Toro Q2 Expected to Exceed Prior Guidance

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - The Toro Co. has said that it expects net earnings per share for its fiscal second quarter ended April 29, 2005 to range from $1.28 to $1.33, exceeding the company's prior guidance of $1.15 to $1.20 for the period. (Earnings per share figures have been adjusted to reflect a 2-for-1 stock split effective March 28, 2005.)

Net sales for the fiscal 2005 second quarter are expected to be $625 to $630 million and benefited from stronger than expected shipments of professional products, as well as contributions from Hayter Ltd. to international sales. The company completed the acquisition of Hayter, a U.K-based manufacturer of consumer and commercial mowing equipment, early in its fiscal second quarter.

In the comparable fiscal 2004 period, the company reported net earnings of $52.2 million, or $1.00 per diluted share (adjusted for the 2-for-1 stock split) on net sales of $548.0 million.

"While we are pleased with the strong growth in shipments in the 2005 second quarter, we recognize that retail movement in our residential segment was adversely affected by poor weather throughout most of the U.S.," said Kendrick Melrose, executive chairman, The Toro Co. "Nonetheless, we now believe our year-end earnings will exceed our previous expectations, and therefore we intend to increase guidance modestly in our May 24 earnings release. This, of course, assumes the resumption of normal weather patterns for the balance of the selling season and that commodity prices have stabilized to a large extent."

Toro plans to report full results for its fiscal second quarter on May 24, before the start of New York Stock Exchange trading. The company will provide further information on its second quarter performance and its outlook for the balance of 2005 at a conference call for investors at 10 a.m. central time on May 24.