Earnings Labs

Malibu Boats, Inc. (MBUU)

Q2 2014 Earnings Call· Fri, Mar 7, 2014

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Malibu Boats conference call to discuss second fiscal quarter results. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that reproduction of this call in whole or in part is not permitted without written authorization of Malibu Boats. And as a reminder, this call is being recorded. For management on the call today are Mr. Jack Springer, Chief Executive Officer; and Mr. Wayne Wilson, Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Wilson. Please go ahead, sir.

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Malibu's first earnings call covering the fiscal second quarter ended December 31, 2013. Also here with us this morning is Ritchie Anderson, the company's Chief Operating Officer. Jack will provide commentary on the business and I will discuss the fiscal second quarter results in greater detail. We will then open the call to questions. Before we get started, I want to remind everyone that press release covering the company's fiscal second quarter financial results was issued this morning, and a copy of that press release can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at www.malibuboats.com. I also want to remind everyone that management's remarks on this call may contain certain forward-looking statements, including predictions, expectations, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking and that actual results could differ materially from those projected on today's call. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today and the company undertakes no obligation to update them for any new information or future events. Factors that might affect future results are discussed in our filings with SEC, and we encourage you to review our SEC filings for a more detailed description of these risk factors. Please also note that we will be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures on today's call such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and adjusted fully distributed net income. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release. Now let me turn the call over to Jack Springer.

Jack Springer

Analyst

Thank you, Wayne. Welcome to everyone on our first earnings call as a public company. I'm excited to be speaking to you today representing Malibu Boats. As most of you know, we completed our initial public offering on February 5, and we used the proceeds to pay our long-term debt and purchase stock from existing owners. Retail sales in the boating industry generally peaked in the February-June time period and trough from October through December. However, our October through December is an important period for Malibu. This is the period where dealers are evaluating our new model year products, assessing their inventory levels and planning their businesses for the upcoming boating shows and retail selling season. This is also when we hold our annual dealer meeting educating our dealers on our new products and building excitement in the marketplace. By October, we have taken initial orders and are fulfilling demand on new models on boat show products. We worked with our dealers in building our inventory levels and planning their business for the upcoming retail selling season. It is an important quarter for Malibu and it really positions us well for the boating year. On every front, we had a phenomenal fiscal second quarter. Net sales were up over 16%, driven by strong increases in both unit volume and average selling price. Our margins approved across-the-board and we generated the highest second quarter adjusted EBITDA margin in the company's history. Our new product introductions, which include the 23 LSV, the Axis A24, the Axis T22 and the addition of Surf Gate as an optional feature on all Axis boats have been very well received by our dealers and created a lot of excitement in the market. The demand for these new products has been greater than we even expected. The…

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

Good morning, everyone. It's nice to be talking to you on our first earnings call. As Jack mentioned, we completed our initial public offering, which closed on February 5, selling 8.2 million shares to the public and raising total net proceeds of $170 million. Of this amount, we retained approximately $70 million, which was used primarily to repay the company's term loans and we returned approximately $37 million to a combination of our selling stockholders and member owners. In conjunction with our IPO, we created an Up-C structure to capture certain tax benefits that would have otherwise been lost. The financial implications of the offering are reflected under pro forma balance sheet and income statement in our press release. I won't walk-through all the details because it's fully explained in our IPO prospectus, which is available through our website. But in essence, the IPO's operating transactions created a holding company that sits above the operating company. The holding company is the publicly traded C corporation with a partial ownership interest in our operating company, which is a limited liability company. For financial reporting purposes, we will be reporting on a consolidated basis. Our GAAP, tax expense will appear quite low based on the fact that our C corporation only pay its income taxes on its portion of ownership in the LLC. The portion of the LLC owned by our C corporation will vary over time as the LLC member, owner’s exchange their LLC units into Class A common shares of the C corporation as described in our prospectus. This will cause both outstanding Class A common share count to increase as well as our tax liability. In an effort to provide clear, consistent and comparable communication around our financials, we will supplement our GAAP financials with the presentation of earnings…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question will come from the line of Joe Hovorka from Raymond James.

Joseph Hovorka

Analyst

A couple of quick questions. First, you mentioned you've got asymmetric[ph] production volumes 6 to 12 months in advance, but if retail continues to be strongest that we're seeing in January and in the back half of the fiscal second quarter, how quickly can you take advantage of that and kind of match your production levels with demand. And then I have a follow-up after that.

Jack Springer

Analyst

We can adjust very, very quickly. As soon as those orders come in, we have -- currently, we're operating at about 14 boats per day and we can take our count up. And in addition to that, we work at 4x10 workweek so therefore we can add additional products. We feel like that we can take advantage of that very quickly.

Joseph Hovorka

Analyst

And the Surf Gate has been pushed down to the Axis brand. Are the take rates the same on Axis as it was in Malibu or similar?

