William Thalman
Analyst · B. Riley
Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. I'll begin my comments by covering the second quarter highlights on Slide 9. Note that the schedules in the appendix provide more detailed information on our financial results, including the non-GAAP measures Stephanie referenced. As a reminder, our Piling business was divested in September of last year and is not being treated as a discontinued operation. Accordingly, the amounts presented today include the Piling business within the Steel Products and Measurement segment unless otherwise noted as adjusted for comparability purposes. Also, the Skratch acquisition was completed at the end of the second quarter, and our balance sheet information reflects the acquired business. Both the IV acquisition and track components divestiture were completed after the end of the second quarter. Second quarter sales were $131.5 million, down $23 million or 14.9% from Q2 last year. Adjusting for the Piling divestiture, sales declined 0.7% year-over-year with the sales decline driven by project delivery timing, primarily in our Rail segment. Gross profit declined due to the Piling divestiture, coupled with raw material and labor inflation. Gross profit margins improved by 80 basis points on a reported basis due to the favorable mix as a result of the divestiture of the less profitable Piling business offset in part by higher raw material and labor costs, coupled with unfavorable building sales mix in our Precast Concrete segment. Gross profit margins adjusted for Piling were down 50 basis points year-over-year due to higher input costs and unfavorable building sales mix in Precast Concrete. I would highlight that the 17.7% reported gross profit margin in Q2 was an increase of 110 basis points compared to 16.6% in Q1 of 2022 with the improvement resulting from increased volume and improved price realization, partially offset by unfavorable building sales mix in Precast Concrete. In addition, the 50 basis point year-over-year decline in Q2 is an improvement to the 190 basis point decline reported in Q1. So we are making progress on margins, but we still have significant work to do. As we've indicated in the past, some parts of the business have been more successful in achieving price realization and this is due to certain contractual obligations and other market considerations. We expect to see further progress from our pricing and margin improvement actions and believe we will continue to see improvements in our margins going forward. Adjusted EBITDA in Q2 declined $2.2 million to $6.1 million, with $1.1 million due to the Piling divestiture and the balance due to lower gross profit and slightly higher SG&A costs in the remaining business, largely related to our transformation initiatives. Operating cash flow was a usage of $5.7 million in Q2 due to higher working capital levels needed to deliver the 33% sequential sales increase in the second quarter and prepare to fulfill the robust backlog in coming quarters. We expect operating cash flow to improve as the year progresses. As mentioned earlier, second quarter orders adjusted for the Piling divestiture totaled $141.4 million, up 24.7% versus last year and backlog finished at a robust $250.8 million. Over the next three slides, I'll cover the performance of each segment, starting with our Rail segment on Slide 10. Second quarter Rail segment revenue decreased $7 million year-over-year, largely driven by lower volumes and timing of orders in the Rail Products business unit. The decline in Rail Products was offset in part by higher sales in our Friction Management business unit. Despite the lower sales, gross margins increased 30 basis points year-over-year due to the higher volume and the more profitable Friction Management business unit, coupled with improved margins within Technology, Services and Solutions. As reflected on Slide 11, Precast Concrete Products segment revenue increased $3.5 million or 17.6% year-over-year as demand levels remain strong. However, gross margins were down 530 basis points year-over-year due primarily to higher raw material and labor costs coupled with an unfavorable building sales mix compared to last year's quarter. Sequentially, Q2 margin dollars increased approximately $1 million on improved volumes but the margin percent was down 210 basis points due primarily to unfavorable building sales mix. The Precast business has been actively working off its backlog of orders booked in 2021 at lower margin levels given the run-up in material and labor cost in today's inflationary environment. The absolute value of orders at lower margin levels in the backlog continues to decline, and we expect to see Precast margins begin to improve as we ship the more orders booked in 2022. Orders and backlog levels remain robust in our Precast segment, and we expect this favorable trend to continue with the announced government funding programs. The strong demand level, coupled with our margin