Insteel Industries Reports Fourth Quarter And Fiscal 2020 Results

Rhea-AI Summary

Insteel Industries reported strong financial results for Q4 and fiscal year 2020, driven by rising demand in construction markets. Q4 net earnings were $7.4 million ($0.38/share), a recovery from a net loss of $1.8 million a year prior. Sales surged 21.9% to $138.2 million, while shipments hit a record high. Fiscal 2020 earnings reached $19.0 million ($0.98/share), up from $5.6 million. Gross margins improved significantly, though the company anticipates vulnerabilities in FY 2021 due to economic uncertainties and construction market conditions, despite optimism for ongoing strategic initiatives.

Positive

• Q4 net earnings rose to $7.4 million from a loss of $1.8 million YoY.
• Sales increased by 21.9% in Q4, reaching $138.2 million.
• Shipments in Q4 hit a record high.
• Fiscal 2020 net earnings grew to $19.0 million from $5.6 million YoY.
• Gross margin expanded to 14.1% from 3.4% YoY.

Negative

• Average selling prices decreased by 4.6% YoY.
• Operating cash flow fell to $11.4 million from $32.5 million YoY.

MOUNT AIRY, N.C., Oct. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Insteel Industries, Inc. (NasdaqGS: IIIN) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended October 3, 2020.

Fourth Quarter 2020 Results

Insteel's results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 benefitted from robust demand in the Company's construction markets and a rebound in spreads between selling prices and raw material costs from depressed levels of a year ago.  Shipments in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 were at the highest quarterly level on record for the Company. Net earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 were $7.4 million, or $0.38 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.09 per share, in the same period a year ago.  

Net sales increased 21.9% to $138.2 million from $113.4 million in the prior year quarter driven by a 27.7% increase in shipments that offset a 4.6% decrease in average selling prices. On a sequential basis, shipments increased 12.0% from the third quarter of fiscal 2020 and average selling prices increased 1.1%. The Company benefitted from an extra week in the current year and quarter based on its fiscal calendar.

Gross margin widened 1,070 basis points to 14.1% from 3.4% in the prior year quarter primarily due to wider spreads between selling prices and raw material costs and leverage from higher shipment levels. Earnings for the current year quarter reflect a $0.4 million gain in cash surrender value of life insurance policies in selling, general and administrative expense and $0.7 million of restructuring charges related to the Company's March 16, 2020 acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Strand-Tech Manufacturing, Inc. ("STM"), which in the aggregate decreased net earnings per share by $0.01.

Operating activities provided $11.4 million of cash during the fourth quarter compared to $32.5 million in the prior year quarter due largely to the relative changes in working capital. Working capital generated $0.3 million of cash in the current year compared to $31.4 million the prior year driven by reductions in inventories and receivables in the prior year quarter.  

Fiscal 2020 Results

Net earnings for fiscal 2020 increased to $19.0 million, or $0.98 per diluted share, from $5.6 million, or $0.29 per share, in the prior year. Net sales increased 3.7% to $472.6 million from $455.7 million in the prior year driven by a 17.3% increase in shipments that offset an 11.5% decrease in average selling prices, as well as the extra week in the current year based on the Company's fiscal calendar.  Gross margin expanded to 11.8% from 6.6% due to the wider spreads and, to a lesser extent, increased shipment volumes.   

Insteel's earnings for fiscal 2020 reflect $1.9 million of restructuring charges and acquisition costs related to the STM transaction and a $1.0 million gain on the disposition of assets held for sale, which in the aggregate, decreased fiscal 2020 net earnings per diluted share by $0.04.  Insteel's earnings for the prior year period reflect a $1.1 million gain from insurance and $0.5 million gain on the disposition of property, plant and equipment in other income, which increased fiscal 2019 net earnings per diluted share by $0.06.

Operating activities provided $56.2 million of cash compared to $6.6 million in the prior year due to both higher earnings and the relative changes in working capital. Working capital provided $19.4 million in the current year compared to a $12.0 million use of cash in the prior year.

Capital Allocation and Liquidity

Capital expenditures for fiscal 2020 decreased to $7.1 million from $10.5 million in the prior year and are expected to total up to $20 million in 2021 including expenditures to relocate and upgrade the STM assets, to advance the growth of our engineered structural mesh business and to support cost and productivity improvement initiatives and recurring maintenance requirements. The shortfall in 2020 investing activity relative to prior estimates is related solely to timing considerations.

Insteel ended the year debt-free with $68.7 million of cash and no borrowings outstanding on its $100.0 million revolving credit facility.