Jack Springer

Analyst

Yes, they are, nearly 100%.

Operator

Operator

Our next question will come from the line of Tim Conder from Wells Fargo Securities.

Timothy Conder

Analyst

Jack, you gave us color on what was going on at retail through January, but just from in conversations with your dealers, what's the feedback on February to -- obviously, January was not too impacted by weather. Just any color on February that you would have there, sir. And then, Wayne, thank you for the color on the mix of Axis going forward here in the balance of the year. Longer term, do you see at some point the mix of Axis versus Malibu plateauing. And then I'll have one other question after that, gentlemen.

Jack Springer

Analyst

Okay, in speaking to the February versus January, with this still a very positive scenario for our dealers. As an example of that, the Dallas show, the Calgary show, the Seattle show were all a part of those February numbers and they had extremely good boat show seasons. We're still seeing others that are not in our boat shows that are having retail sales. There seems to be a tremendous amount of demand for the new products, for Axis, for the 23 LSV and as I mentioned, we had to add another set of tooling for that 23 about 5 weeks ago. So does weather really impacted only 2 to 3 shows with New York being the primary one at the very beginning of the season.

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

And Tim, with respect to the mix of Axis, we have historically seen a mix of Axis in the high teens or 20% range. And as we brought out 2 new models, it meets where they're targeted in terms of the position of the market. We could see that our goal for market share there is to increase it, and it's not to increase at 1 percentage points. So we could definitely see Axis in the top end of the 20% range and kind of 25% to 30% is a ballpark right now. The strong acceptance of those new models right now is something that we are pleasantly surprised by and we'll monitor.

Timothy Conder

Analyst

Okay. Okay. And then, gentlemen, zooming out a little bit here on the fiscal year, any color that you could give us from the perspective of where you're looking at for adjusted EBITDA range on that or margins or any color on that or just total revenues for the fiscal year?

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

Yes, I think what we said was, there's clearly a bunch estimates out there. We're comfortable with the median of the analyst estimates on revenue and adjusted EBITDA as a reasonable target for the year.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question will come from the line of Mike Swartz from SunTrust.

Michael Swartz

Analyst

I just wanted to touch on maybe the capacity of production question earlier just maybe in a different way. I mean, given some of the strength you've seen in early 2014 here and the other commentary around some extra tooling for the Malibu product that you mentioned. I mean, is there a scenario where maybe some of that demand is still left on the table as we move through '14?

Ritchie Anderson

Analyst

This is Ritchie. No, we've got that covered and that piece of tooling that took those extra orders we have off the side. So we will not be leaving any of those on the table.

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

And I think -- this is Wayne. One thing that I think is important to note is we manage our business and plan our business to an annual number so in the July time frame when we're starting our fiscal year, we're putting a volume target out there with model mixes and we're making sure over the course of the year, right, because the boats that we're building from July through June are really fulfilling a lot of orders that are in retail demand call October through September. And so we feel like we've reacted to the market demand and the needs so far and we're well positioned to be able to take advantage of opportunities if they present themselves.

Michael Swartz

Analyst

Great. And shifting over maybe and touching on, I know there's a pretty big regional or geography aspect to the wake in power sport boat market, anything you're seeing in that core kind of Southwest U.S. region thus far that gives you more kind of excitement about the year ahead?

Jack Springer

Analyst

I think it continues to be very strong. That is a very strong region for us. It's about 39% market share. We are hearing from our dealers that the boat shows on the West Coast, Denver, for example, have all been very strong. The Texas boat shows were also very strong. So we believe that we're continuing to see an uplift in that Southwest region. It really is well as all the regions.

Operator

Operator

Our next question will come from the line of Gerrick Johnson from BMO Capital Markets.

Gerrick Johnson

Analyst

I was just wondering if you could talk about channel inventory, what it looks like out there to dealers right now. Are we lower than last year, higher, sideways? And then I have a few follow-ups.

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

So channel inventory, we track both on a micro basis, quarterly bottoms up, build up; and on a macro basis top-down monthly. And we are from a dollar perspective up year-over-year. When you adjust that for both market growth and what we expect our market share to be in ASP. So on a unit basis, we're in line with the 2012 and 2013 in terms of the amount of inventory that's in the channel.

Gerrick Johnson

Analyst

Okay. That's great. And on ongoing planned expansions, is there any incremental expense in the quarter from that activity? And what should we expect going forward on that?

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

Not a huge expense flowing through in the quarter. There's a little bit of labor that is uncapitalized. It's going to flow through in the quarter, but it's not a meaningful number and on a go-forward basis we'll be -- we'll probably experience a little bit of labor flowing through the P&L, but with respect to that, but any material will be capitalized at the beginning.

