Earnings Labs

Sypris Solutions, Inc. (SYPR)

Q4 2012 Earnings Call· Tue, Mar 12, 2013

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Sypris Solutions Incorporated Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks, I would like to turn the call over to President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jeffrey Gill. Please go ahead, sir.

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

Thank you, Rochelle, and good morning, everyone. Brian Lutes, Tony Allen and I would like to welcome you to this call. The purpose of which to review the trends reflected in the company's financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2012. For those of you who have access to our PowerPoint presentation this morning, please advance to Slide 2 now. We always begin these calls with a note that some of what we might discuss here today may include projections and other forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these projections and statements will be achieved, and actual results could differ materially from those projected as a result of several factors. These factors are included in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. And in compliance with Regulation G, you can access our website at sypris.com to review the definitions of any non-GAAP financial measures that may be discussed during this call. With these qualifications in mind, we'd now like to proceed with the business discussion. Please advance to Slide 3. I will lead you through the first half of our presentation this morning, starting with an overview of the highlights for the year, to be followed by a brief discussion of each of our 2 business segments. Brian will then provide you with a more detailed review of our financial results for the quarter and year. Now let's begin with the overview on Slide 4. We're pleased to report that 2012 represented another year of accomplishment for Sypris Solutions, one in which the company's margins and earnings continued to expand at a rate in excess of its top line growth. The company's profit performance reflected the impact of these extensive efforts to expand international sales, introduce new technologies, increase productivity and eliminate inefficiencies during…

Brian A. Lutes

Management

Great. Thanks, Jeff. Good morning, everyone. I'd like to discuss with you the highlights of our fourth quarter and full year 2012 financial results. Let me begin with our consolidated fourth quarter results and ask you to advance to Slide 10. You'll see here Q4 consolidated revenue totaled $67.5 million. This was down $16.1 million or about 19%, primarily attributed to the reduction that we saw take hold in the second half with respect to commercial vehicle demand. In terms of gross profit, we came in at generating $8.6 million, this despite the 19% sales decline. As a result, gross margin of 12.8% or a 240-basis-point expansion from 10.4% in Q4 of 2011 was achieved. As Jeff mentioned earlier, really both segments did just a great job in terms of executing in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter and continue the focus of managing volatility with proper cost containment. And in very important metric, earnings per share from continuing operations came in at a $0.04 loss versus $0.07 positive in Q4 of 2011 and was negatively impacted by approximately $0.08 as a result of a write off of a pre-contract charge related to one of our A&D programs. If we shift our attention now to the consolidated results, let me ask you to please advance to Slide 11. Our 2012 full year consolidated revenue came in at $341.6 million. This is up $6 million from 2011, again, impacted by the decline we saw in the second half of the year, as well as some slowing of orders within our Aerospace & Defense segment and its direct impact on revenue. Despite these headwinds and the impact on revenue, again, the story here is all about margin expansion. In that regard, margins expanded considerably as a result of the execution…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And your first question, we'll hear from Jim Ricchiuti with Needham & Company. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: I wonder if you guys would be able to break out the international component of the business last year? And if you can, can you give us any color in terms of how that might break out for industrial and electronics?

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

Jim, we don't have those numbers at our fingertips, but my guess is that Brian and Tony could work on that and get back to you afterwards. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: Okay. Jeff, but -- I guess what I'm -- where I'm going with this is, it sounds like you're talking more and more about opportunities overseas. Is that going to be a bigger part of the business going forward? Is it going to be more meaningful in 2013?

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

Yes. We expect it to be more meaningful in 2013, Jim. It is growing in importance for us, particularly as we look at finding more stable sources of business for the Aerospace & Defense space. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: And then along those same lines, you're talking more about opportunities, I think, in the oil and gas market. Is that -- how meaningful is it right now in terms of the revenues for the Industrial business?

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

Well, it's growing fairly rapidly. You saw it was 27% growth this past year. We expect to have double-digit growth again this year. And I would say, as much as anything, it's the profit contribution coming from that segment of the business, which is probably more meaningful than the top line. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: Got it, okay. Brian, the charge, can you elaborate on that? Where did that hit in the P&L? Just...

Brian A. Lutes

Management

Sure. That hit in G&A. It was a $1.7 million charge in Q4. $1.1 million of that, Jim, was incurred in 2011. And the balance of approximately $600,000 was incurred during 2012. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: Okay. In the quarter?

Brian A. Lutes

Management

Yes. In Q4, in G&A. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: Got it. So if we think about SG&A or the G&A component going forward, it should be coming down, it sounds like.

Brian A. Lutes

Management

Well, I would look at our G&A run rate based on a sequential view, particularly through Q1, Q2 and Q3 because the flip-side of this is, is that we true up employee benefits and health care. We had some things that offset that in the fourth quarter. So a good run rate is based on where we're at on a sequential basis from Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: Okay. Now this is a little bit, I guess, more difficult to answer, just in light of all the uncertainty around sequestration. It sounds like you're at least planning for a pretty challenging first half in the A&D business. Is that safe to say?

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

Yes. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: Then the question is, and Jeff, I don't know if you can answer this. Do you think the business could be -- has the potential to be up for the year?

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

Jim, I think the thing that's safe to say at this moment is the lack of visibility is very pervasive. And so I think the best thing to do is you look at 2013 and just to be conservative. And if we can surprise, that's going to be great. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: Okay. And then I have one final question. I'd jump in the queue -- back in the queue. The rebalancing that you alluded to for in -- that appears to be taking place in the inventories in the industrial business, can you get some sense as to the magnitude of that, that you might be seeing in the quarter?

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

Well, that's a tough thing to answer. What we can tell you is that we believe that the rebound from Q4 has been stronger than what the, let's call it, the published production numbers would otherwise indicate.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And there are no further questions. We will take a follow-up from Jim Ricchiuti with Needham & Company. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: On backlog, I was wondering if there's any color you could provide in terms of how the -- how your backlog looks entering in the year? Any flavor in terms of bookings, book-to-bill, for instance, in the Industrial business?

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

In the Industrial business, Jim, we don't track backlog. So -- but it is, as I mentioned just a moment ago, is we are seeing strength coming out of the fourth quarter that is probably, safe to say, stronger than what the production numbers would otherwise indicate. James Ricchiuti - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: Jeff, is there any reason to think that the Industrial business wouldn't be up this year, just in light of some of the demand you're beginning to see, the recovery agenda, as you think about the maybe some of the conversations you've had with some of your customers?

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

I think everybody's cautiously optimistic. But if you -- as we listened to our customers and read the reports of different things, basically, what people are saying is they expect 2013 to be, in effect, a mirror image, if you will, of 2012. So in other words, the back half of the year of 2013, kind of trending towards the strength of what was the first half of 2012.

Operator

Operator

And there are no further questions at this time.

Jeffrey T. Gill

Management

Okay. Well, Thank you, Rochelle. And Brian, Tony and I would like to thank everyone for joining us this morning. We welcome your continued interest and, of course, your questions about our business. So thank you, and have a great day.

Operator

Operator

And that will conclude today's call. We thank you for your participation.