JBT Corporation, an Illinois-based technology solutions provider to the food processing and air transportation industries, has reported revenue of $234.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to $290.6 million in the same period of 2007.
For the fourth quarter of 2008, segment operating profit was $25.7 million, a $4.1 million decrease from $29.8 million in the prior year quarter. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2008 were $0.37.
For full year 2008, the company recorded revenue of $1,028 million, an increase of 5%, compared to $978 million in 2007, reflecting continued growth of JBT AeroTech businesses driven by record 2007 year-end backlog. Full year segment operating profit of $98.7 million increased 13% from $87.4 million in 2007.
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations was $1.59, up 10% for full year 2008, compared to $1.45 per diluted share in 2007. Pro forma diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, a non-GAAP measure which includes comparable debt and interest expense in all periods, was $1.44, an increase of 20% from $1.20 per diluted share in 2007.
The company said that it is anticipating a continued and broad based weakness in worldwide markets through 2009. Although the impact will not be the same across all of the company's product lines, the global economic slowdown is expected to negatively impact the company's financial results in 2009. With the highly volatile foreign currency markets, an uncertain credit environment and more importantly, the lack of visibility into the second half of 2009, it is extremely difficult to provide an accurate estimate, the company said.
As a result, the company will provide a market update during its earnings call and plans to provide an earnings estimate as part of its first quarter earnings call with the advantage of greater visibility into the second half of 2009.
Charlie Cannon, Chairman and CEO of JBT, said: "We are pleased with our record results in 2008, our first year as a standalone public company. Our operations performed well and delivered another solid quarter. While many of our product lines entered 2009 with satisfactory backlog positions, we have aggressively implemented measures to reduce costs in product lines where demand is softening. We are monitoring order flow closely and will initiate further action as needed.
"We believe we can profitably manage our businesses through this very challenging economic environment by focusing on our strong fundamentals including our leading global market positions, diverse customer base, meaningful proportion of recurring revenue and consistent ability to generate cash flow. We intend to build on our leadership positions during this slowdown and emerge an even stronger company when the economy rebounds.”
Earlier on February 24, 2009, the Board of JBT has declared first quarter dividend of $0.07 per share of outstanding common stock. The dividend will be payable on March 27, 2009, to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 6, 2009.
