Operator
Operator
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Generac Holdings, Inc. First Quarter 2016 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, York Ragen, Chief Financial Officer. You may begin. York A. Ragen - Chief Financial Officer & Head-Investor Relations: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter 2016 earnings call. I'd like to thank everyone for joining us this morning. With me today is Aaron Jagdfeld, our President and Chief Executive Officer. We'll begin our call today by commenting on forward-looking statements. Certain statements made during this presentation as well as other information provided from time to time by Generac or its employees may contain forward-looking statements and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in these forward-looking statements. Please see our earnings release or our SEC filings for a list of words or expressions that identify such statements and the associated risk factors. In addition, we will make reference to certain non-GAAP measures during today's call. Additional information regarding these measures, including reconciliation to comparable U.S. GAAP measures, is available in our earnings release and SEC filings. I will now turn the call over to Aaron. Aaron P. Jagdfeld - Executive Chairman, President & CEO: Thanks, York. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Our overall financial performance for the first quarter exceeded our most recent guidance expectations as the increasing diversification of our business helped to offset the ongoing headwinds being experienced within oil and gas-related end markets. Shipments of our legacy residential products came in modestly ahead of our expectations, benefiting from higher home standby activation levels due to a relatively mild winter season along with a more favorable power outage environment as compared to our assumptions. Also, we experienced better than expected shipments from the recent acquisitions of Country Home Products and Pramac, and shipments to telecom national account customers were also more favorable due to higher levels of capital spending by certain customers. This outperformance helped to more than offset additional weakness within portions of our commercial and industrial products, primarily driven by lower than expected sales of mobile products as a result of low and volatile energy prices. Adjusted EBITDA margins also came in slightly ahead of our expectations, benefiting from lower operating expenses as a percentage of net sales. On a year-over-year basis, net sales in the first quarter were $287 million as compared to $312 million in the prior year as we faced stronger comparisons for both residential and commercial and industrial products. As compared to the prior year, shipments of home standby and portable generators declined as expected due to higher levels of backlog and lower levels of field inventory entering the prior-year first quarter of 2015 as compared to the first quarter of 2016, which more than offset the improvements in end-user demand during the quarter. Although the first quarter experienced a more favorable power outage environment when compared to our assumptions, this represents only a single quarterly data point, and outage levels were still well below the long-term baseline average. While the power outage environment is obviously beyond our control, when market conditions inevitably improve at more sustained levels we believe we are very well-positioned to fully leverage the innovative sales and marketing programs for home standby generators which have only been implemented within the past three years. In the meantime, we remain focused on a number of strategic initiatives to increase the awareness, availability and affordability for home standby generators, including specific projects and activities targeted towards generating more sales leads, improving close rates and reducing the total overall cost of these products. Regarding our mobile products, energy prices experienced another sizable move downward during the early portion of the first quarter of 2016, particularly with the price of oil, but have improved significantly from the trough levels seen in mid-February. However, the volatility and overall low levels of prices continues to have a worse-than-expected impact on capital spending for mobile products as our rental equipment customers deferred new equipment spending during the quarter. Accordingly, this has had a significant impact on our current quarter mobile product shipments relative to the prior year. As a result of this ongoing and significant downturn in capital spending within the oil and gas industry, we initiated a number of meaningful but necessary expense-reduction actions during the first quarter to better align our current cost structure with customer demand. The cost actions being taken include the consolidation of the Bismarck, North Dakota heater facility into our Berlin, Wisconsin facility by July of this year. In addition, we are implementing other facility footprint reductions, numerous head count and operating expense adjustments, along with recording certain non-cash asset write-downs and other one-time product charges related to the MAC heater line. Given these actions, first quarter results include the impact of $7.1 million of nonrecurring, pre-tax charges related to these business optimization and restructuring costs. While these cost-reduction actions are significant, we believe they are necessary to address the adverse impacts from the severe and extended downturn in energy prices that continue to have a negative impact on industry fleet purchases. We estimate the cost actions will yield between $4 million to $5 million of annualized cost savings once fully implemented by the fourth quarter of 2016. Although near-term market conditions are challenging, we remain optimistic on the long-term need for mobile products that are essential to oil and gas drilling and production activities. Now a couple of quick comments on the remainder of our C&I business. Shipments to our telecom national account customers were down during the quarter as the overall soft capital spending environment that persisted in 2015 continued into the early part of 2016. We also saw a decrease in shipments to our North American industrial distributors in the quarter as a