Chris Smosna
Analyst · Christopher McGinnis, Sidoti & Company
Thank you, Tom, and good morning, everyone. As Tom noted, sales results this period were below our expectations, but our profitability and cash flow are exhibiting momentum that we hope to carry into fiscal 2020. Our initiatives are taking hold and certain corrective actions are helping to produce meaningful change across the business. I will dive into the drivers of our performance in my discussion today and will begin on Slide 4 of the webcast presentation, where you can see a high-level overview of net income. Moving from left to right, net income declined from $10.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 to $1 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, and you will note that of this decline, approximately $6 million or more than $0.30 of EPS was driven by income tax. First, the prior year fourth quarter included a $3.4 million tax benefit resulting from the reversal of an uncertain tax position. For the remaining items in the bridge, we have applied a 30% tax rate to the items noted, to increase the relevance of this analysis and presented separately, the impact of the significant change in the effective tax rate, which I will explain in a few moments. The pressures that we experienced across our operating segments drove a meaningful decrease in our gross margins, and we were unable to reach a similar level of gross profit as was achieved in the prior year fourth quarter. I'll discuss the margin bridge on the following slide. Next, operating expenses decreased by approximately $2.1 million on an after-tax basis. This decrease primarily reflects the step down in our compensation expenses as the fourth quarter of the prior year, including a fully loaded overhead structure. However, our fourth quarter included $900,000 of severance charges on an after-tax basis, directly related to our cost reduction plans, helping to reset our SG&A run rate. Then, as Tom mentioned earlier, weaker earnings from Parkdale contributed to approximately $800,000 of less income or around $0.04 of EPS. Lastly, from a tax perspective, the overall decline in domestic earnings created an unfavorable mix of foreign earnings taxed at higher rates. This, combined with our inability to take advantage of specific tax credits offsetting the U.S. taxation of certain income earned overseas, had an unfavorable impact on our effective tax rate. Due to our lower pretax income in the fourth quarter, the amount of tax expense recognized significantly impacted the effective tax rate. Looking forward, increase in our domestic earnings has the potential to meaningfully improve our effective tax rate, and we've noted that in our guidance, which I will detail in a moment. Moving to Slide 5. We have provided a bridge for gross margin. As Tom noted earlier, growth in our international operations have necessitated a shift to 4 reportable segments: Polyester, Nylon, Brazil and Asia. Our presentation and disclosures now include the Asia and Brazil segments reported separately, formerly combined as international. Simultaneously, our segment gross profit now includes consideration for certain technology-related expenses charged by the polyester segment to the Asia segment. Specifically, manufacturing, technology, processes and product expertise developed by the Polyester segment are charged to the Asia segment, where those benefits support significant sales and operational activities. The amounts are recorded as a benefit to cost of sales for the Polyester segment and a charge to cost of sales for the Asia segment, thereby impacting gross profit for each segment. This change is reflected in both our fiscal 2018 and 2019 segment results, and therefore, there is no difference in the comparison of Q4 2018 and Q4 2019. Accordingly, both our Q4 2018 and Q4 2019 segment results now reflect the transition to four segments and the update to segment profitability that reflects the benefits being provided to the Asia segment from development and support activities originating from the Polyester segment. Consolidated gross margin was 10.2% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 compared to 13.2% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. The decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by competitive pressures across our product portfolio, which contributed to lower fixed cost absorption and a weaker sales mix. The Polyester segment was adversely impacted by competitive pressures from yarn imports into the U.S., contributing to a weaker sales mix and lower fixed cost absorption. However, we did experience some moderate raw material cost relief that aided gross profit. While we continue efforts to restrengthen our domestic market position, import data reaffirms the importance of our trade petition. The Nylon segment experienced the revenue loss from a large customer that Tom described earlier, and this adversely impacted fixed cost absorption causing a decrease in the gross margin rate. Turning to Brazil. While we experienced a comparatively lower raw material cost environment, pricing and competitive pressures worked against our higher cost inventory position in the midst of a weaker economic environment, driving unfavorability in the gross margin rate. For the Asia segment, disproportionate growth of lower-margin products like chip and staple fiber, led to a weaker sales mix. While we are proud of the sales growth in Asia, we are continuing our efforts towards mix enrichment. These segment dynamics combined to generate a decline in overall gross margin of 300 basis points causing weaker gross profit versus the prior year fourth quarter. Slide 6 shows the sales and gross profit highlights for the fourth quarter. Total segment net sales decreased $1.7 million or 1% after approximately $4 million of foreign exchange pressure in comparison to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. For