David Dunbar
Analyst · Sidoti & Company
Well, thank you, Matt, and good morning. We made progress operationally during the quarter as we continue to face top line challenges in Food Service and Engineering Technologies. Sales in Engraving, Electronics and Hydraulics all increased. For Q4, overall revenues declined 3% to $193.8 million, with foreign exchange having a negative effect of 0.5%. On the bottom line, while the operational improvement initiatives drove 180 point year-over-year gross margin improvement, operating income was down 21%, due to a $7.3 million pretax charge related to the divestiture of the U.S. Roll, Plate and Machinery business.
GAAP EPS was $0.94 per diluted share, and adjusted EPS grew slightly to $1.31 a share. We had a net cash position of $29.9 million at the end of Q4. We achieved strong performance in Engraving, Electronics and Hydraulics, and we expect the positive trends in these segments will continue. In each of these segments, we are capitalizing on demand from traditional markets while driving growth in new markets.
In Engineering Technologies, top line challenges are continuing from oil and gas end-market weakness while we reposition the business to serve opportunities in the commercial aviation market. I'm pleased to report the business generated a 16% EBIT margin in the quarter as we align expenses to near-term demand.
In Food Service Equipment, small footprint retail and key chain accounts of Refrigeration continued to be soft, and had a negative effect on the group overall.
Slide 4 gives a brief overview of our financial progress and key milestones in fiscal year 2016. Despite lower sales, operationally, we performed well. GAAP EPS was $4.09, down 5.1%, with adjusted EPS up 0.7% to $4.59 as a result of our operational improvement initiative. We delivered excellent free cash flow conversion of 121%.
Engraving, Electronics and Hydraulics all delivered strong years in sales and profitability. Food Service delivered 130 basis point improvement despite the top line reduction. Our acquisition of Northlake is performing well in supporting the Electronics business opportunity. We divested the U.S. Roll, Plate and Machinery business to devote full focus on opportunities in our mold and service texturizing business.
Finally, we have begun production in our new Aluminum Center of Excellence in Wisconsin, delivering lipskins to Airbus. I'll touch more of our achievements in each business when I go through our segment review.
First, Tom will review our fourth year and year-end results. Tom?