Acuity Brands Reports Sales and EPS Growth in Q1 2025
Atlanta, Thursday, 9 January 2025.
Acuity Brands achieved a 2% increase in net sales to $952 million and a 7% rise in adjusted EPS, completing the QSC acquisition on January 1, 2025.
Strong Financial Performance
Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) demonstrated solid financial growth in its first quarter of fiscal 2025, ending November 30, 2024. The company reported net sales of $951.6 million, marking a 16.9 million absolute increase or 1.808% growth compared to the same period last year [1][3]. Operating profit remained stable at $133.3 million, while adjusted operating profit increased by 3.1% to $158.7 million [1]. The company’s adjusted diluted earnings per share reached $3.97, representing a 6.7% increase from the previous year [1][3].
Segment Performance
The company’s performance was driven by growth across both major segments. Acuity Brands Lighting, the company’s primary segment, generated net sales of $886.0 million, a 1.1% increase from the prior year [1][5]. More notably, the Intelligent Spaces Group showed impressive growth with net sales of $73.5 million, representing a significant 14.5% increase year-over-year [1][5]. This segment’s operating profit more than doubled, rising by 103.8% to $10.8 million [5].
Strategic Expansion through QSC Acquisition
In a significant strategic move, Acuity Brands completed the acquisition of QSC, LLC on January 1, 2025, for a gross purchase price of $1.215 billion ($1.1 billion net of expected tax benefits) [1][3]. This acquisition represents a major expansion into cloud-manageable audio, video, and control solutions [5]. CEO Neil Ashe expressed satisfaction with both the quarterly results and the acquisition, stating, ‘Our fiscal 2025 first quarter performance was solid,’ and welcomed QSC to the Acuity family [1][3].
Financial Position and Future Outlook
The company maintains a strong financial position with cash and cash equivalents of $935.6 million as of November 30, 2024 [1]. During the quarter, Acuity demonstrated its commitment to shareholder returns by repurchasing approximately 17,000 shares for $5 million [1]. The integration of QSC is expected to significantly impact future performance, with projections suggesting it will add over $100 million in quarterly revenue [5].