Q4 Highlights
- Sales of $155.0 million, compared to $166.8 million last year
- Defence sales up 13% year over year, mitigating the impact of the pandemic on the civil sector
- Operating income of $12.2 million compared to a loss of $64.4 million last year
- Adjusted EBITDA1 of $25.0 million, or 16.1% of sales, compared to $28.6 million, or 17.2% last year
- Solid cash flows from operating activities of $31.6 million, compared to $26.7 million last year
- Awarded a Life-Cycle Contract for the new Dassault Falcon 10X
- Normal course issuer bid to repurchase up to 2.4 million shares announced today
LONGUEUIL, QC, May 20, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Héroux-Devtek Inc. (TSX: HRX) ("Héroux-Devtek" or the "Corporation"), a leading international manufacturer of aerospace products and the world's third-largest landing gear manufacturer, today reported strong financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. Unless otherwise indicated, all amounts are in Canadian dollars.
"Even if this past fiscal year has brought along challenges of unprecedented magnitude for the global aerospace industry, our early and decisive actions, resilience and focus on execution have enabled us so far to successfully weather the storm. More importantly, we have done so while strengthening our balance sheet, generating record cash flows and gaining new operational efficiencies across our sites – lowering fixed costs, reallocating resources as well as optimizing inventories and working capital. We achieved these objectives while keeping our employees safe and healthy, which has always been our number one priority. I want to thank each of my colleagues for their continued work and dedication; you truly make us proud," said Martin Brassard, President and CEO of Héroux- Devtek.
"As pleased as I am with our performance this past year, I am equally confident that our more agile structure positions us favorably for the road ahead as the industry outlook slowly starts improving, enabling us to capture opportunities across all markets. This namely includes a recently announced life-cycle contract to design, develop and manufacture the complete landing gear system for the new Dassault Falcon 10X, furthering our position in the large business aircraft market segment. Finally, recognizing that our share price does not reflect the full underlying value of Héroux-Devtek, we announced today our decision to initiate a normal course issuer bid to optimize our capital allocation with the objective to unlock stronger returns for our shareholders, without compromising our position for future growth initiatives," concluded Mr. Brassard.
________________________________ |
1 |
This is a non-IFRS measures. Please refer to the "Non-IFRS Measures" section at the end of this press release. |
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS |
Three months ended |
Twelve months ended |
||||||
(in thousands, except per share data) |
2021 |
2020 |
2021 |
2020 |
||||
Sales |
$ 154,989 |
$ 166,800 |
$ 570,685 |
$ 612,996 |
||||
Operating income (loss) |
12,229 |
(64,426) |
34,096 |
(30,070) |
||||
Adjusted operating income1 |
13,848 |
17,577 |
45,211 |
52,548 |
||||
Adjusted EBITDA1 |
24,975 |
28,609 |
88,297 |
96,191 |
||||
Net income (loss) |
8,802 |
(72,113) |
19,813 |
(50,658) |
||||
Adjusted net income1 |
10,169 |
13,695 |
29,034 |
35,666 |
||||
Cash flows related to operating activities |
31,565 |
26,710 |
89,188 |
52,573 |
||||
Free cash flow1 |
23,312 |
16,731 |
67,286 |
30,330 |
||||
in dollars per share |
||||||||
Earnings (Loss) per share |
$ |
0.24 |
$ |
(1.98) |
$ |
0.55 |
$ |
(1.38) |
Adjusted EPS1 |
0.28 |
0.38 |
0.80 |
1.00 |
||||
As at |
March 31, |
March 31, |
||||||
Funded backlog2 |
$ 717,000 |
$ 810,000 |
||||||
1. |
These are non-IFRS financial measures. Please refer to the "Non-IFRS financial measures" section at the end of this press release. |
2 |
Represents firm orders |
FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS
Consolidated sales decreased 7.1% to $155.0 million, down from $166.8 million last year. Defence sales were up 13.1%, from $94.8 million to $107.3 million, namely resulting from the ramp-up of deliveries under the Boeing F- 18, Sikorsky CH-53K and Saab Gripen E contracts as well as from strong deliveries for existing OEM platforms such as the Eurofighter and Lockheed F-35 programs. Civil sales decreased 33.7% from $72.0 million to $47.7 million. The decrease was mainly the result of lower deliveries for large commercial programs, where twin- aisle deliveries decreased 45% reflecting lower OEM demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decrease in gross profit from $29.9 million or 17.9% of sales, to $25.2 million or 16.2%, was mainly due to less favourable sales mix than last year and lower sales volume without a corresponding decrease in fixed costs, such as depreciation. Foreign exchange fluctuations had a negative net impact of 0.5% of sales.
Operating income reached $12.2 million, compared to a loss of $64.4 million last year when the Corporation had recorded $82.0 million of non-cash impairment charges. Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes non-recurring items, stood at $25.0 million, or 16.1% of sales, compared with $28.6 million, or 17.2% of sales, a year ago due mainly to lower volume and the negative year-over-year impact of foreign exchange representing $1.7 million or 1.1% of sales.