improvement actions, should result in improved profitability in Precast as the year progresses. The Steel Products and Measurement information on Slide 12 has been adjusted to remove the impact of the Piling divestiture for comparability purposes. Overall, revenues increased $2.5 million or 10.7% year-over-year, with the increase primarily attributable to both volume and pricing gains in threaded, fabricated bridge and protective coatings product lines. Gross profit margins improved 140 basis points due to improved volumes and pricing, coupled with favorable business mix. Sequentially, Q2 margins were up 900 basis points reflecting the increased fixed cost absorption due to the higher volumes as well as favorable business sales mix. Order rates are essentially flat year-over-year, while the backlog is down due to working through long-term bridge projects, which tend to be lumpy in the order book. Our year-to-date results are reflected on Slide 13. Year-to-date sales decreased $40.3 million as a result of the sale of the Piling business. In the prior year period, the Piling division contributed $42.9 million to our sales. Adjusting for the Piling divestiture, sales increased $2.6 million or 1.1% year-over-year. Sales in the Rail business declined $9.5 million or 6.1% due to the timing of customer shipments, primarily in our Rail Products business unit. The Precast business sales increased by $5.9 million or 17.9% driven by continued strong end market demand. Excluding the Piling divestiture, Steel Products and Measurement sales increased by $6.2 million or 15.6% with growth realized across all product categories. Reported gross margins were favorable to last year, primarily due to the Piling divestiture. Adjusted for Piling, year-to-date gross margins were down 100 basis points due to the higher input costs, primarily in our Precast and Steel Products and Measurement segments. Margins in our Rail business were up approximately 40 basis points year-over-year. Excluding the Piling business, selling and administrative as a percentage of sales increased 10 basis points year-over-year driven by higher personnel, transformation and acquisition-related costs. Adjusted EBITDA declined $3.7 million to $7.4 million with $1.4 million due to the Piling divestiture and the balance due to lower gross profit and slightly higher SG&A costs in the remaining business. Our liquidity metrics are reflected on Slide number 14. Through the end of 2021, we systematically reduced our net debt and maintained a very conservative leverage ratio ranging between 0.9x and 1.3x. This was during a period when our business was contracting and EBITDA was declining due primarily to weaknesses in demand in our energy-related businesses. Excluding the effect of the Piling divestiture, order intake levels have improved significantly year-over-year and revenue levels are recovering, requiring working capital investment to fund the growth. In addition, the net debt balance at the end of the second quarter includes approximately $5.7 million in funding for the Skratch acquisition without any trailing 12 months of EBITDA, adding to the elevated level of the metric 2.8x at the end of the second quarter. Lastly, we've generated approximately $11.9 million in cash after the end of the second quarter from the track components divestiture as well as receipt of a portion of our federal income tax refund, which also improves our leverage ratio. We will continue to maintain a conservative approach to our debt levels and capital allocation as we transition to funding the growth contemplated in our strategic playbook. My closing comments will refer to Slides 15 and 16, covering orders, revenues and backlog by business. The book-to-bill ratios on Slide 15 reflects the increasing strength we've seen in all of our businesses through the end of the second quarter. Rail Technologies and Services orders over the first two quarters of the year have been robust, particularly in Rail Products and second quarter orders were up 31.1% year-over-year. We continue to see strong order intake in Precast Concrete products with Q2 orders totaling $22.9 million, up over 39% versus last year. And Steel Products and Measurement orders remain at approximately $95 million per year run rate adjusting for the Piling divestiture and were essentially flat with Q2 last year. And lastly, our consolidated backlog on Slide 16 reflects the robustness of the Precast and Rail Technologies and Services businesses. Our quarter end backlog is at a five-year high and is up approximately 14% versus this time last year, excluding Piling. The robust order intake and backlog levels demonstrate the ongoing strength in the business and commercial markets we serve. While recessionary market conditions remain a broader macro risk in the short-term, we remain optimistic in the longer-term prospects for the growth in our served markets. Thank you for your time this morning, and I'll now turn it back to John for his closing remarks. John?