W.W. Grainger sees 4Q EPS in $1.13-$1.23 range

posted: 83 DAYS 19 HOURS AGO

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CHICAGO -Maintenance products manufacturer W.W. Grainger Inc. said Wednesday it expects fourth-quarter sales in a range of down 2 percent to up 1 percent and earnings per share in a range of $1.13 to $1.23.

For full year 2009, it expects sales to be down 9 percent to 10 percent, with earnings per share of $5.10 to $5.20, excluding a 37 cent per share gain attributable to becoming the majority shareholder of MonotaRO Co. Ltd. in September.

For the full year 2010, the company is forecasting revenues to range from up 4 percent to up 9 percent, with earnings per share of $5.30 to $5.80.

The 2010 forecast includes an expected 3 percent sales contribution and 5 cents per share of earnings growth from acquisitions made in 2009.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who generally exclude one-time items from their estimates, were expecting fourth-quarter earnings of $1.21 a share on revenue of $1.5 billion. In 2008's fourth quarter, the company earned $1.39 a share on revenue of $1.6 billion.

For full-year 2009, analysts expect earnings of $5.19 a share on revenue of $6.1 billion and for full-year 2010, earnings of $5.76 a share on revenue of $6.5 billion.

Shares in W.W. Grainger were down $3.22, or 3.2 percent, to $98.21 in afternoon trading.

2009-11-18 14:37:50