Clarcor tops estimates

Sales come in short of expectations, but gross margins rise to almost 34%

Email | Print By Geert De Lombaerde

Franklin-based filtration and packaging company Clarcor posted fourth-quarter profits of $29.1 million on sales of $266 million. Per-share earnings came in at 56 cents, two cents above analysts' estimates.

Clarcor's revenues for the quarter missed estimates by about 3 percent, but the company was able to make up the difference due to better pricing and boosting efficiency.

Shares of Clarcor (Ticker: CLC) closed regular Wednesday trading down 1.4 percent at $27.49, but rallied more than 5 percent after hours. They're down about 20 percent in the past six months.

Chairman and CEO Norm Johnson said the company has seen overall demand drop during the last few months, but added that several filtration segments – including aerospace and oil and gas – are still growing.

"Even with the pessimism that permeates current economic forecasts, our experience in other recessions is that we continue to grow, and we expect the same during this recession," Johnson said.

Still, Johnson and his team are being cautious with their fiscal 2009 outlook, forecasting EPS between $1.78 and $2.08. Clarcor earned $1.86 this past year, up from $1.78 in '07.