Whirlpool Credits North America For Record 2nd-Quarter Results
By TWICE staff -- TWICE, 7/26/1999
Whirlpool credited record results from its North American and European appliance operations, along with improved performances in Latin America and Asia, in reporting a strong double-digit earnings gain for the second quarter.
For the three months Whirlpool's net rose 17.9% to $99 million on a 1.2% sales increase to $2.62 billion. Nine-month net of $127 million was down 22.5%, while sales, at $5.1 billion, edged up 1%. Excluding discontinued operations, Whirlpool's net was up 22.2% for the quarter and off 14.8% for the full period.
Whirlpool said its North American operation set new highs for both unit and dollar sales on strong demand for Whirlpool and KitchenAid kitchen appliances and Whirlpool washers. Earnings were bolstered by productive gains under an improvement program, it said, "which has already delivered more than $130 million in annualized productivity and manufacturing efficiency gains."
The company expects to show continued improvement in the second quarter and said it currently expects its growth will exceed its estimate for an 8% increase in industry-wide appliance shipments.
On the international side, Whirlpool said its European business also enjoyed sales value and unit shipment records, along with improved earnings, for the quarter. Its Latin American operation had higher unit shipments and a 51% increase in operating profit, while Whirlpool Asia had significant gains in unit shipments and sales and turned in its third consecutive quarterly operating profit.
"A combination of excellent volume growth, driven by product introductions under our leading brand names worldwide, ongoing global integration efforts, and focused productivity improvements, led to our record quarterly performance," said chairman David Whitwam.
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