Libbey's Q3 earnings fall, missing analyst estimates

Glass tableware manufacturing company Libbey (NYSE Amex: LBY) saw a 34% drop in its third quarter profits, driven by write downs of certain assets and fees related to a secondary stock offering, it said Wednesday.

For the three months ending September 30, 2010, the company reported net income of $2.3 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, compared to profits of $3.5 million, or $0.23 per diluted share in the prior year quarter.

During the quarter, Libbey had to write down decorating assets at the company's Shreveport, Louisiana facility and had to pay fees relating to a secondary stock offering, for which it received no proceeds. Excluding these one-time items, Libbey had net income of $4.7 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.23 for Q3 2010, compared to adjusted earnings of $4.3 million and $0.27 per share in the previous year's quarter.

However, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.37 per share for the third quarter.

Sales during the period grew 7% to $200.0 million compared to the year-ago quarter. This was helped by revenue from the North American glass segment, which improved by 6.8% over last year to $137.1 million.

Primary contributors to the overall revenue increase were the 14.6% growth in sales to Crisa customers in Mexico and a 4.9% rise in sales to U.S. and Canadian retail customers versus Q3 2009. However, a 5.6% decrease in Syracuse China sales, which designs and distributes ceramic dinnerware for foodservice establishments in the U.S., partially offset these increases.

International sales rose 12.3% over last year, excluding the impact of currency rates, led by a 27.3% increase in sales to Libbey China customers.

As of September 30, 2010, the company had $35.6 million of cash on hand and an available $69.6 million under its asset backed loan facility, with no loans currently outstanding.

The Toledo, Ohio-based company operates glass tableware manufacturing plants in the U.S. in Louisiana and Ohio, as well as in Mexico, China, Portugal and the Netherlands.