LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 7, 2016 /Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI). The company announced its fourth quarter and full-year results on October 5th, 2016. The company reported record net sales, net income, and diluted earnings per share; but results still came in below Wall Street's expectations. Register with us now for your free membership at: http://www.activewallst.com/register/.

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Earnings Reviewed

For the three months ended on August 31st, 2016, Acuity reported that net sales were $925.5 million, increasing by $166 million or 22%, compared to the year-ago period. Sales of LED-based products, which grew almost 40% over the year-ago period, represented approximately two-thirds of Q4 FY16 total net sales. The net sales numbers were below analysts' expectation of $948.3 million.

Net income for Q4 FY16 was $82.9 million, or 1.89 per diluted share, an increase of 38% compared to $1.37 per diluted share in the prior year's period. Adjusted diluted EPS for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 increased 27% to $2.21 compared to adjusted diluted EPS of $1.74 for the year-ago period. Analysts' estimated earnings of $2.38 per share.

Net sales for FY16 increased 22% to $3.29 billion. Results for FY16 included operating profit of $475.2 million, net income of $290.8 million, and diluted EPS of $6.63. Adjusted net income for FY16 was $343.7 million compared to $254.1 million for the prior year's period, up by 35%.

14th Consecutive quarter of double digit Volume growth

The growth in net sales was attributed to a 1% increase in volume as well as a 12% gain from acquisitions, partially offset by a net unfavorable change in product prices and mix of products sold ("price/mix") of 2% and a 1% unfavorable impact from changes in foreign currency exchange rates. The increase in volume was broad-based across most product categories and key sales channels. Acuity stated that it was the 14th quarter in a row where it achieved double-digit volume growth.

Operating Metrics

For Q4 FY16, Acuity's adjusted operating profit surged 27% to $156.5 million, or 16.9% of net sales, compared to the year-ago period adjusted operating profit of $123.6 million, or 16.3% of net sales. The company reported adjusted gross profit margin of 43.5%, up 120 basis points compared to the year ago period. The expansion adjusted gross profit margin was primarily due to the benefits of higher net sales volume, productivity improvements throughout most of the supply chain and lower input cost partially offset by the addition of Juno as well as a short-term impact of the supply chain and streamlining actions taken during the quarter.

Cash Matters

Acuity's net cash provided by operating activities totaled $345.7 million for FY16 compared to $288.9 million for the year-ago period, representing a y-o-y advance of 20%. As of August 31st, 2016, the company's cash and cash equivalents totaled $413.2 million, a decrease of $343.6 million since the beginning of the fiscal year. The Company used cash of $623.2 million for acquisitions during FY16. Acuity's total debt outstanding was $355.2 million at August 31, 2016. The company has additional borrowing capacity of $243.9 million at August 31, 2016, under its credit facility which does not expire until August 2019.

Stock Performance

At the closing bell, on Thursday, October 06, 2016, Acuity Brands' stock climbed slightly by 0.40%, ending the trading session at $243.97. A total volume of 915.83 thousand shares were traded at the end of the day, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 295.09 thousand shares. In the last twelve months, shares of the company have surged 33.71%. Moreover, the stock gained 4.52% since the start of the year. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 39.81 and has a dividend yield of 0.21%.

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