Sales surpass $100 million milestone; earnings and EPS set new first
quarter records
Badger
Meter, Inc. (NYSE: BMI) today reported record results for the first
quarter ended March 31, 2016.
First Quarter 2016 Highlights
-
Net sales of $100,570,000 for the first quarter of 2016 were a record
for any quarter and increased 20.2% from sales of $83,644,000 for the
first quarter of 2015.
-
Net earnings were a record $7,990,000 for the first quarter of 2016,
an 89.0% increase from net earnings of $4,227,000 for the first
quarter of 2015.
-
Diluted earnings per share were a record $0.55 for the first quarter
of 2016, an 89.7% increase from diluted earnings per share of $0.29
for the first quarter of 2015.
Operations Review
“This was an excellent first quarter for Badger Meter. Our sales
surpassed the $100 million milestone and set an all-time record for the
company, while earnings and diluted earnings per share set new first
quarter records. Our strong performance was due to a number of factors
including significantly higher sales of municipal water products and a
favorable comparison against a weaker first quarter in 2015,” said
Richard A. Meeusen, chairman, president and chief executive officer of
Badger Meter.
Meeusen said sales of both residential and commercial municipal water
products were up substantially over the first quarter of the prior year
and included initial sales as part of a new three-year contract with
American Water.
“Our newest municipal water products continued to drive our overall
sales increase. Sales of ORION® cellular technology as part
of our successful BEACON® Advanced Metering Analytics (AMA)
solution increased more than four-fold over the prior year quarter and
sales of our E-Series® Ultrasonic meters more than doubled.
We believe one of the contributors to our higher sales was the milder
winter. Some customers started their spring meter replacement programs
earlier, taking deliveries in the first quarter that we would typically
see in the second quarter of the year,” said Meeusen.
Meeusen said the strong municipal water product sales more than
compensated for a decrease in sales of flow instrumentation products,
which were impacted by the continued weakness in the oil and gas market
and lower order levels.
“Our 20% increase in overall sales drove a 30% increase in gross profit.
The gross profit margin was 38.8% in the first quarter of 2016 compared
to 36.0% in the prior year quarter. This improvement reflected the
increased sales volumes, which resulted in higher manufacturing
utilization,” said Meeusen.
“We are pleased with our strong first quarter performance, particularly
the continued growth of our newest municipal water products. Looking
ahead, we anticipate continued progress consistent with our overall plan
for the full year,” added Meeusen.
Conference Call and Webcast
Badger Meter management will hold a conference call to discuss the
company’s first quarter 2016 results on Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 10:00
AM Central/11:00 AM Eastern time.
Interested parties can listen to the call live on the Internet through
the company’s website: www.badgermeter.com
or by dialing 1-877-294-2949 and entering the passcode 73111735.
Listeners should dial in to the call at least 5-10 minutes prior to the
start of the call or should go to the website at least 15 minutes prior
to the call to download and install any necessary audio software.
A telephone replay of the conference call will be available through
Tuesday, April 26, 2016, by dialing 1-855-859-2056 and entering the
passcode 73111735. The webcast will be archived on the company’s website
until its next earnings release.
About Badger Meter
Badger Meter is an innovator in flow measurement, control and
communications solutions, serving water utilities, municipalities, and
commercial and industrial customers worldwide. The Company’s products
measure water, oil, chemicals, and other fluids, and are known for
accuracy, long-lasting durability and for providing valuable and timely
measurement data. For more information, visit www.badgermeter.com.
