High energy costs impact Leggett |amp| Platt's earnings

Fortune 500 diversified manufacturer Leggett & Platt announced that higher energy costs are expected to impact first quarter earnings by approximately 3 cents per share.

First-quarter earnings are now estimated at 22 cents to 26 cents per diluted share, on sales that should be flat or up slightly versus first-quarter 2002. Previous guidance anticipated sales growth between negative 1 percent and positive 4 percent for the quarter, and earnings of 27 cents to 32 cents per share.

Leggett & Platt is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as LEG, and is a component of the S&P 500 Index.

Leggett & Platt, which has its headquarters in Carthage, is a diversified manufacturer that conceives, designs and produces a broad variety of engineered components and products for customers worldwide. The company comprises 29 business units, 31,000 employee-partners, and more than 300 facilities in 18 countries.

The company has grown at an average rate of 15 percent annually since going public in 1967, with about one-third of the growth coming from internal expansion and market share gains.

The company's prior guidance assumed first-quarter earnings of 28 cents per share if sales were flat. On flat sales, the company now expects earnings to be between 22 cents and 26 cents per share, with a midpoint at 24 cents. The decline from the prior 28 cent estimate to the current 24 cent midpoint is mostly related to higher energy costs; however, the company is also experiencing smaller impacts from reduced production rates and difficulty passing along raw material price increases.

Through the first 10 weeks of the quarter, the company's combined sales were essentially flat, with segment sales growth (excluding acquisitions) as follows: down 2 percent in residential furnishings; down 2 percent in commercial fixturing and components; up 10 percent in aluminum products; down 2 percent in industrial materials; and up 15 percent in specialized products.

The forecast for full-year sales remains unchanged at zero to 5 percent growth. The company still anticipates 5 cents to 10 cents of earnings improvement from recent restructuring and cost reduction efforts; however, some of that benefit is being offset by higher energy costs. Accordingly, the company has reduced its full-year earnings guidance to between $1.15 and $1.35 per share.