Leggett & Platt, Incorporated's CEO Discusses Q1 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

This conference is being recorded for Leggett & Platt and is copyrighted material. This call may not be transcribed, recorded or broadcast without our expressed permission. A replay is available from the IR portion of our website.

We posted to the IR portion of the website yesterday a set of PowerPoint slides that contain summary of financial information. Those slides supplement the information we discuss on this call, including non-GAAP reconciliations. I need to remind you that remarks today concerning future expectations, events, objectives, strategies, trends or results constitute forward-looking statements.

Actual results or events may differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements. For a summary of these risk factors and additional information, please refer to yesterday's press release and the section in our 10-K entitled Forward-Looking Statements.

I'll now turn the call over to Dave Haffner.

David S. Haffner

Good morning, and thank you for participating in our call. We were pleased with the first quarter results we reported yesterday. First quarter same-location sales increased 4.5% versus a relatively strong first quarter of 2011, reflecting a combination of unit volume growth and raw material related price inflation. Volume trends were mixed across our businesses. We saw volume gains in automotive and office components, as well as in U.S. Spring, adjustable beds and other parts of the Residential segment. The most notable volume declines occurred in store fixtures, furniture hardware and commercial vehicle products.

Earnings per share for the quarter were $0.30, unchanged from the first quarter of 2011. In last year's first quarter, we had a $0.03 per share benefit from unusual items including gains from building sales that did not recur in 2012. Current quarter earnings benefited from higher unit volumes. We are also realizing the expected earnings benefits from the restructuring activities we initiated in late 2011. The strategically attractive Western Pneumatic Tube acquisition that we completed in January is exceeding in our expectation for strong operating performance.

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