Pool Corporation Reports First Quarter Results
- Net sales exceeded $1.1 billion in the first quarter for the fourth consecutive year.
- Operating income was $108.7 million with a solid operating margin of 9.7%.
- Net cash provided by operations improved by 41% to a Q1 record $145.4 million.
- Q1 2024 diluted EPS was $2.04 or $1.85 without tax benefits.
- Gross profit decreased by 8% to $338.6 million, with a gross margin of 30.2%.
- Operating expenses increased by 3% to $229.8 million.
- Net income decreased by 22% to $78.9 million in the first quarter.
- Earnings per diluted share decreased to $2.04 in Q1 2024.
- The company updated its annual earnings guidance range to $13.19 to $14.19 per diluted share.
- Net sales decreased by 7% in Q1 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
- Gross profit decreased by 8% to $338.6 million in Q1 2024.
- Operating income decreased by 25% to $108.7 million in Q1 2024.
- Net income decreased by 22% to $78.9 million in Q1 2024.
- Earnings per diluted share decreased to $2.04 in Q1 2024.
Insights
Net sales decline by
From a balance sheet perspective, a significant reduction in total debt by
The provided update on annual earnings guidance to a range of
Highlights
- Net sales of
$1.1 billion exceeded$1.0 billion in the first quarter for the fourth consecutive year - Operating income of
$108.7 million with a solid operating margin of9.7% - Net cash provided by operations improved
41% to a Q1 record$145.4 million - Q1 2024 diluted EPS of
$2.04 or$1.85 without tax benefits - Updates annual earnings guidance range to
$13.19 t o$14.19 per diluted share to reflect additional tax benefits
COVINGTON, La., April 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pool Corporation (Nasdaq/GSM:POOL) today reported results for the first quarter of 2024.
“For the fourth consecutive year, we exceeded
First quarter ended March 31, 2024 compared to the first quarter ended March 31, 2023
Net sales decreased
Gross profit decreased
- Gross margin in the first quarter of 2024 included a benefit of
$12.6 million , or 110 basis points, related to a reduction of estimated import taxes previously recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022. - Gross margin benefited from ongoing supply chain management initiatives.
- We realized a higher cost of product in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023. In 2023, we started the year carrying a large amount of lower cost strategically-purchased inventory and successfully reduced this excess inventory to normalized levels by the end of the 2023 season. The lower-cost inventory was more impactful on gross margin in the first quarter of 2023 when a higher portion was sold relative to the full year.
- Changes in product mix weighed on our gross margin; we expect this mix to shift as sales of higher margin products increase as the season progresses.
- Greater customer preseason early buys during the quarter compared to last year and a higher concentration of sales to larger customers negatively impacted our margin.
Selling and administrative expenses (operating expenses) increased
Operating income in the first quarter of 2024 decreased
Interest and other non-operating expenses, net for the first quarter of 2024 decreased
We recorded a
Net income decreased
Balance Sheet and Liquidity
Total net receivables, including pledged receivables, trended in line with net sales activity at March 31, 2024 compared to March 31, 2023. We reduced our inventory levels compared to March 31, 2023 by
Net cash provided by operations improved to a record
Outlook
“We are updating our annual earnings guidance range to
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release contains certain non-GAAP measures (adjusted EBITDA and adjusted diluted EPS). See the addendum to this release for definitions of our non-GAAP measures and reconciliations of our non-GAAP measures to GAAP measures.
About Pool Corporation
POOLCORP is the world’s largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool and related backyard products. POOLCORP operates 442 sales centers in North America, Europe and Australia, through which it distributes more than 200,000 products to roughly 125,000 wholesale customers. For more information, please visit www.poolcorp.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes “forward-looking” statements that involve risks and uncertainties that are generally identifiable through the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “may,” and similar expressions and include projections of earnings. The forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur. Actual results may differ materially due to a variety of factors, including the sensitivity of our business to weather conditions; changes in economic conditions, consumer discretionary spending, the housing market, inflation or interest rates; our ability to maintain favorable relationships with suppliers and manufacturers; the extent to which home-centric trends will continue to moderate or reverse; competition from other leisure product alternatives or mass merchants; our ability to continue to execute our growth strategies; changes in the regulatory environment; new or additional taxes, duties or tariffs; excess tax benefits or deficiencies recognized under ASU 2016-09 and other risks detailed in POOLCORP’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports and filings filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as updated by POOLCORP's subsequent filings with the SEC.
