General Cable Shares Up After 1Q Results, Outlook

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of General Cable Corp., surged Friday after the electrical equipment maker beat first-quarter earnings forecasts and offered an optimistic outlook for the second quarter.

Shares jumped $5.46, or 20 percent, to $32.60 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $6.73 and $75 in the last 12 months.

General Cable said late Thursday it earned $48.3 million, or 92 cents per share, in the first three months of the year, down from $59 million, or $1.08 per share, a year ago.

Excluding special items, earnings came to $1 per share. That was well above the average analyst forecast of 56 cents, according to a Thomson Reuters poll. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.

Sales fell 34 percent to $1.04 billion from $1.57 billion, slightly below the $1.14 billion predicted by analysts.

In a statement, Chief Executive Gregory Kenny said better pricing and slightly higher order volumes helped results.

But he warned that "we see no clear sign that a bottom has been reached in overall demand."

Still, the Highland Heights, Ky.-based company projected adjusted second-quarter earnings of 70 cents to 90 cents per share and revenue of $1.2 billion to $1.25 billion.

Analysts were looking for 69 cents on $1.2 billion in sales.