Apogee reports increased revenues due to Brazilian glass business, storefront growth and improved pricing

Apogee Enterprises, Inc. officials announced revenues were up 14 percentin the fiscal 2012 secondquartercompared to the same period a year earlier, totaling $165.6 million. Architectural segment revenues increased 17 percent to $149.1 million due to the Brazilian architectural glass business, which contributed 7 percentage points of the increase; growth in the window and storefront businesses; and improved architectural glass pricing, according to a Sept. 15 release.

Operating loss for the second quarter was $5.1 million, compared to a loss of $10.8 million a year earlier. Results improved from the prior-year period with higher architectural glass pricing and slightly better segment capacity utilization, partially offset by lower margin work in installation. Prior-year period results included approximately $2 million in expenses to address architectural glass quality issues due to a vendor-supplied material, according to the release.

Backlog was $231.3 million, compared to $247.0 million in the first quarter and $193.0 million in the prior-year period. Decline was due to the timing of projects entering backlog. The level of awarded projects awaiting final signed contracts grew to more than $60 million from $40 million in the first quarter. Approximately $116 million, or 50 percent, of the backlog is expected to be delivered in fiscal 2012, and approximately $116 million, or 50 percent, in fiscal 2013.

"For fiscal 2012, we continue to expect revenue growth to exceed 10 percent, and that Apogee will be slightly profitable for the year. We also expect Apogee to generate positive cash flow from operations in fiscal 2012," Joseph F. Puishys, Apogee CEO, in the release. "Our outlook for fiscal 2012 requires us to fill some fourth quarter architectural segment capacity. We expect to maintain the improved architectural glass pricing and mix, as well as the share gain in our window and storefront businesses, which will be somewhat offset by lower margins in the installation business as it executes projects bid at the cycle trough.

"Apogee continues to see good bidding activity, which is starting to move beyond institutional projects to other sectors," Puishys said.

Read the full release...