Investor Relations Contacts:
Kristin S. Byars
985.801.5153
kristin.byars@poolcorp.com
Curtis J. Scheel
985.801.5341
curtis.scheel@poolcorp.com
| POOL CORPORATION | |||||||
| Consolidated Statements of Income | |||||||
| (Unaudited) | |||||||
| (In thousands, except per share data) | |||||||
| Three Months Ended | |||||||
| March 31, | |||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||
| Net sales | $ | 1,120,810 | $ | 1,206,774 | |||
| Cost of sales | 782,250 | 837,019 | |||||
| Gross profit | 338,560 | 369,755 | |||||
| Percent | 30.2 | % | 30.6 | % | |||
| Selling and administrative expenses | 229,840 | 223,984 | |||||
| Operating income | 108,720 | 145,771 | |||||
| Percent | 9.7 | % | 12.1 | % | |||
| Interest and other non-operating expenses, net | 13,419 | 15,835 | |||||
| Income before income taxes and equity in earnings | 95,301 | 129,936 | |||||
| Provision for income taxes | 16,473 | 28,273 | |||||
| Equity in earnings of unconsolidated investments, net | 57 | 36 | |||||
| Net income | $ | 78,885 | $ | 101,699 | |||
| Earnings per share attributable to common stockholders: (1) | |||||||
| Basic | $ | 2.05 | $ | 2.60 | |||
| Diluted | $ | 2.04 | $ | 2.58 | |||
| Weighted average common shares outstanding: | |||||||
| Basic | 38,205 | 38,877 | |||||
| Diluted | 38,467 | 39,189 | |||||
| Cash dividends declared per common share | $ | 1.10 | $ | 1.00 | |||
(1) Earnings per share under the two-class method is calculated using net income attributable to common stockholders (net income reduced by earnings allocated to participating securities), which was
| POOL CORPORATION Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (In thousands) | ||||||||||||||
| March 31, | March 31, | Change | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | $ | % | |||||||||||
| Assets | ||||||||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 67,974 | $ | 26,470 | $ | 41,504 | 157 | % | ||||||
| Receivables, net (1) | 150,240 | 163,048 | (12,808 | ) | (8 | ) | ||||||||
| Receivables pledged under receivables facility | 376,935 | 401,123 | (24,188 | ) | (6 | ) | ||||||||
| Product inventories, net (2) | 1,496,947 | 1,686,683 | (189,736 | ) | (11 | ) | ||||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 44,521 | 27,875 | 16,646 | 60 | ||||||||||
| Total current assets | 2,136,617 | 2,305,199 | (168,582 | ) | (7 | ) | ||||||||
| Property and equipment, net | 230,423 | 200,997 | 29,426 | 15 | ||||||||||
| Goodwill | 699,424 | 693,242 | 6,182 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Other intangible assets, net | 296,494 | 303,753 | (7,259 | ) | (2 | ) | ||||||||
| Equity interest investments | 1,350 | 1,206 | 144 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Operating lease assets | 308,593 | 274,428 | 34,165 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Other assets | 85,926 | 84,004 | 1,922 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Total assets | $ | 3,758,827 | $ | 3,862,829 | $ | (104,002 | ) | (3 | ) | % | ||||
| Liabilities and stockholders’ equity | ||||||||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 907,806 | $ | 739,749 | $ | 168,057 | 23 | % | ||||||
| Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | 99,557 | 126,093 | (26,536 | ) | (21 | ) | ||||||||
| Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt | 36,655 | 33,080 | 3,575 | 11 | ||||||||||
| Current operating lease liabilities | 92,162 | 78,498 | 13,664 | 17 | ||||||||||
| Total current liabilities | 1,136,180 | 977,420 | 158,760 | 16 | ||||||||||
| Deferred income taxes | 68,904 | 57,868 | 11,036 | 19 | ||||||||||
| Long-term debt, net | 942,522 | 1,332,670 | (390,148 | ) | (29 | ) | ||||||||
| Other long-term liabilities | 42,807 | 37,623 | 5,184 | 14 | ||||||||||
| Non-current operating lease liabilities | 222,730 | 200,498 | 22,232 | 11 | ||||||||||
