US technologies firm Crane Co has reported a 6% decline in operating profit to US$134 million in the three months to 31 March 2022, including a slight 2% fall in profit in its Payment and Merchandising Technologies segment, which provides payment technology to the global gaming industry.
The decline in group-wide operating profit comes despite net sales growing by 3% year-on-year to US$801 million, with Crane Co pointing to lower profit margin as a result of higher transaction costs plus a gain on the sale of real estate in 2021 which did not apply in 2022.
In the Payment and Merchandising Technologies segment, sales fell 1% to US$333 million, driven by “unfavorable foreign exchange”, with profit down 2% to US$84 million.
In Process Flow Technologies, which provides engineered products and systems such as valves, pumps, lined pipes, instrumentation and controls, sales grew 8% to US$311 million with operating profit down 2% to US$49 million, while in Aerospace & Electronics, sales grew by 2% to US$157 million with profit up 8% to US$28 million.
“This quarter’s results are another example of how we have positioned our businesses to drive accelerating growth, with strong core sales and orders growth supporting our 15% increase in adjusted EPS (earnings per share),” said Crane Co President and CEO, Max Mitchell.
“Sales and order growth were driven by continued recovery across end markets, as well as our continued success with new product introductions and commercial excellence initiatives. Performance was solid across all three segments, and we remain confident in our ability to achieve our full-year guidance.”