Briggs & Stratton Fiscal 4Q Earnings Skyrocket

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Engine and power tool maker Briggs & Stratton Corp. said Thursday its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings soared despite weaker sales, helped by lower spending, commodity costs and taxes.

The company said it earned $5.3 million, or 11 cents per share, for the three months ended in June. That compares with net income of $479,000, or a penny per share, during the same period a year earlier.

The latest quarterly results included a $5.8 million pretax expense related to the closing of a manufacturing facility in Jefferson, Wis. After tax, the expense amounted to $3.5 million, or 7 cents per share.

Results for the fourth quarter of 2008 included a $13.3 million pretax gain related to lower employee benefit costs as a result of the closing of a Port Washington, Wis., plant. That amounted to $8.1 million, or 16 cents per share, after tax. Briggs & Stratton had restated its results for the previous three fiscal years because of accounting errors.

Sales tumbled 17 percent to $482.8 million from $581.1 million.