Colfax Q1 2015 – Still waiting for news from the acquisition pipeline
“Colfax (NYSE: CFX) adjusted EPS for the 2015 first quarter was $0.36 which represents a 16% decline versus the $0.43 per share reported last year, driven by foreign exchange translation and the timing of project orders, especially in gas and fluid handling.
Net sales were $911 million for the first quarter, a decrease of 14% over the same period last year. This consists of 10% growth from acquisitions offset by a negative 11% impact from foreign exchange, and a 12% organic volume decline.”
With these numbers Colfax’ CEO Steve Simms opened the conference call after the release of the Q1 2015 results. And arguably this is all the information you need to know about the quarter!
The economic environment remained difficutl and in addition there was the impact of the strenghtening US-Dollar:“Foreign currency declines across the Board, but most significantly in Europe, Russia, and Brazil were an 11% drag on our reported revenue performance“ as CFO Scott Brannan explained.
So what is Colfax doing in this situation? “Strong operational execution and aggressive cost control“ as Steve Simms pointed out. They are getting there internal structure as lean and as efficient as possible.
For segment information have a look at the conference call transcript which was published as usual by Seeking Alpha!
Perhaps the most interesting was the short remark by Steve Simms at the end of the conference call:
“We are also committed to our strategy of bolt-on acquisitions, and remain confident in the strength of our acquisition pipeline. I previously discussed a number of attractive opportunities that could be announced in the second quarter or early third quarter of 2015, and these opportunities remain active.“
Not very precise indeed. There must be due diligence problems with the acquisition candidates.
Colfax stock is trading at around $48 – $49. The market decided to wait and see and we all should do the same holding our positions!