Ahead Of Fort Smith Closure, Whirlpool Earnings Improve

Whirlpool Corp. on Wednesday (Feb. 1) reported that improving operating conditions in the company’s North American segment helped boost fourth quarter earnings to $205 million, ahead of the $202 million in the 2010 quarter.

The quarterly per share earnings of $2.62 surpassed analyst estimates of $1.96 per share. The markets liked the report, with Whirlpool shares (NYSE: WHR) closing Wednesday at $61.64, up $7.32. During the past 52 weeks, the share price has ranged from a $92 high to a $45.22 low.

The fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report was the first since the Benton Harbor, Mich.-based company announced plans to close its refrigeration manufacturing plant in Fort Smith. The plant, expected to close by mid-2012, employed about 1,000 at the time of the Oct. 27 announcement, but had employed around 4,500 in early 2006.

Whirlpool reported that its North American operating segment profit was $202 million during the quarter, well ahead of the $53 million in the 2010 quarter.

“The cadence of strong product innovation, price/mix momentum entering the year, recently announced cost-based price increases, benefits from our cost and capacity reduction initiatives and on-going productivity programs are expected to improve our results in the coming year and show significant progress towards our long-term financial goals. As illustrated by the operating profit improvement we’ve seen in our North America business, we are beginning to yield a strong improvement in our operating results,” Whirlpool CEO Jeff Fettig said in the earnings report.

For the year, the company posted total revenue of $18.67 billion, up 1.6% compared to 2010. Net income was $408 million, below the $650 million in 2010.

“As we enter 2012, we are executing strong actions to continue to improve operating margins through our cost and capacity reduction initiatives, ongoing productivity programs and previously announced price increases,” Fettig reported.

Whirlpool reported the following for the North American segment:

• Fourth-quarter sales of $2.6 billion increased 1% from the prior year.
• North America unit shipments decreased approximately 3%, with U.S. industry unit shipments of major appliances also decreasing approximately 3%.
• The North America region reported operating profit of $202 million for the quarter compared to $53 million in the previous year. Current year results include $96 million from a previously disclosed supplier quality recovery and benefit plan curtailment gain.
• Operating results were improved by the implementation of price increases and improved product mix which more than offset lower industry volumes, higher material costs and the impact from lower production volumes.
• Based on the current economic outlook, the company expects full-year 2012 U.S. industry unit shipments to increase in the range of 0% to 3%.

Michael Tilley with our content partner, The City Wire, is the author of this report. He can be reached by email at [email protected].