EX-99.1 2 c15962exv99w1.htm PRESS RELEASE exv99w1
 

Exhibit 99.1
(SPARTECH LOGO)
     
Company Contacts:
   
George A. Abd
  Randy C. Martin
President and
  Executive Vice President and
Chief Executive Officer
  Chief Financial Officer
(314) 721-4242
  (314) 721-4242
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
SPARTECH ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS UP 13% FROM 2006 AND
REAFFIRMS GUIDANCE FOR 2007
_______________________
ST. LOUIS, June 13, 2007 — Spartech Corporation (NYSE:SEH) announced today its operating results for its second quarter ended May 5, 2007.
Second Quarter 2007 Highlights
  Diluted earnings per share were $0.49 compared to $0.42 recorded in the second quarter of 2006. Net Earnings increased by 13% to $15.7 million from $13.9 million in last year’s second quarter driven by stronger margins, lower costs and lower interest expense.
 
  Operating earnings increased $1.5 million from last year’s second quarter to $29.6 million due to continued strong material margins combined with improved conversion costs resulting mostly from last year’s plant consolidation efforts and lower freight costs. All three of our reporting groups delivered increased earnings for the quarter.
 
  Cash flows provided by operations were $26.1 million which was comparable to last year’s second quarter record performance. Working capital as a percentage of sales improved to 9.3% compared to 11.1% at the end of last year’s second quarter.
 
  Our Green Initiative product sales volume continued to grow at a significant pace, increasing by 31% over the second quarter of 2006, despite a challenging general demand environment.
 
  The results for the quarter are in line with our expectations and therefore the Company is affirming our earnings guidance for fiscal 2007 at a range of $1.55 to $1.62 per share, before the impact of special items.
Overview of Results
Net sales for the second quarter were $377.4 million compared to $389.3 million in the second quarter of 2006 representing a decrease of 3%. This change was caused by a 1% decrease in volume from declines in sales to the automotive, heavy truck, recreational vehicle and residential construction sectors of our end markets and a 2% decrease from a higher sales mix of lower price per pound products in our sheet business. Sales volumes were strong in our Sheet segment and Engineered Products group up 3% and 8% respectively offset by a 6% volume contraction in Color and Specialty Compounds due primarily to shrinkage in the domestic automotive market. We continued to see success in our Green Initiative with sales of these products that deliver environmental and energy savings benefits growing by 31% in the second quarter compared to last year’s second quarter.
Operating earnings for the second quarter of 2007 were $29.6 million compared to $28.0 million in the prior year second quarter. Included in operating earnings for the current quarter were $0.2 million of costs related to plant restructurings compared to $0.5 million in the prior year second quarter. The increase in operating

 


 

