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Shares of Acuity Brands Inc. advanced 1.2% in premarket trading Thursday, after the building management and lighting company reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations.
Net income for the quarter to Aug. 31 slipped to $73.7 million or $1.87 a share, from $96.1 million, or $2.42 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share fell 14.5% to $2.35, but was above the FactSet consensus of $2.03.
Sales fell 5.0% to $891.2 million, but beat the FactSet consensus of $825.9 million. The company AYI, +3.25% said volume decreased 4%, due primarily to the negative impact on demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a unfavorable change of about 4% in product prices and mix of products sold.
” We believe the uncertainty around the economic recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic remains and, as a result, we expect weakness in nonresidential building activity based on current construction indicators ,” said Chief Executive Neil Ashe.
The stock has dropped 17.9% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX, +1.74% has gained 5.8%.