Outlook

"Looking ahead to fiscal 2021, we expect our financial results will remain vulnerable to uncertain market conditions depending on the strength and direction of the U.S. economic recovery," commented H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's president and CEO. "The latest forecasts for non-residential construction indicate a bottoming or modest improvement, but the sustainability of those trends is not yet clear.  Public construction has not experienced the level of weakness forecast at the onset of the pandemic, although the impact varies widely from state to state.  Federal action on new transportation spending or proposed state budget relief has the potential to be a positive catalyst if implemented by the U.S. Congress."

Mr. Woltz added, "Despite the economic uncertainties, we remain optimistic about our key initiatives, which should benefit our fiscal 2021 performance.  We are pleased with our performance in the engineered structural mesh market during 2020 and expect further growth in 2021.  Additionally, the trade cases filed in April and June 2020 alleging illegal activity by importers in the U.S. PC strand and standard welded wire reinforcement markets have progressed favorably. The PC strand cases are now scheduled to conclude during our third fiscal quarter and the standard welded wire reinforcing case is expected to conclude during the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021. As with any litigation, we cannot predict the outcome, but we believe the facts supporting the cases are strong."

Conference Call

Insteel will hold a conference call at 10:00 a.m. ET today to discuss its fourth quarter and 2020 fiscal year end financial results. A live webcast of this call can be accessed on Insteel's website at https://insteelgcs.gcs-web.com/ and will be archived for replay until the next quarterly conference call.

About Insteel

Insteel is the nation's largest manufacturer of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications. Insteel manufactures and markets PC strand and welded wire reinforcement, including ESM, concrete pipe reinforcement and standard welded wire reinforcement. Insteel's products are sold primarily to manufacturers of concrete products that are used in nonresidential construction. Headquartered in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Insteel operates ten manufacturing facilities located in the United States.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," "appears," "plans," "intends," "may," "should," "could" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and we can provide no assurances that such plans, intentions or expectations will be implemented or achieved. Many of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in detail and are updated from time to time in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in particular in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 28, 2019.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. All forward-looking statements speak only to the respective dates on which such statements are made and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect any future events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, except as may be required by law.

It is not possible to anticipate and list all risks and uncertainties that may affect our future operations or financial performance; however, they include, but are not limited to, the following: the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, demand for our products and our operations, including the measures taken by governmental authorities to address it, which may precipitate or exacerbate other risks and/or uncertainties; general economic and competitive conditions in the markets in which we operate; changes in the spending levels for nonresidential and residential construction and the impact on demand for our products; changes in the amount and duration of transportation funding provided by federal, state and local governments and the impact on spending for infrastructure construction and demand for our products; the cyclical nature of the steel and building material industries; credit market conditions and the relative availability of financing for us, our customers and the construction industry as a whole; fluctuations in the cost and availability of our primary raw material, hot-rolled steel wire rod, from domestic and foreign suppliers; competitive pricing pressures and our ability to raise selling prices in order to recover increases in raw material or operating costs; changes in United States or foreign trade policy affecting imports or exports of steel wire rod or our products; unanticipated changes in customer demand, order patterns and inventory levels; the impact of fluctuations in demand and capacity utilization levels on our unit manufacturing costs; our ability to further develop the market for ESM and expand our shipments of ESM; legal, environmental, economic or regulatory developments that significantly impact our business or operating costs; unanticipated plant outages, equipment failures or labor difficulties; and the "Risk Factors" discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 28, 2019 and in other filings made by us with the SEC.

INSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands except for per share data)
(Unaudited)
		Three Months Ended				Year Ended
		(Unaudited)		(Unaudited)		(Unaudited)
		October 3,		September 28,		October 3,		September 28,
		2020		2019		2020		2019
Net sales		$           138,231		$           113,403		$           472,618		$           455,713
Cost of sales		118,769		109,575		416,831		425,652
Gross profit		19,462		3,828		55,787		30,061
Selling, general and administrative expense		9,308		5,898		31,348		24,504
Restructuring charges		738		-		1,695		-
Acquisition costs		-		-		195		-
Other expense (income), net		29		50		(1,254)		(1,773)
Interest expense		28		31		106		168
Interest income		(21)		(117)		(473)		(293)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes		9,380		(2,034)		24,170		7,455
Income taxes		1,954		(267)		5,161		1,857
Net earnings (loss)		$               7,426		$             (1,767)		$             19,009		$               5,598
Net earnings (loss) per share:
Basic		$                 0.38		$               (0.09)		$                 0.99		$                 0.29
Diluted		0.38		(0.09)		0.98		0.29
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic		19,296		19,256		19,278		19,243
Diluted		19,396		19,256		19,383		19,340
Cash dividends declared per share		$                 0.03		$                 0.03		$                 0.12		$                 0.12

 

INSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
		(Unaudited)
		October 3,		June 27,		September 28,
		2020		2020		2019
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents		$             68,688		$             61,371		$             38,181
Accounts receivable, net		53,817		54,901		44,182
Inventories		68,963		74,269		70,851
Other current assets		5,570		6,245		7,370
Total current assets		197,038		196,786		160,584
Property, plant and equipment, net		101,392		101,089		104,960
Intangibles, net		8,567		8,810		8,610
Goodwill		9,745		9,745		8,293
Other assets		21,160		20,260		10,562
Total assets		$           337,902		$           336,690		$           293,009
Liabilities and shareholders' equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable		$             38,961		$             47,891		$             21,595
Accrued expenses		14,717		11,839		6,818
Total current liabilities		53,678		59,730		28,413
Long-term debt		-		-		-
Other liabilities		19,421		19,894		18,579
Commitments and contingencies
Shareholders' equity:
Common stock		19,304		19,283		19,261
Additional paid-in capital		76,387		75,811		74,632
Retained earnings		171,068		164,220		154,372
Accumulated other comprehensive loss		(1,956)		(2,248)		(2,248)
Total shareholders' equity		264,803		257,066		246,017
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity		$           337,902		$           336,690		$           293,009

 

INSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
		Three Months Ended				Year Ended
		(Unaudited)		(Unaudited)		(Unaudited)
		October 3,		September 28,		October 3,		September 28,
		2020		2019		2020		2019
Cash Flows From Operating Activities:
Net earnings		$          7,426		$        (1,767)		$        19,009		$          5,598
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by
operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization		3,629		3,469		14,255		13,553
Amortization of capitalized financing costs		17		17		66		65
Stock-based compensation expense		751		856		2,028		2,057
Deferred income taxes		(816)		(395)		(424)		1,798
Asset impairment charges		-		-		343		-
Loss (gain) on sale and disposition of property, plant and equipment		(83)		72		(1,114)		(1,688)
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies over premiums paid		(419)		-		(243)		(187)
Gain from life insurance claims		-		-		(200)		-
Net changes in assets and liabilities (net of assets and liabilities acquired):
Accounts receivable, net		1,084		6,561		(5,806)		7,302
Inventories		5,306		33,773		5,060		23,306
Accounts payable and accrued expenses		(6,122)		(8,952)		20,159		(42,592)
Other changes		647		(1,104)		3,091		(2,604)
Total adjustments		3,994		34,297		37,215		1,010
Net cash provided by operating activities		11,420		32,530		56,224		6,608
Cash Flows From Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business		-		-		(18,356)		-
Capital expenditures		(3,666)		(1,132)		(7,114)		(10,512)
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies		(81)		-		(390)		(322)
Proceeds from sale of assets held for sale		311		-		2,186		-
Proceeds from property insurance		-		-		-		1,192
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment		-		2		40		19
Proceeds from surrender of life insurance policies		65		-		260		67
Proceeds from life insurance claims		-		-		200		-
Net cash used for investing activities		(3,371)		(1,130)		(23,174)		(9,556)
Cash Flows From Financing Activities:
Proceeds from long-term debt		99		94		322		44,333
Principal payments on long-term debt		(99)		(94)		(322)		(44,333)
Cash dividends paid		(578)		(578)		(2,313)		(2,310)
Financing costs		-		(26)		-		(263)
Payment of employee tax withholdings related to net share transactions		(154)		(64)		(230)		(239)
Net cash used for financing activities		(732)		(668)		(2,543)		(2,812)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		7,317		30,732		30,507		(5,760)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		61,371		7,449		38,181		43,941
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		$        68,688		$        38,181		$        68,688		$        38,181
Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information:
Cash paid during the period for:
Interest		$                -		$                -		$                -		$               49
Income taxes, net		1,577		(16)		1,919		1,743
Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Purchases of property, plant and equipment in accounts payable		769		377		769		377
Restricted stock units and stock options surrendered for withholding taxes payable		154		64		230		239
Payable related to holdback for business acquired		-		-		1,000		-

IIIN – E

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SOURCE Insteel Industries, Inc.

FAQ

What were Insteel Industries' earnings results for Q4 2020?

Insteel reported net earnings of $7.4 million, or $0.38 per share, for Q4 2020.

How did Insteel's sales perform in FY 2020?

Insteel's net sales for FY 2020 increased 3.7% to $472.6 million.

What factors contributed to Insteel's financial performance in Q4?

Robust demand in construction markets and improved spreads between selling prices and raw material costs contributed to the financial performance.

What is the outlook for Insteel Industries in FY 2021?

Insteel expects its financial results to remain vulnerable to uncertain market conditions but remains optimistic about key growth initiatives.

What were Insteel's capital expenditures for FY 2020?

Capital expenditures for FY 2020 were $7.1 million, down from $10.5 million in the prior year.