earnings reflects an improvement in gross margin per pound sold of 0.9 cent which more than offset the negative impacts of the decrease in sales volume and higher corporate selling, general and administrative expenses. The 0.9 cent improvement in gross margin per pound sold was driven by a 0.2 cent increase in material margin from a drop in mix of lower than average margin sales to the automotive market and a 0.7 cent decrease in conversion costs resulting from the favorable results of our prior year consolidations in our Color & Specialty Compounds segment, better management of our company-wide freight program, the favorable result of current year cost reduction efforts as well as mix changes.
Corporate selling, general and administrative expenses increased $1.9 million of which $0.9 million was caused by an increase in foreign currency loss due to a weakening U.S. dollar. On a consolidated basis, this loss was partially offset by a $0.5 million increase in foreign currency gain in our Engineered Products group resulting in a net increase in currency pretax loss of $0.4 million. The remaining $1.0 million increase in corporate expenses was caused by higher information technology expenses from our on-going Oracle ERP implementation.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) was $40.1 million in the second quarter of 2007 compared to $38.2 million in the prior year second quarter. Interest expense decreased to $4.3 million from $5.6 million due to our focused efforts in debt reduction using our improved cash flow over the past two years. Reported net earnings totaled $15.7 million or $0.49 cents per diluted share for the second quarter of 2007 compared to $13.9 million or $0.42 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2006.
Commenting on the results, George A. Abd, President and CEO, stated, “We were pleased with the earnings performance in our second quarter, a quarter in which we saw a challenging demand environment for some of our key markets. Despite this environment, we saw a nice volume recovery in our Sheet segment and Engineered Products group in the quarter. The Company’s ability to generate higher earnings in all of our business segments in this environment is confirmation of the structural improvements that we have made in the past two years. Based on the Company’s performance in the quarter we remain confident in our progress this year and are therefore maintaining our guidance for the full year at $1.55-$1.62 per share even given some strong headwinds currently in the market.”
Mr. Abd continued, “In the quarter, we continued to make significant progress in our three key capital initiatives for the year, the construction of our new facility in Greenville, Ohio, the Ramos, Mexico plant expansion and most significantly our Oracle ERP implementation which will continue for the remainder of 2007 and throughout 2008. Our first major facility to go live on the new system did so in March with five more facilities transitioning in May. This is a major transition for the Company and the employees involved in this implementation did an outstanding job of managing the change with minimal impact to our customers.”

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Segment Results Custom Sheet & Rollstock — Net sales decreased 1% and operating earnings were up 4% from the second quarter of 2006.
                 
(In Millions)   Second Quarter  
    2007     2006  
Net Sales
  $ 239.0     $ 240.9  
 
           
Operating Earnings
  $ 21.4     $ 20.5  
 
           
The sales decrease included a 3% increase in underlying sales volume more than offset by a 4% decrease from price/mix changes. The volume increase was driven by strong sales to the material handling, appliance and food packaging markets. These increases were partially offset by lower sales to the residential construction, heavy truck, and recreation and leisure markets. The decrease in price/mix is the effect of a higher mix of lower sales price per pound products and lower resin costs for some major resins which we passed on to customers as lower pricing.
The increase in operating earnings was driven by the increase in underlying sales volume. This segment’s gross margin per pound sold remained consistent reflecting a 1.0 cent decrease in conversion costs offset by a 1.0 cent decrease in material margin. These per pound changes reflect the impact of a larger mix of lower material margin and conversion cost products.
Color & Specialty Compounds — Net sales were down 9% and operating earnings were up 12% from the second quarter of 2006.
                 
(In Millions)   Second Quarter  
    2007     2006  
Net Sales
  $ 111.6     $ 122.3  
 
           
Operating Earnings
  $ 9.0     $ 8.1  
 
           
The sales change was comprised of a 6% decrease in underlying pounds sold and 3% decrease from price/mix changes. The decrease in volume related to a decline in sales to the domestic automotive market, offset partially by continued strong sales related to commercial roofing applications. The decrease in price/mix was caused by lower resin costs which we passed on to customers as price decreases.
Of the $1.0 million improvement in operating earnings, $0.6 million was due to prior year restructuring expenses associated with our plant consolidations. The remaining increase in operating earnings was driven by a 0.9 cent increase in gross margin per pound sold which more than offset the impact of the lower sales volume. This per pound gross margin improvement was caused by a 0.3 cent improvement in material margin and 0.6 cent decrease in conversion costs. A smaller sales mix of lower margin automotive compounds combined with a larger sales mix of higher margin Green Initiative products resulted in the material margin improvement. Conversion costs decreased on a per pound sold basis due to the favorable impact of our prior year consolidations and lower freight costs.

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Engineered Products Net sales increased 3% and operating earnings increased significantly over the second quarter of 2006.
                 
