Steve Oswald
Analyst · Sidoti & Co. Your line is open
Okay, thanks, Chris, and thank you everyone for joining us today for our 2019 first quarter conference call. As usual I'll begin by providing an update on recent developments of the company, after which Doug will review our financial results in detail. I'm very pleased to announce that we posted a strong start to fiscal 2019 with overall performance surpassing expectations across the board. First quarter revenue grew roughly 15% year-over-year to $172.6 million driven by continued strong demand across a number of key commercial platforms, particularly the Boeing 737 where revenue grew sharply versus 2018. 737 is a very important program for us as well as our industry. And we're committed to serving Boeing as it deals with the current serious situation. As reported, Boeing is actively engaged in fixing the issues and working with all involved including many regulators to get its plane back in the air as soon as possible. For Ducommun, let me remind everyone that roughly 40% of our content on the 737 platform goes through Spirit Aerosystems based in Wichita, Kansas, which is not cutting current production rates as previously announced. For Boeing direct, we're working closely with them and balancing support of their current rate requirements while also ensuring readiness, risk mitigation, and alignment to the planned forward rates. In addition, our team is actively engaged with Boeing and adjusting current purchase orders as required. Due to our diverse customer base across Ducommun and a broader array of platforms served, we continue to anticipate 5% to 7% revenue growth across our commercial aerospace programs for the next three to four quarters. The longer-term outlook after that is dependent on the timing of the 737 MAX returning to service and Boeing's new production schedule. We ended the quarter with another record backlog of $884 million and a book-to-bill of 111% again underscoring the strength of our customer relationships, the value we provide, and the technology offerings. In addition, our work to improve profitability continue. Overall gross margins rose an impressive 290 basis points year-over-year to 20.7% and our Op margin reached 7.4% while we posted $21.7 million of adjusted EBITDA. Results were particularly strong within our structures segment; where operating margins reached 11.9% to the many actions taken in 2018 to streamline the business. The segment also benefited from higher overall production rates, additional content, lower scrap rates, and the associated economies of scale. In Q1, the company continued to build our innovation processes and the company culture based on lean principles. We've identified additional future operational improvements and ways to reduce working capital, particularly with regards to scrap and inventory; we're underway to significantly improve those areas. Assessing the business and optimizing all our resources is something done continuously at Ducommun. Even as we invest in our technology, operations, and most importantly, our people, become world-class at everything we do at the company. Our two recent acquisitions are also adding value to the organization and helping our growth trajectory. We continue to look at additional opportunities that can leverage our applications and strengthen our proprietary technologies offerings to the industry. I think we have also demonstrated to investors in the marketplace, a strong track record of integration and driving value once acquired and look forward to more activity in the future. Now let me provide some additional color on our end-markets, products, and programs. Beginning with our military and space sector, we posted first quarter revenue of $76.7 million, up 21% from last year primarily reflecting stronger sales across a variety of missile applications. Aside from significant growth across such programs is the Patriot. We also noted positive trends with certain military helicopter platforms and the very important F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Other areas of our defense business were impacted by order timing and transfer production to Huntsville from our Phoenix facility. But we anticipate higher shipments in the coming quarter. The overall market for our military applications looks bright, given our proposed budget that includes increased spending from various missile programs along with solid demand for the F-15, F-18, and F-35 as well as certain helicopter platforms. We ended the quarter with a military and space backlog of around $347 million near record levels. Within our commercial aerospace operations, first quarter sales rose approximately 16% year-over-year to $85.5 million. As I mentioned a moment ago, growth was primarily fueled by large fixed-wing, narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 family. We also saw some nice double-digit growth on the Boeing 787 platform driven by an increase in build rate from 12 to 14 airplanes per month. In total, our large fixed-wing business grew 25% year-over-year. In addition, we experienced an uptick in our regional, business jet business driven by Gulfstream and other OEMs where we expect further room for content expansion. I do want to provide an update on our VersaCore composite technology as well. The team remains on track with our 10-year $200 million contract to supply missile components and are preparing our Guaymas, Mexico facility to begin full production in 2020. Wins such as this, and contributions from our recent acquisitions, strengthen the outlook for Ducommun, while diversifying our base of business. The backlog within our commercial aerospace grew to just under $500 million at the end of the quarter representing another new record for the company. We remain upbeat about the outlook for Ducommun's commercial business this year given the platforms we serve, our customer relationships, and the value provided through our technology and breadth of product offerings. With that, I'll have Doug review our financial results in detail. Doug?