Rockwell Automation turned in tepid fourth-quarter and more favorable fiscal year-end results on Tuesday, as the company’s chief warned of a tough 2009 that is expected to shrink revenue by 1% to 5% from 2008 levels.
For the fourth quarter, ended Sept. 30, 2008, Rockwell reported net income of $125.6 million ($0.87 per share), down from $165.2 million in the prior-year period, due mainly to a $46.7 million special charge associated with a restructuring effort announced late in September. Fourth-quarter sales increased 8% to $1.48 billion.
For the full year, sales reached $5.68 billion, up 14% from the 2007 total of $5 billion. Income from continuing operations was $577.6 million in 2008, or $3.90 per share. That’s up slightly from the $569.3 million in income from continuing operations reported in 2007.
Though Rockwell’s Architecture & Software and Control Products & Solutions groups both recorded sales increases of 8% in Q4, Rockwell’s customers have indicated they are cautious about spending going forward, officials said. With U.S. and EMEA markets stalled due to the economic crisis, and the emerging markets of Asia Pacific and Latin America growing at a much slower clip, Rockwell is following through on its restructuring plan, clamping down on headcount with selective hiring in only key growth areas, as well as reining in capital expenditures.