(In Millions)   Second Quarter  
    2007     2006  
Net Sales
  $ 26.8     $ 26.1  
 
           
Operating Earnings
  $ 4.9     $ 3.4  
 
           
The increase in sales reflects an 8% higher volume of wheels to the lawn and garden market partially offset by a higher mix of lower priced product. Approximately $1 million of the operating earnings increase was driven by higher profitability of our wheels business and the remaining $0.5 million was from the impact of higher foreign currency gains at our Canadian profiles business due to a weakening U.S. dollar.
Cash Flow Performance
Cash provided by operating activities was $26.1 million in the second quarter of 2007 which was consistent with the prior year second quarter record amount. Operating cash flow before the change in current assets and liabilities, representing working capital balances, increased $2.2 million over the prior year second quarter from an increase in cash earnings. This increase was offset by changes in our working capital balances. We used $2.5 million of cash to invest in net working capital in this year’s second quarter due to seasonal increases in business levels from the first quarter. This compares to a $0.3 million use of cash during the same period last year which was lower than our current quarter investment because of a more significant improvement in net working capital metrics in the prior year second quarter. However, we have made significant improvements in our net working capital management when comparing the end of second quarter of 2007 to the prior year second quarter. We measure our end of period net working capital investment as a ratio of the trailing-two months of sales annualized to a full year. Using this measure, our net working capital as a percentage of sales improved to 9.3% at the end of the second quarter of 2007 from 11.1% at the end of the second quarter of 2006 due to increased management focus on net working capital metrics.
Cash provided by operating activities in the second quarter of 2007 funded the planned increase in capital expenditures for the plant expansions and information technology developments which resulted in total capital expenditures of $8.2 million and a debt pay down of $14.6 million. As of the end of the second quarter of 2007, we had $285.3 million of total debt representing a debt to equity ratio of 0.62 to 1 and we have availability under our bank credit facility of $256 million.
Earnings Guidance
The Company is maintaining its earnings guidance for fiscal 2007 at a range of $1.55 to $1.62 per share, before the impact of special items. We have realized the full benefit of our 2006 restructuring activities in our first half of this year and will see less positive impact on our year over year comparison in the remainder of the year as the restructuring was substantially complete in the third quarter of last year. In the second half of 2007, we anticipate a weaker overall demand environment compared to the same period of last year because of substantial weakness in the transportation and residential construction markets. However, we believe that the restructuring efforts that we have completed over the past two years have given us the cost structure necessary to achieve the full year results within this range.
     While we do not give quarterly guidance, we expect the third quarter to represent a more challenging comparable versus last year’s record performance in the face of the demand environment previously discussed combined with the continued strengthening of the Canadian dollar, additional expenses related to our ERP implementation, and some expected inefficiencies resulting from our Greenville consolidation efforts.

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* * * * * *
Safe Harbor For Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relate to future events and expectations, include statements containing such words as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “would,” “should,” “will,” “will likely result,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “projects,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and include known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which management is unable to predict or control, that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Important factors which have impacted and could impact our operations and results include: (a) adverse changes in economic or industry conditions generally, including global supply and demand conditions and prices for products of the types we produce; (b) our ability to compete effectively on product performance, quality, price, availability, product development, and customer service, (c) material adverse changes in the markets we serve, including the transportation, packaging, building and construction, recreation and leisure, and other markets, some of which tend to be cyclical; (d) our inability to achieve the level of cost savings, productivity improvements, synergies, growth or other benefits anticipated from acquired businesses and their integration; (e) volatility of prices and availability of supply of energy and of the raw materials that are critical to the manufacture of our products, particularly plastic resins derived from oil and natural gas, including future effects of natural disasters; (f) our inability to manage or pass through an adequate level of increases to customers in the costs of materials, freight, utilities, or other conversion costs; (g) our inability to predict accurately the costs to be incurred, time taken to complete, or savings to be achieved in connection with announced production plant restructurings; (h) adverse findings in significant legal or environmental proceedings or our inability to comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations; (i) adverse developments with work stoppages or labor disruptions, particularly in the automotive industry; (j) our inability to achieve operational efficiency goals or cost reduction initiatives; (k) our inability to develop and launch new products successfully; (l) restrictions imposed on us by instruments governing our indebtedness, and the possible inability to comply with requirements of those instruments; (m) possible weaknesses in internal controls; and (n) our ability to successfully complete the implementation of a new enterprise resource planning computer system. We assume no duty to update our forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

