EXFO reports third quarter results for fiscal 2020

Rhea-AI Summary

EXFO Inc. reported its third-quarter financial results for fiscal 2020, with sales reaching US$66.1 million, a 10.1% decrease year-over-year, largely due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. IFRS net earnings stood at US$3.2 million, equating to US$0.06 per share, boosted by a US$3.3 million wage subsidy. Adjusted EBITDA was US$10.7 million, representing 16.1% of sales. Notably, Test and Measurement sales constituted 75% of the revenue. The company also extended its credit facilities to US$65.3 million until May 2021.

Positive

• Adjusted EBITDA increased to US$10.7 million, up from US$7.9 million in Q3 2019.
• Net earnings of US$3.2 million, a significant increase from US$21,000 in Q3 2019.
• Successfully implemented cost controls amid pandemic constraints.

Negative

• Sales declined 10.1% year-over-year to US$66.1 million.
• Book-to-bill ratio decreased to 0.89 from 0.95 in Q3 2019.
• Gross margin before depreciation decreased to 57.7% from 58.6% in Q3 2019.

• Sales reached US$66.1 million
• IFRS net earnings totaled US$3.2 million
• Adjusted EBITDA amounted to US$10.7 million, 16.1% of sales

QUEBEC CITY, July 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - EXFO Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO) (TSX: EXF), the communications industry's test, monitoring and analytics experts, reported today financial results for the third quarter ended May 31, 2020.

"Despite constraints and restrictive measures in many countries, EXFO navigated through the coronavirus pandemic with a solid financial performance in the third quarter of 2020," said EXFO's CEO Philippe Morin. "We delivered encouraging sales in a difficult environment and proactively implemented cost-controls, while benefiting from a Canadian government wage subsidy program. The end-result was strong earnings amid end-markets that will necessarily improve as long-term drivers like fiber and 5G deployments remain intact."

Third Quarter Highlights

• Sales. Sales decreased 10.1% year-over-year to US$66.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 mainly due to the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Test and Measurement (T&M) sales accounted for 75% of revenue in the third quarter of 2020, while Service Assurance, Systems and Services (SASS) sales represented 25%. Revenue distribution among the three main selling regions amounted to 45% in the Americas, 33% in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and 22% in Asia-Pacific. EXFO's top customer accounted for 9.6% of sales, while the top three totaled 18.2%.
  
• Profitability. IFRS net earnings amounted to US$3.2 million, or US$0.06 per share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2020, while adjusted EBITDA totaled US$10.7 million, or 16.1% of sales. Net earnings included a wage subsidy of US$3.3M (US$2.4M after-tax) under the Canada emergency wage subsidy program to help qualifying businesses alleviate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Selected Financial Information
(In thousands of US dollars)
	Three months ended May 31, 2020		Three months ended May 31, 2019		Nine months ended May 31, 2020		Nine months ended May 31, 2019
Test and Measurement sales	$	50,309		$	54,359		$	143,733		$	154,530
Service Assurance, Systems and Services sales		16,352			19,469			52,036			62,586
Foreign exchange losses on forward exchange
contracts		(514)			(241)			(758)			(401)
Total sales	$	66,147		$	73,587		$	195,011		$	216,715
Test and Measurement bookings	$	46,634		$	50,157		$	153,646		$	159,473
Service Assurance, Systems and Services
bookings		12,988			19,648			49,000			67,822
Foreign exchange losses on forward exchange
contracts		(514)			(241)			(758)			(401)
Total bookings	$	59,108		$	69,564		$	201,888		$	226,894
Book-to-bill ratio (bookings/sales)		0.89			0.95			1.04			1.05
Gross margin before depreciation and amortization*	$	38,199		$	43,129		$	113,026		$	128,298
		57.7%			58.6%			58.0%			59.2%
Other selected information:
IFRS net earnings (loss)	$	3,177		$	21		$	(5,907)		$	(2,253)
Amortization of intangible assets	$	1,698		$	2,072		$	5,025		$	7,142
Stock-based compensation costs	$	523		$	475		$	1,446		$	1,354
Restructuring charges (reversals)	$	–		$	(13)		$	–		$	3,305
Acquisition-related deferred revenue fair value
adjustment	$	–		$	–		$	–		$	1,435
Net income tax effect of the above items	$	(257)		$	(344)		$	(760)		$	(1,115)
Foreign exchange (gain) loss	$	141		$	(146)		$	649		$	55
Adjusted EBITDA*	$	10,656		$	7,860		$	13,284		$	19,372

Quarterly Overview
Sales reached US$66.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to US$73.6 million in the third quarter of 2019.

