Gregory P. Rustowicz
Analyst · BB&T
Thank you, Tim, and good morning, everyone. On Slide 6, consolidated sales were $138.9 million, down 5.2% from the prior year period. Excluding the effects of foreign currency translation and a net effect of acquisitions and divestitures, sales declined 5.2%. While sales volume was down 7.6%, favorable pricing of 2.4% reduced the negative impact of the volume decline. Foreign currency translation was slightly positive and offset by net acquisition and divestiture activity this quarter. For the quarter, U.S. sales were down 7.1%, due to weaker sales volumes, offset, to some extent, by pricing and the impact of the divestiture that occurred last year. Sales outside of the U.S. were down 2.5% due to softer volumes primarily in Western Europe. We did see double-digit growth in the emerging markets of 10.9%, which partially offset the declines in the U.S. and Europe. Turning to Slide 7. Our second quarter gross profit margin increased 300 basis points to 31.9%, which was one of the highest gross margin levels achieved since our company went public in 1996. While sales were $7.6 million lower than the prior year, gross profit dollars were actually higher by $1.9 million. Pricing gains of 2.4% versus the prior year added $3.5 million of gross profit. In addition, the net impact of acquisitions and divestitures added $1.6 million of gross profit. Offsetting these positive factors were the impact of lower sales volumes, which negatively impacted gross profit dollars by $1.8 million. Product liability costs were also higher by $1.3 million, the result of a favorable reserve adjustment in the prior year, which did not recur in the second quarter. For the quarter, inflation on raw material cost was essentially flat with the prior year. On Slide 8, selling expenses increased 5.1% from the prior year and represented 12.4% of sales this year, compared to 11.2% last year. The increase in selling costs were primarily related to the Austrian acquisition that was completed in June of this past year and continued investments in emerging markets. G&A expense increased 12.9% from the prior year and represented 10.2% of sales this year compared to 8.6% last year. The current quarter included approximately $600,000 of onetime cost, which included personnel-related costs and professional services. Foreign currency translation had a $300,000 unfavorable impact on G&A costs this quarter. We anticipate G&A cost next quarter will be at the similar level to the current quarter as a result of higher professional services related to M&A activities, but will be lower as a percent of sales. Turning to Slide 9. Operating income decreased by 4.9% to $12.3 million, or 8.8% of sales, compared to the same level in the previous year. Despite the 5.2% reduction in sales, we were able to deliver the same operating margin percentage. The improvement in gross margin offset the higher SG&A costs noted previously. As you can see, on Slide 10, income per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 was $0.36 per share, reflecting a $0.06 decrease from the prior year period where we reported earnings of $0.42 per share. The decrease in reported earnings per share was primarily due to the deferred tax asset valuation allowance in the prior year, which resulted in an artificially low income tax rate of 15.6%. On a pro forma basis, at our current tax rate of 30.6%, earnings per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 were $0.36 per share, compared to $0.35 per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2013. Our effective tax rate for fiscal 2014 is expected to be between 27% and 32%. Turning to Slide 11. Our working capital, as a percent of sales, increased to 21.5% in the current quarter from 18.3% at March 31, 2013. The increase is largely attributable to an increase in inventory for project-type orders, as well as additional inventory being carried for our in-stock guarantee program in our rigging business. As a result, inventory turns declined to 3.6x. We do expect inventory turns should return to the 4x-plus levels by year end, as projects are shipped and our inventory dollars decrease. On Slide 12, you can see that we generated $1.7 million of cash provided by operating activities year-to-date, which was down compared to the prior year. Income taxes paid year-to-date were $3.9 million higher than the previous year, as we are no longer in an NOL position in the U.S. Capital expenditures year-to-date were $8 million versus $4.1 million in the previous year. On an LTM basis, we generated $36.5 million of cash provided by operating activities and ended the quarter with $111.8 million of cash, which is net of the $5.8 million of cash used for the Austrian acquisition, which closed in June. We expect capital expenditures for fiscal 2014 to be in the $20 million to $25 million range, due to a $6.8 million manufacturing plant expansion in China, as well as capital projects that are expected to generate further productivity improvements. Finally, on Slide 13, you can see that as of September 30, 2013, net debt was $40.2 million and total gross debt was $152 million. Net debt to net total capitalization was 13.4%. In addition to having $111.8 million of cash on our balance sheet at September 30, we have an additional $91.5 million of liquidity available under our $100 million senior credit facility, net of $8.5 million of outstanding letters of credit. This facility, along with our healthy cash balance, provides significant liquidity to support our strategic growth plan. With that, I turn it back over to Tim to cover the fiscal 2014 outlook. Before we do that, let's make sure we open it up to questions. I'm sorry.