Mandeep Chawla
Analyst · Stifel
Thank you, Rob, and good afternoon, everyone. Fourth quarter revenue of $1.55 billion, we got the midpoint of our guidance range and down 4% year-over-year. Some highlights for the fourth quarter include: We delivered 6% year-over-year revenue growth in ATS, representing 33% of total revenue. Revenue from our ATS end market increased 6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, as growth from strong demand and new programs offset revenue declines due to our exit from the solar panel business. At $504 million, ATS represented 33% of total revenue. And excluding the impact of the solar panel business, the ATS business grew 10% compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.
We also launched a new normal course issuer bid, pursuant to which we repurchased and canceled 1.9 million subordinate voting shares for approximately $20 million.
Although we were within our guidance range for revenue and adjusted EPS, margin, IFRS EPS and adjusted EPS were down year-over-year and sequentially, impacted by customer demand, pricing volatility and shift in program mix in our CCS business. Non-IFRS operating margin was 3.3% and adjusted earnings per share were $0.27. Finally, we achieved adjusted return on invested capital of 17%.
Moving to our revenue from an end market perspective. Our communications end market represented 40% of total revenue in the fourth quarter. Revenue from this market was down 8% sequentially due to lower demand and late demand changes in the quarter and was down 12% year-over-year based on the very strong fourth quarter of 2016.
ATS growth was largely driven by increases in our aerospace and defense revenue as a result of an additional operate in place agreement, which we completed in the fall of 2017. Energy products also showed strong growth year-over-year. This growth was somewhat offset by the loss of revenue resulting from our exit from solar panel manufacturing.
As Rob has highlighted, the investments we are making to drive growth and expand our capabilities in ATS are contributing to positive and consistent results, and we anticipate that this positive momentum will continue in 2018. Our enterprise end market revenue was strong and increased 15% sequentially due to demand seasonality, but decreased 4% on a year-over-year basis, primarily due to softer demand. Revenue from our enterprise end market represented 27% of total revenue.
Our top 10 customers represented 73% of revenue for the fourth quarter, an increase of 2% from the third quarter of 2017 and 1% from 1 year ago. For the fourth quarter, we had 3 customers individually contributing greater than 10% of total revenue.
Moving to some of the other financial highlights for the quarter. From an IFRS perspective, net earnings for the quarter were $14.4 million or $0.10 per share compared to $20.9 million or $0.15 per share in the fourth quarter of 2016. Lower IFRS net earnings were driven by lower gross profit and higher other charges in 2017 as well as interest from tax recoveries that benefited 2016, partially offset by somewhat lower restructuring costs.
Moving on to some of our non-IFRS financial measures. Adjusted gross margin of 6.8% was down 20 basis points sequentially and down 40 basis points year-over-year. Sequentially and on a year-over-year basis, adjusted gross margin was impacted by unfavorable changes in program mix in CCS, elevated ramping costs associated with establishing infrastructure in multiple jurisdictions and volatile pricing dynamics.
Our adjusted SG&A was approximately $47 million, within our range of $45 million to $47 million for the quarter, and similar to the same period last year.
Non-IFRS operating earnings were $50.7 million or 3.3% of revenue, which was 30 basis points below the midpoint implied in our Q4 revenue and EPS guidance ranges. This was down $3.7 million sequentially and down $10.7 million relative to the same period last year.
Our adjusted effective tax rate for the fourth quarter was 17.3% and 16.5% for the year, slightly below our expected annual range of 17% to 19%.
Adjusted net earnings for the fourth quarter were $39.7 million. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.27 represents a decline of $0.14 year-over-year. This was largely due to lower non-IFRS operating earnings in the fourth quarter of 2017 and net tax recoveries recorded during the fourth quarter of 2016.
Adjusted ROIC of 17% was down approximately 2% sequentially and down approximately 6% year-over-year, primarily impacted by lower profitability and higher inventory.
Last quarter, we announced that we were undertaking a series of restructuring actions. The actions will be focused on streamlining our business and improving margin performance. We launched an enterprise-wide cost productivity program to identify cost reduction opportunities in our network to increase operational efficiency and productivity and to respond to the volatility in our CCS market, including pricing volatility.
