Kaydon 1Q profit falls on wind energy sales drop

ANN ARBOR (AP) -- Kaydon Corp. said last Friday that its first-quarter profit fell 13 percent because of a drop in wind energy and military sales. The maker of bearings and other engineered products said it made $12 million, or 36 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 2, compared with $13.8 million, or 41 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue fell 9.1 percent to $108.3 million. Excluding $1.5 million in costs from a manufacturing consolidation program and due diligence efforts for acquisitions, the company said it made 40 cents per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 38 cents per share on revenue of $109.1 million. The Ann Arbor company said its industrial sales were up, offsetting much of a slowdown in military and wind energy shipments. Chairman and CEO James O'Leary said in a statement that the company will reallocate factory capacity from wind energy to take advantage of opportunities in the heavy equipment market. He said the wind energy market will be an important contributor in the long term, but growth expectations are muted "by the absence of a national renewable electricity standard." Kaydon shares rose 40 cents to $38.15 in midday trading. The company said Friction control sales fell 24 percent to $60.9 million due to lower wind energy and military sales. Velocity control sales, however, rose 38 percent to $19.6 million and industrial product sales went up 10 percent to $27.8 million. Published: Tue, May 10, 2011