Kadant Reports Third Quarter 2022 Results


WESTFORD, Mass., Nov. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kadant Inc. (NYSE: KAI) reported its financial results for the third quarter ended October 1, 2022.

Third Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Revenue increased 12% to $225 million.
  • Bookings decreased 14% to $211 million.
  • Net income increased 34% to $27 million.
  • GAAP diluted EPS increased 34% to $2.35.
  • Adjusted diluted EPS increased 21% to a record $2.38.
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased 17% to a record $48 million and represented 21.3% of revenue.
  • Operating cash flow decreased 34% to $25 million.
  • Backlog was $350 million.

Note: Percent changes above are based on comparison to the prior year period. Adjusted diluted EPS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, and changes in organic revenue are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude certain items as detailed later in this press release under the heading “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Management Commentary
“We delivered strong revenue and earnings performance in the third quarter despite the challenging macroeconomic environment,” said Jeffrey L. Powell, president and chief executive officer of Kadant Inc. “Organic revenue growth was 19 percent in the third quarter with excellent contributions across all operating segments. Solid execution led to a fourth consecutive quarterly record for adjusted EBITDA and record adjusted earnings per share.

“Throughout the quarter we successfully navigated increasingly complex market conditions fueled by inflationary pressures, the strengthening U.S. dollar, lingering global supply chain constraints, and China's zero-COVID policy. Our operations teams around the globe continued to do an excellent job proactively managing these challenges.”

Third Quarter 2022 compared to 2021
Revenue increased 12 percent to $224.5 million compared to $199.8 million in 2021. Organic revenue increased 19 percent, which excludes a seven percent decrease from the unfavorable effect of foreign currency translation. Gross margin was 42.5 percent compared to 41.9 percent in 2021. Gross margin in 2021 included a negative 110 basis point impact from the amortization of acquired profit in inventory.

GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) increased 34 percent to $2.35 compared to $1.75 in 2021. Adjusted diluted EPS increased 21 percent to a record $2.38 compared to $1.97 in 2021. Adjusted diluted EPS excludes $0.02 of acquisition costs and $0.01 of restructuring costs in 2022. Adjusted diluted EPS excludes $0.22 of acquisition-related costs in 2021. Net income increased 34 percent to $27.5 million compared to $20.5 million in 2021. Adjusted EBITDA increased 17 percent to a record $47.8 million and represented a record 21.3 percent of revenue compared to $40.9 million and 20.5 percent of revenue in the prior year quarter. Operating cash flow decreased 34 percent to $24.9 million compared to $37.9 million in 2021 due to an increase in working capital.

Bookings decreased 14 percent to $210.9 million compared to $244.7 million in 2021. Organic bookings decreased ten percent, which excludes a five percent decrease from the unfavorable effect of foreign currency translation and a one percent increase from an acquisition.

Summary and Outlook
“As we look ahead to the remainder of 2022, we are well positioned to finish the year strong,” Mr. Powell continued. “We have a significant amount of capital projects to deliver in the upcoming quarter, and our backlog remains at a near-record level. However, we expect macroeconomic headwinds to strengthen and order activity to continue to moderate through the remainder of the year.

"We are narrowing our revenue and adjusted diluted EPS guidance and we now expect revenue of $890 to $896 million in 2022, revised from our previous guidance of $890 to $905 million. Our GAAP diluted EPS guidance is now $10.02 to $10.19 revised from our previous guidance of $10.05 to $10.25. This guidance includes a $1.30 gain on the sale of a facility, $0.06 of acquisition-related costs, and $0.02 of impairment and restructuring costs. Excluding these items, we expect adjusted diluted EPS of $8.80 to $8.97, revised from our previous guidance of $8.80 to $9.00. For the fourth quarter of 2022, we expect GAAP diluted EPS of $1.90 to $2.07 on revenue of $217 to $223 million."

Conference Call
Kadant will hold a webcast with a slide presentation for investors on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. eastern time to discuss its third quarter performance, as well as future expectations. To listen to the call live and view the webcast, go to the “Investors” section of the Company’s website at www.kadant.com. Participants interested in joining the call’s live question and answer session are required to register by clicking here or selecting the Q&A link on our website to receive a dial-in number and unique PIN. It is recommended that you join the call 10 minutes prior to the start of the event. A replay of the webcast presentation will be available on our website through December 2, 2022.

