BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Toro Company reported Aug. 17 that profits for the third quarter ended July 28, 2000, increased substantially over the same period last year, led by a growing demand for landscape contractor products and commercial equipment.
Net income for the quarter was $16.4 million compared to $10.3 million during last year's third quarter, an increase of 59.3 percent. Sales for the quarter increased by 6.1 percent to $345.2 million compared to $325.3 million for the same period last year.
Sales for the professional segment increased by 6.6 percent for the quarter and 7.3 percent for the nine months with landscape contractor products and commercial equipment selling well. The company’s golf equipment market continues to be strong, although the number of new courses planned, while still at a high level, is not as robust as a year ago.
The irrigation division lagged expectations due to some product quality issues and delays in key new product introductions. International professional sales were also up for the quarter due primarily to strong sales of commercial equipment, particularly to the golf market.
"We're very pleased with our overall earnings performance for the quarter, particularly since the weather did not favor sales of some turf products," said Kendrick Melrose, Toro chairman and CEO. "We also received an early boost from ‘5 by Five’ reengineering efforts as our divisions and departments began to refocus on process improvement and expense management."
Toro's "5 by Five" program was announced last May as a long-term strategy to reposition the company for the New Economy, and to improve after tax yield to at least 5 percent by the end of fiscal 2003.
Net income for the nine-month period was $44.3 million, compared to $35.2 million after restructuring and other unusual expense during the nine-month period last year. Year-to-date sales were $1.07 billion, compared to $1.01 billion last year, an increase of 5.7 percent.
For more information visit the company’s web site at www.toro.com.