Santiago Giraldo
Analyst · Stifel
Thank you, Christian. Turning to single family residential on Slide #8. During the first quarter, we generated single-family residential revenues of $73 million compared to $84 million in the prior year quarter. The year-over-year change was primarily due to slower sequential and year-over-year activity resulting from much higher interest and mortgage rates. As mentioned by Jose Manuel, however, this trend has reversed significantly based on the level of orders for March and April, which came at a record level, up over 12% year-over-year.
While higher interest rates drove weakness during the quarter, we continue to see organic growth opportunities in our single-family residential business through a variety of tailwinds unique to Tecnoglass, namely, a widened dealer base enabled by short lead times, innovative product development and demand for energy saving products, geographic expansion in Florida, and growing brand recognition throughout the U.S. through showroom openings in key markets such as New York, Charleston and Houston. And our recent entry into the vinyl market, which significantly expanded our addressable market and provides a huge runway for revenue growth and product diversification once the business ramps up to full operating capacity.
On Slide #9, I would like to reiterate a few key points from our recent strategic entry into vinyl windows. The enthusiasm and interest from our customers have been overwhelmingly positive, as evidenced by the high level of quoting activity. The favorable response from our customers reinforces our confidence in this strategic decision and underscores our potential for long-term success in this attractive market. Our showrooms now feature both our legacy aluminum window lines and our new vinyl designs. Additionally, we have successfully onboarded new distributors in Northern Florida since our last update, further solidifying our market presence. The opportunities we see within vinyl are incredibly promising given the vast size of the addressable market across the U.S.
Turning to drivers of revenue on Slide #11. Total revenues for the first quarter decreased 4.9% year-over-year to $192.6 million, in line with our expectations. Due to lower single-family residential revenues and downtime related to maintenance in January, our multifamily and commercial business continued to perform in line with internal expectations as we executed on our growing backlog.
Looking at the profit drivers on Slide #12. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2024 was $51 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 26.5%. SG&A was $33.6 million compared to $34.1 million in the prior year quarter, with the decrease attributable to lower shipping and commission expenses, partially offset by higher personnel expenses, given annual salary adjustments that took place at the beginning of the year. As a percentage of total revenues, SG&A for the first quarter was 17.5% of revenue compared to 16.8% of revenue in the prior year quarter. The increase in SG&A as a percentage of revenue was primarily due to lower revenues year-over-year.
First quarter gross profit was $74.7 million, representing a 38.8% gross margin. This compared to gross profit of $107.8 million, representing a 53.2% gross margin in the prior year quarter. The year-over-year change in gross margin is primarily related to 4 main factors. First, we had an unfavorable FX impact of nearly 800 basis points. This related to a noncash accounting effect on inventory with the peso as functional currency and the effect on peso-denominated cost and expenses against a steep revaluation of approximately 18% year-over-year. Excluding the FX impact, on a constant currency basis with the prior year quarter, gross margin would have been 46.3%.
Second, we saw a 200 basis point impact from temporary promotional activity implemented in the fourth quarter that was subsequently invoiced in the first quarter on certain single-family residential products, which has mostly concluded. Third, we had an unfavorable revenue mix that included more installation and stand-alone product sales. Fourth, softer revenues resulted in lower operating leverage. To a lesser extent, gross margin was also impacted by a temporary increase in energy costs due to dry weather conditions in Colombia.
As a reminder, we estimate that each movement of 5% in FX equates to approximately 150 basis points in operating margins. While the year-over-year FX impact was pronounced, given the relative stability of the currencies over the last several months, the sequential impact from FX was much lower, with an estimated 150 basis points impact to margins from a 4% to 5% appreciation in the peso from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024.
Other factors impacting our sequential gross margin compared to 42.6% last quarter included a decrease in operating leverage given lower revenues; the temporary promotional activity in residential; and higher operating costs for personnel, given higher salary costs from company-wide annual salary increases which take place at the beginning of each year; and a temporary increase in energy costs.
Now looking at our strong cash flow and improved leverage on Slide #13. The first quarter showcased another period of solid operating cash flow amounting to $33.4 million, primarily driven by effective working capital management. Our capital expenditures totaled $9.9 million, encompassing investments in land, our entry into the vinyl window market and past investments in automation and increase in operational capacity. With our increased install capacity, we anticipate a significant reduction in capital expenditures for the remainder of 2024.
We were pleased to continue our track record of driving additional value for our shareholders through our cash dividend. We returned capital to shareholders through $4.2 million in dividend payments during the quarter and continue to have roughly $26 million available for share repurchases within our current authorization. Net leverage remained at a record low 0.1x net debt to LTM-adjusted EBITDA, unchanged from the prior year quarter.
As of March 31, we had a cash balance of $136 million and availability under our committed revolver credit facilities of $170 million, resulting in total liquidity of approximately $306 million. This gives us significant financial flexibility to drive additional value in our business.
On Slide 14, we highlight our success in generating superior return for our shareholders, outperforming the industry average. Our profitability and enhanced cash flow generation over the past 3 years have yielded significant above-average returns, further validating our strategic approach.
Now moving to our outlook on Slide #16. The themes we highlighted during our last earnings call remain very consistent with what we are seeing right now, with several updates to certain dynamics. We remain confident in our ability to produce another year of revenue growth based on the visibility from our growing backlog and by the organic growth drivers we highlighted earlier, including our vinyl initiative, showroom openings and geographical expansion. That being said, given the current lack of clarity on U.S. macroeconomic factors, mainly the trajectory of interest rates going forward, we are providing 3 different scenarios for how we see our results playing out for the full year.
These scenarios are predicated on a few main factors: First, a slower start to the year for single-family residential revenues and the durability of the expected pickup later in the year, given recent record order trends, coupled with the expected ramp-up in vinyl sales in the second half of the year. Second, we anticipate an increased mix of revenues from installation and stand-alone product sales compared to 2023. Third, a less volatile FX rate since the end of 2023 results in a Colombian peso that is roughly 8% to 12% stronger than the average FX rate for 2023, based on the current and projected 2024 FX levels. And fourth, all scenarios assume the execution of large projects within our multifamily and commercial backlog staying within current scheduled time lines and provide different levels of activity for smaller short-term duration projects, which tend to be more rate sensitive.
In addition, our scenarios incorporate a range of outcomes for U.S. Fed interest rate decisions through year-end. Our base case scenario assumes mid-single-digit revenue growth of 5%, resulting in full year 2024 revenues of approximately $875 million and adjusted EBITDA of $267 million. Based on the range of scenarios we have laid out, we have also factored in both a downside and an upside case. These scenarios assume revenue growth of 2% and up to 9% year-over-year, delivering adjusted EBITDA of $250 million and $285 million, respectively.
As mentioned earlier, we have seen a more robust pace of activity in single-family residential, with orders reaching record levels in March and April. While we are optimistic on the strength of our key geographies, the momentum within our new vinyl products and share gain opportunities, we acknowledge that higher interest rates could continue to weigh down on consumer purchasing decisions. Combined with our higher expected growth in installation and stand-alone product sales, this has had a residual effect of a less favorable mix, which in turn pressures gross margins year-over-year, which we expect to partially or fully offset through operating leverage, depending on the revenue scenario.
On a sequential basis, we expect gross margins to step up from the levels seen in first quarter based on a more stable FX rate and favorable operating leverage from a sequential increase in revenues. Therefore, based on our scenarios, we factor in an expectation for full year gross margin to be in the low to mid-40s range, accounting for a softer-than-expected first quarter.
All 3 scenarios assume healthy free cash flow growth year-over-year, given the majority of capital expenditures related to facility automation, expansion and vinyl related investments having been completed.
In summary, we remain optimistic in the overall strength of our business. Our growing backlog of multifamily and commercial projects and promising activity in our vinyl business should support market share expansion and value creation in the quarters and years to come.
With that, we will be happy to answer your questions. Operator, please open the line for questions.