Bristol-based aerospace and industrial manufacturer Barnes Group Inc. increased its fourth-quarter profits by 5.5%, despite seeing lower net income for the year as headwinds from its industrial business weighed down its bottom line.
The company on Friday reported net income of just under $41 million, or 80 cents per diluted share in 2019’s final three months. That’s a 5.5% increase of the same period in 2018, when Barnes posted nearly $39 million in profits, or 75 cents per diluted share.
Sales for the quarter dropped by 3.6% to $370 million vs. $384 million in the year-ago period.
For all of 2019, Barnes’ profits fell by nearly 5% to $158 million, or $3.07 per diluted share. In 2018 Barnes net income was $166 million, or $3.15 per diluted share.
Year-over sales declined slightly in 2019 to about $1.5 billion, which is about 0.3% lower than in 2018.
Barnes’ aerospace division garnered $139 million in sales in 2019’s fourth quarter, up 8% from the year-ago period,. But that didn’t completely offset the 9.5% decrease in sales at Barnes’ industrial division, which saw $231 million in fourth-quarter sales vs. $255 million the same period in 2018.
In a statement, Barnes Group CEO Patrick Dempsey largely attributed 2019’s profit slide to market dynamics.
“End market trends experienced throughout the year endured into the fourth quarter, as a weak global industrial manufacturing environment and lingering trade uncertainties unfavorably impacted revenues in our Industrial business,” Dempsey said, noting aerospace strength partially offset declines.
Industrial sales at Barnes for the year totaled about $939 million, a 5.7% decline from 2018, when that segment posted about $995 million. Barnes’ year-over-year aerospace sales grew to about $553 million, up more than 10% from 2018.
