Stephen Nolan
Analyst · Baird. Please go ahead
Thank you, Bill. Good morning to everyone. I will first talk about the results for the quarter and then comment on the outlook for our business for the balance of the year. For the first quarter, total company net sales were $222.4 million, a decrease of 5.7% compared to the $235.8 million delivered in the same quarter last year. Adjusting for currency translation effects, net sales declined by 8.2% year-over-year in the quarter. In Machine Clothing, also adjusting for currency translation effects, net sales were up 4.9% year-over-year, resulting in the highest Q1 revenue for the segment since 2015 as Bill had mentioned. The increase was driven by growth in all major products -- all major grades of product other than publication grades. The revenue from publication declined by 10% in the quarter and represented only 16% of MC's revenue this quarter. Currency-neutral revenue in both, packaging and tissue grades reflected a high single-digit growth rate in the quarter driven by the high orders we had seen in the fourth quarter of last year. Engineered Composites net sales, again after adjusting for currency translation effects declined by $26.2 million, primarily caused by significant reductions in LEAP and Boeing 787 program revenue, partially offset by growth on the F-35 and CH-53K platforms. During the quarter, the ASC LEAP program generated a little under $27 million in revenue, a slight improvement over the roughly $24 million delivered in Q4 2020, but down significantly from roughly $39 million delivered in Q1 of last year. First quarter gross profit for the company was $88.5 million, a reduction of 1% from the comparable period last year. The overall gross margin increased by 190 basis points from 37.9% to 39.8% of net sales. Within the MC segment, gross margin declined from 53.2% to 51.5% of net sales, principally due to higher fixed costs and lower absorption. Within AEC, the gross margin declined from 17% to 16.4% of net sales, driven primarily by the impact of changes in the estimated profitability of long-term contracts. Last year, during the first quarter, we recognized the net favorable change in the estimated profitability of long-term contracts of close to $1 million, while this year, the net change in the estimated profitability of long-term contracts for the first quarter was insignificant. First quarter selling, technical, general and research expenses declined from $49.2 million in the prior year quarter to $46.7 million in the current quarter, and were roughly flat as a percentage of net sales at about 21%. The reduction in the amount of expense reflects the absence of severance cost recognized in the prior year, the impact of additional accounts receivable reserves we recorded in Q1 2020 when the pandemic began, and lower travel expenses, partially offset by lower foreign exchange gains. As expected, and consistent with our full year plans, R&D expenditures in both segments increased this quarter. Total operating income for the company was $41.8 million, up from $39.6 million in the prior year quarter. Machine Clothing operating income increased by $3.2 million, driven by higher gross profit partially offset by higher FTGNR [ph] expense and AEC operating income fell by $4.7 million caused by lower gross profit. Other income and expense in the quarter netted to an expense of $600,000 compared to an expense of $15.6 million in the same period last year. Last year's results included a significant charge related to a foreign currency revaluation loss. The income tax rate for this quarter was 26.7% compared to the unusually high 62.1% rate we recorded last year. The primary driver of the reduction in the tax rate was the non-deductibility of last year's foreign currency revaluation loss. Apart from that in this quarter, favorable income tax adjustments reduced income tax expense by $1.3 million compared to an increase of $5.1 million from similar adjustments in the same quarter last year. Net income attributable to the company for the quarter was $27.6 million, an increase of $18.5 million from $9.1 million last year. The increase was primarily driven by the absence this year of last year's foreign currency revaluation loss and by higher operating income. Earnings per share was $0.85 in this quarter compared to $0.28 last year. After adjusting for the impact of foreign currency revaluation gains and losses, restructuring expenses, expenses associated with the CirComp acquisition and integration, and severance costs in the prior year period, adjusted earnings per share was $0.87 this quarter compared to $0.78 last year. Adjusted EBITDA grew 2.6% to $60.7 million for the most recent quarter compared to the same period last year. Machine Clothing adjusted EBITDA was $54.9 million or 37.1% of net sales this year, up from $49.2 million or 36% of net sales in the prior year quarter. AEC adjusted EBITDA was $16.7 million or 22.6% of net sales, down from last year's $22.1 million or 22.3% of net sales. Turning to our debt position. Total debt, which consists of amounts reported on our balance sheet as long-term debt or current maturities of long-term debt, declined from $398 million at the end of Q4 2020 to $384 million at the end of Q1 2021. And cash declined by just over $3 million during the quarter, resulting in a reduction in net debt of over $10 million. The first quarter is typically our lowest quarter for cash flow generation due to working capital seasonality and the incentive compensation payments made during the quarter. This year, we performed better than we would typically expect and delivered free cash flow, defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures, of $21.1 million, compared to a use of over $19 million in the same quarter last year, driven primarily by improvements in AEC working capital. We were pleased with the cash flow performance of the AEC segment this quarter, which swung from a significant use in the same quarter last year to significant cash generation this year. Capital expenditures in Q1 of each year were approximately $13 million. Our absolute net leverage ratio is now 0.65, providing us with a very strong balance sheet, allowing us to take advantage of organic and acquired growth opportunities. As we look forward to the balance of 2021, the outlook for the Machine Clothing segment remained strong. Compared to the same quarter last year, MC orders were down 2%. However, as you may recall, near the end of Q1 in 2020, orders spiked from customers who are concerned about the availability of supply in light of the emerging pandemic. Further, from a backlog perspective, we are in a stronger position entering Q1 in 2021 than we were in 2020. So overall, we are feeling good about our previously issued guidance of revenue for the segment of between $570 million and $590 million. From a margin perspective in Machine Clothing, we delivered another strong quarter, with adjusted EBITDA margins north of 37%. I should note that some of the headwinds we projected this year, most notably a return to normal levels of travel and the absence of the foreign exchange benefits we enjoyed during the middle last year, have yet to impact our comparative results. That said, we are pleased with our performance for the quarter. While we are maintaining our adjusted EBITDA guidance for the segment of $195 million to $205 million, we are currently trending toward the upper portion of that range. Turning to Engineered Composites. We are seeing the expected impact of the 787 frames channel destocking in our top line results. During the quarter, we generated less than $1 million of revenue from the 787 frames program compared to over $12 million in the same quarter last year. I already noted that the ASC LEAP program was also down by about $12 million during the quarter. These two programs account for almost all of the year-over-year decline in AEC revenue that we saw during the quarter. As a result of these declines, the share of AEC revenue derived from defense programs grew to over 48% during the quarter. That said, we will still see the previously disclosed revenue impact from F-35 channel destocking in the second and third quarters. So, I would expect the defense program share of AEC revenues to dip somewhat over the next couple of quarters. This will also make the second and third quarters quite challenging for the segment overall. The year is shaping up in line with expectations for the segment, and we are maintaining our guidance range of $275 million to $295 million for segment revenues. From a profitability perspective, our performance to date is broadly in line with our expectations, and we are maintaining our AEC adjusted EBITDA guidance of $55 million to $65 million. We are also maintaining all of our previously issued guidance ranges for company-level performance, with the exception of guidance for GAAP earnings per share, which has been updated to reflect non-GAAP adjustments recorded in Q1. Current guidance is as follows: revenue of between $850 million and $890 million; effective income tax rate of 28% to 30%; depreciation amortization of between $70 million and $75 million; capital expenditures in the range of $50 million to $60 million, GAAP earnings per share of between $2.38 and $2.78, down slightly from prior guidance of $2.40 and $2.80; adjusted earnings per share of between $2.40 and $2.80; and adjusted EBITDA of between $195 million and $220 million. Overall, we are very pleased with how the year is progressing and hope to see a continued progression to normalcy in the balance of the year. With that, I would like to open the call for questions. Over to you, Greg.