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FreightCar America, Inc. (RAIL)

Q3 2013 Earnings Call· Thu, Oct 31, 2013

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to FreightCar America’s Third Quarter 2013 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participant lines are in a listen-only mode. For those of you participating on the conference call, there will be an opportunity for your questions at the end of today’s prepared comments. Please note that this conference is being recorded. An audio replay of the conference call will be available from 1 PM Eastern Daylight Time today until 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on November 30, 2013. To access the replay, please dial 800-475-6701. The replay pass code is 306164. An audio replay of the call will be available on the company’s website within two days following this earnings call. I would now like to turn the call over to Chip Avery, Chief Financial Officer of FreightCar America. Please go ahead.

Chip Avery

Chief Financial Officer

Thank you and welcome to FreightCar America’s third quarter 2013 earnings call and webcast. Joining me today are Joe McNeely, President and CEO and Ted Baun, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales. I’d like to remind everyone that statements made during this conference call relating to the company’s expected future performance, future business prospects, or future events or plans may include forward-looking statements as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Participants are directed to FreightCar America’s 2012 Form 10-K for a description of certain business risks, some of which may be outside the control of the company that may cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any duty to provide updates to our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Our 2012 Form 10-K and earnings release for the third quarter of 2013 are posted on the company’s website at www.freightcaramerica.com. Let me now turn the call over to Joe McNeely.

Joe McNeely

President and CEO

Thank you, Chip. I’d like to take a moment to address certain organizational changes that had been announced over the past few weeks. First, I want to thank Ed Whalen for his numerous contribution to FreightCar during his tenure as President and Chief Executive Officer. Ed served with the company in 1991 and served as Chief Executive Officer from 2009. Ed successfully held the company through the recent severe economic downturn and resolved the diversification of our business while maintaining the company’s financial strength. We are grateful for his tailored efforts and commitment to the company and we wish him well in his retirement. In addition, as you are aware last week we announced a number of changes to our leadership team. While these changes are important to our success there is one change I’d like to highlight. The introduction of new railcars to our product portfolio is critical to the long-term success of a broader diversification strategy. To ensure we are developing the railcars that market desires entailed a proper accountability across the organization reestablished a cross-functional new product development team reporting to me that will lead by Greg Josephson. Greg has an 18 year track record of working with customers in a cross-functional lines in developing innovative railcars for FreightCar. With this railcar knowledge product development expertise and ability of our closely with our customers we’ll be able to continue with introduction of new railcars that are customer’s desire. Turning to our performance, we believe the third quarter was an inflection point for us. While the quarter produced a net loss we did see sequential improvements and orders, deliveries, backlog, revenue and margin. While the broader coal market remains under pressure we are encouraged by the continued replacement at the Eastern coal car fleet as evidenced by a…

Ted Baun

Management

Thank you, Joe. To recap order activity for the period, 6001 railcars of various types were ordered in the third quarter of 2013. This compares to 225 units ordered in the third quarter of 2012 and 693 railcars ordered in the second quarter of 2013. Third quarter orders include approximately 4,000 previously mentioned rebuilt cars in addition to various other car types. Third quarter 2013 deliveries of 937 railcars included 194 new and 743 rebuilt railcars. This compares to 1,618 railcars delivered in the third quarter of 2012 including 998 new cars and 620 rebuilt cars. There were 710 railcars delivered in the second quarter of 2013, of which 160 were new and 200 were leased and 350 were rebuilds. Our backlog of unfulfilled orders at September 30, 2013 increased significantly to 7,129 railcars compared to 3,716 railcars at September 30, 2012 and 2,065 railcars at June 30, 2013. Industry-wide 12,753 units were ordered and 12,647 units were delivered in the third quarter of 2013. Orders were down from the third quarter of 2012 as well as the second quarter of this year but deliveries were up when compared to both the prior year period and sequentially. Industry-wide backlog increased to 73,848 units at the end of September, up from both June of 2013 and the year ago. Orders, deliveries and backlogs were once again heavily driven by continued strength in the tank car demand. Non-tank car demand remained below average by historical standards with 7,600 units ordered in the third quarter compared to 7,900 in the second quarter of this year. Non-tank car deliveries also decreased to 5,100 units from 5,600 units in the second quarter. The after mentioned industry figures do not include our rebuild order and delivery activity. The overall number of railcars in storage decreased to…

