From Bloomberg:
Johnson Controls Profit Rises 27% on Energy Systems
Johnson Controls Inc., the largest operator of climate-control systems for commercial buildings, said second-quarter profit jumped 27 percent on rising demand for its energy-efficiency products.
Net income for the quarter that ended March 31 climbed to $289 million, or 48 cents a share, from $228 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier, the Milwaukee-based company said today in a statement. The shares rose as much as 8.8 percent as the company reaffirmed its forecast for an 18 percent gain in earnings for the full fiscal year.
Sales in the building-climate division increased 11 percent to $3.3 billion from a year earlier. The company said today it won a multibillion dollar contract to upgrade buildings for the U.S. Air Force.
A ``backlog of new building-efficiency business indicates that the segment should continue to grow at a respectable rate,'' Brian Johnson, a Chicago-based analyst for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., wrote in a note to investors yesterday. The earnings were in line with his estimate of 46 to 48 cents a share; he rates the stock ``neutral.''
Analysts expected earnings of 47 cents, the average of 13 estimates compiled by Bloomberg....MORE
It's not just energy efficiency:
Johnson Controls-Saft and Maxwell Technologies to Collaborate in Development of More Effective, More Energy Efficient Electrodes for Lithium-Ion Hybrid Vehicle Batteries
Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions and Maxwell Technologies, Inc.
The electrodes for Li-Ion battery applications will incorporate Maxwell's proprietary process successfully demonstrated in ultracapacitor applications. The collaboration will demonstrate optimized performance while reducing energy consumption, solvent recovery and capital investment.
"Our goal is to develop break-through technology on electrode manufacturing to reduce the cost and environmental impact of advanced automotive batteries for hybrid vehicles," said Mary Ann Wright, who leads the Johnson Controls-Saft joint venture and is vice president and general manager of Johnson Controls' hybrid business. "Maxwell has developed a unique manufacturing process that we can leverage through our global leadership in the development and manufacture of lithium-ion automotive batteries."
"Johnson Controls-Saft is an ideal advanced battery collaborator with which to explore a high-volume application that could create substantial additional value from the patented process Maxwell originally developed to produce carbon powder-based ultracapacitor electrode material," said Maxwell's president and chief executive officer David Schramm....Press Release via Earth Times
