L.B. Foster reports good 4Q, full-year results

L.B. Foster Co. Thursday said its fourth-quarter net income increased by 59.5% to $6.2 million, or 60 cents per diluted share, compared with $3.9 million, or 38 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2009. Included in the fourth-quarter 2010 results was a $1.4 million gain (8 cents per diluted share) on shares of Portec Rail Products, Inc., which was acquired Dec. 15, 2010.

L.B. Foster’s fourth-quarter sales of $148.0 million were up 40.7% over the $105.2 million in the comparable 2010 period.

“While sales and profitability were up across all of our segments in the fourth quarter of 2010, I am particularly proud of the cash generated from operations. As most of our business units ramped up activity levels to accommodate higher sales, they were also very successful in achieving significant inventory reductions and our Credit and Sales teams did a great job with receivables,” said President and CEO Stan Hasselbusch. “Bookings for the quarter were $113.0 million (inclusive of $2.5 million for Portec) compared to $118.0 million last year, a 4.2% decrease and backlog was $189.3 million (inclusive of $16.0 million for Portec), up 6.0% from last year,” he said.

For the full year ended December 31, 2010, L.B. Foster reported net income of $20.5 million, or $1.98 per diluted share, up more than 30% from $15.7 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, in 2009. Included in the prior year were unfavorable gross profit adjustments of $5.3 million ($0.33 per diluted share) related to concrete tie issues discovered in 2009. Net sales for the full year rose 17.6% to $475.1 million compared to $404.0 million in the prior year.

“Even after our acquisition of Portec, we maintain a strong cash position and access to improved credit markets as we continue to look for value through synergistic and accretive investments,” Hasselbusch said.