Kennametal's Fiscal Year Guidance Tops Street View

LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — Kennametal Inc., which provides vehicle, aerospace and machinery makers with advanced materials and engineered products, on Thursday issued initial guidance for fiscal 2010 that topped Wall Street's expectations.

The company forecast earnings per share, excluding one-time items, of 50 cents to 70 cents for the fiscal year ending in June 2010. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect, on average, 49 cents per share.

"Management presently believes global industrial activity and the corresponding demand for the company's products will continue to moderately improve through the remainder of the current fiscal year," Kennametal said in a statement.

The company also forecast sales in its fiscal second quarter, which ends in December, to be 20 percent to 25 percent lower than the year-earlier level's $568.7 million in sales. That translates into a projected sales range of $426.5 million to $455 million.

Kennametal also reported that it lost money in its fiscal first quarter as sales dropped by more than a third, but results topped Wall Street's expectations.

In morning trading, shares rose $2.21, or 9.7 percent, to $24.92. In the past 12 months the stock has ranged from $12.82 to $25.71.