Middleby reports third quarter results

The Middleby Corp. based in Elgin on Wednesday reported third-quarter net income of $72.9 million.

The company said it had profit of $1.31 per share. Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs, came to $1.56 per share.

The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.57 per share.

The food preparation equipment company posted revenue of $713.3 million in the period, which also fell short of Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $726.9 million.

Middleby shares have declined 16 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has declined 5 percent in the last 12 months.

Selim A. Bassoul, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "At the Commercial Foodservice Equipment Group, we had solid growth with improving sales to restaurant chains in the domestic market. We continue to develop a pipeline of business opportunities with customers adopting our new technologies," said CEO Selim A. Bassoul.

"International markets remained soft; however we anticipate improving conditions internationally as we end the year and enter 2019," he said. Viking continued to grow at double-digit rates. "The innovative, new lineup of Viking products introduced under our ownership continues to gain momentum," Bassoul said.

"During the third quarter, we also focused on the integration of our acquisition of Taylor. The efforts are well underway and we are pleased with the progress of initiatives to improve profitability," he said.