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Emerson beats profit estimates on automation boost, cold chain demand – Metro US

Emerson beats profit estimates on automation boost, cold chain demand

FILE PHOTO: Emerson Electric Co is displayed on a screen
FILE PHOTO: Emerson Electric Co is displayed on a screen on the floor at the NYSE in New York

(Reuters) -Industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric Co reported estimate-beating quarterly earnings on Wednesday, helped by strong demand for its automation systems amid a tight labour market and its air-conditioning and refrigeration products.

Companies across North America have been rushing to add robots to their assembly lines to keep up with strong demand at a time when many of them have struggled to lure back workers displaced by the pandemic.

That led to first-quarter sales at Emerson’s Automation Solutions unit, its biggest business, jumping 4.2% to $2.81 billion. It caters to sectors from utility and mining to chemicals and automotive.

With economies reopening on easing restrictions and U.S. homebuilding activity hitting a nine-month high in December, Emerson’s commercial and residential market division saw sales rising 13% to $1.67 billion.

St. Louis, Missouri-based Emerson, which began life as a seller of fans and electric motors a century ago, has been pivoting more towards technology solutions to capitalize on an evolving industrial software market.

Excluding items, Emerson earned $1.05 per share, above Wall Street expectations of 99 cents per share.

The company’s net income rose to $896 million, or $1.50 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $445 million, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier.

Net revenue rose 8% to $4.5 billion in Emerson’s first quarter.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)