General Cable 2nd-quarter profit falls, misses analyst expectations

General Cable 2Q profit falls

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — General Cable Corp., which provides fiber optic and metal cable products, said Monday that its second-quarter profit sank 24 percent as higher expenses overshadowed a slight increase in revenue.

General Cable shares fell $1.34, or 4.8 percent, to $26.77 in after-hours trading. The stock had risen $1.57, or 5.9 percent, to $28.11 during regular trading.

For the quarter that ended July 2, General Cable earned $23.8 million, or 45 cents per share, compared with a profit of $31.3 million, or 59 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding a convertible interest expense of 9 cents per share, the company earned 54 cents per share — 6 cents lower than analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected.

Revenue rose 7 percent to $1.21 billion; analysts were looking for $1.25 billion in revenue.

Expenses increased too, though, rising to $84.9 million from $81.7 million in the same quarter last year.

In the current quarter, General Cable expects a profit of 34 cents to 46 cents per share, or 43 cents to 55 cents when excluding a convertible interest expense of 9 cents per share, on $1.15 billion to $1.20 billion in revenue.

Analysts have been expecting an adjusted profit of 54 cents per share on $1.19 billion in revenue.