result of lower quotation levels experienced in the second half of 2015. The Latin American region remained challenging as well as a result of weakening local currencies, lower energy prices and reduced infrastructure spending in these countries. While these broad-based headwinds affected our C&I business in the first quarter, we are seeing encouraging signs of increasing demand for these products as we enter the second quarter. Improving nonresidential construction trends, the relative stabilization as of late of Latin American currencies, a firmer capital spending environment for telecom, and normal seasonality are all contributing to an increase in quoting and order activity, which is expected to lead to a sequential improvement in shipments for C&I products. The first quarter of 2016 includes the results of the Pramac acquisition, which closed on March 1. Headquartered in Siena, Italy, Pramac is a leading global manufacturer of stationery, mobile and portable generators sold in over 150 countries through a broad distribution network. Pramac employs over 600 people across its four manufacturing plants and 14 commercial branches located across the globe. It is important to note the vast majority of Pramac's net sales are classified within C&I products with the balance relating to portable generators classified within residential products, along with a smaller portion of aftermarket parts sales classified within other products. Although not much time has passed since closing, our integration efforts are well underway, and we are making encouraging progress in evaluating and pursuing a variety of synergies. These include the pursuit of global cross-selling opportunities, including selling Pramac's stationery, mobile and portable generators through Generac's existing international distribution channels while also selling Generac's natural gas generators and our broad array of mobile equipment into Pramac's distribution. Also, we have made good initial progress in evaluating some compelling cost synergies and opportunities to better optimize existing facilities and use the combined scale of the two companies as we leverage our collective global supply chain. We are excited about the diversification benefits from Pramac as the acquisition significantly expands our geographic footprint and revenue base, essentially doubling our international sales mix outside the U.S. and Canada, and elevating us to a major player in the global power generation market. We are also making encouraging progress with the integration of Country Home Products, which closed in October – or excuse me, in August of 2015. Recall that CHP is a leading manufacturer of professional-grade engine-powered equipment sold primarily under the DR brand and used in a wide variety of property maintenance tasks. The company's products are largely sold in North America through catalogs, outdoor power equipment dealers and select regional retailers and include field and brush mowers, chippers and shredders, trimmers, leaf vacuums, stump grinders and log splitters. We are excited about the potential cross-selling opportunities for these products, and we are gaining valuable insights as CHP's direct-to-consumer expertise is helping us further refine our targeted marketing skills as we work to broaden the awareness and appeal of home standby generators. This acquisition also provides additional scale to our existing platform of power equipment products, allowing us to target certain cost synergies as we leverage our global sourcing and manufacturing capabilities. We believe the benefits that Country Home Products provides, particularly as we enter the seasonally strong peak demand second quarter for CHP's products, is an important part of our overall strategy of further diversifying our company. I would now like to turn the call back over to York to discuss first quarter results in more detail. York? York A. Ragen - Chief Financial Officer & Head-Investor Relations: Thanks, Aaron. Net sales for the first quarter of 2016 were $286.5 million as compared to $311.8 million in the first quarter of 2015, including $37.2 million of contribution from the recent acquisitions of Country Home Products and Pramac. Looking at net sales by product class, residential product sales during the first quarter of 2016 increased to $159 million as compared to $156.8 million in the prior-year quarter. The increase was due to a combination of contributions from the recent Country Home Products and Pramac acquisitions, which was mostly offset by a decline in organic shipments of home standby generators and, to a lesser extent, portable generators. The decline in home standby generators was primarily due to higher levels of backlog and lower levels of field inventory entering the first quarter of 2015 as compared to the first quarter of 2016. Recall that as we entered 2015, we were coming off a period of record activation rates as a result of heightened power outage activity. This situation did not exist entering the first quarter of 2016 and as a result caused the tough prior-year comparison. However, as Aaron mentioned, end user demand in the form of home standby activations were up modestly year over year in Q1 2016, which helped to partially offset these prior-year headwinds. Looking at our commercial industrial products, net sales for the first quarter of 2016 were $103 million as compared to $133.8 million for the comparable period in 2015. The decline was primarily due to a significant reduction in shipments of mobile products into oil and gas and general rental markets as a result of lower capital spending caused by the substantial decline in energy prices. To a lesser extent, shipments of C&I products were also impacted by a decline in Latin America along with lower shipments to industrial distributors and telecom national account customers. Partially offsetting these declines was a modest contribution from the Pramac acquisition which closed on March 1, 2016. The negative impact of foreign currency on C&I organic product sales was only approximately 1% during the quarter. Net sales for the other products category were $24.6 million in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to $21.2 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily driven by the addition of aftermarket parts sales from the recent Country Home Products and