Polyester segment sales, which declined 8.5%, the volume decline of 13% exhibits the heightened levels of competitive imports into the U.S. However, the timing of raw material cost movements drove favorability in pricing when compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. Nylon sales decreased 17.6% as a result of a customer transitioning certain programs overseas and the continued trend of weaker category demand for certain nylon products. In Brazil, sales volumes were just 2% lower despite competitive and economic pressures, while the benefit from higher local pricing was muted by foreign currency translation. Sales results for the Asia segment continued to be a bright spot, and volumes increased 67% despite uncertainty in global trade and international palpation. Sales of REPREVE products led the way in Asia as we continue to attract quality brand programs and maintain a leading position in the recycled market. The PVA portfolio remains a growth engine as our growth strategy continues to be validated. For gross margin performance, we covered the significant items on the previous slide. Looking at this from a segment perspective, Polyester was primarily impacted by lower fixed cost absorption and weaker sales mix resulting from the competitive pressure described earlier, partially offset by moderate raw material relief. As a result, Polyester gross margin fell 120 basis points from 10.1% to 8.9%. Nylon experienced weaker fixed cost absorption and its margin rate declined from 11.6% to 6.4%. Brazil faced competitive and economic pressures, along with higher raw material costs and inventory during a declining cost environment, generating a gross margin decline from 23.1% to 18.7%. And lastly, Asia sales mix includes a significant chip and staple fiber sales, which currently carry a lower margin profile as these products are used to feed new programs and initiate further customer development. As a result, Asia gross margin declined from 15.7% to 9.8%. Moving on to Slide 7, we present equity affiliates. Pretax earnings decreased approximately $1.1 million from Q4 2018 to Q4 2019. Parkdale's results primarily reflect lower operating leverage during a period of elevated costs. Of note, Parkdale has generated meaningful cash flow since December 2018. Total equity affiliate distributions in the quarter totaled $1.3 million, while the year-to-date amount is $2.6 million. Slide 8 covers balance sheet highlights. At June 30, working capital was approximately $191 million and adjusted working capital was approximately $180 million. Adjusted working capital as a percentage of sales was 24.9%, driven primarily by higher inventory stocks and subdued domestic sales. We ended the period at $128 million in debt principal. Net debt was approximately $106 million, while revolver availability remained above $61 million and total liquidity remained above $83 million. I'll remind you that we amended the credit facility in December 2018, and we were able to extend the maturity date to 2023 and generate an average step down in interest of 25 basis points. Additionally, using swaps that terminate in May 2022, we have effectively fixed LIBOR at approximately 1.9% on $75 million of our debt principal. At June 2019, our weighted average interest rate was 3.4% consistent with our October 2018 announcement, $50 million remains available for share repurchases. Before opening up for questions, I would like to outline our guidance and related assumptions for fiscal 2020. We have experienced considerable headwinds and missed expectations this year. And while our progress in growing revenue remains solid, reversing our bottom line performance is our top priority. I will start with several positive indicators that lead to optimism in fiscal 2020 and beyond. First, customer adoptions from our innovative and sustainable portfolios are significant and new program negotiations are constant. We are seeding the global markets and momentum continues. Add-on to this deposit of preliminary determinations from our recent trade positions and our renewed commercial focus in the Americas. Each of these items should help to stabilize our competitive position beginning in fiscal 2020. Next, our recent SG&A cost reductions provide a much better foundation for higher profitability, and we expect raw material headwinds to temper, providing for more normalized conditions on top of increased production volumes. These represent the primary components leading to continued sales growth and a significant expected increase in profitability from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2020. Specifically, we expect sales volume growth in the high single-digit percentage range. With Asia leading the way, that should drive a revenue increase in the mid single-digit percentage range. Next, fiscal 2019 operating income included significant raw material headwinds and severance charges that weighed on profitability. Therefore, operating income for fiscal 2020 is expected to double and arrive in the range of $22 million to $27 million. This will drive a significant increase in adjusted EBITDA to a range of $47 million to $52 million. Consistent with our focus on investing in and revitalizing the Americas, our CapEx expectation of $25 million includes the initial purchase of new eAFK Evo texturing machines, along with other targeted machinery and equipment improvements which will allow us to best serve our markets. Lastly, a significant growth in domestic earnings should lead to a meaningful decrease in our effective tax rate, which we expect to fall in the mid-20% range in fiscal 2020. In summary, fiscal 2019 was a difficult year, and we believe our corrective actions are setting the stage for a much better fiscal '20. We remain optimistic about the steps we've taken and the opportunities that lie ahead. We will now open up the line for questions.