Prior to the call, our earnings release and the slides used in the webcast presentation will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and will be available at www.sec.gov. After the webcast, Kadant will post its updated general investor presentation incorporating the third quarter results on its website at www.kadant.com under the “Investors” section.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to the financial measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, including increases or decreases in revenue excluding the effect of acquisitions and foreign currency translation (organic revenue), adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted EPS, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, and free cash flow.

We use organic revenue to understand our trends and to forecast and evaluate our financial performance and compare revenue to prior periods. Organic revenue excludes revenue from acquisitions for the four quarterly reporting periods following the date of the acquisition and the effect of foreign currency translation. Revenue in the third quarter of 2022 included $0.2 million from an acquisition and a $14.1 million unfavorable foreign currency translation effect. Revenue in the first nine months of 2022 included $40.1 million from acquisitions and a $27.0 million unfavorable foreign currency translation effect. Our other non-GAAP financial measures exclude impairment and restructuring costs, acquisition costs, amortization expense related to acquired profit in inventory and backlog, and certain gains or losses, as indicated. Collectively, these items are excluded as they are not indicative of our core operating results and are not comparable to other periods, which have differing levels of incremental costs, expenditures or income, or none at all. Additionally, we use free cash flow in order to provide insight on our ability to generate cash for acquisitions and debt repayments, as well as for other investing and financing activities.

We believe these non-GAAP financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our core business, operating results, or future outlook. We believe that the inclusion of such measures helps investors gain an understanding of our underlying operating performance and future prospects, consistent with how management measures and forecasts our performance, especially when comparing such results to previous periods or forecasts and to the performance of our competitors. Such measures are also used by us in our financial and operating decision-making and for compensation purposes. We also believe this information is responsive to investors' requests and gives them an additional measure of our performance.

The non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release are not meant to be considered superior to or a substitute for the results of operations prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, the non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release have limitations associated with their use as compared to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, in that they may be different from, and therefore not comparable to, similar measures used by other companies.

Third Quarter

Adjusted operating income, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margin exclude:

  • Pre-tax expense related to amortization of acquired profit in inventory and backlog of $2.8 million in 2021.
  • Pre-tax acquisition costs of $0.4 million in 2022 and $0.7 million in 2021.
  • Pre-tax restructuring costs of $0.1 million in 2022.

Adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS exclude:

  • After-tax expense related to amortization of acquired profit in inventory and backlog of $2.0 million ($2.8 million net of tax of $0.8 million) in 2021.
  • After-tax acquisition costs of $0.3 million ($0.4 million net of tax of $0.1 million) in 2022 and $0.6 million ($0.7 million net of tax of $0.1 million) in 2021.
  • After-tax restructuring costs of $0.1 million in 2022.

Free cash flow is calculated as operating cash flow less:

  • Capital expenditures of $6.4 million in 2022 and $3.4 million in 2021.

First Nine Months

Adjusted operating income, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margin exclude:

  • Pre-tax gain on the sale of a facility of $20.2 million in 2022.
  • Pre-tax acquisition costs of $0.5 million in 2022 and $2.6 million in 2021.
  • Pre-tax indemnification asset reversal of $0.6 million in 2022.
  • Pre-tax impairment and restructuring costs of $0.3 million in 2022.
  • Pre-tax expense related to amortization of acquired profit in inventory and backlog of $0.5 in 2022 and $2.9 million in 2021.

Adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS exclude:

  • After-tax gain on the sale of a facility of $15.1 million ($20.2 million net of tax of $5.1 million) in 2022.
  • After-tax acquisition costs of $0.3 million ($0.5 million net of tax of $0.2 million) in 2022 and $2.3 million ($2.6 million net of tax of $0.3 million) in 2021.
  • After-tax impairment and restructuring costs of $0.2 million ($0.3 million net of tax of $0.1 million) in 2022.
  • After-tax expense related to amortization of acquired profit in inventory and backlog of $0.4 million ($0.5 million net of tax of $0.1 million) in 2022 and $2.0 ($2.9 million net of tax of $0.9 million) in 2021.

Free cash flow is calculated as operating cash flow less:

  • Capital expenditures of $16.2 million in 2022 and $7.7 million in 2021.

Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are set forth in this press release.

