| Toromont Industries Q4 profit falls by 36 per cent to $31.4 million |
| Monday, 08 February 2010 14:06 |
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TORONTO - Toromont Industries Ltd. (TSX:TIH) reported Monday a 36 per cent decline in profit, with both its compression group and heavy-equipment group experiencing double-digit declines in revenue. The Toronto-based company's net earnings fell to $31.4 million or 48 cents per share, down from $49.1 million or 76 cents per share in the same period of 2008. Overall revenue fell 26 per cent to $452.8 million from $609.7 million. The compression group, which provides compressors for the energy, industrial and refrigeration industries, fell by 30 per cent to $213.8 million in the three months ended Dec. 31, down from $305.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. The group's operating income was $26.2 million, down 25 per cent from a year before. The equipment group, which is a Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) distributor, experienced a 21 per cent drop in revenue, which fell to $239 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 from $303.9 million a year earlier. The equipment group's operating income was $19.6 million, down 50 per cent from $39.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. After the quarter ended, Toromont completed the acquisition of Enerflex Systems Income Fund of Calgary (TSX:EFX.UN), which supplies compression, production and processing and power generation equipment to the oil and gas industry. |