Rock Of Ages Boosts Earnings

CONCORD, N.H. – Rock of Ages Corp. increased its estimates of earnings in mid-December for the fourth-quarter of 2002, due to better performance in its quarrying and retail operations.
The granite-memorial company noted on Dec. 19 that 4Q 2002 earnings would be at least 30 cents per diluted share, bettering its estimate of 25 cents reported in November. The company’s performance clearly beat Wall Street predictions; the First Call consensus by investment experts predicted earnings for 4Q 2002 of only 17 cents a share.
Kurt Swenson, Rock of Ages chairman and CEO, noted that quarrying and retail sales experienced a strong final quarter of last year, with retailing expected to break even for the quarter. “We expect our retail division to return to profitable operations in 2003,” he added.
Rock of Ages estimated that, for all of 2002, earnings per diluted share would be at least 57 cents before extraordinary one-year charges. After taking an accounting principle change and severance charges into account, the company’s per-share loss for last year would be approximately $3.15, compared to a final six-cents-per-share earnings in 2001.
On Dec. 30, the company’s board of directors increased the authorization for stock buyback from 500,000 shares to 1 million shares, citing the need to be able to take advantage of purchasing opportunities in the future. The company already repurchased 175,000 shares of its stock in 2002; at year’s end, Rock of Ages had 7.8 million shares outstanding.
Rock of Ages is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol ROAC.