Financial Highlights (unaudited)        
(In thousands, except per share amounts and percentages)  
           
    Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
Consolidated Statement of Income October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
 October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
Revenue $224,510  $199,789  $672,639  $568,063 
Costs and Operating Expenses:        
 Cost of revenue 129,154   116,096   383,034   323,337 
 Selling, general, and administrative expenses 53,153   52,316   167,640   151,014 
 Research and development expenses 3,245   2,649   9,574   8,547 
 Gain on sale and other costs, net (b) 72      (19,936)   
    185,624   171,061   540,312   482,898 
Operating Income  38,886   28,728   132,327   85,165 
Interest Income  271   55   650   176 
Interest Expense  (1,721)  (1,320)  (4,321)  (3,497)
Other Expense, Net  (19)  (23)  (60)  (71)
Income Before Provision for Income Taxes  37,417   27,440   128,596   81,773 
Provision for Income Taxes  9,746   6,742   33,075   21,252 
Net Income  27,671   20,698   95,521   60,521 
Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest  (184)  (237)  (672)  (635)
Net Income Attributable to Kadant $27,487  $20,461  $94,849  $59,886 
           
Earnings per Share Attributable to Kadant:        
  Basic $2.36  $1.77  $8.14  $5.18 
  Diluted $2.35  $1.75  $8.12  $5.14 
           
Weighted Average Shares:        
  Basic  11,662   11,580   11,651   11,571 
  Diluted  11,700   11,668   11,681   11,644 


    Three Months Ended Three Months Ended
Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted EPS (a)October 1,
2022
   October 1,
2022
  October 2,
2021
 October 2,
2021
Net Income and Diluted EPS Attributable to Kadant, as Reported $27,487  $2.35  $20,461  $1.75 
Adjustments for the Following, Net of Tax:        
 Acquisition Costs  276   0.02   595   0.05 
 Restructuring Costs  72   0.01       
 Acquired Profit in Inventory and Backlog Amortization (c,d)        1,978   0.17 
Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted EPS (a) $27,835  $2.38  $23,034  $1.97 


    Nine Months Ended Nine Months Ended
 October 1,
2022
 October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
   October 2,
2021
 
Net Income and Diluted EPS Attributable to Kadant, as Reported $94,849  $8.12  $59,886  $5.14 
Adjustments for the Following, Net of Tax:        
 Gain on Sale (b)  (15,143)  (1.30)      
 Acquisition Costs  335   0.03   2,325   0.20 
 Impairment and Restructuring Costs  207   0.02       
 Acquired Profit in Inventory and Backlog Amortization (c,d)  387   0.03   2,043   0.17 
Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted EPS (a) $80,635  $6.90  $64,254  $5.52 


 Three Months Ended   Increase Excluding Acquisitions and FX (a,e)
Revenue by Segment October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
 Increase 
Flow Control$86,880  $76,253  $10,627  $16,913 
Industrial Processing 86,085   81,620   4,465   9,179 
Material Handling 51,545   41,916   9,629   12,493 
 $224,510  $199,789  $24,721  $38,585 
        
Percentage of Parts and Consumables Revenue 63%  66%    
        
 Nine Months Ended Increase Increase Excluding Acquisitions and FX (a,e)
 October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
  
Flow Control$257,926  $210,769  $47,157  $33,598 
Industrial Processing 263,572   233,455   30,117   39,584 
Material Handling 151,141   123,839   27,302   18,289 
 $672,639  $568,063  $104,576  $91,471 
        
Percentage of Parts and Consumables Revenue 64%  66%    
        
 Three Months Ended Increase (Decrease) Increase (Decrease) Excluding Acquisitions and FX (e)
Bookings by SegmentOctober 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
  
Flow Control$84,902  $76,661  $8,241  $14,294 
Industrial Processing 77,878   118,896   (41,018)  (39,200)
Material Handling 48,093   49,137   (1,044)  1,250 
 $210,873  $244,694  $(33,821) $(23,656)
        
Percentage of Parts and Consumables Bookings 68%  53%    
        
 Nine Months Ended Increase (Decrease) Increase (Decrease) Excluding Acquisitions and FX (e)
 October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
  
Flow Control$282,360  $224,479  $57,881  $42,859 
Industrial Processing 294,105   307,401   (13,296)  (6,105)
Material Handling 166,408   130,468   35,940   20,327 
 $742,873  $662,348  $80,525  $57,081 
        
