Frank P. Simpkins
Analyst · Longbow Securities
All right. Thank you, Carlos. As with prior discussions, some of my comments are related to non-GAAP metrics. So, in general, the first quarter was in line with our expectations, despite a lower-than-forecasted top line. We continue to see strong organic growth in our Industrial business, led again by increased demand in the general engineering and transportation markets. However, we experienced slower-than-expected growth in the energy market, and the mining sector continues to struggle globally. Despite mixed market conditions, we delivered adjusted earnings per share of $0.56, which was on target. By comparison, last year's adjusted earnings per share was $0.49. As Carlos noted, another positive was the Tungsten Materials Business acquisition. It is running ahead of schedule for our integration plans and related restructuring actions. TMB contributed $0.07 per share in the quarter and we have accelerated our restructuring actions where possible. We also are implementing further restructuring actions to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. Total expected restructuring benefits now range from $50 million to $55 million and total charges are expected to range from $55 million to $60 million. Now I'll walk through the key items in the income statement. Sales for the quarter were $695 million and this compares with $620 million in the same quarter last year. Sales increased 12%, reflecting a 10% increase from TMB, 1% from organic growth and a 1% favorable impact from exchange. The Industrial segment sales of $378 million increased by 12% from the prior-year quarter, due to increases of 6% related to TMB, 5% organic growth and 1% increase due to favorable currency exchange. Sales increased by 9% in general engineering and 7% in transportation, but decreased slightly 1% in the aerospace and defense business. General engineering increased due to improvements in production and overall demand from machinery, while this transportation market increased due to improved -- improvements in the light-vehicle market. And on a regional basis, excluding the TMB business, Industrial sales increased 8% in Asia, 7% in the Americas and 1% in Europe. And I'll point out this was the fourth consecutive quarter of organic growth for the Industrial segment. Turning to the infrastructure segment. Sales there were $317 million in the September quarter and grew by 13% from the prior year, driven by 16% increase related to the TMB acquisition, partly offset by a 3% organic decline. Sales increased by 2% in energy and decreased 6% in earthworks. Energy sales improved modestly due to increased drilling activity in oil and gas in North America. However, earthworks sales decrease due to persistently weak underground coal-mining markets, globally, as well as lower highway construction activity. And on a regional basis there, excluding TMB, Infrastructure sales decreased 10% in Europe, 7% in Asia, partly offset by a 2% increase in the Americas. Turning to our operating performance, our gross margin -- gross profit margin was $31.4 million, which included restructuring and related items of $7 million. Excluding the impact of these items, our adjusted gross profit margin was $31.9 million, which was relatively similar to the prior year. Gross margin benefited from industrial organic sales growth, partly offset by lower sales and an unfavorable mix in our Infrastructure segment, as well as higher employment costs. The prior year gross profit margin benefited from higher production levels offset by a $6 million nonrecurring physical inventory charge. On OpEx. Our OpEx increased $14 million year-over-year. Excluding restructuring and related, our operating expense was $13 million higher year-over-year, primarily related to the TMB acquisition, and higher overall employment costs such as incentive compensation and merit. Operating expense as a percent of sales was 21.4%. Excluding restructuring and related charges, our operating expense as a percent of sales was 21.1% compared with 21.5% in the prior year. Typically, operating expense runs at a higher percentage of sales in the first half of our fiscal year, and we are taking certain cost reduction actions for the remainder of this fiscal year. This will align our cost structure with a more modest growth environment. As part of our ongoing cost discipline, we remain focused on keeping our operating expenses at 20% of the sales for all of fiscal '15. Operating income of $61 million compared with $59 million in the same quarter last year. If you exclude the restructuring-related charges, our adjusted operating income of $68 million reflects increases due to the TMB acquisition and industrial organic sales growth, partly offset by lower organic sales and an unfavorable mix in infrastructure and higher employment cost. Prior year operating income included the $6 million nonrecurring inventory charge and $1 million of acquisition expenses. Adjusted operating margin was 9.9% in the current year quarter compared with an adjusted operating margin of 9.7% in the prior year. Looking at the performance by segments. The industrial segment's operating income was $44 million compared with $40 million in the prior year period. Excluding restructuring and related items, adjusted operating income of $49 million benefited primarily from the TMB acquisition and organic growth in the current quarter, partly offset by higher employment cost. Industrial adjusted operating margin increased 130 basis points to 13.1% compared with 11.8% in the prior year. The infrastructure's operating income was $19 million compared to $22 million last year. Excluding restructuring and related charges, adjusted operating income was $21 million. Operating income and margin were impacted by lower organic sales, unfavorable mix and higher employment cost, partly offset by the TMB acquisition. Prior year operating income included the $6 million nonrecurring inventory charges. And adjusted operating margin was 6.7% compared with 