Joy Global 1Q results beat analysts' estimates

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Coal mining equipment supplier Joy Global said Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter net income was nearly flat as the company looked to reduce costs while customers continue to be cautious with their spending.

Its results beat Wall Street's expectations.

Joy Global said there is likely going to be a continued shift to coal use from natural gas in 2013 due to rising natural gas prices.

For the period ended Jan. 25, the company earned $142.1 million, or $1.33 per share. That compares with $142.4 million, or $1.33 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.13 per share.

Revenue rose slightly to $1.15 billion from $1.14 billion as surface mining equipment sales climbed about 14 percent. Wall Street forecast $1.08 billion in revenue.

Bookings dropped 29 percent to $1 billion in the quarter, partly hurt by the stronger dollar. Backlog was $2.4 billion at quarter's end.

"Although there are growing examples that commodity fundamentals are beginning to turn positive, we expect some delay in translating that into increased mine expansion projects due to a much more cautionary stance on capital deployment by our customers," President and CEO Mike Sutherlin said in a statement.

Joy Global Inc. said it is seeing encouraging signs from the U.S. coal market, with original equipment and aftermarket orders stabilizing over the first quarter.

Sutherlin said that while the company is concentrating on lowering its costs, it will not cause the business to lose any potential opportunities to improve its financial performance.

The company maintained its outlook for 2013 earnings of $5.75 to $6.35 per share on revenue in a range of $4.9 billion to $5.2 billion.

Analysts predict earnings of $6.15 per share on revenue of $5.08 billion.