Percentage of Parts and Consumables Bookings 62%  59%    


    Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
Business Segment Information October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
 October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
Gross Margin:        
  Flow Control 51.6% 49.7% 52.3% 51.8%
  Industrial Processing 39.3% 39.7% 38.8% 40.1%
  Material Handling 32.3% 31.9% 34.8% 33.8%
    42.5% 41.9% 43.1% 43.1%


Operating Income:        
  Flow Control $22,874  $17,129  $67,306  $51,899 
  Industrial Processing  17,550   16,095   70,994   44,449 
  Material Handling  6,945   3,491   21,490   12,941 
  Corporate  (8,483)  (7,987)  (27,463)  (24,124)
    $38,886  $28,728  $132,327  $85,165 
           
Adjusted Operating Income (a,f):        
  Flow Control $23,356  $19,835  $67,632  $55,841 
  Industrial Processing  17,550   16,128   51,561   44,622 
  Material Handling  6,945   4,290   22,207   14,352 
  Corporate  (8,483)  (7,987)  (27,463)  (24,124)
    $39,368  $32,266  $113,937  $90,691 
           
Capital Expenditures:        
  Flow Control $868  $1,128  $2,424  $1,830 
  Industrial Processing (h)  4,654   1,725   11,679   4,720 
  Material Handling  854   505   2,081   1,121 
  Corporate     12   7   17 
    $6,376  $3,370  $16,191  $7,688 
           
    Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
Cash Flow and Other Data October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
 October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
Operating Cash Flow $24,897  $37,932  $67,462  $101,410 
Less: Capital Expenditures (h)  (6,376)  (3,370)  (16,191)  (7,688)
Free Cash Flow (a) $18,521  $34,562  $51,271  $93,722 
           
Depreciation and Amortization Expense $8,456  $9,195  $26,387  $24,597 


Balance Sheet DataOctober 1,
2022
 January 1,
2022
Assets   
Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Restricted Cash$75,114 $94,161 
Accounts Receivable, net 128,253  117,209 
Inventories 156,567  134,356 
Contract Assets 16,064  8,626 
Property, Plant, and Equipment, net 105,439  107,989 
Intangible Assets 173,707  199,343 
Goodwill 372,966  396,887 
Other Assets 78,743  73,641 
   $1,106,853 $1,132,212 
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity   
Accounts Payable$53,495 $59,250 
Debt Obligations 207,885  264,597 
Other Borrowings 1,782  4,917 
Other Liabilities 234,187  237,832 
 Total Liabilities 497,349  566,596 
 Stockholders' Equity 609,504  565,616 
   $1,106,853 $1,132,212 


  Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
Adjusted Operating Income and Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation (a)  October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
 October 1,
2022
 October 2,
2021
Consolidated        
  Net Income Attributable to Kadant $27,487  $20,461  $94,849  $59,886 
  Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest  184   237   672   635 
  Provision for Income Taxes  9,746   6,742   33,075   21,252 
  Interest Expense, Net  1,450   1,265   3,671   3,321 
  Other Expense, Net  19   23   60   71 
  Operating Income  38,886   28,728   132,327   85,165 
  Gain on Sale (b)        (20,190)   
  Acquisition Costs  410   718   486   2,619 
  Indemnification Asset Reversal (g)        575    
  Impairment and Restructuring Costs  72      254    
  Acquired Backlog Amortization (c)     604   703   691 
  Acquired Profit in Inventory Amortization (d)     2,216   (218)  2,216 
  Adjusted Operating Income (a)  39,368   32,266   113,937   90,691 
  Depreciation and Amortization  8,456   8,591   25,684   23,906 
  Adjusted EBITDA (a) $47,824  $40,857  $139,621  $114,597 
  Adjusted EBITDA Margin (a,i)  21.3%  20.5%  20.8%  20.2%
           
Flow Control        
  Operating Income $22,874  $17,129  $67,306  $51,899 
  Acquisition Costs  410   507   472   1,743 
  Restructuring Costs  72      72    
  Acquired Backlog Amortization (c)     353      353 
  Acquired Profit in Inventory Amortization (d)     1,846   (218)  1,846 
  Adjusted Operating Income (a)  23,356   19,835   67,632   55,841 
  Depreciation and Amortization  2,229   2,333   6,873   5,473 
  Adjusted EBITDA (a) $25,585  $22,168  $74,505  $61,314 
  Adjusted EBITDA Margin (a,i)  29.4%  29.1%  28.9%  29.1%
           
