Omaha, Neb. — Lindsay Corporation today announced results for its first quarter of fiscal 2020, which ended on Nov. 30, 2019.

First Quarter Summary

Revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 were $109.4 million, a decrease of $2.6 million, or 2%, compared to revenues of $112.0 million in the prior year first quarter. Revenues decreased $3.3 million as a result of the divestiture of a company-owned irrigation dealership that occurred in the first quarter of fiscal 2019. Net earnings for the quarter were $8.3 million, or $0.77 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $1.2 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the prior year first quarter. Net earnings for the prior year first quarter adjusted to eliminate costs associated with the Foundation for Growth initiative were $4.1 million, or $0.38 per diluted share.

"We were pleased to see our fiscal 2020 get off to a solid start, with improved results in both the irrigation and infrastructure businesses," said Tim Hassinger, president and chief executive officer. "Margin expansion gained through our Foundation for Growth initiatives contributed to improved performance in our irrigation business. Outstanding results in our infrastructure business were achieved through revenue growth, margin improvement and a favorable mix of higher margin revenue."

First Quarter Segment Results

Irrigation segment revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 were $82.4 million, a decrease of $5.3 million, or 6%, compared to $87.6 million in the prior year first quarter. North America irrigation revenues of $52.6 million decreased $3.9 million, or 7%, compared to the prior year, although $3.3 million of the decrease was attributable to the divestiture of a company-owned dealership. Higher irrigation equipment unit volume was offset by the impact of lower average selling prices and lower sales of replacement parts. International irrigation revenues of $29.7 million decreased $1.4 million, or 5%, due primarily to the negative impact of changes in foreign currency translation rates.

Irrigation segment operating margin was 11.8% of sales in the first quarter, compared to 8.9% of sales (9% adjusted) in the prior year. Operating margin improvement resulted primarily from improved cost and pricing performance compared to the prior year.

The backlog of unfilled orders at Nov. 30, 2019 was $69.2 million compared with $49.2 million at Nov. 30, 2018. Included in these backlogs are amounts of $5.2 million and $0.3 million, respectively, that are not expected to be fulfilled within the subsequent twelve months.

Analysis

Lindsay posted revenues of $109.4 million for the quarter ended November 2019, missing the Zack's Consensus Estimate by 2.7%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $111.95 million. According to analysts at Zack's Equity Research, the company has not been able to beat consensus revenue estimates over the last four quarters.

“This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 18.5%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this irrigation equipment maker would post earnings of $0.34 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.54, delivering a surprise of 58.8%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times,” said Zack’s analysts.