Gerrick Johnson

Analyst

Okay, great. And lastly, with the big shift to Axis, yet you saw a 5.5% increase in sales per boat. I guess, we could probably do the math on our own, but just in general, what would the sales per boat has been? What would that growth have been in each of your brands if you kind of isolate them and isolate the mix shift?

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

Great question. I'd like to follow-up with you. I just want the specifics of it. You mean, in general, there's also an impact of Surf Gate on Axis, right, and so that's another element of that. But I'd love to follow up and just give you the actual precise numbers.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question will come from the line of Joe Hovorka from Raymond James.

Joseph Hovorka

Analyst

Just couple of quick follow-ups. Particularly on the dealer inventories. So your retail is up 30% in the fiscal second quarter and wholesale shipments were up 10%. So clearly, retail growing much quicker than wholesale. So 2 things, one is that would suggest that retailer or dealer inventories are coming down. And I know there's seasonal difference here between wholesale shipment and retail sell-through, but then I guess, second question would be, we would expect that on a full year basis that retail and wholesale should match relatively close. Is that correct?

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

Our goal would be for retail and wholesale to match. It matched over the course of the year. With me, there's going to -- there will be -- add some tiny puts and takes between the wholesale, but yes, absolutely, the goal over time is, for that retail to match that wholesale. I think with respect specifically to the fiscal second quarter registration statistics in January. What you see there is really that the loss small numbers, right? I mean, they are just relatively small. Those 4 months that we talked about are relatively small months from a registration perspective, a small amount of boats can do a big move, but I think the reason why we included that is part of our conversation is that we think it's indicative, I think those growth rates are really out there a bit. And I think over the course of when you start to get into the months with larger registration, you'll see it more accurately reflect kind of what we're seeing in our volumes.

Joseph Hovorka

Analyst

Sure, yes, I'm not implying. I guess, that should be the flat line throughout all '14. But just wanted to kind of get -- and we did start the year, last year, for a call, the break[ph] for weather. And even the ski business, if I remember correctly, had a difficult start of the year because of weather. So the first 6 months of fiscal or rather calendar '14 would be relatively easy comps?

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

From a registration?

Joseph Hovorka

Analyst

Yes.

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

Yes, perspective. Yes, from a registration perspective, there were -- there was a modest delay in deliveries. And so if you looked at the quarter, the calendar 2013, quarterly registration growth rates, they accelerated throughout the year, right. And call it Q1 low, a Q2 was a bit faster than Q3 and Q4 were better. So yes, there's probably a little bit of a low comp in Q1 '14 versus '13.

Joseph Hovorka

Analyst

Okay. And I think you mentioned that you bumped production about 15%. I think it was almost 4 quarters ago. Was that the last time you've bumped production?

Jack Springer

Analyst

Yes.

Operator

Operator

Our next question will be coming from the line of Tim Conder from Wells Fargo Securities.

Timothy Conder

Analyst

Seeing that production thing, gentlemen. Ritchie, you mentioned that you've added the tooling here on Axis in the last 5 weeks. And Jack, you'd said also that you do have some flexibility here with the work schedule. So 14 boats per day now, just remind us, I guess, where your plan is for the year and then how quickly you can take that to 15, 16, 17 boats per day here as the current configuration of the plan stands?

Jack Springer

Analyst

Yes, let me, Tim, let me correct something very quickly. The additional tooling was added for the 23 LSV. So that's on the Malibu Wakesetter side. And that those are good events for us certainly. In terms of responding to the demand, we can very rapidly take it up to 15 or 16. We don't believe that we have to add a number of people to do that. But what we do is we utilize Friday's as an example to have those peak build times and then if it's going to be a longer-term scenario when we add people. But ultimately, going back to the first of the year, we have largely predicted and planned our business around the uplifts and so we're managing it on that full year basis. So we don't believe will be surprised.

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

And Tim, this is Wayne. In terms of that planning cycle, we are -- we build various plans off of the baseline. So that we don't have to change -- chase that retail demand too much, right? So to Jack's point, if we need stop at 15 or need to stop at 16 we can do that and at Friday's, we can do all of those things. But it's all based off of beginning in July, what is that number at the end of the year, so that those step functions that we have to perform to meet any fluctuations in demand are lessened in magnitude.

Timothy Conder

Analyst

Okay. And then I guess, one other modeling question here, gentlemen, how should we think about growth in your diluted share base from an option, as options would flow in over time. Just any color that you could give us there, Wayne.

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

As of now we have 7.5% of the total diluted number outstanding for grants. But they're ungranted at this point in time. So it should be relatively modest, from here on out anything that was granted prior to the IPO is calculated in that 22.4 million share base.

Operator

Operator

And at this time, I'm not showing any further questions. I would like to turn the call back over to management.

Jack Springer

Analyst

This is Jack. Thank you for your participation. We look forward to speaking with you again on our next earnings call.

Wayne Wilson

Analyst

Have a good day.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This does conclude the program and you may all disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.