As part of this efficiency initiative, we have launched a cost reduction program, pursuant to which, we anticipate we will incur restructuring charges between $50 million and $75 million. The program will primarily consist of cash charges, which we expect to incur through mid-2019, with the improvement from the program to primarily benefit gross margin. We anticipate that these efficiency initiatives, combined with our growing ATS product mix, will continue to move us towards our previously referenced target margin goal of 3.5% to 4% as we progress on our transformation.
Moving on to working capital. Our inventory increased by $38 million from September 30, 2017, to $1,062,000,000 at the end of 2017. Inventory turns for the fourth quarter were 5.6, a decline from 5.7 turns in the third quarter of 2017 and 6.6 turns in the fourth quarter of 2016. The increase in inventory in the fourth quarter was driven by high levels of demand volatility, late period demand reductions, material constraints as well as investments in new programs.
Capital expenditures were $21 million or 1.3% of revenue for the fourth quarter. Our capital expenditures for 2017 were $103 million or 1.7% of revenue, primarily due to increased investments in growing our capabilities and facilities. We currently expect 2018 CapEx spend to be in the range of 1.5% to 2% of revenue, similar to 2017.
We generated approximately $43 million of cash from operating activities for the quarter compared to approximately $88 million in the prior period. Free cash flow was a positive $19 million compared to positive free cash flow of approximately $69 million for the same period last year. Our free cash flow was lower as it was negatively impacted by lower operating earnings and higher inventory levels.
We launched a new NCIB program in November 2017, and we repurchased and canceled 1.9 million subordinate voting shares in the fourth quarter for approximately $20 million. This reduced our outstanding subordinate voting shares by 1.5%, and we anticipate continuing to repurchase shares into Q1. At December 31, 2017, we had approximately 141.8 million shares outstanding.
Moving on to our balance sheet. Our balance sheet remains strong and continues to demonstrate to our customers our ability to invest and grow with them, while we continue to return capital to shareholders. Our cash balance at quarter-end was $515 million, down $12 million sequentially and down $42 million year-over-year. During the quarter, we made our quarterly repayment of $6 million against our outstanding term loan, which now has a balance of $187.5 million. Our net cash position at December 31, 2017, was $328 million.
Before we move on to our guidance, I'd like to give an update on IFRS 15. We adopted this new reporting standard beginning in the first quarter of 2018 and will provide restated comparatives each quarter. For those who are not familiar with this standard, it does not change the economics of our business. However, IFRS 15 will change the timing of revenue recognition for some of our business, resulting in the recognition of revenue earlier than under the former rules. Our revenue and earnings guidance for Q1 2018 accounts for these changes.
Now on to our guidance for the first quarter of 2018. For the first quarter of 2018, we are projecting revenue to be in the range of $1.425 billion to $1.525 billion. The midpoint of this range reflects revenue to be down 5% sequentially and flat year-over-year.
At the midpoint of our revenue and EPS range, non-IFRS operating margin would be approximately 3.0%. Our operating margin for the first quarter is expected to be impacted by continued volatile pricing dynamics and higher-than-usual ramp costs that are continuing from the second half of 2017. However, as Rob noted, we are anticipating the business to operate at approximately 3.0% operating margin, despite the current period of volatility in our CCS business. It is our goal to get back to the 3.5% range in the second half of 2018 as we progress on our cost initiatives and growing ATS mix.
First quarter non-IFRS adjusted net earnings are expected to range between $0.20 and $0.26 per share. Non-IFRS adjusted SG&A expense for the first quarter is projected to be in the range of $45 million to $47 million. Finally, we estimate our first quarter non-IFRS adjusted effective tax rate to be in the range of 17% to 19%, excluding any impacts from taxable foreign exchange.
Looking at our end market outlook for the first quarter. In ATS, this market continues to grow. And we are anticipating revenue to be up in the mid-single digits year-over-year, driven by anticipated new program growth, including in our aerospace and defense and semiconductor markets. In our communications business, we anticipate a decline in the mid-single-digit range. In our enterprise end market, we anticipate moderate increases in the low single digits year-over-year as new ramping programs offset volatility in other programs.
In closing, I'd like to acknowledge the Celestica team for their performance during our transformation. You cannot undergo this level of change without exceptional people. And we are fortunate to have a talented and dedicated organization that is delivering solid progress during our revenue diversification and margin enhancement push.
Now, I'd like to turn over the call to the operator to begin our Q&A.