James Otterberg
Analyst · Sidoti & Company. Your line is open
Thank you, Roger. I will begin the review of our preliminary financial results for the September quarter on Page 3 of the presentation with income statement highlights. For the three months ended September 27, 2015, the company is reporting preliminary basic EPS of $0.45 on pre-tax income of $11.7 million, an increase of $0.06 in basic EPS compared to the prior period. Pre-tax income is $900,000 higher than the $10.8 million of pre-tax income generated during the prior year first quarter. This increase in our quarterly pre-tax income is primarily attributable to improved gross profit of $500,000 driven primarily by increased volumes and margin gains for PVA products across all segments and lower SG&A expenses of $800,000, all achieved despite lower earnings from Parkdale America of $1.4 million. For the current quarter, we are reporting preliminary basic EPS of $0.45 per share against $0.39 per share for the prior year quarter, higher due to our improved operating income and a decline in our effective tax rate of almost 5% from 38.4% to 33.6%, partially offset by the lower earnings from Parkdale America. The decline in average basic shares outstanding to 17.9 million shares from the prior year quarter’s 18.3 million shares is due to purchases made under the company’s previously announced stock repurchase program. Turning to Slide number 4, we will review our net sales, and gross profit highlights by for the first quarter. Although net sales decreased $13.4 million from the prior year quarter, the company continues to see strong sales volumes for textured polyester in the region and continued growth for PVA products in both the US and China. The decrease in sales dollars is primarily attributable to $11 million for the devaluation of the Brazilian real, $5 million to $6 million for lower average pricing driven by a reduction in our raw material cost and approximately $2 million lower sales volumes at our subsidiary in Brazil. PVA products continue to grow as a portion of consolidated net sales, reaching approximately 33% for the current quarter, up from approximately 30% at June. Consolidated sales volume is 1.8% lower than the prior year quarter driven primarily by the decreases in the nylon and international segments which were partially offset by an increase for our polyester segment. Absent the volume declines for our Brazilian subsidiary mentioned earlier, our sales volumes for the current year quarter were slightly higher than the volumes for the comparative period. During the current quarter, the polyester segment experienced higher sales of its PVA products while lower priced imports applied competitive pressure to the low end of our product offering. Nylon segment sales volumes decreased over the prior year primarily due to timing of shipments to larger customers in that portfolio based in large part on the timing of the seasonal shutdown periods and changes in inventory levels for these customers and the international segment sales volume decreased from the prior year quarter due to 9% lower volumes in Brazil due to a soft local market partially offset by 10% higher volumes for our Chinese operation due to the success of several PVA programs. The decrease in price quarter-over-quarter for the polyester segment is due to a reduction in raw material cost which was approximately $0.10 per pound. The nylon segment pricing is lower due to changes in sales mix as well as lower raw material costs and the quarter-over-quarter price decrease in the international segment is a result of unfavorable currency translation in Brazil of approximately $11 million due to the devaluation of the real against the US dollar which more than offset their local currency price increases. The average exchange rate for the period was 3.53 Brazilian reals per US dollar versus 2.28 for the prior year period. For our gross profit results against the prior year quarter, the company is reporting higher consolidated gross profit as improved gross profit for the nylon and international segments were partially offset by lower gross profit in the polyester segment. For Q1 of the current fiscal year, consolidated gross profit improved to $21 million from $20.5 million for the prior year quarter and gross margin improved to 12.9% from 11.6% for the prior year quarter. The decline in polyester segment gross profit is primarily due to the impact on volumes from low priced imports manufacturing variances with respect to the timing of shutdown periods and an increase in depreciation expense due to recent capital expenditures which was partially offset by mix enrichment achieved through increased PVA sales. The increase in nylon segment gross profit is primarily driven by improved margins for textured nylon and air-covered products and the increase in international segment gross profit versus the prior year quarter is due to higher sales volumes and margins in China, attributable to increased PVA sales. For our subsidiary in Brazil, higher unit conversion margins and increased pricing in the local currency have helped to partially offset the impacts of currency translation and weak market conditions that Roger spoke of previously. Turning to Slide number 5, we can