Honeywell Cautious Even With Profit Up -- WSJ

By Thomas Gryta and Kimberly Chin 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 19, 2019).

Honeywell International Inc.'s second-quarter profit jumped 22% on lower taxes, but the company remained cautious on the remainder of the year, citing uncertainty around the economy.

The industrial company, which is moving its headquarters to Charlotte, N.C., at month-end, nudged up its full-year financial projections and reported increased demand in most divisions. Honeywell recently spun off its home and transportation businesses into two new separate companies.

"We've seen some slowing in certain short-cycle businesses that has been overcome by the strong performance in the rest of the portfolio," Chief Executive Darius Adamczyk said on a conference call Thursday morning. "We think it is prudent to plan conservatively in the event of a broader slowdown, given that nearly 60% of our business is short cycle in nature."

Honeywell makes products including jet engines and rubber boots, as well as building technology, industrial-automation products and water-processing systems.

Honeywell again said it doesn't expect a significant financial impact in 2019 from the grounding of Boeing Co's 737 MAX plane, which uses some systems sold by the company.

The company reported second-quarter earnings of $1.54 billion, or $2.10 a share, up from $1.27 billion, or $1.68 a share, a year ago. The company spent $1.9 billion buying its own stock in the quarter, increasing its earnings per share by 6 cents, while generating $1.5 billion in adjusted cash flow.

Sales dropped 15% to $9.24 billion in the quarter because of lost sales from divesting its home-security products business and transportation-systems business last year. The company said organic sales, which exclude currency moves, acquisitions and divestitures, rose 5%.

The results were cheered by analysts, who are generally bullish on the company and its conservative approach to providing financial projections. As of Wednesday's close, the stock is up 24% in the last 12 months, well above the 7% rise of the S&P 500. Shares recently traded up 2% to $172.

Write to Thomas Gryta at [e-mail] and Kimberly Chin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 19, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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