Scott J. Robinson
Analyst · C.L. King. Your line is open
Thanks Tod. Good morning, everyone. As Tod said, we had another strong quarter. I'll briefly touch on the highlights and then I'll cover the details of our increased sales and profit outlook. Third quarter total sales were up 6.5%, or 7.7% in local currency. Total operating margin increased to 14.5% from 13.1% last year. Net earnings were up 10%, and GAAP EPS grew to $0.45 from $0.41 in 2016. As a reminder, our prior year results included pre-tax restructuring charges of $4.1 million. Excluding the impact from restructuring in the prior year results, third quarter 2017 EPS was up $0.02 and operating margin was up 70 basis points, reflecting higher gross margin and expense leverage. There were several moving pieces in our gross margin, which was up 20 basis points on an adjusted basis. We captured some benefits from cost reduction initiatives, but higher than expected demand is creating a variety of incremental costs like premium freight and overtime in our plants. The expense leverage last quarter was primarily driven by sales volume, but the benefit was partially offset by higher incentive compensation. Our other income went down by $2 million, with the difference attributable to a swing from a gain on foreign exchange last year to a loss this year. Our third quarter tax rate increased to 28.7% from 24% last year. Discrete benefits in the prior year accounted for nearly all the increase. In terms of cash management, we feel good about our working capital in light of the higher demand. The increase in receivables and inventory levels contributed to the cash conversion rate that was below 100% but not out of line with where we expected it to be. Meeting our customers' needs is always a priority and the increases were in line with the momentum in the business. Finally, we returned $81.7 million to our shareholders last quarter through dividends and share repurchase, which included buying back another 1% of our outstanding shares. Once again, we are pleased with the solid third quarter results and we anticipate a strong finish to the fiscal year. We raised our fiscal 2017 sales forecast to plus 6%, reflecting year-over-year growth of 10% to 11% in Engine, combined with a decline of 2% to 3% in Industrial. Compared with the midpoint of prior guidance, our total sales forecast went up about 3% or $65 million. All that increase is attributable to Engine, which includes an incremental benefit of $6 million from the acquisition of Hy-Pro. The negative impact from currency translation also moderated over the third quarter, resulting in a full-year impact that's less than 0.5 point on total sales. In Engine, the forecast came up for all businesses. The strongest year-over-year growth is coming from Off-Road and Aftermarket, which are both expected to be up in the low teens. While the growth in Off-Road is encouraging, our full-year forecast puts us at about two-thirds of the peak volume and it is still below where we were just two years ago. The Aftermarket forecast is a different story and very positive story. Based on growth of innovative products, our geographic diversification and roughly $19 million of inorganic contribution from recent acquisitions, we are forecasting Aftermarket sales to be at a record-setting level this year. Sales of On-Road products are expected to be down in the low double-digit range, which is better than our prior forecast, because of increased stability in North America. Lastly, in Engine, we expect full-year A&D sales to be up in the mid-single digits, a modest increase from prior guidance as we fine-tune the forecast. Our Industrial sales guidance came down slightly, driven by GTS. Based on a strategic shift we made last year, market conditions and competitive dynamics, we now see GTS sales decline in a 20% range. We expect sales of Special Applications will be down low single-digits, or as we are forecasting IFS sales up in the low single-digits. We also raised the midpoint of our operating margin forecast by 20 basis points. We now expect to deliver a margin of 14% to 14.4%. The sales leverage on our fixed expenses is giving us some tailwind, but pressures from a handful of items, including the cost associated with meeting higher than expected demand and incentive compensation, moderate the incremental gains. Based on the midpoint of our guidance, the implied incremental margin for FY 2017 is in the low 30% range, reflecting an incremental rate of 50% in the first half and about 20% in the back half. As a reminder, the first half rate was driven up by a couple of factors, with the most notable being a very easy comparison from the prior year. Additionally, the faster than expected sales pickup in the second quarter gave us extra leverage as our associated expenses lag demand. We feel that the back half rate is more typical of what we'd expect over the long-term. Of course, the incremental rate will vary from quarter to quarter and by fiscal year and it's largely dependent on what's happening with the sales and our level of investment back into the Company. Tod will provide an update on some of our strategic investments in a few minutes, so let me hit on a few of the other metrics in our fiscal 2017 guidance. We expect a tax rate of 27.7% to 28.7% and our other income is now forecast between $10 million and $15 million. We still see CapEx between $60 million and $70 million, but we revised our cash conversion guidance down to 100% to 110% to account for the increased working capital needs. We are still planning to repurchase between 2% and 3% of our outstanding shares this year. Altogether, we now expect adjusted EPS between $1.67 and $1.71. The midpoint of this range is 11% above last year's adjusted EPS and 3% of the midpoint of our prior guidance range. As a reminder, GAAP EPS includes a benefit of $0.05 from an escrow settlement in the first quarter, so full-year GAAP results will be above adjusted EPS by that amount. In addition to tightening up our FY 2017 forecast, we are in early stages of planning fiscal 2018. Given the recent momentum, we thought it would be helpful to share some of the items we are contemplating in the process. I forewarn you that I'm going to keep my discussion and any answers to your questions at a high level. We'll provide a detailed outlook when we release our fourth quarter earnings in a few months. Starting with sales, our analysis of the Engine end markets, which is influenced by trends in our business, third-party data and external customer forecasts, suggest the recent stabilization should continue through at least this calendar year. Should that hold true, it's likely that both production and equipment utilization will be up in our FY 2018. The degree of the increase will vary based on several factors, including the type of equipment, the geography where it's being used or produced, and the impact from used equipment already in the field. Above all, economic conditions will drive the performance. The outlook in our Industrial markets is cloudier, but forecast for durable goods manufacturing is positive and PMI has been trending over 50 for nearly a year. What we have yet to see is a meaningful shift in global CapEx spending that stimulates project growth. So we will be closely watching trends over the coming months. We still have a lot of work to do on profit projections, but I wanted to share a few of the items we are contemplating in our plan. There are a handful of tailwinds for FY 2018 operating margin, including a lower incentive comp as we reset the annual bonus plans and some relief from the incremental cost associated with higher-than-expected demand. We expect a portion of these benefits will be offset by sales-driving and technology-related investment. It's too soon to comment on the net effect these puts and takes will have on next year's operating margin, but we will be disciplined in our investments and our long-term commitment is to generate incremental profit on increasing sales. We will also maintain a keen focus on our balance sheet next year. I am pleased with the progress we made and I am confident in our employees' ability to keep driving improvement as we continue to leverage our global ERP and centralized key functions. Our cautious approach to planning this year left us in an excellent position to capture margin while minimizing the risk of reactionary cost-cutting. We will take a similar approach next year to ensure we are investing for growth and generating the best returns on our invested capital. With that, I'll turn the call back to Tod. Tod?