Steve Oswald
Analyst · Ken Herbert with Canaccord. Your line is open. Please go ahead
Thanks, Chris. And thank you everyone for joining us today for our 2017 third quarter conference call. I'll begin by providing an overview of the recent developments after which Doug will review our financial results in detail. Well, first let me start by briefly talking about a few accomplishments this quarter and our near-term focus. I was pleased with our Q3 performance primarily due to two reasons. First, we saw 15% growth year-over-year on our military and space platforms as we continue to benefit from resurgence in demand for the F-15 radar racks along with increased shipments on certain helicopter platforms and missile systems. Our defense related backlog is now stable at $256 million. We are optimistic about future top-line growth in the quarters to come. Second accomplishment to note this quarter was the sequential 230 basis point improvement versus second quarter and operating margins for our structures business. As Doug will review in a moment the structure's operating margin was 5.8% this quarter versus 3.5% in Q2, a significant increase. As I mentioned earlier, the past margins were unacceptable and pretty much continue to be as we work hard to improve those. But with Jerry Redondo in the group since May we are announcing the progress I expect now and in the future. This brings me to the next major topic I like to discuss which is our restructuring plans. I spoke during the past 2 earnings calls about how we've been assessing all aspects of the organization to further streamline processes, increase asset utilization and expand margin with particular focus across our structure's operation. We're now taking initial steps to improve our company, announcing plans that result in $22 million to $25 million of pretax restructuring charges beginning in the fourth quarter of 2017 and running through 2018. We're still finalizing the details as to the timing of certain initiatives such as operations affected and the write-down of inventory and impairment of fixed assets. However, the goals are clear, beginning in 2019 the company anticipates these restructuring measures in aggregate result in a total cost savings of approximately $14 million annually. Given the expected results of such initiatives combined with higher manufacturing efficiencies as new platforms ramp, our margins and cash flow should be greatly improved and Ducommun will be more efficient, stronger and innovative supplier to the aerospace and defense industry. Our plans also involve an assessment of all our products and programs to ensure we are engaged on the right type of attractive profitable applications. Just as we decided some time ago to exit certain contracts when appropriate within the business and regional jet space we will reduce our involvement on platforms that are unattractive, inappropriate or lower our overall margin profile. Such decisions will play out in 2018 and that will impact top line growth in our commercial aerospace operation even as we seek continued higher demand across a number of large fixed-wing platforms, particularly within the narrow-body space where we have an excellent position. I'll have more to say about such strategic decisions in the future but suffice it to say that there will be some -- still some programs which should not leverage our core competency or do not meet our internal investment hurdles. I want to share with you that when I began as CEO I clearly communicated to the leadership team that we're only going -- that we were going to be decisive regarding actions on all business which either lost money or marginally profitable. As I said in the past, we need to take these steps to position Ducommun for higher level performance, one that we owe our customers, employees and shareholders alike. At the same time, we will continue to look at opportunistic bolt-on acquisitions that can strengthen our capabilities and improve our market position in key platforms. Such was the thinking with the purchase of lightning diversion systems in this past September. Based in Huntington Beach, California LDS is a world leader in lightning protection systems using proprietary technologies of various aerospace applications. We believe the company has a strong position in a niche market and was well worth its $60 million price given the key aircraft platforms it serves and potential growth trajectory. I'm also happy to share that we are on track integrating LDS into our existing electronic segment and we are very optimistic about the impact this will have on our margins going forward. I'm also pleased as well to have Dave Wilmot, the President of LDS and his team as part of Ducommun after bidding successfully and competing heavily against several other more key names in the aerospace industry for this property. So, we've accomplished a great deal this quarter, improving margin sequentially, acquiring a key aerospace supplier. We also paid down debt as well and our backlog increased to $655 million. And with the announcement of some significant restructuring plans we are well on our way to building Ducommun of tomorrow. Now let me provide you some additional color on our end-markets, products and programs. Beginning with our military and space sector we posted third quarter revenues of $62.8 million, up 15% year-over-year as I mentioned earlier. This positive performance is indicative of overall increasing demand for the platforms we serve with sales up 20% year-to-date. The top-line growth is driven by higher sales of radar racks, particularly for the F-15 as well as expanded shipments for helicopter platforms like the Apache and Blackhawk along with higher spending on missile defense systems. Military backlog, as I mentioned earlier, remains robust, $256 million. As I said earlier, and I'm optimistic regarding further opportunities for system upgrades and defense spending increases in the quarters to come. Within our commercial aerospace operations overall sales were $61 million this quarter, down from roughly $64 million last year. As mentioned in past quarters, decline in 2017 has been due to weakness within the regional business jet markets, including the wind down of one particular program is expected to continue impacting year-over-year comps for the first quarter of 2018. In contrast our large commercial fixed-wing business is stable and growing with sales of roughly $40 million this quarter versus $36 million in 2016, driven by strong deliveries to Boeing for the 737 platform as well as to Airbus for the A320 and A330 aircraft. We ended the quarter with a record commercial aerospace backlog of $367 million. And we are working hard to execute on many growth platforms for 2018 and beyond. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, growth next year will primarily be across our core narrow-body programs as we assess our portfolio to further reduce exposure to unattractive and lower margin business. I also have to report we also remain on track in regards to our next-generation titanium operation in Parsons, Kansas. Our production continues to ramp up on the Boeing 737 MAX, Airbus A320neo, A330, A350 along with very important programs as well for Gulfstream G500 and G600. It's been a of solid execution and we're on track to complete this expansion in the spring of 2018. I'm proud of how far we've come and pleased to see the record backlogs and sequential increase in margins. With our restructuring plans now framed out in broad terms we will focus on finalizing these initiatives to streamline Ducommun's operations and increase asset utilization. We'll have much more to say on this topic in the quarters to come. So, with that I'll now have Doug review our financial results in detail. Doug?