Certain statements contained in this news release, as well as other
information provided from time to time by Badger Meter, Inc. (the
“Company”) or its employees, may contain forward looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward looking statements. The
words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “think,” “should,”
“could” and “objective” or similar expressions are intended to identify
forward looking statements. All such forward looking statements
are based on the Company’s then current views and assumptions and
involve risks and uncertainties. Some risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in forward looking statements include those
described in Item 1A of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2015 that include, among other things:
-
the continued shift in the Company’s business from lower cost,
manually read meters toward more expensive, value-added automatic
meter reading (AMR) systems, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)
systems and advanced metering analytics (AMA) systems that offer more
comprehensive solutions to customers’ metering needs;
-
the success or failure of newer Company products;
-
changes in competitive pricing and bids in both the domestic and
foreign marketplaces, and particularly in continued intense price
competition on government bid contracts for lower cost, manually read
meters;
-
the actions (or lack thereof) of the Company’s competitors;
-
changes in the Company’s relationships with its alliance partners,
primarily its alliance partners that provide radio solutions, and
particularly those that sell products that do or may compete with the
Company’s products;
-
changes in the general health of the United States and foreign
economies, including to some extent such things as the length and
severity of global economic downturns, international or civil
conflicts that affect international trade, the ability of municipal
water utility customers to authorize and finance purchases of the
Company’s products, the Company’s ability to obtain financing, housing
starts in the United States, and overall industrial activity;
-
unusual weather, weather patterns or other natural phenomena,
including related economic and other ancillary effects of any such
events;
-
the timing and impact of government funding programs that stimulate
national and global economies, as well as the impact of government
budget cuts or partial shutdowns of governmental operations;
-
changes in the cost and/or availability of needed raw materials and
parts, such as volatility in the cost of brass castings as a result of
fluctuations in commodity prices, particularly for copper and scrap
metal at the supplier level, foreign-sourced electronic components as
a result of currency exchange fluctuations and/or lead times, and
plastic resin as a result of changes in petroleum and natural gas
prices;
-
the Company’s expanded role as a prime contractor for providing
complete technology systems to governmental entities, which brings
with it added risks, including but not limited to, the Company’s
responsibility for subcontractor performance, additional costs and
expenses if the Company and its subcontractors fail to meet the
timetable agreed to with the governmental entity, and the Company’s
expanded warranty and performance obligations;
-
the Company’s ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses
or products;
-
changes in foreign economic conditions, particularly currency
fluctuations in the United States dollar, the Euro and the Mexican
peso;
-
the inability to develop technologically advanced products;
-
the failure of the Company’s products to operate as intended;
-
the inability to protect the Company’s proprietary rights to its
products;
-
disruptions and other damages to information technology and other
networks and operations due to breaches in data security;
-
transportation delays or interruptions;
-
the loss of certain single-source suppliers; and
-
changes in laws and regulations, particularly laws dealing with the
content or handling of materials used in the Company’s products.
All of these factors are beyond the Company's control to varying
degrees. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are
urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward
looking statements contained in this news release are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on such forward looking statements. The
forward looking statements made in this document are made only as of the
date of this document and the Company assumes no obligation, and
disclaims any obligation, to update any such forward looking statements
to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
Badger Meter company news is available
24 hours a day, on-line at: http://www.badgermeter.com.
BADGER METER, INC.
|
|
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
|
(in thousands, except share and earnings per share data)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended
|
|
|
March 31,
|
|
March 31,
|
|
|
2016
|
|
2015
|
|
|
(Unaudited)
|
|
(Unaudited)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net sales
|
|
$100,570
|
|
$83,644
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cost of sales
|
|
61,559
|
|
53,569
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gross margin
|
|
39,011
|
|
30,075
|
|
|
|
|
|
Selling, engineering and administration
|
|
26,205
|
|
23,022
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating earnings
|
|
12,806
|
|
7,053
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest expense, net
|
|
270
|
|
317
|
|
|
|
|
|
Earnings before income taxes
|
|
12,536
|
|
6,736
|
|
|
|
|
|
Provision for income taxes
|
|
4,546
|
|
2,509
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net earnings
|
|
$7,990
|
|
$4,227
|
|
|
|
|
|
Earnings per share:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic
|
|
$0.55
|
|
$0.29
|
|
|
|
|
|
Diluted
|
|
$0.55
|
|
$0.29
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shares used in computation of earnings per share:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic
|
|
14,421,250
|
|
14,332,775
|
|
|
|
|
|
Diluted
|
|
14,498,682
|
|
14,407,007
|
BADGER METER, INC.
|
|
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS
|
(in thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assets
|
|
March 31,
|
|
December 31,
|
|
|
2016
|
|
2015
|
|
|
(Unaudited)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
|
|
$
|
9,936
|
|
$
|
8,163
|
Receivables
|
|
|
59,189
|
|
|
56,643
|
Inventories
|
|
|
76,178
|
|
|
78,596
|
Other current assets
|
|
|
5,455
|
|
|
5,926
|
Total current assets
|
|
|
150,758
|
|
|
149,328
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net property, plant and equipment
|
|
|
91,533
|
|
|
90,920
|
Intangible assets, at cost less accumulated amortization
|
|
|
55,869
|
|
|
57,348
|
Other long-term assets
|
|
|
10,296
|
|
|
9,906
|
Goodwill
|
|
|
47,978
|
|
|
47,978
|
Total assets
|
|
$
|
356,434
|
|
$
|
355,480
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Short-term debt
|
|
$
|
61,160
|
|
$
|
71,360
|
Payables
|
|
|
19,313
|
|
|
19,155
|
Accrued compensation and employee benefits
|
|
|
10,037
|
|
|
9,663
|
Other liabilities
|
|
|
8,331
|
|
|
4,366
|
Total current liabilities
|
|
|
98,841
|
|
|
104,544
|
|
|
|
|
|
Deferred income taxes
|
|
|
909
|
|
|
774
|
Long-term employee benefits and other
|
|
|
18,103
|
|
|
17,887
|
Shareholders' equity
|
|
|
238,581
|
|
|
232,275
|
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity
|
|
$
|
356,434
|
|
$
|
355,480
|
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160418006616/en/
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