Leggett & Platt Earnings Up

Carthage, MO, July 21, 2006--Leggett & Platt Inc., with a year's worth of steep restructuring costs behind it, said its second-quarter profit rose 6.3% from a year ago and nudged up the lower end of its 2006 earnings forecast. The company, whose array of engineered metal furnishings range from bedsprings to welded steel tubing, said net income in the three months ended June 30 totaled $84.2 million, or $0.45 a share, up from $79.2 million, or $0.41 a year ago. Revenue for the quarter rose 7.1% to $1.4 billion from $1.31 billion. The results matched the $0.45 a share expected by analysts. The company said its specialized products and residential furnishings segments turned in especially encouraging overall sales results, up 19.9% and 9.4%, respectively, while its industrial materials business group saw a 12% decline in revenue from a year ago. "We have essentially concluded our restructuring initiative, with both the costs and benefits in line with what we projected last fall. We still expect the ongoing annual EBIT benefit from this activity to be about $30-35 million (or about $0.10-$0.12 per share)," Leggett & Platt president and CEO David Haffner said in a statement. "We remain optimistic about 2006, and expect to post record full year sales and earnings. Accordingly, we raised the lower end of our full year EPS guidance. Sales should grow about 5% versus 2005, and we project a 19% - 35% increase in full year earnings per share," he added. Nearly all of the projected sales growth is seen coming from acquisitions rather than same-location sales. At the same time, $90 million worth of costs linked to further restructuring and divestitures will knock about 2% off those same revenue gains, the company said. Nevertheless, the company said improving profit margins and its ability to cover higher commodity costs led it to raise the lower end of its 2006 earnings outlook to $1.55 to $1.75 a share from its previous $1.50-$1.75 range.