Bookings attained US$59.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to US$69.6 million for the same period in 2019. The company's book-to-bill ratio was 0.89 in the third quarter of 2020.

Gross margin before depreciation and amortization* amounted to 57.7% of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to 58.6% in the third quarter of 2019.

Selling and administrative expenses totaled US$18.9 million, or 28.6% of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to US$23.8 million, or 32.3% of sales, in the third quarter of 2019.

Net R&D expenses attained US$9.2 million, or 13.9% of sales, in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to US$12.0 million, or 16.3% of sales, in the same period last year.

IFRS net earnings totaled US$3.2 million, or US$0.06 per share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to net earnings of US$21,000, or US$0.00 per share, in the third quarter of 2019. IFRS net earnings in the third quarter of 2020 included US$1.4 million in after-tax amortization of intangible assets, US$0.5 million in stock-based compensation costs, and US$0.1 million in foreign exchange loss. Net earnings in the third quarter of 2020 also included US$2.4 million for an after-tax wage subsidy granted by the Canadian government to help qualifying businesses alleviate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Adjusted EBITDA* amounted to US$10.7 million, or 16.1% of sales, in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to US$7.9 million, or 10.7% of sales, in the third quarter of 2019.

During the third quarter of fiscal 2020, EXFO extended its revolving credit facilities, which had provided advances up to US$50.8 million (C$70.0 million), to US$65.3 million (C$90.0 million) until May 31, 2021, and will return to US$50.8 million (C$70.0 million) on June 1, 2021.

Conference Call and Webcast
EXFO will host a conference call today at 5 p.m. (Eastern time) to review third quarter results for fiscal 2020. To listen to the conference call and participate in the question period via telephone, dial 1-323-794-2093. Please take note the following participant passcode will be required: 8963518. Executive Chairman Germain Lamonde, CEO Philippe Morin and Pierre Plamondon, CPA, Chief Financial Officer and Vice–President of Finance, will participate in the call. An audio replay of the conference call will be available two hours after the event until 8 p.m. on July 15, 2020. The replay number is 1-719-457-0820 and the participant passcode is 8963518. The audio Webcast and replay of the conference call will also be available on EXFO's Website at www.EXFO.com, under the Investors section.

About EXFO
EXFO (NASDAQ: EXFO) (TSX: EXF) develops smarter test, monitoring and analytics solutions for fixed and mobile network operators, webscale companies and equipment manufacturers in the global communications industry. Our customers count on us to deliver superior network performance, service reliability and subscriber insights. They count on our unique blend of equipment, software and services to accelerate digital transformations related to fiber, 4G/LTE and 5G deployments. They count on our expertise with automation, real-time troubleshooting and big data analytics, which are critical to their business performance. We've spent over 30 years earning this trust, and today 1,900 EXFO employees in over 25 countries work side by side with our customers in the lab, field, data center and beyond.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical information or statements of current condition. Words such as may, expect, believe, plan, anticipate, intend, could, estimate, continue, or similar expressions or the negative of such expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events and circumstances are considered forward-looking statements. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements due to various factors including, but not limited to, macroeconomic uncertainty, namely the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our employees, customers and global operations, including the ability of our suppliers to fulfil raw material requirements and services and our ability to manufacture and deliver our products and services to our customers; the effects of emergency measures related to isolation periods for individuals in affected areas, lockdown restrictions imposed by national governments on businesses in countries where we operate and have employees, and limitations on travel to attract new customers and serve existing ones; deteriorating financial and market conditions as well as a potential recession; trade wars, and our ability to successfully integrate businesses that we acquire; capital spending and network deployment levels in the communications industry (including our ability to quickly adapt cost structures to anticipated levels of business and our ability to manage inventory levels with market demand); future economic, competitive, financial and market conditions; consolidation in the global communications test, monitoring and analytics solutions markets and increased competition among vendors; capacity to adapt our future product offering to future technological changes; limited visibility with regard to the timing and nature of customer orders; delay in revenue recognition due to longer sales cycles for complex systems involving customers' acceptance; fluctuating exchange rates; concentration of sales; timely release and market acceptance of our new products and other upcoming products; our ability to successfully expand international operations and to conduct business internationally; and the retention of key technical and management personnel. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments and risks, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Other risk factors that may affect our future performance and operations are detailed in our Annual Report, on Form 20-F, and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian securities commissions. We believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information currently available to us, but we cannot assure you that the expectations will prove to have been correct. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this document. Unless required by law or applicable regulations, we undertake no obligation to revise or update any of them to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this document.