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SPARTECH CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited and dollars in thousands, except per share data)
                                 
    Three Months Ended     Six Months Ended  
    May 5,     April 29,     May 5,     April 29,  
    2007     2006     2007     2006  
 
                               
Net sales
  $ 377,368     $ 389,278     $ 724,622     $ 732,869  
 
                               
Cost and expenses
                               
Cost of sales
    326,832       341,623       635,160       651,442  
Selling, general and administrative
    19,849       18,403       40,209       36,134  
Amortization of intangibles
    1,134       1,205       2,272       2,375  
 
                       
 
    347,815       361,231       677,641       689,951  
 
                       
 
                               
Operating earnings
    29,553       28,047       46,981       42,918  
 
                               
Interest (net of interest income of $109, $214, $229 and $281, respectively)
    4,291       5,591       9,054       11,343  
 
                       
 
                               
Earnings before income taxes
    25,262       22,456       37,927       31,575  
 
                               
Income taxes
    9,552       8,547       14,152       12,010  
 
                       
 
                               
Net earnings
  $ 15,710     $ 13,909     $ 23,775     $ 19,565  
 
                       
 
                               
Net earnings per common share
                               
Basic
  $ .49     $ .43     $ .74     $ .61  
 
                       
Diluted
  $ .49     $ .42     $ .73     $ .61  
 
                       
 
                               
Dividends declared per common share
  $ .135     $ .125     $ .270     $ .250  
 
                       
Note: Our fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to October 31. Because of this convention, periodically our fiscal year has an additional week and 2007 will be reported as a 53-week fiscal year. Our first quarter included an additional week and the six month period ended May 5, 2007 includes 27 weeks compared to 26 weeks for the same period of the prior year.

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SPARTECH CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS

(Dollars in thousands)
                 
    May 5, 2007     October 28,  
    (Unaudited)     2006  
 
               
Assets
               
Current assets
               
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 8,251     $ 5,372  
Receivables, net
    205,358       200,728  
Inventories
    120,927       122,329  
Prepaids and other
    13,653       14,193  
 
           
Total current assets
    348,189       342,622  
 
               
Property, plant and equipment, net
    305,308       304,779  
Goodwill
    350,399       350,399  
Other intangible assets, net
    34,529       36,582  
Other assets
    8,035       7,412  
 
           
Total assets
  $ 1,046,460     $ 1,041,794  
 
           
 
               
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity
               
Current liabilities
               
Current maturities of long-term debt
  $ 6,875     $ 6,898  
Accounts payable
    155,126       149,520  
Accrued liabilities
    42,887       51,186  
 
           
Total current liabilities
    204,888       207,604  
 
               
Long-term debt, less current maturities
    278,378       282,325  
Deferred taxes
    99,241       97,681  
Other long-term liabilities
    6,988       11,491  
 
           
Total long-term liabilities
    384,607       391,497  
 
               
Shareholders’ equity
               
Common stock, 33,131,846 shares issued in 2007 and 2006
    24,849       24,849  
Contributed capital
    200,480       198,661  
Retained earnings
    255,513       240,398  
Treasury stock, at cost, 1,001,589 shares in 2007; 1,007,766 shares in 2006
    (25,625 )     (22,845 )
Accumulated other comprehensive income
    1,748       1,630  
 
           
Total shareholders’ equity
    456,965       442,693  
 
           
 
               
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity
  $ 1,046,460     $ 1,041,794  
 
           

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SPARTECH CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited and dollars in thousands)
                 
    Six Months Ended  
    May 5,     April 29,  
    2007     2006  
Cash flows from operating activities
               
