Shashank Patel
Analyst · Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead
Thank you, Bob. Good morning, everyone. Please now turn to slide four, which highlights our fourth quarter results. Sales of $540 million were down 1% on a reported basis and down 5% organically. As previously discussed, we had fewer shipping days in the fourth quarter, which unfavorably impacted our sales approximately 5% across all regions. Americas organic sales were down 3% and reported sales were up 3%. This was better than expected, particularly with the reduced shipping days. Some of this favorability was a result of several large projects shipping earlier than expected. Sales from our Joe, Sam, and Brandy acquisitions added $23 million. Europe organic and reported sales were down 15% with declines across all geographies due to fewer shipping days, heat pump destocking at our OEM partners in Germany and Italy, and weakness in new construction markets triggering some destocking in the wholesale channel. Apnea delivered 3% organic growth while reported sales growth of 4% was favorably impacted by 1% from foreign exchange movements. Double-digit growth in China and the Middle East was partly offset by declines in Australia and New Zealand, primarily driven by fewer shipping days. Compared to the prior year, adjusted EBITDA of $104 million increased 6% and adjusted EBITDA margins of 19.3% increased 140 basis points. Adjusted operating profit of $91 million increased 5% and adjusted operating margins of 16.8% was up 100 basis points. Adjusted EBITDA and operating income benefited from price productivity, favorable mix, and cost controls, which more than offset inflation, volume deleverage, investments, and acquisition dilution. Americas segment margins increased 160 basis points to 21.8%, Europe segment margins decreased by 480 basis points to 10.2%, and Apnea segment margins increased 480 basis points to 17.5%. Adjusted earnings per share of $2.05 increased 4% versus last year with benefits from acquisition, operational contribution, and reduced interest expense more than offsetting incremental tax expense. The adjusted effective tax rate in the quarter was 24.6%, up 230 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily due to the recognition of additional R&D credits in the fourth quarter of 2023. Moving to the full year results, please turn to slide five. As Bob mentioned, we delivered record operating results for 2024. Sales were $2.25 billion, up 10% on a reported basis and down 1% organically. The organic decline was primarily driven by the challenging year in Europe. Acquisitions accounted for 11% or $215 million of incremental sales. Globally, foreign exchange had an immaterial impact. Adjusted EBITDA of $454 million increased 11% and adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.1% increased 20 basis points. Adjusted operating income of $400 million increased 9% and adjusted operating margins of 17.7% decreased 10 basis points. As Bob noted, adjusted operating margin decreased only 10 basis points versus the prior year despite 60 basis points of acquisition dilution and significant volume deleverage from weakness in Europe. Similarly, the Americas segment margin was unfavorable of acquisition dilution. Excluding acquisitions, the Americas core business operating margin was up 100 basis points and Apnea was up 170 basis points, a very strong performance by both teams. Adjusted EPS of $8.86 increased by 59 cents or 7% versus the prior year. Benefits from acquisition operational contribution, and reduced interest expense more than offset incremental tax expense. For GAAP purposes, we incurred after-tax charges of $16.1 million in restructuring and acquisition-related costs. These charges were partly offset by $10.3 million of nonrecurring gains on the sale of assets, the settlement of the terminated Bradley pension plan, and other investment gains. Free cash flow for the full year was $332 million, an 18% increase compared to 2023 and was a company record. The increase was driven by higher net income, improved working capital, and cash flow generated by acquisitions. Our 2024 free cash flow conversion was 114%. We returned $73 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in 2024, and increased our annual dividend return by 20%. Our net debt to capitalization ratio at year-end was negative 13% compared to negative 4% at in 2023. Our net leverage ratio at year-end is negative 0.4. Balance sheet continues to be in excellent shape and provides substantial flexibility to fund our capital allocation priorities. Now on slide six, let's review our outlook for the full year 2025 and our expectations for the first quarter of 2025. Our 2025 outlook reflects the market factors previously discussed by Bob. Starting with the full year assumptions on both our reported basis and organic basis, we expect sales to range between down 3% to up 2%. Regional expectations are as follows. Americas from down 3% to up 3%, Europe from down 8% to down 2%, and Apnea from flat to up 5%. In addition, we expect approximately $25 million of incremental sales in the Americas from acquisitions to be offset by the impact of 80/20 product rationalization of between $10 million and $15 million and the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange across all regions which equates to a decrease of $28 million in sales and $0.11 per share in EPS versus the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be in the range of 20% to 21% or up 30 to 90 basis points. Adjusted operating margin should be in the range of 17.7% to 18.3% or flat to up 60 basis points. From a regional perspective, the Americas segment margin is expected to be flat to up 60 basis points. We anticipate the segment margin in Europe will be down 30 basis points to up 30 basis points and Apnea will be flat to up 60 basis points. We expect the margin improvement to be driven by price productivity, and restructuring savings which will more than offset inflation and volume deleverage. As Bob mentioned, we have completed negotiations to exit a facility in France. Total pretax exit costs are estimated to be $22 million. We will record a majority of the cost in the first quarter and provide more detail during our first quarter earnings call. Most of the costs are severance related and are expected to be incurred in 2025. Full year pretax run rate savings are estimated to be $3 million which should be fully realized in 2026. We expect about $1.5 million in savings this year largely in the second half. We expect to deliver free cash flow conversion of greater than or equal to 100% of net income in 2025. Finally, a few items to consider for Q1. On a reported and organic basis, we expect sales to decrease between 3% and 7%. Regionally, we expect a low to mid-single-digit decline in the Americas, and a high single to low double-digit decline in Europe. Partly offset by Apnea which is expected to be flat. Based on the calendarization in 2025, we'll have fewer shipping days in the first quarter versus last year which will unfavorably impact sales by approximately 3%. We also expect Europe to remain weak as heat pump destocking is expected to continue at least through the first quarter. We expect approximately $5 million of incremental sales in the Americas from acquisitions to be offset by the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange across all regions which equates to a decrease of $7 million in sales and $0.03 per share in EPS versus the prior year. We do not expect a significant impact from our 80/20 actions in the first quarter. First quarter EBITDA margin is expected to be in the range of 19.4% to 20% or down 60 to 120 basis points. Operating margin should be in the range of 16.9% to 17.5% or down 70 to 130 basis points. This is primarily due to the volume deleverage impact of fewer shipping days and continuing European weakness. Other key inputs for the first quarter and the full year can be found in the appendix. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Bob before moving to Q&A.