back about $2 billion of its common shares in fiscal year 2025, including $1 billion in the current quarter.

For the fiscal first quarter ending in December, Emerson forecast earnings in a range between 89 cents and 94 cents a share. The manufacturer targeted adjusted earnings in a range between $1.25 and $1.30 a share.

Emerson projected first-quarter sales growth in a range between 2.5% and 3.5%, or between 2% and 3% on an underlying basis, excluding certain factors that skew comparisons.

For the fiscal year ending in September 2025, Emerson projected earnings in a range between $4.42 and $4.62 a share, and adjusted earnings in a range between $5.85 and $6.05 a share. For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, Emerson logged earnings of $3.43 a share.

Emerson forecast fiscal 2025 sales growth in a range between 3.5% and 5.5%, or between 3% and 5% on an underlying basis.

Emerson raised its dividend to 52.75 cents a share, payable Dec. 10 to stockholders of record on Nov. 15.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 05, 2024 07:25 ET (12:25 GMT)

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