Net earnings
  $ 23,775     $ 19,565  
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by (used for) operating activities:
               
Restructuring and exit costs
    327       236  
Depreciation and amortization
    20,943       20,168  
Stock compensation expense
    1,956       1,555  
Other, net
    2,568       3,414  
Change in current assets and liabilities
    (6,336 )     (4,012 )
 
           
Net cash provided by operating activities
    43,233       40,926  
 
           
 
               
Cash flows from investing activities
               
Capital expenditures
    (18,454 )     (9,388 )
Sale of assets
    77       2,371  
 
           
Net cash used for investing activities
    (18,377 )     (7,017 )
 
           
 
               
Cash flows from financing activities
               
Net payments on notes and revolving credit facilities.
    (10,373 )     (28,480 )
Payments on bonds and leases
    (430 )     (373 )
Cash dividends on common stock
    (8,331 )     (7,863 )
Stock options exercised
    6,692       2,134  
Treasury stock acquired
    (10,413 )     (1,541 )
Excess tax benefits from stock based compensation
    752       224  
 
           
Net cash used for financing activities
    (22,103 )     (35,899 )
 
           
 
               
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
    126       2  
 
               
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
    2,879       (1,988 )
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year
    5,372       4,601  
 
               
 
           
Cash and cash equivalents at end of quarter
  $ 8,251     $ 2,613  
 
           

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SPARTECH CORPORATION
     Within this press release we have included operating earnings, net earnings, and earnings per share excluding special items, which are non-GAAP measurements and believe they are meaningful to investors because they provide a view of the Company’s comparable operating results. We have also included EBITDA which we believe is a useful tool for investors to assess the operating performance of the business without the effect of non-cash depreciation and amortization expenses, and to assess our ability to service or incur debt. EBITDA is defined as operating earnings excluding depreciation and amortization.
     EBITDA and special items (restructuring and exit costs) represent items that we believe are important to an understanding of the Company’s overall operating results in the periods presented. Such non-GAAP measurements are not recognized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and should not be viewed as an alternative to GAAP measures of performance. The following reconciles GAAP to non-GAAP measures; amounts are unaudited and in thousands, except per share data.
                                 
    Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
    May 5,   April 29,   May 5,   April 29,
    2007   2006   2007   2006
 
                               
Operating Earnings (GAAP)
  $ 29,553     $ 28,047     $ 46,981     $ 42,918  
 
                               
Special Items — Restructuring and Exit Costs
    152       496       390       962  
 
                               
 
                               
Operating Earnings Excluding Special Items (Non-GAAP)
  $ 29,705     $ 28,543     $ 47,371     $ 43,880  
 
                               
 
                               
 
 
                               
Operating Earnings (GAAP)
  $ 29,553     $ 28,047     $ 46,981     $ 42,918  
 
                               
Depreciation and Amortization
    10,556       10,119       20,943       20,168  
 
                               
 
                               
EBITDA (Non-GAAP)
  $ 40,109     $ 38,166     $ 67,924     $ 63,086  
 
                               
 
                               
 
 
                               
Net Earnings (GAAP)
  $ 15,710     $ 13,909     $ 23,775     $ 19,565  
 
                               
Special Items — Restructuring and Exit Costs, net of tax
    95       307       243       596  
 
                               
 
                               
Net Earnings Excluding Special Items (Non-GAAP)
  $ 15,805     $ 14,216     $ 24,018     $ 20,161  
 
                               
 
                               
 
 
                               
Net Earnings per Diluted Share (GAAP)
  $ .49     $ .42     $ .73     $ .61  
 
                               
Special Items — Restructuring and Exit Costs
          .01     $ .01     $ .02  
 
                               
 
                               
Net Earnings per Diluted Share excluding Special Items (Non-GAAP)
  $ .49     $ .43     $ .74     $ .63  
 
                               

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