| Total liabilities | 2,413,143 | 2,606,079 | (192,936 | ) | (7 | ) | ||||||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | 1,345,684 | 1,256,750 | 88,934 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 3,758,827 | $ | 3,862,829 | $ | (104,002 | ) | (3 | ) | % | ||||
(1) The allowance for doubtful accounts was
(2) The inventory reserve was
| POOL CORPORATION Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) (In thousands) | |||||||||||||
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||||||
| March 31, | |||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | |||||||||||
| Operating activities | |||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 78,885 | $ | 101,699 | $ | (22,814 | ) | ||||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: | |||||||||||||
| Depreciation | 8,661 | 7,632 | 1,029 | ||||||||||
| Amortization | 2,088 | 2,135 | (47 | ) | |||||||||
| Share-based compensation | 5,328 | 4,923 | 405 | ||||||||||
| Equity in earnings of unconsolidated investments, net | (57 | ) | (36 | ) | (21 | ) | |||||||
| Other | (853 | ) | 2,732 | (3,585 | ) | ||||||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects of acquisitions: | |||||||||||||
| Receivables | (181,705 | ) | (211,015 | ) | 29,310 | ||||||||
| Product inventories | (133,249 | ) | (96,011 | ) | (37,238 | ) | |||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other assets | 15,741 | (5,786 | ) | 21,527 | |||||||||
| Accounts payable | 401,384 | 332,800 | 68,584 | ||||||||||
| Accrued expenses and other liabilities | (50,781 | ) | (35,870 | ) | (14,911 | ) | |||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | 145,442 | 103,203 | 42,239 | ||||||||||
| Investing activities | |||||||||||||
| Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired | (1,348 | ) | (1,760 | ) | 412 | ||||||||
| Purchases of property and equipment, net of sale proceeds | (17,038 | ) | (15,570 | ) | (1,468 | ) | |||||||
| Other investments, net | (566 | ) | (230 | ) | (336 | ) | |||||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | (18,952 | ) | (17,560 | ) | (1,392 | ) | |||||||
| Financing activities | |||||||||||||
| Proceeds from revolving line of credit | 228,400 | 256,079 | (27,679 | ) | |||||||||
| Payments on revolving line of credit | (365,500 | ) | (376,895 | ) | 11,395 | ||||||||
| Payments on term loan under credit facility | (6,250 | ) | — | (6,250 | ) | ||||||||
| Proceeds from asset-backed financing | 208,600 | 151,200 | 57,400 | ||||||||||
| Payments on asset-backed financing | (138,000 | ) | (51,100 | ) | (86,900 | ) | |||||||
| Payments on term facility | — | (2,313 | ) | 2,313 | |||||||||
| Proceeds from short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt | 14 | 3,011 | (2,997 | ) | |||||||||
| Payments on short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt | (1,561 | ) | (1,223 | ) | (338 | ) | |||||||
| Payments of deferred and contingent acquisition consideration | — | (551 | ) | 551 | |||||||||
| Proceeds from stock issued under share-based compensation plans | 8,773 | 5,896 | 2,877 | ||||||||||
| Payments of cash dividends | (42,334 | ) | (39,073 | ) | (3,261 | ) | |||||||
| Repurchases of common stock | (16,304 | ) | (50,549 | ) | 34,245 | ||||||||
| Net cash used in financing activities | (124,162 | ) | (105,518 | ) | (18,644 | ) | |||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents | (894 | ) | 754 | (1,648 | ) | ||||||||
| Change in cash and cash equivalents | 1,434 | (19,121 | ) | 20,555 | |||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | 66,540 | 45,591 | 20,949 | ||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | $ | 67,974 | $ | 26,470 | $ | 41,504 | |||||||
ADDENDUM
Base Business
When calculating our base business results, we exclude sales centers that are acquired, opened in new markets or closed for a period of 15 months. We also exclude consolidated sales centers when we do not expect to maintain the majority of the existing business and existing sales centers that are consolidated with acquired sales centers.
