Irrigation System Maker Lindsay Tops Estimates on Drought

Lindsay Corp. (LNN), an Omaha, Nebraska- based provider of irrigation systems, said fiscal first-quarter revenue climbed 24 percent to $147.4 million from a year earlier, buoyed by equipment sales during the U.S. drought.

The shares rose 7.5 percent to $86.03 at the close in New York, the highest since August 2008, as earnings of $1.15 a share and revenue topped analysts’ estimates.

Irrigation equipment sales surged 33 percent to $134.2 million in the three months through November from a year earlier as the worst U.S. drought since the 1930s Dust Bowl damaged farm crops and cut inventories. Domestic revenue increased 59 percent while irrigation sales overseas slipped 6 percent on lower project revenue in the Mideast, the company said today in a statement.

“Irrigation order volumes remained extremely robust throughout the first quarter as drought conditions combined with positive farmer sentiment, farm incomes and commodity prices continued into fiscal 2013,” Chief Executive Officer Rick Parod said in the statement. “The long-term fundamentals of the business remain very positive as growth drivers of population growth, expanded food production and efficient and environmentally friendly water use remain imperative.”

The shares have climbed 55 percent over the past year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Hackley in London at rhackley@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Randall Hackley at rhackley@bloomberg.net