Toro Earnings Halved

The Toro Co. reported net earnings of $19.8 million for the third quarter, down from $38.2 million for the same period last year. The firm beat by a nickel the 49 cents per share that analysts were expecting, according to Thomson Reuters.

Toro (NYSE: TTC), based in Bloomington, Minnesota, had earnings of 54 cents per share for the quarter, down from 99 cents for the same period last year. Net sales for the third quarter 2009 were $394.9 million, down from $492.6 million for third quarter 2008. Company officials blamed the struggling U.S. economy for its lagging results, and said they didn't expect any significant improvement in the near future.

''Despite a persistently difficult economic environment, we've been able to offset some of the impact through aggressive and disciplined action,'' said Michael Hoffman, the company's chairman and CEO. ''We are focused on driving retail demand and have improved our market share in many product categories. Additionally, we are continuing to realign our cost structure and execute against our working capital initiative, which has resulted in significant reductions in inventory for both Toro and our channel partners.''

Toro said its professional segment sales were down 27.3 percent for the quarter, at $260.9 million. Sales were down across most professional market categories, including golf maintenance equipment and commercial and landscape contractor equipment.

Sales for the company's residential segment increased 1.2 percent to $126.2 million, boosted by strong sales of walk power mowers and riding products.

Toro said it expects total fiscal 2009 revenue to be down 18 percent from fiscal 2008. The company expects net earnings per share for fiscal 2009 to be $1.53 to $1.63.