Herman Miller sitting pretty after the upmarket furniture maker sees earnings beat expectations

Herman Miller Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) was sitting pretty today, with its shares jumping nearly 14% higher after the upmarket furniture maker saw its earnings beat expectations and it raised its quarterly dividend.

For its fourth quarter ended June 3, 2017, the Nasdaq-listed group reported adjusted earnings per share of US$0.64, an increase of 14.3% over the US$0.56 seen a year earlier.

The Michigan-based company said net sales totalled US$577.2mln, down 0.9% from the same quarter last fiscal year, although on an organic basis its net sales increased by 2.7%, while orders were essentially flat on a year earlier.

Herman Miller said its new orders were US$568.1mln, 6.3% below the prior year level, although it estimated that its recent price increase – which became effective on February 6 – had the effect of accelerating approximately US$21mln of orders that would have otherwise come in the past quarter.

For the full fiscal year, net sales were US$2.28bn, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 0.6%, while adjusted, diluted earnings per share totalled US$2.16, compared to US$2.17 in fiscal 2016.

Quarterly dividend up 6%

The company also announced an increase in its quarterly cash dividend to US$0.18 per share, up 6% from the previous payout of US$0.17 per share.

Brian Walker, Herman Miller’s chief executive officer, said, “While order levels across our contract businesses remained mixed this quarter, we were pleased to see continued net sales and order acceleration within our Consumer business segment.”

He added: “Better than expected gross margins and well-managed operating expenses combined to deliver adjusted earnings per share above the expectations that we provided at the start of the quarter”.
In early morning trade in New York, Herman Miller shares were up 13.5% at US$35.

Story by ProactiveInvestors