Earnings Labs

Sypris Solutions, Inc. (SYPR)

Q4 2015 Earnings Call· Wed, Mar 30, 2016

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Sypris Solutions, Inc. 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 Gill

Management

Thank you, Lisa, and good morning, everyone. Tony Allen and I would like to welcome you to this call, the purpose of which is to review the Company’s financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2015. For those of you, who have access to our PowerPoint presentation this morning, please advance to slide two 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 three. 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 each of our two business segments. Tony will then provide you the more detailed review of our financial results for the quarter and year. Now, let’s begin with the overview on slide four. The year 2015 represented a period of significant change and adjustment for the Company. As most of you know, our inability to successfully resolve our contractual dispute with Dana resulted in the termination of all shipments to Dana as of December 31, 2014. The resulting loss of approximately $200 million per year of business was significant under any circumstances, but especially so for the Sypris plants…

Tony Allen

Management

Thanks, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. I’d like to discuss with you some of the highlights of our fourth quarter and full year 2015 financial results. I’ll start with our consolidated results and ask you to advance to slide 13. Q4 consolidated revenues totaled $29.1 million, down $58.1 million or 67% from the prior year, primarily related to the discontinuation of business with Dana at the end of 2014 and the divestiture of our Morganton, North Carolina operation at the beginning of Q3 2015. Q4 revenue was also impacted by an overall reduction in the Class 8 commercial vehicle market, which experienced a sharp reduction in orders beginning in November 2015. These market conditions are expected to remain soft with current forecast showing a reduction in Class 8 production in the range of 25% in 2016 from 2015. On a positive note, full year revenue for Sypris Electronics increased $4.7 million or 14% from 2014. Consolidated gross profit for both the fourth quarter and full year declined from the prior year levels, primarily due to the significant reduction in revenue. This impact of the lower volume was partially offset in both the quarterly and full year comparisons by cost reductions in both segments and a more favorable revenue mix for Sypris Electronics that generated an increase in gross profit. We decreased SG&A expense by $4.7 million and $7.7 million for the comparative Q4 and full year period, reflecting overall cost reduction measures implemented during 2015 including headcount reductions and lower professional fees among other changes. EBITDA for Q4 and full year was negative $2.8 million and negative $12 million respectively with the full year number inclusive of a $7.7 million gain on the sale of Morganton in the third quarter. A comparison of first half versus second half consolidated EBITDA…

Operator

Operator

Thank you, sir. [Operator Instructions] And we will take our first question from Jim Ricchiuti from Needham & Company.

Jim Ricchiuti

Analyst

I have a few questions. Jeff, I’m wondering is what you’re hearing from your commercial vehicle customers, is it consistent with some of the data that you cite in the presentation in terms of the decline in the Class 5 through 8 markets?

Jeffrey Gill

Management

Yes, it’s certainly not more optimistic at this point. I think that ACT may be tracking in the middle of the road. And so, we believe that I think ACT is forecasting 235,000 units for Class 8 this year. And we’ll see how that runs; it may be a little softer than that but we’ll see. But yes, generally speaking.

Jim Ricchiuti

Analyst

Okay. Is there -- I’m wondering to what extent there could be some incremental revenues from either new programs or new customers that perhaps can mitigate some of the weakness in the market as we look at 2016.

Jeffrey Gill

Management

Certainly, we’ve got a lot of folks for the Sypris Ultra series shaft. And as that moves into the production here in the next several months, we believe that that will give us some lift. We also have several new programs that we’re working on that could be additive, particularly through our Mexican operation.

Jim Ricchiuti

Analyst

Okay. And with Ultra, so what kind of milestones do we need to see? I think I heard you mention this spring and maybe you could talk a little bit about what we should anticipate or what we should be watching for?

Jeffrey Gill

Management

I don’t know that there’ll be anything publicly, Jim, but the Ultra is scheduled to become a significant proportion of the axle shaft components used by Detroit Axle. And we’ve been going through a lot of let’s call low rate production to provide Detroit Axle with samples to look at in a variety of areas. But, depending on how quickly Detroit Axle replaces its existing design with the new Ultra series will certainly have an impact on us. And if that goes more quickly than not, then we should expect to see some lift.

Jim Ricchiuti

Analyst

Okay. And the orders that you are anticipating on the electronic side of the business, $24 million in Q1, first off, I was wondering can you provide and kind of backlog for the electronics business. I’m just curious what you may have exited the year with in terms of backlog in that business.

Jeffrey Gill

Management

Let us get back to you on that Jim. We don’t that data handy here.

Jim Ricchiuti

Analyst

Okay. I guess what I’m getting to is if we think about the business that you have in this $24 million that you’re anticipating, what kind of -- what do you think is going to shippable first of all of this $24 million that you’re anticipating, how much would be shippable in 2016?

Jeffrey Gill

Management

Okay. Well, let me break it into pieces for you then. Of the 24, roughly $14 million would be tied to the circuit card assembly contract we just received and in that 14, the shipments begin in Q4 and run through 2018, so essentially, a little over 24 months. And so that contract would impact us primarily late this year. In terms of the remaining $10 million of backlog, roughly $5 million of that is tied to an engineering services contract. And the agency that awarded us that contract is behind. And so, while normally it’s a 22-month deliverable on that, we have the ability to draw as much of that into 2016 as we can with our resources. And so, we’ll be working to do that. And so whether we end up shipping half of that, $5 million in 2016 or earning it in 2016 or whether we can get to 60% or 70%, that’s kind of the range I think that would be logical. And then the balance of the backlog is all shippable this year or balance of these orders we receive is all shippable this year.

Jim Ricchiuti

Analyst

Okay. And then last question, just curious, cyber. How meaningful, Jeff, do you think that could be for you from a revenue standpoint in ‘16? I mean it sounds like you’ve got couple -- few irons in the fire here, some encouraging signs. Could it be a meaningful revenue stream?

Jeffrey Gill

Management

Well, for us, Jim, just about anything at this point is meaningful. But yes, without being precocious, yes, it can be and will be. And just as importantly, the margins that we’re realizing off this now that the development expenses have for all intents and purposes wrapped up, at least in terms of the current versions. So, we’re having some very nice yields off of this. And so, the profit contribution, quite frankly, far outweighs the top-line contribution.

Jim Ricchiuti

Analyst

Yes. And then that’s actually where I was going to. So, if I think about the mix of the electronics business in ‘16, if things work out, we could see -- it sounds like you could see a nice improvement in margins, even if revenues are below historical levels going back two years?

Jeffrey Gill

Management

Yes, I think you’re absolutely right. We should expect from this side of our businesses, we will have top-line growth this year. It will be a fairly material change in mix. And in that change in mix, we’ll have a lot more higher margin cyber security products, if you will. And then combining that with the SG&A that we’ve taken out over the past 12 to 15 months, we feel that there is a lot of leverage there.

Jim Ricchiuti

Analyst

Okay, great. Thanks a lot.

Jeffrey Gill

Management

Yes. Thanks Jim.

Operator

Operator

And gentlemen, we currently have no additional questions on the phone.

Jeffrey Gill

Management

Okay. Lisa, then, on behalf of Tony and the rest of us here, we’d like to thank everyone on this call for joining us. We welcome your continued interest and of course questions about our business. Thank you and have a great day.

Operator

Operator

And ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today’s conference. We do thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect and have a wonderful rest of your day.