Astronics said it did not see much change in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 2016. Sales during the quarter, which ended April 1, were down 4.5% from the same quarter last year. Gross profit during Q1 2017 was down 3% from Q1 2016. This includes a decrease of $1.5 million in sales in the aerospace segment.
“While our aerospace revenue has been improving sequentially the last two quarters, it is apparent that we are working our way through a soft patch in the market, with some program delays, market pricing pressure and the slowing conditions in the wide-body market,” said Peter J. Gundermann, Astronics president and CEO. “Still, we anticipate posting a new record in aerospace revenue for 2017.”
Astronics said its Q1 2017 results showed:
- Consolidated sales were down $7.1 million from the same period last year
- Aerospace segment sales of $136.8 million were down $1.5 million from the same period last year
- Aerospace orders in the first quarter of 2017 were $122.8 million. Backlog was $205.2 million at the end of the first quarter of 2017.
- Electrical power and motion segment sales decreased $2.9 million, or 3.9%, largely driven by lower sales of in-seat and cabin-power products.
- Lighting and safety product sales were up $2.1 million
- Avionics product sales were up $1.7 million
- Test systems segment sales of $15.6 million were down $5.7 million from the same period last year.
- Net income was $11.6 million, or $0.38 cents per diluted share.
- Astronics repurchased approximately 148,000 shares at an aggregate cost of $4.4 million under its share repurchase program
“As anticipated, first quarter results were similar to the last few quarters of 2016. We expect revenue to grow sequentially through the remainder of this year and continue to believe we are well positioned generally,” said Gundermann. “However, we are also sensitive to some gathering headwinds, so we have moved our revenue range down accordingly.”
Looking to the remainder of the year, Astronics forecasts sales to be in the range of $635 million to $690 million. Aerospace is expected to bring in $545 million to $580 million in revenue.
“We are disappointed to be lowering our revenue forecast so early in the year, but we are facing some headwinds along the lines of schedule delays, pricing pressure and weakening conditions in certain of our markets, including in particular the wide-body commercial airplane market,” said Gundermann. “We expect 2017 to be a year of progress compared with 2016 and that we will carry strong momentum into the future.”