Chip Avery

Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Ted. For the third quarter of 2013, consolidated revenues were $76 million compared to $161 million in the third quarter 2012 and $47 million in the second quarter of this year. The year-over-year decrease in revenues reflects a lower number of cars delivered of the sequential increase reflects an increase in cars delivered. Net loss for the third quarter of 2013 was $900,000 or a loss of $0.08 per diluted share reflective of the lower deliveries. Net income for the third quarter of 2012 was $4.8 million or $0.40 per diluted share and with a net loss of $3.4 million or a loss of $0.29 per diluted share in the second quarter of this year. Manufacturing segment revenues for the third quarter of 2013 were $67 million compared to $152 million in the third quarter of 2012 and $37 million in the second quarter of this year. Again, the year-over-year decrease in revenues reflects a lower number of cars delivered of the sequential increase reflects an increase in the cars delivered. Operating income for the Manufacturing segment for the third quarter of 2013 was $4.3 million which is about $10 million lower than the third quarter of last year but approximately $5 million higher than the second quarter of this year. As compared to the prior year, Manufacturing segment operating income for the current quarter reflects the lower volume and $3.3 million of Shoals startup and Danville carrying costs. Our Services segment had revenues of $9 million compared to revenues of $8.1 million in the third quarter of 2012 and $10.1 million in the second quarter of this year. Operating income for the Services segment was approximately $700,000 in the third quarter of 2013 compared to $600,000 in the same period of the prior year and $1.6 million…

Operator

Operator

Operator Instructions). And first one from Michael Gallo with CL King. Please go ahead. Michael Gallo – CL King: Hi, good morning.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Good morning, Mike. Michael Gallo – CL King: Congratulations on the improvement.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Thank you. Michael Gallo – CL King: Yeah I was wondering if you could elaborate you know I know you highlighted certainly third quarter in a lot of areas seemed to be in an inflection point for the company I was wondering if you can elaborate on some of the traction that you’re seeing among other car types certainly out of what was ordered industry-wide you did very well kind of from the standing star even excluding the coal rebuilt. So, I was wondering if you can elaborate on where are you seeing traction in car types whether that continues in the fourth quarter and then also if you can give us any commentary on whether you think you will see more Eastern coal fleet replacement as we look at say the next 12 months. Thank you

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Actually I’ll turn it over to Ted to answer.

Ted Baun

Management

Yeah hey, Michael. What we saw is a general mix of steel open top hoppers gone dollars in flat cars other than the rebuild that you mentioned. So pretty broad look when you take a look at what we’ve got we’re seeing a broad mix of everything coming in right now albeit lower volumes. With respect to the Eastern coal demand we continue to reiterate that there were still significant replacement cycle that’s left with the Eastern class ones and so that remains our focus as well. Michael Gallo – CL King: And in terms of just what you’re seeing so far in the fourth was it just continue to see an increase and demand have you seen anything picking back up in terms of be at automotive racks or anything on that front? Thanks

Ted Baun

Management

Yeah we’re not involved in automotive racks so I would hoard comment on that but off the car types we’re involved in I would say that the increase are stable you know, they’re the same as they were in the second quarter. We’re still seeing some interest across these different car types and it still remains to be seen though what stage in our customer’s CapEx plans for next year. We’ll have more visibility on that in the first quarter I believe. Michael Gallo – CL King: Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Our next question from Justin Long with Stephens. Please go ahead.

Unidentified Analyst

Management

Hi guys this is actually [Brian Collins] filling in for Justin today, thanks for taking my questions and congrats on a strong quarter. So you’ve talked about your focus on growing the Services business going forward, could you provide any color on how those efforts are progressing and what’s the realistic timeframe for us to expect some of these strategic efforts begin to materialize?

Joe McNeely

President and CEO

Hey Brian this is Joe, I’ll handle that. In terms of the strategic efforts let me cover that and when we look at new product development we’re actually seeing that going on the Shoals facility startup is on track you know we’re getting the production built out, we’ve got orders being build there now and we have orders to be built there next year so that part of the strategy we’re executing on. In the Services, what we continue to believe is, we like the all programs that we made over the last year and those are very improved at results on a year-to-date this year. As I think we said on the last call that we want to make sure that those are sustainable so that we can take that model and then grow that. so you know that’s still probably a year or two out as we look at that.

Unidentified Analyst

Management

Okay, that’s helpful. And you know from the margin expansion that we saw in this quarter, if you take out the one-time carrying costs it looks like gross margins were actually 12.5% and I was just wondering if will this mainly a result of the positive mix or just if you could elaborate on that?

Joe McNeely

President and CEO

It really comes down to the mix of the different car types that we did once you take out those carrying cost.

Unidentified Analyst

Management

And as we think about your efforts to further penetrate you know the non-coal markets where Shoals, you already have designs for all car types as of tank I’m guessing – I guess I’m just trying to understand what car types you can take an order for today and start building versus other car types where you might need more time to allocate its R&D before you get to the point of the accepting orders?

Ted Baun

Management

Yeah Brian well, this is Ted. We are – we’ve got a pretty solid design portfolio there are few other car types that we’re looking at getting into that were not into today, but I would say intermodal we’ve got a few more things to do there but we’re ready for orders on intermodal, we’re ready for orders on all the other miscellaneous open top condolers, hoppers, et cetera.

Unidentified Analyst

Management

Okay. That’s all from me, thanks for the time.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Thanks Brian.

Operator

Operator

And next to Steve Barger with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Tejas Patel – KeyBanc Capital Markets: Hey, this is actually Tejas filling in for Steve, how are you guys?

