“We expect this $0.07 of timing items to be earnings neutral for the first half of the year.”

In context

“, which was partially offset by our continued growth investments, timing of equity-based comp, and stranded cost. SIBG and CBG margin rates were up year on year while TEGG was down as expected due to a challenging prior year comparison and inclusion of incremental stranded costs from the exit of PFAS manufacturing. The strong operational performance contributed $0.23 to earnings, was partially offset by $0.06 of non-operational headwinds including FX, resulting in adjusted EPS up $0.17 or 10% versus last year to $1.88. Relative to our initial expectation of flat earnings growth in Q1, this $0.17 outperformance was driven by $0.10 of G and A efficiency, while maintaining our growth investments and $0.07 of timing benefits related to spin and cost containment actions in the current quarter. We expect this $0.07 of timing items to be earnings neutral for the first half of the year. Free cash flow of approximately $500 million came in stronger than expected on the back of better earnings and disciplined CapEx spending. And we continue to have a balanced capital deployment including returning $400 million to shareholders via dividends and $1.3 billion in gross share buybacks partially offset by higher than expected stock option exercise. I will provide a quick overview of our growth performance for each business group on slide five. Safety and Industrial Organic sales grew 2.5% in the first quarter. This growth was broad-based with five out of seven divisions posting positive growth. We saw particularly strong demand for cable accessories, driven by construction of data centers and renewable energy projects. We also saw strength in industrial and electronics bonding s”