Results per share increased from a loss of $1.98 last year to earnings of $0.24, and decreased from $0.38 to $0.28 per share on an adjusted basis due to the same factors described above.
YEAR-END RESULTS
Consolidated sales decreased 6.9% to $570.7 million, from $613.0 million last year, due mainly to the 45% decrease in deliveries for twin-aisle large commercial programs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Defence sales were up 14.6%, from $329.3 million to $377.5 million, while civil sales decreased 31.9% from $283.7 million to $193.2 million.
Gross profit decreased from $103.1 million, or 16.8% as a percentage of sales, to $94.9 million, or 16.6% as a percentage of sales, mainly explained by lower sales volume without a corresponding decrease in fixed costs such as depreciation, which represented a negative year-over-year impact of 0.4% of sales.
Operating income reached $34.1 million, compared to a loss of $30.1 million the year prior when the Corporation recorded $82.0 million of non-cash impairment charges. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted EBITDA stood at $88.3 million, or 15.5% of sales, compared with $96.2 million, or 15.7% of sales last year, mainly due to lower volume and negative foreign exchange impacts.
Results per share grew from a loss of $1.38 last year to earnings of $0.55, while adjusted EPS decreased to $0.80, from the $1.00 recorded last year due to the factors described above.
FINANCIAL POSITION
As at March 31, 2021, net debt stood at $157.5 million, down from $246.9 million a year prior. The substantial $89.3 million decrease during the fiscal year is mainly the result of the record $89.2 million of cash flows from operating activities, up from $52.6 million the prior year. The increase in cash flow generation is mainly the result of strong working capital management.
NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID
In May 2021, the Corporation filed a notice with the Toronto Stock Exchange advising of its intention to initiate a normal course issuer bid (NCIB). Under the terms of the NCIB, the Corporation may acquire up to 2,412,279 of the issued and outstanding common shares of Héroux-Devtek, 10% of the public float. The actual number of common shares purchased, the timing of such purchases and the price at which common shares are purchased will be determined by Héroux-Devtek.
Management views the NCIB as a flexible means to allocate capital to drive shareholder value without compromising the Corporation's position for future growth initiatives, whether they are new contract opportunities or acquisitions.
CONFERENCE CALL
Héroux-Devtek Inc. will hold a conference call to discuss these results on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 8:30 AM Eastern Time. Interested parties can join the call by dialing 1-888-390-0549 (North America) or 1-416-764-8682 (overseas). The conference call can also be accessed via live webcast on Héroux-Devtek's website, www.herouxdevtek.com/en/news-events/events or at https://bit.ly/HRXQ4F2021. An accompanying presentation is also available on Héroux-Devtek's website at https://www.herouxdevtek.com/en/investors/financial-documents
If you are unable to call in at this time, you may access a recording of the meeting by calling 1-888-390-0541 and entering the passcode 257960 on your phone. This recording will be available from Thursday, May 20, 2021 as of 11:30 AM Eastern Time until 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, May 27, 2021.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for historical information provided herein, this press release contains information and statements of a forward-looking nature concerning the future performance of the Corporation.
Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and uncertainties as well as on management's best possible evaluation of future events. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the effect of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on Héroux-Devtek's operations, customers, supply chain, the aerospace industry and the economy in general; the impact of other worldwide general economic conditions; industry conditions including changes in laws and regulations; increased competition; the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management; availability of commodities and fluctuations in commodity prices; financial and operational performance of suppliers and customers; foreign exchange or interest rate fluctuations; and the impact of accounting policies issued by international standard setters. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future growth, results and performance is not exhaustive and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.
As a result, readers are advised that actual results may differ from expected results. Please see the Impact of COVID-19 and Economic Outlook sections under Overview, as well as the Risk Management section under Additional Information in the Corporation's MD&A for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2021 for further details regarding the material assumptions underlying the forecasts and guidance. Such forecasts and guidance are provided for the purpose of assisting the reader in understanding the Corporation's financial performance and prospects and to present management's assessment of future plans and operations, and the reader is cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes.
NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow are financial measures not prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and are not likely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Management considers these to be useful information to assist investors in evaluating the Corporation's profitability, liquidity and ability to generate funds to finance its operations. Refer to Non-IFRS financial measures section under Operating Results in the Corporation's MD&A for definitions of these measures and reconciliations to the most comparable IFRS measures.
ABOUT HÉROUX-DEVTEK
Héroux-Devtek Inc. (TSX: HRX) is an international company specializing in the design, development, manufacture, repair and overhaul of aircraft landing gear, hydraulic and electromechanical actuators, custom ball screws and fracture-critical components for the Aerospace market. The Corporation is the third-largest landing gear company worldwide, supplying both the defence and commercial sectors. Approximately 90% of the Corporation's sales are outside of Canada, including about 53% in the United States. The Corporation's head office is located in Longueuil, Québec with facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain.
SOURCE Héroux-Devtek Inc.
Contact Information: Héroux-Devtek Inc., Stéphane Arsenault, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Tel.: 450-679-3330, [email protected]; Investor Relations: Hugo Delorme, Tel.: 514-700-5550, ext. 555, [email protected]
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