Coatings supplier Valspar’s 1Q sales up 10.3%, earnings rise 4.7%

MINNEAPOLIS — Valspar, a major supplier of furniture coatings and finishes, said sales


rose 10.3% in its first quarter ended Jan. 26 while earnings were up 4.7%.
Worldwide sales totaled $694.5 million, compared with $629.8 million in last year’s first quarter.
Valspar’s coatings segment, its largest business unit, recorded sales of $412.3 million in the latest quarter, an increase of 8.2% over the previous year’s first period.
Net earnings came to $23.6 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with $22.5 million, or 22 cents per share, in the first quarter last year.
The company said weak demand for several of its paint and coatings lines was offset by the strong performance of two recently acquired businesses, Huarun Paints, a China-based maker of paint, and H.B. Fuller, a producer of powder coatings.
In addition, a new coil coatings joint venture in Brazil is doing well, said President and CEO William Mansfield.
“We are seeing soft demand in architectural paints and portions of our industrial coatings product lines related to the slowdown in U.S. residential construction spending,” he said.