Michael McKenney
Analyst · Barrington Research
Thank you, Jeff. I'll start with some key financial metrics for our first quarter. Consolidated gross margins were 43.4% in the first quarter of 2022, down 50 basis points compared to 43.9% in the first quarter of 2021. This decrease was due to a lower overall percentage of parts and consumables revenue, which represented 65% of revenue in the first quarter of 2022 compared to 68% in the prior year, partially offset by higher gross margin profile from our acquisitions. SG&A expenses were $59.2 million in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of $9.8 million, compared to $49.4 million in the first quarter of 2021. The first quarter of 2022 SG&A includes $6.1 million in SG&A from our acquisitions, $1.3 million of non-recurring non cash acquisition related costs, and a $0.9 million favorable effect from foreign currency translation. The remaining increase in SG&A is primarily associated with increased compensation expense related to wages and additional headcount and increased selling costs associated with improved business conditions compared to the first quarter of 2021. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A expenses decreased to 26.1% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to 28.7% in the prior year period. Our diluted EPS was $3.53 in the first quarter, compared to $1.43 in the first quarter 2021. Our diluted EPS in the first quarter of 2022 includes $1.30 gain on the sale of one of our Chinese facilities related to a relocation project, $0.04 in acquisition related costs and a $0.01 impairment charge. As we outlined in our February earnings call, we reached an agreement with the local government in China to buy our existing facility that supports our stock preparation product line. And over the next two years, we will build and move to a new facility. Final down payment related to the sale the facility was received from the government, and this agreement became effective in the first quarter, resulting in a $20.2 million pretax gain on sale, or $1.30 per diluted share after tax. We have received a 31% down payment and the remaining proceeds from the sale of the facility will be due at the earlier of when the government sells the property or within two years of the effective date of the agreement. We currently estimate the CapEx for this project to be approximately $20 million with most of the CapEx costs being incurred over the next 18-months. The proceeds from selling the facility will pay for the new facility and the relocation costs that will be incurred. Our adjusted diluted EPS was $2.28 in the first quarter of 2022, and exceeded the high end of our guidance range by $0.18 due to higher revenue and a lower tax rate than forecast. Tax rate in the first quarter was 24.4% and included approximately $0.07 of tax benefits related to the divesting of equity awards, and a change in tax reserves associated with uncertain tax positions. In addition, the tax provision included $0.6 million benefit from the reversal of a tax reserve, which is offset by a corresponding expense in SG&A related to the reversal of an indemnification asset. Excluding these items, our tax rate would have been 27%. Adjusted EBITDA increased 41% to a record $45.8 million compared to $32.4 million in the first quarter of 2021 due to strong performance in all our segments. As a percentage of revenue, adjusted EBITDA increased to 20.2% compared to 18.8% in the first quarter of ’21 due to improved performance in our industrial processing and material handling segments. Operating cash flow increased 24% to $23.8 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to $19.1 million in the first quarter of ‘21. Historically, the first quarter has been a weak quarter for operating cash flows. This represents a strong start for 2022 with both operating and free cash flow being our highest first quarter performance. We had several notable non-operating uses of cash in the first quarter of 2022. We paid down debt by $19.2 million, paid $2.9 million for capital expenditures, paid $2.9 million dividend on our common stock and paid $4.6 million in tax withholding payments related to divesting of stock awards. Free cash flow increased 24% to $20.9 million in the first quarter of 2022 compared to $16.8 million in the first quarter of ‘21. Let me turn next our EPS results for the quarter. In the first quarter of 2022, GAAP diluted earnings per share was $3.53 and adjusted diluted EPS was $2.28. In the first quarter of 2021, GAAP diluted earnings per share was $1.43. And after adding back $0.10 of acquisition costs, adjusted diluted EPS was $1.53. As shown in the chart, the increase of $0.75 and adjusted diluted EPS in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of ‘21 consists of the following. $0.96 due to higher revenue, $0.16 from acquisitions net of interest expense on acquisition borrowings, $0.02 due to lower interest expense, and $0.01 from war recurring tax rate. These increases were partially offset by $0.26 due to higher operating costs; $0.09 due to a lower gross margin percentage and $0.04 due to government assistance programs in the prior period and $0.01 due to higher weighted average shares outstanding. Collectively included in all the categories I just mentioned was an unfavorable foreign currency translation effect of $0.04 in the first quarter of ‘22 compared to the first quarter of last year, due to the strengthening of the US dollar. Looking at our liquidity metrics on slide 15, our cash conversion days, which we calculate by taking days and receivables plus days in inventory and subtracting days in accounts payable decreased to 104 at the end of the first quarter 2022 compared to 123 at the end of the first quarter of ‘21. This decrease was driven by a higher number of days and accounts payable. Working capital as a percentage of revenue was 10.8% in the first quarter of ‘22, compared to 15.1% in the first quarter of ‘21. Our net debt that is debt less cash decreased $16 million, or 9% sequentially to $159 million at the end of the first quarter of ‘22. In the first quarter, we continued our pattern of paying down our debt, and we're able to further lower our leverage ratio calculated in accordance with our credit agreement to 1.16 at the end of the first quarter of ‘22 compared to 1.34 at the end of ‘21 and 1.5 at the end of the first quarter of ‘21. At the end of the first quarter of 2022, we had $170 million of borrowing capacity available under our revolving credit facility, which matures in December of ‘23. Now let's review our updated guidance for 2022. As a result of our strong start to the year, we are increasing our full year revenue guidance to $885 million to $905 million from $870 million to $890 million and we are increasing our adjusted diluted EPS guidance for the full year to $8.80 to $9 from $8.55 to $8.75. The adjusted diluted EPS guidance excludes the $1.30 gain on the sale from the facility in China and the associated $0.01 impairment charge as well as the $0.04 of acquisition related costs. Our revenue guidance for the second quarter of ‘22 is $215 million to $220 million and our EPS guidance is $1.86 to $1.96. As always, I will caution here that there could be some choppiness and variability in our quarterly results due to several factors, including the variability of order flow, and the timing of capital shipments. In addition, other risks that could impact our guidance includes supply chain challenges, strengthening of the US dollar, geopolitical tensions, inflation, and China's zero COVID policy. The 2022 guidance includes an unfavorable foreign currency translation impact of approximately $14 million on revenue and $0.14 on adjusted diluted EPS due to the strengthening of US dollar. As a result of the increase in revenue guidance, and with the mix, when the mix moving a little more towards capital, we now anticipate gross margins for 2022 will be close to 43.0%. In addition, as I've mentioned, during the Q&A on our last call, we anticipate second quarter gross margins will be approximately 42.5% as a result of capital gross margins and forecasted revenue in the quarter. As a percentage of revenue, we still anticipate SG&A will be approximately 25% to 25.5% and R&D expense will be approximately 1.5% of revenue. We expect our tax rate for the remaining quarters will be approximately 28% in ‘22. And we continue to expect depreciation and amortization will be approximately $36 million to $37 million. We continue to anticipate regular CapEx spending in 2022 to be approximately 2% of revenue. In addition to that amount, we estimate CapEx related to the China facility relocation project will be approximately $12 million in 2022. That concludes my review of the financials and I will now turn the call back over to the operator for our Q&A session. Operator?