Greg Rustowicz
Analyst · CJS Securities
Thank you, Tim. Good morning everyone. On slide nine, our first quarter adjusted gross profit margin increased 50 basis points to 32.4% from 31.9% in the prior year. Adjusted gross profit decreased $1.4 million or 3.1%. We are adjusting gross profit for two items, the European facility consolidation costs of $200,000 and the inventory step-up expense related to the STB acquisition in the amount of $400,000. The reconciliation for adjusted gross profit is included on page 22 of this presentation. This quarter represented the 19th consecutive quarter of year-over-year gross margin improvement on an adjusted basis. On a GAAP basis gross margin was 32%. Gross profit decreased by $2 million this quarter compared to the prior year. Foreign currency translation was the largest contributor to this decrease, negatively impacting gross profit by $2.9 million. Sales volume and mix was the next biggest factors negatively impacting gross profit by $1 million. The European facility consolidation costs and the acquisition inventory step-up expense previously mentioned together accounted for $600.000 of lower gross profit. Partially offsetting these negative factors were several positive items. Pricing, net of material cost inflation added $1.6 million to gross profit. Productivity net of other manufacturing cots was positive this quarter by $400,000. The STB acquisition contributed $300,000 to gross profit and lower product liability cost added $200,000 to gross profit. As shown on slide 10, total SG&A expense was flat this quarter compared with the year ago. Selling expense was lower than the prior year by $1.3 million and represented 12.2% of sales this quarter, down from 12.5% in the prior year. Favorable foreign currency translation lowered selling costs by $1.7 million. The STB acquisition added $100,000 to selling expense in the quarter. G&A expense increased $1 million from the prior year and represented 11.1% of sales this quarter, compared to 9.9% in the prior year. Acquisitions added $300,000 and the European facility consolidation added $100,000 to G&A expense. Also impacting G&A expense in the first quarter was a lower level of IT salaries capitalized as part of the global ERP project compared to a year ago. Foreign currency translation had a $700,000 favorable impact on our G&A cost this quarter. We expect their SG&A run rate to be approximately $32 million to $33 million per quarter in fiscal 2016, excluding the impact of the Magnetek acquisition. Turning to slide 11, adjusted operating margin was 8.8% compared to 9.1% and adjusted operating income was $12 million compared to $13 million in the prior year period. This represents a decrease of $1 million or 8%. The decrease in adjusted operating income and margin reflect the impact of lower sales volumes in the U.S. and Europe as adjusted gross margin is higher than 1 year ago and SG&A costs are slightly down year-over-year. We have adjusted operating income this quarter for the impact of the European facility consolidation costs of $300,000 in the acquisition inventory step-up expense related to STB in the amount of $400,000. This reconciliation can be found on page 23 of this presentation. Our U.S. GAAP operating margin was 8.3% in the quarter. As you can see on slide 12, adjusted earnings per diluted share for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 were $0.36 per share compared to $0.34 per share in the previous year, an increase of $0.02 per share or 5.9%. Adjusted earnings per share reflect the exclusion of the charges related to the European facility consolidation costs and the acquisition inventory step-up expense. GAAP earnings per diluted share were unchanged at $0.34 per diluted share. The GAAP earnings per share included the impact of the items I just mentioned, as well as the actual tax rate in the quarter of 33.9% compared with 33.1% in the prior year period. Our effective tax rate for fiscal 2016 is expected to fall between 32% and 36%, which is higher than last year’s rate of 24.5%, driven by increased pretax income in the U.S. as a result of the approximately $7.6 million of interest expense savings from the debt refinancing. The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate for the company. On slide 13, you can see our return on invested capital is 10.8% on a tailing 12 month basis and it exceeds our weighted average cost of capital. We continue to invest in good capital projects that exceed our cost of capital and look for synergistic and value producing acquisition opportunities like Magnetek that was announced this week, that will also exceed its risk adjusted cost of capital. Turning to slide 14. Excluding the STB acquisition, our working capital as a percent of sales was 21.9% compared to 22.4% at June 30, 2014 and 20.8% at March 31, 2015. Working capital as a percent of sales while better than one year ago did increase from the most recent quarter end. This is due to higher inventory levels, largely related to large projects and backlog, as well as the timing of payments to vendors, which impact accounts payable. Inventory turns were 3.3 times compared to 3.8 times one year ago and were lower compared to last quarter’s level of 4.0 turns. Inventory turns have also been impacted by project inventory increasing in advance of shipments. On slide 15, net cash provided by operating activities was $3.2 million compared to $6.5 million one year ago. Capital expenditures in the quarter were $4.1 million versus $4.6 million in the previous year. As a result, operating free cash flow was a use of cash in the amount of $900,000 compared to operating free cash flow of $1.9 million one year ago. Impacting operating free cash flow in the first quarter was a $5 million pension contribution made to our U.S. defined benefit pension plans. We will not have any further contributions this year to our U.S. defined benefit pension plans and our overall contributions to our U.S. defined benefit pension plans will be $5 million less than they were in fiscal 2015, which will positively affect future cash flows. We expect fiscal 2016 capital expenditures to be in a range of approximately $18 million to $22 million, majority of which is dedicated to productivity and growth projects. We plan to use excess cash flow over the next couple of years to delever the balance sheet after we close on the Magnetek acquisition. Turning to slide 16, you can see as of June 30, 2015 total debt total debt was $123.5 million and net debt was $65.4 million. Net debt to net total capitalization was 18.9%. The debt refinancing that we completed in February 2015 will reduce our annual cash interest by approximately $7.6 million, which was the driver and reduced interest expense in the first quarter when compared to the prior year. As we look to fiscal 2016, our capital allocation priorities include rewarding our shareholders with dividends, closing on the Magnetek acquisition and other strategic growth initiatives to drive profitable growth. Moving to slide 17, I would like to take a minute to review the sources and uses table and our Pro Forma capitalization table related to the Magnetek acquisition. We will fund the purchase price and Columbus McKinnon estimated expense with cash on hand and revolver borrowings, including a new incremental revolver facility in the amount of $75 million. This will represent inexpensive financing for us at the same rates as our current revolver. We will have ample liquidity estimated at $95 million after the closing of this transaction. Our debt to total capital will be approximately 53.4% on a pro forma basis after the transaction, which is in line with the maximum we would flex to for the right acquisition and we do believe this is the right acquisition. Finally, we do expect to utilize our free cash flow to delever very quickly as both companies generate substantial free cash flow. With that, I will turn it back over Tim to cover the fiscal 2016 outlook.