Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed expectations. The company issued strong 2019 earnings guidance.
Revenue for the third quarter by the Cincinnati-based company was fiscal 2019 was $1.68 billion, an increase of 5.9% over last year’s third quarter.
CEO Scott D. Farmer said, "Customer closures caused by the severe weather and the holiday calendar during the quarter created challenges within our route schedules. Despite these challenges, we still delivered solid organic growth for the quarter."
Net income from continuing operations was $200.9 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to $295.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2018.
Earnings per diluted share (EPS) from continuing operations were $1.83 for the third quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to $2.66 in the prior year third quarter. G&K acquisition integration expenses negatively impacted EPS in the third quarter of fiscal year 2019 and 2018 by $0.01 and $0.06, respectively.
Farmer concluded, "We are updating our annual guidance for fiscal 2019. We expect revenue to be in the range of $6.870 billion to $6.885 billion.
"This implies a strong finish to our fiscal 2019 with fiscal fourth-quarter revenue growth in the range of 6% to 7% and operating income margin in the range of 17.0% to 17.5%. We expect EPS from continuing operations excluding certain items to be in the range of $7.42 to $7.48."
Shares retreated $12.58, or 6%, to $195.55
