Strong North American Sales Boost ITW Results

Jason Sandefur

Strength in its North American industrial and construction operations helped Illinois Tool Works Inc. post a 24% increase in profit to 408.2 million during the third quarter of 2005. Q3 revenue rose 9.8% to 3.25 billion, but ITW warned that higher energy costs could weaken fourth-quarter sales and profit growth.
Overall revenue for the first nine months of 2005 improved 11% to $9.62 billion, while income soared 12% to $1.09 billion.
Q3 sales in ITW’s North American Engineered Products unit climbed 10%, while operating income gained 21%. For the nine-month period, revenues grew 12% and operating income increased 14%.
Sales in its International Engineered Products segment rose 5% during Q3, and operating income rose 4.5%. Nine-month sales improved 12%, while operating income gained 9%.
CEO David Speer suggested that ITW could be ramping up to acquire more companies “based on a robust pipeline of potential acquisitions.
“We & remain encouraged by what we believe to be an improving acquisition environment both in terms of the quantity and quality of opportunities we are reviewing,” Speer noted. Web: itw.com �2005 FastenerNews.com