Gregg Sengstack
Analyst · Seaport Global. Your line is open
Thank you Jeff, and thank you all for joining us. Our forward momentum continued into the third quarter. We achieved new financial records for all time quarterly performance and third quarter performance. On a consolidated basis this was the highest net sales for any quarter in the company’s history reflecting the continued strong demand in our end-markets and a solid execution by our global team. We would not have been able to achieve these results without the dedication and commitment of our employees who continue to manage through the obstacles presented in the current operating environment. End-market demand remains healthy with all three businesses experiencing double-digit top-line growth. This strength reflects the continued global demand for Water and Fueling System products, as well as our distribution offerings. Further, our backlog remains elevated at approximately $250 million, down about $40 million from the second quarter due to progress made on past due shipments and normal seasonality. Our backlog is still elevated about four-folds from levels before the pandemic. Operationally the third quarter was similar to the previous quarter, although we did experience some improvements in our supply chain. We continue to remain focused on reducing inventory levels, which have been higher throughout the year due to cost inflation, supply issues, and longer lead times and drive free cash flow and higher cash conversion levels. We expect supply chain performance to improve, albeit gradually through the end of this year and into 2023. In the quarter, we delivered operating margin expansion across each of our three businesses. Despite inflationary headwinds, our team exhibited resiliency through disciplined operational expense control, notably in SG&A, which as a percent of revenue was 340 basis points lower than the third quarter of 2021. Turning to our segments, Water Systems delivered record third quarter sales and operating income with overall revenue growth of 12% and operating income growth of 25% led by strong organic growth in all geographies. Excluding foreign currency translation, organic growth was 19% led by strong end-market demand in ground water pumping, surface pumping and water treatment. The segment also delivered operating margin of 15.5% for the third quarter. In U.S. and Canada, organic growth for Water Systems is 13%. Sales of groundwater pumping equipment increased by about 12% and sales of all surface pumping equipment increased by about 22%. Outside the U.S. and Canada, Water Systems organic growth was 27% with a strong growth in all regions of the world. We continue to see steady demand within our Water Systems segment supported by strong commodity crop prices and dry weather in the United States and other regions of the globe. We believe these factors, combined with the stability of our business due to the high-level replacement demand will continue to drive the business going forward. Our U.S. distribution business also delivered record sales for any quarter in its history, as well as record third quarter operating income, growing 38% and 54% respectively. The segment delivered an operating margin of 9.8%. These results were driven by previously mentioned solid demand in the U.S. groundwater market, price realization and the acquisition of Lake Equipment at the beginning of the year. Our distribution team continues to deliver strong results underscoring the segment's role as a major growth driver for our company. Our Fueling Systems business delivered record sales and operating income for any quarter in its history with overall revenue growth of 11%, operating income growth 20%. The segment delivered a strong operating margin of 31.7%. Organic growth was 13%. Sales in the U.S. and Canada increased by about 11%, compared to the third quarter of 2021. Outside the U.S. and Canada, Fueling Systems revenues were up and sales growth in India and EMEA offsetting weak sales in China. Again, many of the tailwinds we've experienced over the last several quarters remain the same. Strong demand continues to be fueled by major marketers investing in new locations in the U.S. and Canada, as well as a greater focus on vapor recovery, environmental management and monitoring outside the U.S and Canada. One cannot ignore the headlines about inflation, higher interest rates, potential recession in the U.S. and a tough winter in Europe. At the same time, the pandemic and recent geopolitical conflicts have shown the fragility of food, material and energy supply chains globally highlighting the need for an expansion of agriculture, mining and energy infrastructure. As a global provider system to move water and fuel with a significant footprint in developing regions, we believe these catalysts will add to the current strong demand for our products and systems. Our capital allocation strategy remains unchanged and we will continue to make investments to further grow the business, as well as returning cash to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. With the continued strength in U.S. dollar, we are especially focused on investment opportunities outside the U.S. to strategically expand our product offering. Turning now to our outlook, our stronger-than-forecasted performance in the third quarter more than offset the higher-than-anticipated headwinds to earnings from foreign translation and exchange losses in the quarter. As a result, we are revising our full year 2022 net sales guidance to be between $2 billion and $2.1 billion with our 2022 full year earnings per share, excluding restructuring to be in the range of $4.08 and $4.18, reflecting an increase in our earnings per share guidance midpoint from $4.10 in our previous guidance to $4.13 in our updated guidance. I'll now turn the call back over to Jeff.