BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwire - Mar 1, 2012) - Esterline Corporation (
Highlights:
- Strong performance from Advanced Materials segment
- Souriau acquisition tracking to plan; associated tax benefit recorded
- Full-year EPS guidance increased to $5.10 to $5.40
Esterline Corporation (
Brad Lawrence, Esterline's Chief Executive Officer, said he was "...pleased with the solid first quarter performance and the relatively fast start to the year." Lawrence said that Esterline saw good growth in its commercial aerospace business, particularly from its Engineered Materials platform, and "...saw pockets of strength in certain defense-oriented businesses, despite the tough environment." Lawrence noted that Esterline's July 2011 acquisition -- its largest to date -- of French connector company, Souriau, is performing as expected and "...we're pushing ahead toward full integration, right on schedule." He pointed out that the tax benefit in the quarter was a direct result of the acquisition, and driven in part by "...how we structured the transaction, and partly by a recent change in French tax law."
Esterline raised its earnings guidance by $0.10, estimating full-year earnings to be in the range of $5.10 to $5.40 per share. Lawrence said that although he was pleased with the quarter's solid operational performance, the new guidance principally reflects the tax benefit. He said, "It's still early in the year and the defense budget process remains in front of us, so I think it's only prudent not to get ahead of ourselves." He emphasized, however, that the quarter's results "...certainly give us confidence that we remain in a position to report record sales and earnings at year-end."
As Esterline's December guidance to investors anticipated, gross margins in the first quarter were impacted by acquisition-related accounting and were 33.6%, down from last year's 35.6%. "Without the acquisition," Lawrence said, "...gross margin improved to 36.3%."
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses as a percent of sales were 20.1% in the first quarter of 2012, compared with 17.8% a year ago. Lawrence said that the increase was anticipated and "...is primarily a result of the expected sales dip in our Avionics & Controls segment due to a delay in foreign military retrofit work, and the somewhat higher than the Esterline average SG&A rate at Souriau."
Research, development and engineering (R&D) expenses were in line with our expectations at 5.6% of sales. This compares to 5.3% last year. Lawrence said "...the increase over last year reflects investments in new avionics programs, as well as the addition of Souriau."
The income tax rate for the first quarter of 2012 was 10.1% compared with 20.3% last year. The decrease primarily reflects the acquisition-related tax benefit described above. It is expected that the tax rate will return to the 20% level in future quarters.
New orders for the first quarter of 2012 were $467.8 million compared with $399.3 million for the same period last year. Backlog was $1.25 billion compared with $1.13 billion at the end of the prior-year period and $1.25 billion at the end of fiscal 2011.
Conference Call Information
Esterline will host a conference call to discuss this announcement today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Pacific Time). The U.S. dial-in number is 866-277-1181; outside the U.S., use 617-597-5358. The pass code for the call is: 66554025.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "should" or "will," or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based on the current intent and expectations of the management of Esterline, are not guarantees of future performance or actions, and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and may cause Esterline's or its industry's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Esterline's actual results and the timing and outcome of events may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements due to risks detailed in Esterline's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.
| ESTERLINE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION | |||||||||
| Consolidated Statement of Operations (unaudited) | |||||||||
| In thousands, except per share amounts | |||||||||
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||
| Jan 27, | Jan 28, | ||||||||
| 2012 | 2011 | ||||||||
| Segment Sales | |||||||||
| Avionics & Controls | $ | 179,572 | $ | 192,467 | |||||
| Sensors & Systems | 171,672 | 77,055 | |||||||
| Advanced Materials | 119,638 | 101,277 | |||||||
| Net Sales | 470,882 | 370,799 | |||||||
| Cost of Sales | 312,801 | 238,677 | |||||||