Pramac acquisitions. To a lesser extent, the increase was also due to additional service parts sales resulting from our growing base of stationary and mobile products in the market. Gross profit margin for the first quarter of 2016 was 34.2% compared to 32.9% in the prior-year first quarter, which includes the impact of $2.7 million of nonrecurring charges related to the oil and gas downturn that are classified within cost of goods sold. Excluding the impact of these charges, gross profit margin was 35.2%, an improvement of 230 basis points over the prior year. The strong increase in gross margins was driven by a variety of factors, including the following: a favorable overall product mix, given a higher sales of mix of residential products in the current-year quarter, including the acquisition of Country Home Products, partially offset by the addition of Pramac sales; the favorable impact of lower commodity costs and overseas sourcing benefits from a stronger U.S. dollar in recent quarters; and the fact that gross margin in the prior year was negatively impacted by temporary increases in certain costs associated with the West Coast port congestion as well as other overhead-related costs that did not repeat in the current-year quarter. Operating expenses for the first quarter of 2016 increased $13.4 million as compared to the first quarter of 2015, which includes the impact of $4.4 million of non-recurring charges related to the oil and gas downturn that are classified within operating expenses. Excluding the impact of these charges, operating expenses for the quarter increased $9 million as compared to the prior year. This increase was driven by the addition of recurring operating expenses associated with Country Home Products and Pramac acquisitions partially offset by reductions in certain organic selling, general and administrative expenses. Adjusted EBITDA attributable to the company was $49.1 million in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to $57.1 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin before deducting for non-controlling interests was 17.4% in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to 18.3% in the prior-year quarter. The decline in adjusted EBITDA margins compared to prior year was primarily attributable to the increase in operating expenses partially offset by the improvement in gross margins as a result of the factors just discussed. GAAP net income attributable to the company for the first quarter of 2016 was $10.2 million as compared to $19.7 million for the first quarter of 2015. The current-year net income includes the impact of the $7.1 million non-recurring pre-tax oil and gas charges, as previously discussed. GAAP income taxes during the first quarter of 2016 were $5.7 million, or a 35.9% tax rate, as compared to $11 million, also a 35.9% tax rate for the prior year. Adjusted net income attributable to the company as defined in our earnings release was $30.9 million in the current-year quarter versus $34.1 million in the prior year. This decline over the prior year is primarily the result of the overall decline in operating earnings as previously discussed partially offset by $3.3 million in lower cash income taxes. Diluted net income per share attributable to the company on a GAAP basis was $0.15 in the first quarter of 2016 compared to $0.28 in the prior year. Adjusted diluted net income per share attributable to the company as reconciled in our earnings release was $0.46 for the current-year quarter compared to $0.49 in the prior year. With regards to cash income taxes, the first quarter of 2016 includes the impact of a cash income tax expense of $1.8 million as compared to $5.1 million in the prior-year quarter. This year-over-year decline in cash income taxes for the quarter was primarily the result of lower pre-tax earnings along with a lower expected cash income tax rate for the full year 2016 of approximately 9% as compared to the prior year of approximately 17%. As a reminder, our favorable tax shield through annual intangible amortization in our tax return results in our expected cash income tax rate being significantly lower than our currently projected GAAP income tax rate of approximately 36% for 2016. As we drive profitability over time, cash income taxes can be estimated by applying a projected longer-term GAAP income tax rate of 36% on pre-tax profits going forward and then deducting the approximately $50 million of annual cash tax savings from the tax shield each year through 2021. Free cash flow, defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures, was consistent with typical first quarter seasonality and only declined modestly to $15.1 million in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to $18.7 million in the same period last year. It's important to note the Pramac acquisition added approximately $50 million of primary working capital to our balance sheet as of March 31, 2016. As of March 31, 2016, we had a total of $1.09 billion of outstanding debt, net of unamortized original issue discount and deferred financing costs, and $69.4 million of consolidated cash and cash equivalents on hand, resulting in consolidated net debt of $1.02 billion. Our consolidated net debt to LTM adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio at the end of the first quarter of 2016 was 3.9 times on an as-reported basis and was 3.7 times on a pro forma basis with the Pramac and CHP acquisitions. Additionally, at the end of the quarter, there was approximately $149 million available on our ABL revolving credit facility. The company did not repurchase any shares of its common stock during the first quarter of 2016 under its existing share repurchase program announced in August of 2015. Remember that this program authorizes the company to repurchase up to $200 million of its common stock over a 24-month period, and to date, a total of 3.3 million shares of common stock have been repurchased for approximately $100 million. With that, I'd now like to turn the call back over to Aaron to provide comments on outlook for 2016. Aaron P. Jagdfeld - Executive Chairman, President & CEO: Thanks, York. We are maintaining our prior guidance for full year 2016. Net sales are still expected to increase 10% to 12% with total organic sales on a constant currency basis still anticipated to be down between 