Ted Baun

Management

Good, Tejas. Tejas Patel – KeyBanc Capital Markets: Just a couple of questions from me. I know in the past you’ve provided some detail on the rebuilds just out of curiosity what is the expected life of rebuilt car is it you know less than the traditional in any car?

Ted Baun

Management

I’ll touch on that Tejas. This rebuild essentially is going to allow you to extend the car to its original life. So if it’s a 50 year car you’re essentially rebuilding it to may be in your 20 or your 30 just still get to that 50 year cycle. Tejas Patel – KeyBanc Capital Markets: Got it, got it. So, I guess just a follow-up when we see all those industry stats you know the cars that are shown for you know 40 plus years does that include the rebuilds or the rebuild is then falling back into you know the 20 year or whatever the number may be?

Ted Baun

Management

Yeah without getting into a lot of detail the car will expire you know if it was built before 1974 it will expire when it gets to 40 years of life if it was built after ‘74 it will expire when it gets to a 50 year life regardless of whether it was rebuilt or not it’s not like the clock starts to – the clock doesn’t start over at the point in time in which rebuilt. Tejas Patel – KeyBanc Capital Markets: Got it, got it. And then, just to the a question on Shoals facility it seems like you guys had your first delivery you had about that facility in the quarter can you just kind of talk about how that’s progressing or is that ahead of the plan inside you know at plan or a little behind?

Joe McNeely

President and CEO

We’re this is Joe, that we’re on track as I said you know we will get the one production line you know the, our initial orders are just about to complete and ready to be shipped like there was no shipments in the quarter out of the facility. But in terms of building it out, staffing, getting people trained that we’re right where we’re on track. Tejas Patel – KeyBanc Capital Markets: Got it, got it. And then just lastly it seems like you guys have a lot of credit here I think about 180 if you include the credit facilities and the cash, any idea on or any thoughts on the packing order of how you may choose to deploy that?

Joe McNeely

President and CEO

Yeah we’ve been pretty consistent as we look at where our business being the cyclical rail business where we’re at in the execution of our strategic priority. We’re going to maintain you know conservative balance sheet and a strong cash position. Tejas Patel – KeyBanc Capital Markets: Got it, thanks guys.

Operator

Operator

(Operator Instructions) And we go to Barry Haimes with Sage Asset Management. Please go ahead. Barry Haimes – Sage Asset Management: Thanks very much. I have a question related to all the non-coal car types. What’s the right way to think about what sort of annual volumes you need to break even on that activity so ex-corporate overhead, ex-coal you know if you’re just looking at all the rail delivery new car types of the non-coal car types what’s the right way to think about you know given Shoals et cetera what sort of breakeven you know as you need to? Thanks

Joe McNeely

President and CEO

Barry, this is Joe I mean we don’t give out that about kind of the level with details what we kind of guide people to is go back and what that our history of the different volumes and given a statistical business you’ll see our volumes go up and down and you can see what kind of possibility the business produces that differ any given volume. Barry Haimes – Sage Asset Management: Okay, well just one quick follow-up. Given that you know historically used on a largely coal you know if you’re looking it grows our operating margins across history what’s the right way to think about you know the margin profile of the new car types versus the traditional coal cars?

Joe McNeely

President and CEO

Good question, Barry you know as we’ve looked at this and I think we’ve indicated in the past when we look at the Shoals facility yeah we expect that given the efficiencies there but with the car type you plan to build there that margin should be consistent with history as you know lot of car types a little different than the coal cars where we had a market dominant position. Barry Haimes – Sage Asset Management: Okay, thanks.

Joe McNeely

President and CEO

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

We do have a follow-up from Michael Gallo. Please go ahead. Michael Gallo – CL King: Hi, good morning just a couple of follow-up questions. How much you expect in startup costs related to Shoals in the fourth quarter?

Ted Baun

Management

Say that again Mike? Michael Gallo – CL King: How much you expect in startup costs related to Shoals in the fourth quarter?

Ted Baun

Management

We’re still going to be in the startup mode in terms of you know the cars that go through although as we continue to ramp up you know we should get both these some improvements and the efficiency and better utilization of that overhead capacity there. So there is going to be cost going through by it’s probably going to be a little you know slightly at lower levels than we saw in the third quarter? Michael Gallo – CL King: Okay and then how much more CapEx do you think you have to spend I think that shows you know fully up and going?

Ted Baun

Management

Yeah we’re still thinking it’s in that $23 million range and this year we should be you know somewhere you know in the high-teens with the rest going over in the 2014. Michael Gallo – CL King: And how much has been spent through the first three quarters?

Ted Baun

Management

We spent about $16 million in CapEx for the first three quarters and most of that is in Shoals. Michael Gallo – CL King: Okay, so probably a couple more in Q4?

Ted Baun

Management

Yeah. Michael Gallo – CL King: Okay, thank you.

Ted Baun

Management

You’re welcome.

Operator

Operator

And at this time that we have no further questions in queue.

Ted Baun

Management

Ed?

Operator

Operator

This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for joining. A replay of this call will be available beginning at 1 PM Eastern Time today at 800-475-6701, pass code 306164. Good day.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Thank you.