7.7% in the prior year. Our interest expense was up $1 million year-over-year, in the September quarter, to $8 million. The increase was due to the higher year-over-year borrowings related to acquisitions. Our liquidity remains strong. We had $214 million outstanding on our $600 million revolver at September 30, 2014, and our nearest debt maturity is in April of 2018. The reported effective tax rate was 26.5% compared with 24.6% in the prior-year quarter. And that's primarily driven by losses in certain jurisdictions that do not provide a tax benefit, as well as the effect of certain provisions of the Internal Revenue code that expired after fiscal 2014, including the credit for RD&E activities and provisions concerning U.S. taxation of foreign earnings. And as highlighted in the press release, reported earnings per share were $0.49, which includes restructuring and related charges of $0.07. On an adjusted basis, this is $0.56; and TMB contributed $0.07 in the quarter. Year-to-date, cash flow from operating activities was $43 million compared with $44 million in the prior year, and net capital expenditures were $30 million compared with $25 million in the prior year. Free operating cash flow was $12 million compared with $20 million last year, and free operating cash flow was impacted by higher working capital related to the TMB acquisition. We remain diligent in our focus related to strong cash flow generation and are committed to our capital structure principles. Turning to the balance sheet. Our balance sheet's in good shape but strong. At September 30, 2014, we had $107 million in short-term debt; and total debt was approximately $1 billion. Our cash balance was $156 million, with the majority presently residing overseas. And our debt-to-capital ratio at September 30, 2014 was 34.2% compared with 35.1% at June 30, 2014. Well, I'll give you a quick update now on the Tungsten Materials Business. The integration team continues to successfully drive critical work streams to ensure a smooth transition. TMB was fully integrated into our operating structure on July 1, and full SAP implementation is on track for completion in the December quarter. We accelerated restructuring actions during the quarter and plan to be essentially finished by the end of fiscal 2016, as originally communicated. TMB contributed $0.07 in the quarter. Regarding our restructuring program, a majority of the initiatives relate to the TMB integration plan, as originally announced. However, the plan also includes actions related to our base business, where appropriate. In the September quarter, we incurred restructuring and related charges of $7 million pretax, or $0.07 per share, and pretax savings were approximately $5 million in the same period. As I mentioned, we accelerated our restructuring actions, which includes another facility reduction in our plan, and on a combined basis, these measures are estimated to deliver $5 million to $10 million in higher benefits. For this fiscal year, we currently expect to realize $20 million to $25 million of savings. And as a result, we now expect annual ongoing pretax permanent savings to be approximately $50 million to $55 million in fiscal '16. And we expect to recognize total pretax charges related to these initiatives of approximately $55 million to $60 million. And as a reminder, these restructuring initiatives consist of concentrating our footprint by consolidating operations and driving productivity improvements with standard processes, reducing administrative overhead and leveraging our global supply chain, including raw material cost and procurement, and streamlining manufacturing and distribution. To date, we have eliminated 4 facilities out of our manufacturing footprint as a result of closures and divestitures. And going forward, we will continue to identify opportunities to further streamline our cost structure, which also includes an assessment of our business and our product portfolio. For fiscal 2015, we have updated our outlook due to weaker economic conditions for the remainder of fiscal 2015. The key drivers include softer customer demand in the Eurozone, which impacts our Industrial segment more significantly. Regarding Infrastructure, we have seen a deceleration in the energy market, with lower drilling activity in the oil and gas markets, which is affected by lower commodity outlook and the continued weak conditions in underground mining in both the U.S, as well as China. Accordingly, we now expect fiscal '15 sales growth in the range of 2% to 4% and organic sales growth ranging from 1% to 3%. Previously, we had projected total sales growth ranging 5% to 7% and organic sales growth of 3% to 5%. Approximately 40% of the estimated restructuring savings of $20 million to $25 million are expected to be realized in the first half, with the remainder in the second half of fiscal '15. Based on the revised forecast, we are reducing our EPS guidance for fiscal '15 to the range of $2.80 to $3 versus the previous expectations of $2.90 to $3.20. And on cash flow, we expect to generate from operating activities ranging from $280 million to $310 million of fiscal '15 versus the previous expectation of $290 million to $320 million. Revised cash flow from operations range is based on anticipated capital expenditures of $110 million to $120 million, and the company now expects to generate between $170 million and $190 million of free operating cash flow for the full fiscal year. This level of free operating cash represents approximately 80% to 90% of net income, working towards our long-term objective of realizing 100% conversion of net income. We will continue to manage our business for the factors we can control to deal with, in the near-term, market headwinds as needed. We are focused on protecting our profitability, as well as maximizing our cash flows, as well as returns. In addition, we remain focused on growth opportunities and the consistent execution of our strategies. At this time, I'll turn it back to Carlos for a few closing comments.