5% to 7%. Nearly all of this decline is expected to be from ongoing weakness in mobile product shipments into the oil and gas and general rental markets. Importantly, this top-line outlook assumes no material changes in the current macroeconomic environment and no improvement in power outage severity for the remainder of the year relative to the very low levels experienced during 2015. We still expect the seasonality of quarterly results to demonstrate a normal historical pattern, assuming no major outage events occur during the year, with the first half representing approximately 44% to 45% of total sales and the second half approximately 55% to 56%. Specifically for the second quarter, we anticipate net sales to increase sequentially on an as-reported basis and to be in the range of $350 million to $360 million, primarily due to normal seasonality and a full quarter contribution from the Pramac acquisition. Looking at our guidance by product class, for residential products we still expect net sales to increase in the low-teens range during 2016, which assumes approximately flat year-over-year organic growth with the difference attributed to the Country Home Products acquisition and, to a lesser degree, some residential product sales from the Pramac acquisition. As previously mentioned, this sales guidance includes the assumption that power outage severity does not improve for the remainder of 2016. As a reminder, should the baseline power outage environment normalize relative to the very low levels experienced in 2015, or if there is a major power outage event in 2016, it's likely we could exceed these expectations. With regards to our commercial and industrial products, we still expect net sales to increase approximately 10% on an as-reported basis for 2016, which includes the benefit of C&I products acquired in the Pramac transaction. Organic net sales for C&I are now expected to decline in the mid-teens arrange, which includes only a modest expected negative impact from foreign currency of less than 1%. The decline in organic net sales is primarily due to the continued strong headwinds with shipments of mobile products into oil and gas and general rental customers as these markets continue to search for a bottom during 2016. Gross margins, excluding the $2.7 million of non-recurring charges recorded during the first quarter, are expected to improve by approximately 125 basis points as compared to the prior year. Operating expenses as a percentage of net sales, excluding amortization of intangibles and the $4.4 million of non-recurring charges recorded during the first quarter, are expected to increase approximately 200 basis points as compared to 2015. Adjusted EBITDA margins before deducting for non-controlling interests are still expected to be approximately 20% for full year 2016 with some variation throughout the year as a result of normal seasonality. Similar to the pattern experienced in the prior year, second half 2016 adjusted EBITDA margins are expected to be approximately 450 basis points higher than the first half as a result of increasing benefit from product cost reductions, a more favorable product mix and improving SG&A leverage on higher sales volumes through the back half of the year. Specifically for the second quarter, adjusted EBITDA margins are expected to be approximately flat sequentially as compared to the first quarter of 2016, which is similar seasonality to the prior year, but then improve sequentially during each of the third and fourth quarters. As a reminder, we have a majority interest ownership position in Pramac, and there will continue to be a minority non-controlling interest with this acquisition that must be deducted when forecasting adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS for full year 2016. We expect to continue generating significant free cash flow given our superior margin profile, low cost of debt, favorable tax attributes and capital-efficient operating model. We are maintaining our guidance for full year 2016 free cash flow generation with the conversion of adjusted net income still anticipated to be over 90%, resulting in improved levels over the prior year. Lastly, regarding our outlook commentary, we are providing an update to some guidance details to help model out the company's earnings per share and cash flows for 2016. We expect interest expense to be in the range of $46 million to $47 million. The forecast for interest expense includes $41.5 million to $42.5 million of cash outflow for debt service costs, plus approximately $4.5 million for deferred financing costs and original issue discount amortization for our credit facility. Cash taxes are expected to be approximately $14 million to $15 million, which translates into an anticipated full-year 2016 cash income tax rate of approximately 9%. Depreciation expense is forecasted to be between $21 million and $21.5 million. GAAP intangible amortization expense is expected to be between $33 million and $33.5 million. Stock compensation expense is forecast to be approximately $11.5 million to $12 million, and capital expenditures for the year are expected to be approximately $35 million to $36 million, which is still only approximately 2.5% of our forecasted net sales for 2016. In closing this morning, although our first quarter results reflect continued softness in certain of our end markets, we have been focused on controlling costs and we continue to make strategic investments in new products and technologies as well as the necessary infrastructure to support the next leg of growth that we believe will occur as markets eventually improve. The integration of the Pramac business will be an important area of focus for us as this strategic acquisition builds significantly upon the transactions we have completed over the past five years that have transformed Generac from a North American-focused, power generation-only company into a global power products company. As we think about the future for Generac, we remain optimistic regarding the long-term secular growth opportunities that exist for several areas of our business, and we intend to leverage our strong liquidity position as we evaluate our priority uses of capital to increase shareholder value. This concludes our prepared remarks and, at this time, we would like to open up the call for questions. Operator?