Barry Slifstein
Analyst · Gabelli & Company. Please go ahead
Thanks Frank and good morning everyone. I will review the results of operations for our fiscal 2018 first quarter, and then cover some August 31, 2017 balance sheet and cash flow items before turning the call over to Rusty who will provide more detail on our guidance for the balance of fiscal 2018. First quarter consolidated net sales of 1.35 billion, increased 7.5% from last year. Organic sales increased 1.8%, acquisition growth added 5.4%, and foreign currency translation increase sales by 0.3%. Industrial segment sales increased 8% quarter over quarter to $729.8 million. Organic sales increased 3.2%, acquisition growth added 4.3%, and foreign currency translation increased sales by 0.5%. Consumer segment sales increased 6.8% to $427.1 million. Organic sales decreased 1.2%. Acquisition growth added 8.1% and foreign currency translation reduced sales by 0.1%. Specialty segment sales increased 6.9% to $188.5 million from $176.3 million. Organic sales increased 3%. Acquisition growth added 4.1% and foreign currency translation reduced sales by 0.2%. Consolidated gross profit increased 3.6% to $572 million from $552 million last year. As a percent of net sales, gross profit declined 160 basis points due principally to higher raw material costs and an unfavorable shift in mix. Consolidated SG&A increased 2.7% to $394.5 million from $384.1 million last year. The increase was largely driven by acquisitions, higher healthcare costs, and higher freight expense due to increased sales volumes, partially offset by lower bad debt expense. As a percent of net sales, SG&A declined 140 basis points to 29.3% from 30.7%, reflecting last year's cost reduction actions and better than company average operating leverage on last year's acquisitions. Consolidated earnings before interest and taxes, EBIT, increased 6.1% to $177.6 million from $167.4 million last year on higher sales and modest increases in SG&A partly offset by lower gross profit margins due to higher raw material costs. Industrial segment EBIT increased 0.4% to $91.5 million from $91.1 million last year due to higher sales which was largely offset by higher raw material costs, unfavorable product mix, and disappointing results in Latin America. Consumer segment EBIT increased 3.5% to $72.6 million from $70.1 million last year, principally due to acquisition sales growth and better SG&A leverage partly offset by lower gross profit margins on higher raw material costs. Specialty segment EBIT increased 8.9% to $33 million from $30.4 million last year due to solid organic and acquisition related sales, combined with SG&A leverage partially offset by higher raw material costs. Corporate other expense of $19.5 million declined from $24.1 million last year. The decrease is predominantly attributable to lower pension expense and outside professional services fees. Income taxes, the effective income tax rate was 24.7% for the three months ended August 31 compared to an effective income tax rate of 23.6% for the three months ended August 31, 2016. Last year, we experienced a large discrete tax benefit from share based compensation as we adopted ASU 2016-09. This year, we had a slightly lower discrete benefit related to foreign tax credit planning and a corresponding reduction to deferred tax liabilities. The balance of the rate change was due to changes in the jurisdictional mix of income. Net income of $116.4 million increased 3.2% from last year's $112.8 million. Current quarter EPS of $0.86 per share compares to EPS last year of $0.83 per share. And now a quick look at the cash flows and capital structure. Cash used by operating activities was $26.1 million this year compared to cash provided by operating activities last year of $6.5 million. The decrease was principally attributable to the increase in sales and the timing of receivable collections this year versus last year and the timing of accruals associated with customer rebates and income taxes. Total debt as of August 31, 2017 was $2.1 billion compared to $1.7 billion last year. The increase is largely attributable to cash used for fiscal 2017 acquisitions of $254 million, the payment to the 524(g) trust in December 2016 of $102.5 million, the pre-funding of the December 2017 524(g) trust payment of $119 million in May, and the pre-funding of the fiscal 2018 pension plan contribution of $52.8 million also in May. Included in total debt for this year is $254.1 million of short-term debt reflecting the upcoming maturity in February 2018 of our 6.5% $250 million bond. With that, I'll turn the call over to Rusty.