Woodward earns 4Q, 2014 profits

FORT COLLINS – Woodward Inc. (Nasdaq: WWD) reported flat earnings for the fourth quarter but saw a jump in earnings for the 2014 fiscal year.

Fort Collins-based Woodward earned $51.7 million during the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, slightly down from $52.5 million during the same period a year earlier, according to an earnings statement issued after the market closed Monday. Woodward makes control systems for the energy and aerospace markets.

Woodward said it had higher compensation, and research and development costs during the period.

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Fourth-quarter net sales totaled $565.4 million compared with $558.4 million for the fourth quarter. The company reported fourth-quarter aerospace sales of $318.2 million vs. $307.4 million during the fourth quarter last year. The higher sales came from increases in the commercial and defense markets.

Energy sales during the fourth quarter totaled $247.2 million vs. $251 million. The decline came from lower sales of the company’s natural-gas truck and bus systems.

For fiscal 2014, Woodward earned $165.8 million, up from $145.9 million the prior fiscal year. The company saw record net sales of $2 billon for the year vs. $1.94 billion the prior fiscal year.

“Our focus on cost control and operational execution continues to show in our improved earnings,” CEO Tom Gendron said in a conference call with analysts. “Many of our markets, such as commercial aerospace and gas turbines, showed improvement during the year, but were tempered by softness in military sales and natural-gas bus and truck systems in China.”

The company reported aerospace sales of $1.08 billion during fiscal 2014, up from $1.06 billion during fiscal 2013. Woodward posted energy sales of $917.2 million for the year, up from $874.5 million during fiscal 2013.

Woodward anticipates sales of between $2.05 billion and $2.15 billion next fiscal year.

Company shares gained a fraction of a point to close at $51.81.