| 158,081 | 132,122 | ||||||||
| Expenses | |||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 94,697 | 66,092 | |||||||
| Research, development and engineering | 26,395 | 19,619 | |||||||
| Total Expenses | 121,092 | 85,711 | |||||||
| Operating Earnings From Continuing Operations | 36,989 | 46,411 | |||||||
| Interest Income | (95 | ) | (340 | ) | |||||
| Interest Expense | 11,528 | 9,137 | |||||||
| Income From Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes | 25,556 | 37,614 | |||||||
| Income Tax Expense | 2,576 | 7,654 | |||||||
| Income From Continuing Operations Including Noncontrolling Interests | 22,980 | 29,960 | |||||||
| Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests | (192 | ) | 23 | ||||||
| Income From Continuing Operations | 22,788 | 29,983 | |||||||
| Income From Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax | -- | 8 | |||||||
| Net Earnings | $ | 22,788 | $ | 29,991 | |||||
| Earnings Per Share - Basic: | |||||||||
| Continuing Operations | $ | .74 | $ | .99 | |||||
| Discontinued Operations | -- | -- | |||||||
| Earnings Per Share - Basic | $ | .74 | $ | .99 | |||||
| Earnings Per Share - Diluted: | |||||||||
| Continuing Operations | $ | .73 | $ | .97 | |||||
| Discontinued Operations | -- | -- | |||||||
| Earnings Per Share - Diluted | $ | .73 | $ | .97 | |||||
| Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding - Basic | 30,631 | 30,349 | |||||||
| Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding - Diluted | 31,157 | 31,011 | |||||||
| ESTERLINE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION | |||||||||
| Consolidated Sales and Income from Continuing Operations by Segment (unaudited) | |||||||||
| In thousands | |||||||||
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||
| Jan 27, | Jan 28, | ||||||||
| 2012 | 2011 | ||||||||
| Segment Sales | |||||||||
| Avionics & Controls | $ | 179,572 | $ | 192,467 | |||||
| Sensors & Systems | 171,672 | 77,055 | |||||||
| Advanced Materials | 119,638 | 101,277 | |||||||
| Net Sales | $ | 470,882 | $ | 370,799 | |||||
| Income From Continuing Operations | |||||||||
| Avionics & Controls | $ | 20,063 | $ | 31,004 | |||||
| Sensors & Systems | 6,815 | 10,971 | |||||||
| Advanced Materials | 23,073 | 15,268 | |||||||
| 49,951 | 57,243 | ||||||||
| Corporate Expense | (12,962 | ) | (10,832 | ) | |||||
| Interest Income | 95 | 340 | |||||||
| Interest Expense | (11,528 | ) | (9,137 | ) | |||||
| Income From Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes | $ | 25,556 | $ | 37,614 | |||||
| ESTERLINE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION | ||||||||
| Consolidated Balance Sheet (unaudited) | ||||||||
| In thousands | ||||||||
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||
| Jan 27, | Jan 28, | |||||||
| 2012 | 2011 | |||||||
| Assets | ||||||||
| Current Assets | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 193,289 | $ | 351,481 | ||||
| Cash in escrow | 5,017 | 14,000 | ||||||
| Accounts receivable, net | 350,080 | 263,666 | ||||||
| Inventories | 395,050 | 303,605 | ||||||
| Income tax refundable | 10,811 | 22,084 | ||||||
| Deferred income tax benefits | 45,161 | 38,644 | ||||||
| Prepaid expenses | 21,098 | 16,464 | ||||||
| Other current assets | 3,221 | 10,617 | ||||||
| Total Current Assets | 1,023,727 | 1,020,561 | ||||||
| Property, Plant and Equipment, Net | 360,368 | 280,349 | ||||||
| Other Non-Current Assets | ||||||||
| Goodwill | 1,130,489 | 806,338 | ||||||
| Intangibles, net | 655,642 | 447,644 | ||||||
| Debt issuance costs, net | 10,226 | 7,413 | ||||||
| Deferred income tax benefits | 82,891 | 88,866 | ||||||
| Other assets | 24,420 | 10,677 | ||||||
| $ | 3,287,763 | $ | 2,661,848 | |||||
| Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity | ||||||||
| Current Liabilities | ||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 111,934 | $ | 76,225 | ||||
| Accrued liabilities | 265,080 | 228,378 | ||||||
| Credit facilities | 223 | -- | ||||||
| Current maturities of long-term debt | 13,098 | 14,259 | ||||||
| Deferred income tax liabilities | 2,943 | 6,843 | ||||||
| Federal and foreign income taxes | 12,420 | 4,513 | ||||||
| Total Current Liabilities | 405,698 | 330,218 | ||||||
| Long-Term Liabilities | ||||||||
| Credit facilities | 335,000 | -- | ||||||
| Long-term debt, net of current maturities | 656,448 | 594,145 | ||||||
| Deferred income tax liabilities | 229,375 | 149,990 | ||||||
| Pension and post-retirement obligations | 104,513 | 107,047 | ||||||
| Other liabilities | 20,647 | 25,955 | ||||||
| Total Shareholders' Equity | 1,536,082 | 1,454,493 | ||||||
| $ | 3,287,763 | $ | 2,661,848 | |||||