Shares of office-furniture manufacturer Herman Miller Inc., surged after it reported a 20 percent jump in first-quarter profit. Herman Miller said orders for the quarter reached their highest level in five years, and the company forecast fiscal second-quarter sales and profit above analysts’ estimates.
The company also issued second-quarter guidance well above Wall Street expectations, sending the company’s shares up $3.30, or 11.3 percent, to $32.50 on the INET electronic exchange, after finishing the Nasdaq session up 62 cents, or 2.2 percent, at $29.20. Shares have ranged between $25.77 and $32.65 over the past year.
For the quarter ended Sept. 2, Herman Miller earned $28.5 million, or 43 cents per share, compared with $23.7, or 34 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2005. Revenue grew to $449.7 million from $430.9 million in the year-ago period.
The results beat Street predictions. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected a profit of 39 cents per share on $447.7 million in sales.
Herman Miller said the increases came despite the impact of an extra week of operations included in the year-ago period. Average weekly sales, accounting for the extra week of operations in the prior year period, increased 12.4 percent, the company said.
Company officials said they expect a fiscal second-quarter profit of 53 cents to 57 cents per share on sales of $490 million to $510 million. Analysts, on average, expect a profit of 45 cents per share on revenue of $471.4 million.
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