Brady Corporation Reports Fiscal 2012 Third Quarter Results

Brady Corporation (NYSE: BRC) (“Brady”), a world leader in identification solutions, today reported its financial results for the fiscal 2012 third quarter ended April 30, 2012.

Quarter Ended April 30, 2012 Results:

Sales for the fiscal 2012 third quarter were down 1.9 percent to $331.6 million compared to $337.9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2011. Organic sales were down 0.5 percent, acquisitions added 0.2 percent, and the impact of foreign currency translation decreased sales by 1.6 percent. By segment, organic sales increased 1.9 percent in the Americas, decreased 1.2 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, and decreased 3.3 percent in EMEA.

Net income in the fiscal 2012 third quarter was $27.7 million compared to $28.6 million in the same quarter last year. Excluding $2.7 million of after-tax restructuring charges in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 and $0.9 million of after-tax restructuring charges in the same quarter last year, net income was up 3.0 percent to $30.3 million compared to $29.5 million in the same quarter last year.

Earnings per diluted Class A Common Share were down 3.7 percent to $0.52 in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 compared to $0.54 in the same quarter last year. Excluding after-tax restructuring charges, earnings per diluted Class A Common Share increased 3.6 percent to $0.57 in the third quarter of fiscal 2012, compared to $0.55 per share in the same quarter of fiscal 2011.

Nine Months Ended April 30, 2012 Results:

Sales for the nine-month period ended April 30, 2012 were up 0.5 percent to $1.002 billion compared to $0.996 billion in the same period last year. Organic sales growth was 0.4 percent; divestitures, net of acquisitions reduced sales by 0.2 percent; and the impact of foreign currency translation increased sales by 0.3 percent. By segment, organic sales increased 3.5 percent in the Americas, decreased 2.0 percent in EMEA, and decreased 1.9 percent in the Asia-Pacific region.

Net income (loss) for the nine months ended April 30, 2012 was $(29.6) million compared to $79.1 million in the same period in fiscal 2011. Excluding the impact of the $115.7 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge incurred in the second quarter of fiscal 2012 and $2.7 million of after-tax restructuring charges during the nine-month period ended April 30, 2012 and $5.0 million of after-tax restructuring charges in the same period last year, net income was up 5.6 percent to $88.8 million compared to $84.1 million in the same period last year.

Earnings (loss) per diluted Class A Common Share were $(0.57) for the nine-month period ended April 30, 2012 compared to $1.49 in the same period of fiscal 2011. Excluding the impact of the non-cash goodwill impairment charge and the after-tax restructuring charges, earnings per diluted Class A Common Share increased 7.0 percent to $1.69 for the nine-month period ended April 30, 2012 compared to $1.58 in the same period of fiscal 2011.

Commentary and Guidance:

“Our Americas region is performing well, fueled by strength in our U.S. business. In EMEA, our growth initiatives and reallocation of resources to the stronger sub-regions are partially counter balancing the weak macro-economy, enabling our EMEA revenues to be down only slightly when compared with the prior year. During the quarter, our revenues were below our internal expectation, but profitability was maintained through reductions in selling, general, and administrative expenses, including reduced incentive compensation,” said Brady’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Frank M. Jaehnert. “After quarter-end, we completed two acquisitions for a purchase price of approximately $36 million. These two acquisitions, Pervaco AS in Norway and Runelandhs Försäljnings AB in Sweden expand our presence in the Scandanavian region, which is an under-penetrated market for Brady. We also announced the acquisition of Grafo Wiremarkers Africa (Pty) Ltd in South Africa during the third quarter, which is our first acquisition on the African continent.”

“Our balance sheet is strong with $374.4 million of cash and $342.1 million of debt as of April 30, 2012 and our acquisition pipeline is robust,” said Brady’s Chief Financial Officer, Thomas J. Felmer. “In Asia, we are working to improve the profitability of the business as the changes that we announced last quarter related to the separation of our die-cut business and our MRO and identification businesses into two distinct and separate operations are starting to take hold. Our new management team is in place in Asia and driving hard to deliver results. Because of the ongoing weaknesses in our Asian die-cut business and the weak macro-environment in Europe, we are modifying our full year fiscal 2012 guidance range for earnings per diluted Class A Common Share, exclusive of after-tax restructuring charges and the Asia goodwill impairment to between $2.15 and $2.25; down from our previous guidance range of $2.20 to $2.40 per diluted Class A Common Share.”

A webcast regarding Brady’s fiscal 2012 third quarter financial results will be available at www.bradycorp.com beginning at 9:30 a.m. Central Time today.

Brady Corporation is an international manufacturer and marketer of complete solutions that identify and protect premises, products and people. Brady’s products help customers increase safety, security, productivity and performance and include high-performance labels and signs, safety devices, printing systems and software, and precision die-cut materials. Founded in 1914, the company has millions of customers in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, education, medical and a variety of other industries. Brady is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as of July 31, 2011 employed approximately 6,500 people at operations in the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Brady’s fiscal 2011 sales were approximately $1.34 billion. Brady stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BRC. More information is available on the Internet at www.bradycorp.com.

Brady believes that certain statements in this news release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements related to future, not past, events included in this news release, including, without limitation, statements regarding Brady’s future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations are forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project” or “plan” or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain and are subject to risks, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond Brady’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For Brady, uncertainties arise from the length or severity of the current worldwide economic downturn or timing or strength of a subsequent recovery; future financial performance of major markets Brady serves, which include, without limitation, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, laboratory, education, governmental, public utility, computer, transportation; difficulties in making and integrating acquisitions; risks associated with newly acquired businesses; Brady’s ability to develop and successfully market new products; changes in the supply of, or price for, parts and components; increased price pressure from suppliers and customers; fluctuations in currency rates versus the US dollar; unforeseen tax consequences; potential write-offs of Brady’s substantial intangible assets; Brady’s ability to retain significant contracts and customers; risks associated with international operations; Brady’s ability to maintain compliance with its debt covenants; technology changes; business interruptions due to implementing business systems; environmental, health and safety compliance costs and liabilities; future competition; interruptions to sources of supply; Brady’s ability to realize cost savings from operating initiatives; difficulties associated with exports; risks associated with restructuring plans; risks associated with obtaining governmental approvals and maintaining regulatory compliance; and numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive and regulatory nature contained from time to time in Brady’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, but not limited to, those factors listed in the “Risk Factors” section located in Item 1A of Part I of Brady’s Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2011. These uncertainties may cause Brady’s actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in its forward-looking statements. Brady does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.