Industrial Processing        
  Operating Income $17,550  $16,095  $70,994  $44,449 
  Gain on Sale (b)        (20,190)   
  Indemnification Asset Reversal (g)        575    
  Impairment Costs        182    
  Acquisition Costs     33      113 
  Acquired Backlog Amortization (c)           60 
  Adjusted Operating Income (a)  17,550   16,128   51,561   44,622 
  Depreciation and Amortization  3,122   3,341   9,476   10,082 
  Adjusted EBITDA (a) $20,672  $19,469  $61,037  $54,704 
  Adjusted EBITDA Margin (a,i)  24.0%  23.9%  23.2%  23.4%
           
Material Handling        
  Operating Income $6,945  $3,491  $21,490  $12,941 
  Acquisition Costs     178   14   763 
  Acquired Backlog Amortization (c)     251   703   278 
  Acquired Profit in Inventory Amortization (d)     370      370 
  Adjusted Operating Income (a)  6,945   4,290   22,207   14,352 
  Depreciation and Amortization  3,083   2,885   9,262   8,253 
  Adjusted EBITDA (a) $10,028  $7,175  $31,469  $22,605 
  Adjusted EBITDA Margin (a,i)  19.5%  17.1%  20.8%  18.3%
           
Corporate        
  Operating Loss $(8,483) $(7,987) $(27,463) $(24,124)
  Depreciation and Amortization  22   32   73   98 
  EBITDA (a) $(8,461) $(7,955) $(27,390) $(24,026)
          
(a)Represents a non-GAAP financial measure.
           
(b)Includes a $20.2 million gain on the sale of a Chinese facility in our Industrial Processing segment pursuant to a relocation plan.
           
(c)Represents intangible amortization expense associated with acquired backlog.
           
(d)Represents expense (income) within cost of revenue associated with amortization of acquired profit in inventory.
           
(e)Represents the increase (decrease) resulting from the exclusion of acquisitions and from the conversion of current period amounts reported in local currencies into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate of the prior period compared to the U.S. dollar amount reported in the prior period.
           
(f)See reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure under "Adjusted Operating Income and Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation."
  
(g)Represents an indemnification asset reversal related to the release of tax reserves associated with uncertain tax positions.
           
(h)Includes $2.2 million and $5.4 million in the three and nine months ended October 1, 2022, respectively, related to the construction of a new manufacturing facility in China.
           
(i)Calculated as adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue in each period.

About Kadant
Kadant Inc. is a global supplier of technologies and engineered systems that drive Sustainable Industrial Processing. The Company’s products and services play an integral role in enhancing efficiency, optimizing energy utilization, and maximizing productivity in process industries. Kadant is based in Westford, Massachusetts, with approximately 3,000 employees in 20 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.kadant.com

Safe Harbor Statement
The following constitutes a “Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including forward-looking statements about our future financial and operating performance, demand for our products, and economic and industry outlook. These forward-looking statements represent our expectations as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in Kadant’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2022 and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These include risks and uncertainties relating to adverse changes in global and local economic conditions; the variability and difficulty in accurately predicting revenues from large capital equipment and systems projects; health epidemics; our acquisition strategy; levels of residential construction activity; reductions by our wood processing customers of their capital spending or production of oriented strand board; changes to the global timber supply; development and use of digital media; cyclical economic conditions affecting the global mining industry; demand for coal, including economic and environmental risks associated with coal; failure of our information systems or breaches of data security and cybertheft; implementation of our internal growth strategy; supply chain constraints, inflationary pressure, price increases and shortages in raw materials; competition; changes in our tax provision or exposure to additional tax liabilities; our ability to successfully manage our manufacturing operations; disruption in production; future restructurings; loss of key personnel and effective succession planning; protection of intellectual property; climate change; adequacy of our insurance coverage; global operations; policies of the Chinese government; the variability and uncertainties in sales of capital equipment in China; currency fluctuations; economic conditions and regulatory changes caused by the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union; changes to government regulations and policies around the world; compliance with government regulations and policies and compliance with laws; environmental laws and regulations; environmental, health and safety laws and regulations impacting the mining industry; our debt obligations; restrictions in our credit agreement and note purchase agreement; substitution of an alternative index for LIBOR; soundness of financial institutions; fluctuations in our share price; and anti-takeover provisions.

Contacts
Investor Contact Information:
Michael McKenney, 978-776-2000
IR@kadant.com 
or
Media Contact Information:
Wes Martz, 269-278-1715
media@kadant.com