Precision Castparts Misses Wall Street Views

Precision Castparts Corp. fell short of Wall Street expectations for earnings and revenue in its quarter ended June, with profit sliding 17.4% during the three-month period amid falling demand for oil, metal prices and a choppy aerospace market.

"For oil and gas, our customers' buying patterns remain depressed," said Mark Donegan, chief executive officer of Precision.

The maker of industrial components and commercial airplane parts said it was adjusting its guidance for its current fiscal year to reflect the interest expense from its June bond issuance of $2 billion. The company now expects per-share earnings to fall between an adjusted range of $12.25 and $13.15 with revenue between $10 billion and $10.4 billion. The Oregon-based company's previous prediction saw per-share earnings of $12.50 to $13.40.

"Our view on our core operations and end markets for the year is unchanged," Mr. Donegan said. "Although we believe airframe products revenue growth is more likely to be at the lower end of our previously discussed range, reflecting the effort to balance the new development work with ongoing production." He added that the company spent some $232 million on repurchased stock for the quarter.

Sales in the forged products segment declined 8%, including a negative impact of $25 million linked to metal prices and contractual pass-through pricing.

Commercial aerospace sales increased 6% during the quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, while military shipments were down 15%, reflecting weaker demand for components. But power sales tumbled some 33%, mostly due to lower oil, gas and pipe demand, the company reported.

Precision has generated about a quarter of its sales from the energy and power markets in recent years. Like other aerospace and defense companies, it targeted the oil-and-gas sector as a growth market. But the strategy left the company exposed to the recent tumble in oil prices. Precision results have also been hurt lately by currency volatility.

Overall, Precision reported a profit of $399 million, or $2.87 a share, down from $483 million, or $3.31 a share, a year earlier. Revenue dipped 4.3% to $2.41 billion from $2.52 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $3 a share and revenue of $2.5 billion.

On Monday, the company announced that it had reached a deal to acquire the Noranco business from MidOcean Partners and PSP investments for $560 million, adding capabilities in the aircraft sector.

Noranco' s largest customers include Honeywell International Inc., Safran SA, Bombardier Inc., and Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc.

Noranco will become part of Precision Castparts' airframe products business.

Shares of the company were inactive premarket.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires