| To: Caroline who wrote () | 7/29/1997 9:15:00 PM | | From: Joe Basile | | | | |
Still looks like a good play. Excellent fundamentals here. Do you think the lawsuit has merit ? I guess I'd stay clear til that's settled. Other than that, looks attractive, even at these levels. Amazing too, some of the great companies that nobody in SI cares about. |
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| To: Caroline who wrote (4) | 12/23/1998 4:35:00 PM | | From: walterenergy | | | |
Varlen Executive Sees Parts Maker Outperforming Peer Group
Dow Jones Online News, Tuesday, December 22, 1998 at 19:15
By Christopher Bowe
CHICAGO -(Dow Jones)- Varlen Corp.'s chief operating officer said
Tuesday his is an "undiscovered company" whose growth prospects in the
next year will keep it ahead of its peers.
Varlen (VRLN), a Naperville, Ill., parts maker for trains, trucks and
automobiles, posits itself as a small manufacturing secret with a solid
position, but one that hasn't quite nabbed the breathless attention of
Wall Street.
"We expect to do better than the markets we serve," Raymond Jean told
Dow Jones. "The price of our stock does tend to be low with our peer
group. We have some real growth engines. We're optimistic for 1999."
Jean will become Varlen's chief executive on Feb. 1 with the
retirement of current CEO Richard Wellek.
Although the company may be known to professional value investors, it
is relatively unknown to many investors, said Gregory Konezny, analyst
at Piper Jaffray. "They're a smaller-cap industrial company that's
underfollowed," Konezny said. "They're a leader in the railroad
business."
Varlen's business sector includes companies such as ABC Rail Products
Corp. (ABCR), Johnstown America Industries Inc. (JAII) and Westinghouse
Air Brake Co. (WAB), Konezny said.
Varlen shares recently traded at $25, about halfway between its
52-week high of $31.20, set on June 30, and its year low of $17.20, set
on Sept. 1. Its price-to-earnings ratio is near 11.
The mean estimate of five analysts surveyed by First Call was for
Varlen to earn 52 cents a diluted share in the fiscal fourth quarter
ending Jan. 30, and 72 cents a share in 1999's fiscal first quarter.
Konezny estimated 10% earnings growth and 3% revenue growth for the
coming fiscal year ending in January 2000.
Declining to "forecast earnings" or 1999 percentage revenue or
earnings growth, Chief Operating Officer Jean said Varlen will grow
because of access to the privatizing European freight car market,
modernization of U.S. train cars and locomotives and steady growth in
truck and auto production.
"We've been pushing capacity," he said.
The rail car and locomotive industries have the highest order
backlogs in 18 years, Jean said. And the truck industry could see
backlogs into 1999, he said.
Varlen supplies heavy truck makers such as Paccar Inc. (PCAR) -
builder of brands Kenworth and Peterbilt - with hubs, bearings,
transmission parts, sleeper cab interiors and trailer bed supports. It
also makes rail-car parts, including bearings and absorbers for car
couplings, and locomotive parts, ranging from draft gears to toilets.
Robust consumer spending causes a need for more inventory shipments,
which means a strong demand for trucks and train cars to haul those
products around the country, said Diane Swonk, deputy chief economist at
Bank One Corp. (ONE). That same scenario should carry over into 1999,
she said.
"We're still bullish on the consumer, so transports look good in the
future," said Swonk, who forecasts a 10.2% 1999 growth rate in durable
equipment investment, compared with 16.6% in 1998.
Jean said 1999 could be a "cyclical peak for trucks," but the company
expects good things from international rail-car part sales and its Means
one-way automatic transmission clutch.
Previously untapped, privatization of large rail operations in Europe
will bring new markets for freight car parts, Piper Jaffray analyst
Konezny said. Like European passenger trains, U.S. rail freight cars are
seen as the world's benchmark, Jean noted.
Furthermore, Varlen expects increasing usage in 1999 of its one-way
clutch on Ford Motor Co.'s (F) Mystique and Contour models, Jean said.
And General Motors Corp.'s (GM) first-quarter production releases for
its full-size pickups Silverado and Sierra are a "good sign," Jean said.
GM's sport utility vehicles and trucks use Varlen parts, including
components in transmissions and steering columns.
So far, auto parts account for only 15% of Varlen's revenue. Rail and
heavy-truck parts account for nearly 40% each of revenue, while the the
rest comes from its line of petroleum analyzation equipment |
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| To: Caroline who wrote () | 3/3/1999 7:44:00 AM | | From: walterenergy | | | |
Varlen Reports Highest Fourth Quarter in History And Record Sales, Earnings for 1998
PR Newswire - March 02, 1999 08:30
NAPERVILLE, Ill., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Varlen Corporation (Nasdaq: VRLN), a leader in transportation products and petroleum analyzers, today reported record sales and net earnings for its second-consecutive year ended January 31, 1999. The recently completed fourth quarter represented the sixth consecutive quarter that net earnings exceeded the prior year's comparable quarter.