We generally allocate corporate overhead expenses to excluded sales centers on the basis of their net sales as a percentage of total net sales. After 15 months, we include acquired, consolidated and new market sales centers in the base business calculation including the comparative prior year period.
We have not provided separate base business income statements within this press release as our base business results for the three months ended March 31, 2024 closely approximated our consolidated results, and acquisitions and sales centers excluded from base business contributed less than
The table below summarizes the changes in our sales center count in the first three months of 2024.
| December 31, 2023 | 439 | |
| Acquired location | 1 | |
| New locations | 3 | |
| Consolidated location | (1 | ) |
| March 31, 2024 | 442 |
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The non-GAAP measures described below should be considered in the context of all of our other disclosures in this press release.
Adjusted EBITDA
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income or net loss plus interest and other non-operating expenses, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, share-based compensation, goodwill and other impairments and equity in earnings or loss of unconsolidated investments. Other companies may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently than we do, which may limit its usefulness as a comparative measure.
Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of performance as determined by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). We believe Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, operating income or loss, net income or loss, net cash flows provided by or used in operating, investing and financing activities or other income statement or cash flow statement line items reported in accordance with GAAP.
We have included Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental disclosure because management uses it to monitor our performance, and we believe that it is widely used by our investors, industry analysts and others as a useful supplemental performance measure. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA, when viewed with our GAAP results and the accompanying reconciliations, provides an additional measure that enables management and investors to monitor factors and trends affecting our ability to service debt, pay taxes and fund capital expenditures.
The table below presents a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA.
| (Unaudited) | Three Months Ended | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | March 31, | ||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||
| Net income | $ | 78,885 | $ | 101,699 | |||||
| Add: | |||||||||
| Interest and other non-operating expenses | 13,419 | 15,835 | |||||||
| Provision for income taxes | 16,473 | 28,273 | |||||||
| Share-based compensation | 5,328 | 4,923 | |||||||
| Equity in earnings of unconsolidated investments, net | (57 | ) | (36 | ) | |||||
| Depreciation | 8,661 | 7,632 | |||||||
| Amortization (1) | 1,933 | 1,948 | |||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 124,642 | $ | 160,274 | |||||
(1) Excludes amortization of deferred financing costs of
Adjusted Diluted EPS
We have included adjusted diluted EPS, a non-GAAP financial measure, in this press release as a supplemental disclosure, because we believe this measure is useful to management, investors and others in assessing our period-to-period operating performance.
Adjusted diluted EPS is a key measure used by management to demonstrate the impact of tax benefits from ASU 2016-09 on our diluted EPS and to provide investors and others with additional information about our potential future operating performance to supplement GAAP measures.
We believe this measure should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, diluted EPS presented in accordance with GAAP, and in the context of our other disclosures in this press release. Other companies may calculate this non-GAAP financial measure differently than we do, which may limit its usefulness as a comparative measure.
The table below presents a reconciliation of diluted EPS to adjusted diluted EPS.
| (Unaudited) | Three Months Ended | |||||||||
| March 31, | ||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||
| Diluted EPS | $ | 2.04 | $ | 2.58 | ||||||
| ASU 2016-09 tax benefit | (0.19 | ) | (0.12 | ) | ||||||
| Adjusted diluted EPS | $ | 1.85 | $ | 2.46 | ||||||
FAQ
What were Pool 's net sales in the first quarter of 2024?
What was the operating income in the first quarter of 2024?
How did net cash provided by operations change in Q1 2024?
What was the Q1 2024 diluted EPS for Pool ?
What was the gross profit in the first quarter of 2024?
How did operating expenses change in Q1 2024?
What was the net income in the first quarter of 2024?
What is Pool 's updated annual earnings guidance range?
