Fortune Brands Inc., which owns the Titleist, Cobra and FootJoy golf brands, slashed its earnings outlook for the second quarter and full year, citing a challenging consumer environment with golfers deferring big ticket club purchases as a result of soaring fuel costs and a large tax increase in Australia related to its spirits business.
The company now projects Q2 adjusted earnings will be down at a high-teens to mid-20s rate compared with adjusted earnings of $1.51 a share in the year-ago quarter. That decline suggests earnings per share will be in a range of $1.12 to $1.27 per share. Previously, the company had expected adjusted earnings for the quarter to be down in the high-singles to mid-teens.
For 2008, the company expects adjusted earnings will be down at a high-single-digit to high-teens rate compared with earnings per share of $5.06 for 2007. At that guidance, earnings per share should fall to be in the range of $4.10 to $4.76 per share. Previously, the company expected earnings to be flat to down high-singles.
