Badger Meter Reports Record First Quarter 2024 Financial Results
First Quarter 2024 Highlights
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Record total sales of
$196.3 million , 23% higher than the prior year’s$159.1 million . - Operating profit increased 46% year-over-year, with operating profit margins expanding 290 basis points to a record 18.6% from 15.7%.
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Diluted earnings per share (EPS) increased 50% to
$0.99 , up from$0.66 in the comparable prior year quarter. - Completed the acquisition of the Telog/Unity remote network monitoring offering at the start of the year.
“The continued strength in both customer demand and operating execution drove exceptional performance in our first quarter, with record quarterly revenue, operating profit and EPS results. These record results are reflective of ongoing favorable industry fundamentals, driving robust customer demand for our innovative smart water solutions. Our operating profit margins benefited from higher volumes, solid operating execution and selling, engineering and administration (SEA) expense leverage. Additionally, we completed the acquisition of the Telog/Unity network monitoring offering at the beginning of the year with seamless integration of their hardware and software teams well underway,” said
First Quarter Operating Results
Utility water sales increased 29% year-over-year reflecting continued customer adoption across our broad and expanding portfolio of smart water solutions. This encompasses our cellular AMI offering, inclusive of ORION® Cellular endpoints and BEACON® Software as a Service (SaaS) revenues coupled with increased water meter volumes including E-Series® Ultrasonic meters. The growth also extends to water quality, pressure and network monitoring solutions which increased sales year-over-year.
Sales of flow instrumentation products increased sequentially yet declined 3% year-over-year against a difficult prior year comparison which benefited from backlog conversion on improved supply chain dynamics a year ago. Water-focused end markets continued to experience solid order demand.
Operating earnings increased 46% year-over-year, with operating profit margins reaching a record 18.6% in the first quarter of 2024, a 290 basis point improvement from the prior year’s 15.7%. Gross margin dollars increased
SEA expenses in the first quarter of 2024 were
The tax rate for the first quarter of 2024 was 23.5%, modestly below the prior year’s 24.3%. As a result of the above, combined with increased interest income, EPS was a record
Outlook
Bockhorst continued, “Our first quarter results demonstrate our continued adeptness in capitalizing on the resilient macro trends within the water industry. While we face more difficult prior year comparisons as the year progresses, we have confidence in the durability of our end markets, the appeal of our innovative offerings and strength of our execution to drive sales and earnings growth.
“Our expanding suite of end-to-end smart water offerings provides our customers with the ability to customize and tailor solutions to best meet their water management needs. Our proven strategy and strong balance sheet support our ongoing capital allocation priorities including value-added, disciplined acquisitions to continue to differentiate our offerings.
“We were proud to be named for the second consecutive year to
Bockhorst concluded, “Badger Meter remains committed to serving our customers, executing our strategy and investing for long-term profitable growth which in turn enables us to preserve the world’s most precious resource.”
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements contained in this news release, as well as other information provided from time to time by
About
With more than a century of water technology innovation,
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CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS |
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(in thousands, except share and earnings per share data) |
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Three Months Ended |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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(Unaudited) |
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(Unaudited) |
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Net sales |
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$ |
196,280 |
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$ |
159,101 |
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Cost of sales |
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119,102 |
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96,285 |
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Gross margin |
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77,178 |
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62,816 |
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Selling, engineering and administration |
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40,600 |
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37,770 |
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Operating earnings |
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36,578 |
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25,046 |
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Interest income, net |
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(1,526 |
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(622 |
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Other pension and postretirement costs |
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12 |
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32 |
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Earnings before income taxes |
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38,092 |
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25,636 |
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Provision for income taxes |
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8,961 |
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6,221 |
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Net earnings |
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$ |
29,131 |
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$ |
19,415 |
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Earnings per share: |
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Basic |
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$ |
0.99 |
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$ |
0.66 |
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Diluted |
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$ |
0.99 |
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$ |
0.66 |
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Shares used in computation of earnings per share: |
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Basic |
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29,320,483 |
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29,255,184 |
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Diluted |
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29,494,488 |
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29,420,954 |
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CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS |
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(in thousands) |
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Assets |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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(Unaudited) |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
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$ |
199,310 |
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$ |
191,782 |
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Receivables |
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92,287 |
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83,507 |
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Inventories |
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160,444 |
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153,674 |
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Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
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18,557 |
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13,214 |
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Total current assets |
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470,598 |
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442,177 |
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Net property, plant and equipment |
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72,934 |
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73,878 |
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Intangible assets, at cost less accumulated amortization |
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52,471 |
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53,737 |
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Other long-term assets |
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33,997 |
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33,964 |
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113,474 |
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113,163 |
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Total assets |
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$ |
743,474 |
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$ |
716,919 |
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Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity |
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Payables |
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$ |
90,617 |
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$ |
81,807 |
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Accrued compensation and employee benefits |
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15,588 |
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29,871 |
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Other current liabilities |
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28,889 |
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20,270 |
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Total current liabilities |
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135,094 |
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131,948 |
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Deferred income taxes |
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4,894 |
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5,061 |
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Long-term employee benefits and other |
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67,919 |
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63,428 |
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Shareholders' equity |
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535,567 |
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516,482 |
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Total liabilities and shareholders' equity |
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$ |
743,474 |
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$ |
716,919 |
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CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS |
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(in thousands) |
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Three Months Ended |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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(Unaudited) |
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(Unaudited) |
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Operating activities: |
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Net earnings |
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$ |
29,131 |
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$ |
19,415 |
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Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operations: |
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Depreciation |
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2,892 |
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2,663 |
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Amortization |
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5,118 |
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4,284 |
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Deferred income taxes |
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- |
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(10 |
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Noncurrent employee benefits |
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1 |
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(37 |
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Stock-based compensation expense |
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1,271 |
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1,006 |
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Changes in: |
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Receivables |
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(9,164 |
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(6,843 |
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Inventories |
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(6,405 |
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(11,439 |
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Payables |
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7,960 |
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6,959 |
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Prepaid expenses and other assets |
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(8,065 |
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(2,133 |
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Other liabilities |
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(1,279 |
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4,105 |
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Total adjustments |
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(7,671 |
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(1,445 |
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Net cash provided by operations |
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21,460 |
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17,970 |
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Investing activities: |
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Property, plant and equipment expenditures |
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(2,676 |
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(4,271 |
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Acquisitions, net of cash acquired |
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(3,000 |
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(17,052 |
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Net cash used for investing activities |
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(5,676 |
) |
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(21,323 |
) |
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Financing activities: |
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Dividends paid |
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(7,942 |
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(6,626 |
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Proceeds from exercise of stock options |
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230 |
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58 |
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Net cash used for financing activities |
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(7,712 |
) |
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(6,568 |
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Effect of foreign exchange rates on cash |
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(544 |
) |
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230 |
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Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents |
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7,528 |
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(9,691 |
) |
Cash and cash equivalents - beginning of period |
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191,782 |
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|
138,052 |
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Cash and cash equivalents - end of period |
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$ |
199,310 |
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|
$ |
128,361 |
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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240418011680/en/
(414) 371-7276
kbauer@badgermeter.com
Source: