Barnes Group Inc. President and CEO Patrick Dempsey said the company's hot runner business is solid, and that Synventive is having "an outstanding year."
Dempsey made the comments in the company's third-quarter conference call Oct. 27. Barnes bought Synventive in 2012 to launch its Molding Solutions unit, which generates about a third of the company's industrial segment sales.
Dempsey cited new automotive model changes, and said: "Accordingly, Synventive is on track for an outstanding year."
The personal care and packaging markets also are showing continued strength for hot runners, he said.
Dempsey singled out two other Molding Solutions businesses — German hot runner manufacturer Otto Männer and rotating cube mold maker Foboha.
"The hot runners business right now continues strong through this year and through the end of the year, we see that continuing," he said.
Synventive is the market-share leader in hot runners, he said, and has seen strength this year in North America and China.
"On the mold side of business, we saw a little slower start to the year, but are seeing significant increases in business at Männer, particularly," Dempsey said.
Otto Männer and Foboha both have record backlogs, he added.
Barnes announced in August it was closing Foboha's mold plant in Muri, Switzerland, and moving it into other facilities, including the Otto Männer factory in Au, Switzerland. Barnes bought Foboha 2016.
Dempsey said Foboha has seen good sales gains, but that came with low profit margins. The plant consolidation should be completed by the end of the year, and officials think Foboha will improve by mid-2018, he told financial analysts.
For the full year 2017, Molding Solutions should generate organic sales growth — taking out the impact of acquisitions — of low double-digits, Dempsey said.
The overall industrial segment generated third quarter sales of $240.4 million, an increase of 15.2 percent over $208.7 million in the third quarter a year ago. Organic sales increased 6 percent, mainly driven by continuing strength in Molding Solutions and nitrogen gas products.
Traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Bristol, Conn.-based Barnes is a global provider of industrial and aerospace components, including advanced machining capability.
Companywide, Barnes generated third-quarter sales of $357.1 million, an increase of 14.6 percent from the $311.5 million in the third quarter a year ago. Net profit fell by 4.1 percent, to $35.3 million in the third quarter.
Overall, Barnes expects total sales to grow 15.5 percent to 16.5 percent in all of 2017. Organic growth should be 10.5 to 11.5 percent.
