Bristol manufacturer Barnes Group's 2Q profits sink below $1M

Photo | Barnes Group FOBOHA, made by Barnes Group, is known for its rotary cube mold systems.

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By Joe Cooper

Weeks after laying off 400 workers to offset COVID-19-related losses, Bristol aerospace and industrial component maker Barnes Group Inc. said its second-quarter profits plummeted as the pandemic nearly shut down the aerospace industry.

For the April-June period, Barnes on Tuesday reported profits of $567,000, or 1 cent a diluted share, down from $37.6 million, or 73 cents, in the second quarter of 2019.

The significant dip in profits came as sales of $236 million were down by 37% from $372 million in the year-ago period, the manufacturer said.

The company said its industrial segment recorded $165 million in sales, down 29% from $233.4 million in the prior year period as the coronavirus pandemic crushed the automotive and industrial markets.

Meanwhile, its aerospace segment posted sales of $70.5 million, also down nearly 50% from $138.3 million in the second quarter of 2019 because the pandemic "essentially shut down global aerospace end markets."

By comparison, Barnes in April said its profits fell almost 13% in the first quarter.

“As expected, the severe disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted our businesses across the globe,” Barnes CEO and President Patrick J. Dempsey said in Tuesday’s earnings release.

“The aerospace industry was virtually shut down as aircraft manufacturers halted production and airlines cut flights, parked aircraft, and curtailed spending,” Dempsey added. “Industrial end markets struggled as customers’ manufacturing operations were offline or operating at a fraction of their normal capacity.”

Barnes said it will continue suspending its 2020 full-year earnings outlook until it’s able to properly forecast future sales performance.

Officials say the company will continue to be impacted by the pandemic during the third quarter as it projects organic sales to fall by approximately 30%.

Earlier this month, the Bristol manufacturer initiated a cost-savings effort to cut staff from roughly 5,400 worldwide to 5,000 to save the company $30 million a year. It's not clear how many Connecticut employees were laid off, but the total move will cost about $18 million mostly in severance pay.