1998 Highlights
-- Net earnings grew 60.8 percent, to $41.2 million, or $2.38 per diluted
share, on 23.8 percent higher sales, at $646.7 million.
-- Operating profit increased 39.6 percent to a record $88.2 million.
-- Varlen completed a 5-for-4 stock split in the form of a stock dividend.
-- Good market dynamics and company performance give Varlen a positive
outlook for 1999.
Financial Summary
(In thousands, except per share and percentages)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended Year Ended
Jan. 31, Jan. 31, Percent Jan. 31, Jan. 31,Percent
1999 1998 Change 1999 1998 Change
Net Sales $165,104 $136,978 20.5% $646,672 $522,254 23.8%
Operating Profit(a) 20,845 17,600 18.4% 88,248 63,193 39.6%
Net Earnings 9,636 7,529 28.0% 41,242 25,651 60.8%
Diluted Earnings
Per Share(b) $.56 $.43 30.2% $2.38 $1.54 54.5%
Diluted Weighted
Average Shares(b) 17,352 17,343 .1% 17,300 17,194 .6%
(a) Excludes Corporate and Net Interest Expense
(b) All Periods Reflect the 5-for-4 Stock Split Effected in the Form of
a Stock Dividend Paid on November 17, 1998
"We outperformed our strong transportation markets -- and rose well above record performance in 1997 -- because of the growth engines in each of our businesses, coupled with aggressive productivity initiatives."
-- Raymond A. Jean, President and CEO
Record 1998 Results
Net sales for the year ended January 31, 1999, rose 23.8 percent to $646.7 million compared with $522.3 million for 1997. Operating profit reached a record $88.2 million, up 39.6 percent from $63.2 million a year ago. Net earnings were $41.2 million versus $25.7 million for the prior year, a 60.8 percent improvement. On a diluted share basis, net earnings increased 54.5 percent to $2.38 for 1998 from $1.54 last year.
The 1998 results included a pretax charge of $2.6 million for domestic facility closure and related costs, partially offset by a $1.1 million pretax accounting gain resulting from changes to subsidiary defined benefit pension plans. These items resulted in a net charge to earnings equivalent to 5 cents per diluted share during the fourth quarter ended January 31, 1999.
Strong Fourth Quarter
Sales, operating profit and net earnings all reached fourth quarter records. Net sales grew 20.5 percent to $165.1 million for the latest three months compared with $137.0 million for last year's fourth quarter. Quarterly operating profit, at $20.8 million, rose 18.4 percent from $17.6 million for the same period last year. Net earnings increased 28.0 percent to $9.6 million, compared with $7.5 million for the prior quarter, while diluted earnings per share improved to 56 cents from 43 cents, growing 30.2 percent. These figures would have been higher if the previously discussed charges, equivalent to 5 cents per diluted share, had not been incurred. |
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| To: walterenergy who wrote (7) | 3/5/1999 9:06:00 AM | | From: walterenergy | | | |
Varlen Q4 up, sees record Q1 on rail, truck demand
Reuters Story - March 02, 1999 15:05
NAPERVILLE, Ill., March 2 (Reuters) - Transportation equipment maker Varlen Corp. reported record 1998 fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday and said continued good demand for railcars and trucks should lead to a record 1999 first quarter.
"The fundamentals for our transportation markets remain strong, and the growth engines we have in each transportation end market should lead us to a record first quarter," said Raymond Jean, Varlen's president and chief executive officer.
Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended January 31 rose 28 percent to $9.6 million or $0.56 a diluted share including charges. That figure compares with $7.5 million or $0.43 cents a share for the year-ago quarter.
"With the North American freightcar backlog at 66,000 at the end of calendar 1998, expected 1999 locomotive build rates of 1,500 units, and continued strong demand in Europe, we believe the call for Varlen's locomotive and railcar components should be strong in 1999," Jean said.
The company also said solid demand in heavy-duty truck and trailer markets helped 1998 results.
"North American production for Class 8 trucks rose 18 percent to about 260,000 trucks for the year, and industry backlog closed calendar 1998 at about 263,000 units," Jean said. "Since this is nearly one year's worth of production, the demand for Varlen's truck components seems reasonably assured well into the second half of 1999."
Varlen said it obtained a significant amount of new business in 1998 that will increase its content per vehicle. Higher content will benefit the company in 1999 and should allow it to continue to outperform the industry, it said.
Fourth quarter sales grew 20.5 percent to $165.1 million compared with $137.0 million in the year-ago period. Quarterly operating profit was $20.8 million, compared with $17.6 million for the same period last year.
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