*Non-IFRS Measures
EXFO provides non-IFRS measures (gross margin before depreciation and amortization and adjusted EBITDA) as supplemental information regarding its operational performance. Gross margin before depreciation and amortization represents sales, less cost of sales, excluding depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represent net earnings (loss) before interest and other income/expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation costs, restructuring charges, acquisition-related deferred revenue fair value adjustment, and foreign exchange gain or loss.

These non-IFRS measures eliminate the effect on IFRS results of non-cash statement of earnings elements, restructuring charges as well as elements subject to significant volatility such as foreign exchange gain or loss. EXFO uses these measures for evaluating historical and prospective financial performance, as well as its performance relative to competitors. These non-IFRS measures are also used by financial analysts to evaluate and compare EXFO's performance against that of competitors and industry players in the company's sector.

Finally, these measures help EXFO plan and forecast future periods as well as make operational and strategic decisions. EXFO believes that providing this information, in addition to the IFRS measures, allows investors to see the company's results through the eyes of management, and to better understand historical and future financial performance. More importantly, it enables the comparison of EXFO's performance on a relatively similar basis against that of other public and private companies in the industry worldwide.

The presentation of this additional information is not prepared in accordance with IFRS. Therefore, the information may not necessarily be comparable to that of other companies and should be considered as a supplement to, not a substitute for, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with IFRS.

The following table summarizes the reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to IFRS net earnings (loss), in thousands of US dollars:

Adjusted EBITDA
	Three months ended May 31, 2020		Three months ended May 31, 2019		Nine months ended May 31, 2020		Nine months ended May 31, 2019
IFRS net earnings (loss) for the period (1)	$	3,177		$	21		$	(5,907)		$	(2,253)
Add (deduct):
Depreciation and amortization		3,833			3,440			11,732			11,329
Interest and other (income) expense		291			698			975			(439)
Income taxes		2,691			3,385			4,389			4,586
Stock-based compensation costs		523			475			1,446			1,354
Restructuring charges (reversals)		–			(13)			–			3,305
Acquisition-related deferred revenue fair value
adjustment		–			–			–			1,435
Foreign exchange (gain) loss		141			(146)			649			55
Adjusted EBITDA for the period	$	10,656		$	7,860		$	13,284		$	19,372
Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of sales		16.1%			10.7%			6.8%			8.9%

(1)

IFRS net earnings (loss) for the three months and the nine months ended May 31, 2020 takes into account the impact of the adoption of IFRS 16 on September 1, 2019. The adoption of IFRS 16 on September 1, 2019 had a positive impact on adjusted EBITDA of $844,000 or 1.3% of sales and $2,549,000 or 1.3% of sales respectively for the three months and the nine months ended May 31, 2020. Comparative figures were not adjusted.

 

EXFO Inc.
Condensed Unaudited Interim Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands of US dollars)
		As at May 31, 2020		As at August 31, 2019
Assets
Current assets
Cash		$	17,070		$	16,518
Short-term investments			3,384			2,918
Accounts receivable
Trade			56,842			51,517
Other			4,543			3,396
Income taxes and tax credits recoverable			4,912			3,159
Inventories			42,745			38,017
Prepaid expenses			5,553			6,510
Other assets			3,800			3,083
			138,849			125,118
Tax credits recoverable			45,203			46,704
Propert

FAQ

What were EXFO's sales results for Q3 2020?

EXFO reported sales of US$66.1 million in Q3 2020, a decline of 10.1% compared to the same period last year.

How much did EXFO earn in net earnings for Q3 2020?

EXFO's net earnings for Q3 2020 totaled US$3.2 million, or US$0.06 per share.

What is EXFO's adjusted EBITDA for Q3 2020?

In Q3 2020, EXFO's adjusted EBITDA amounted to US$10.7 million, representing 16.1% of sales.

What impact did the COVID-19 pandemic have on EXFO's financial results?

The pandemic caused a 10.1% decrease in sales and negatively affected the overall market conditions for EXFO.

What was the book-to-bill ratio for EXFO in Q3 2020?

EXFO's book-to-bill ratio in Q3 2020 was 0.89.