review of equity affiliates highlights. As of September 27, 2015, the company has approximately $114 million recorded for investments in unconsolidated affiliates. These investments consist of our 34% ownership in Parkdale America, a domestic cotton spinner and our 50% interest in two joint ventures that supply raw materials to our domestic nylon operations. For the current quarter, these equity affiliates accounted for $2.9 million of the company's pre-tax earnings, which is a decline of $800,000 versus the prior year's quarter. For Parkdale, earnings are down $1.4 million as the prior period included a bargain purchase gain of $1.1 million while the current period includes higher sales volumes, but comparatively lower operating margins due to lower EAP income, and higher start-up costs and depreciation expenses from recent expansions. We received $1.9 million in distributions from our equity affiliates in the current quarter, of which, $947,000 was received from Parkdale. Turning to Slide number 6, the company’s adjusted EBITDA results are presented. For the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the company is reporting preliminary adjusted EBITDA of $15.4 million with an EBITDA margin of 9.5%, up $1.4 million and 150 basis points when compared to the $14 million at an average margin of 8% for the prior year quarter. Improved cash gross profits and lower SG&A expenses discussed earlier are the primary drivers for the higher adjusted EBITDA versus the year ago quarter. On Slide number 7, we can review the company’s reconciliations of GAAP results to adjusted results. Adjustments presented here are intended to exclude certain items, which management believes are not indicative of the company's underlying and ongoing operations. Such amounts are excluded from adjusted net income and adjusted EPS, in order to better reflect the company's underlying basic earnings per share. The columns presented here provide the before and after tax impacts of certain GAAP transactions or amounts as well as the approximate impact on basic earnings per share. For all periods presented, each of the individual items that were identified as separately listed within the reconciliation, the largest impact to the comparative period is the prior year’s adjustment for Parkdale America’s bargain purchase gain recognized during that quarter. The company is reporting adjusted EPS of $0.45 for the first quarter of fiscal year 2016, up $0.08 from the prior year driven by increases in GAAP net income and the benefit of a lower average share count. The trailing 12 months adjusted EPS is $1.95 per share. On Slide number 8, we can review the company’s working capital highlights. The balance of $141.2 million in adjusted working capital, defined as AR plus inventory less accounts payable and accrued expenses, at September 2015, is approximately 21.8% of annualized net sales. The increase in the company's adjusted working capital dollars versus the beginning of the fiscal year is primarily due to lower amounts for accounts payable and accrued expenses as expected for reductions in amounts due to vendors related to capital expenditures, and amounts due under variable compensation programs in addition to increases in inventory and accounts receivable. These items were partially offset by the devaluation of the Brazilian Real and lower polyester raw material costs. Total working capital was $142 million and the comparative increase is primarily driven by the previously discussed increase in adjusted working capital, offset by an increase in other current liabilities due to current maturities for additional capital leases, and a decrease in other current assets from reductions of income tax receivables and lower deposits. Turning to Slide number 9, details for the company's capital structure are presented. The company ended the first quarter of fiscal year 2016 with $128.2 million of total debt and net debt of $118.3 million and net debt has increased approximately $24 million from the beginning of the fiscal year due to capital expenditures, an increase in working capital and share repurchases. As of September, 27, 2015, the company's weighted average interest rate for its outstanding indebtedness was approximately 2.3% and our total revolver availability and liquidity were $57.1 million and $67 million, respectively. In addition, during the first quarter of 2016 fiscal year, the company repurchased 179,000 shares of its common stock at a total cost of $5.4 million. As of September 2015, there were approximately 17.8 million shares outstanding. The various capital spending opportunities we have discussed before are primarily related to our core regional polyester and recycling businesses. The company's total commitment for these capital projects over the three year period through fiscal year 2017 is expected to be approximately $120 million, with the expectation that a portion of these projects will be funded with the borrowings available under our ABL facility. And to conclude with Slide number 10, we have provided details for the company’s upcoming 10-Q filing and our Annual Investor Meeting to be held on Monday, December 14, at the New York Stock Exchange. With that, I would like to now turn the call over to Bill.