8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

______________________________________________________________

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): May 5, 2015

KADANT INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware	1-11406	52-1762325
(State or Other Jurisdiction	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer
of Incorporation)		Identification No.)

One Technology Park Drive
Westford, Massachusetts	01886
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)	(Zip Code)

(978) 776-2000

Registrant's telephone number, including area code

Not Applicable

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

KADANT INC.

Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.

On May 5, 2015, Kadant Inc. (the “Company”) will hold a webcast and conference call to discuss its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended April 4, 2015. A copy of the slides that will be presented on the webcast and discussed in the conference call is being furnished as Exhibit 99 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

The information in this Form 8-K (including Exhibit 99) shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibit
The following exhibit relating to Item 7.01 shall be deemed to be furnished and not filed.
Exhibit     No.	Description of Exhibit
99	Slides to be presented by the Company on May 5, 2015.

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KADANT INC.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

		KADANT INC.
Date: May 5, 2015	By	/s/ Thomas M. O’Brien
		Thomas M. O’Brien Executive Vice President and    Chief Financial Officer

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EX-99

First Quarter 2015 Business Review Jonathan W. Painter, President & CEO Thomas M. O’Brien, Executive Vice President & CFO

2 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Forward-Looking Statements The following constitutes a “Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This presentation contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including forward-looking statements about our expected future financial and operating performance, demand for our products, and economic and industry outlook. Our actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in Kadant’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 3, 2015. These include risks and uncertainties relating to adverse changes in global and local economic conditions; the variability and difficulty in accurately predicting revenues from large capital equipment and systems projects; the variability and uncertainties in sales of capital equipment in China; currency fluctuations; our customers’ ability to obtain financing for capital equipment projects; changes in government regulations and policies; oriented strand board market and levels of residential construction activity; development and use of digital media; price increases or shortages of raw materials; dependence on certain suppliers; international sales and operations; disruption in production; our acquisition strategy; our internal growth strategy; competition; soundness of suppliers and customers; our effective tax rate; future restructurings; soundness of financial institutions; our debt obligations; restrictions in our credit agreement; loss of key personnel; reliance on third-party research; protection of patents and proprietary rights; failure of our information systems or breaches of data security; fluctuations in our share price; and anti-takeover provisions. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

3 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures In addition to the financial measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, including increases or decreases in revenues excluding the effect of acquisitions and foreign currency translation, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted EPS, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. A reconciliation of those numbers to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures is shown in our 2015 first quarter earnings press release issued May 4, 2015, which is available in the Investors section of our website at www.kadant.com under the heading Recent News.

4 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. BUSINESS REVIEW Jonathan W. Painter President & CEO

5 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Q1 2015 Financial Highlights ($ Millions, except per share amounts) Q1 2015 Q1 2014 % CHANGE EXCL. FX Revenue $92.3 $93.4 -1.2% 7.0% Gross Margin 48.1% 45.2% n.m. n.m. Net Income1 $6.8 $5.1 35.1% 44.5% Adjusted EBITDA1, 2 $13.4 $12.7 5.7% 8.6% Diluted EPS1 $0.62 $0.45 37.8% 46.7% Adjusted Diluted EPS1, 2 $0.63 $0.60 5.0% 11.7% Bookings $108.0 $114.7 -5.8% 1.7% Backlog $136.4 $118.8 14.8% 22.4% 1 Net income, diluted EPS, adjusted diluted EPS, and adjusted EBITDA are from continuing operations. 2 Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted diluted EPS are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude certain items as detailed in our Q1 2015 earnings release dated May 4, 2015. Percent change calculated using actual numbers reported in our Q1 2015 earnings release dated May 4, 2015.

6 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. FX Translation and Acquisition Impact Q1 2015, $ in millions except EPS Revenue Adjusted EPS4 Bookings Parts & Consumables Revenue Parts & Consumables Bookings As Reported $92.3 $0.63 $108.0 $65.5 $67.9 Growth1 (1.2)% 5.0% (5.8)% 8.0% 3.6% Growth excluding FX Translation2 7.0% 11.7% 1.7% 17.2% 13.0% Growth excluding FX Translation and Acquisitions3 5.1% 8.3% (0.2)% 14.3% 9.8% 1 Growth is the year-over-year percent change between the current period and the comparable prior period. 2 Represents the year-over-year percent change excluding the impact of current period versus prior period exchange rates. 3 Represents the year-over-year percent change excluding the impact of acquisitions and current period versus prior period exchange rates. Acquired businesses are classified above as Acquisitions for the first four quarters after acquisition. 4 Adjusted diluted EPS is a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes certain items as detailed in our Q1 2015 earnings press release issued May 4, 2015.

7 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 Bookings Revenues

8 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Parts and Consumables Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) $35 $40 $45 $50 $55 $60 $65 $70 Bookings Revenues

9 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. REGIONAL PERFORMANCE

10 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. North America Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 $70 Bookings Revenues

11 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Europe Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 Bookings Revenues

12 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Asia Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 $35 Bookings Revenues

13 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Rest-of-World Bookings and Revenues US$ (millions) $0 $2 $4 $6 $8 $10 $12 $14 $16 $18 Bookings Revenues

14 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Guidance for Continuing Operations • Q2 2015 GAAP diluted EPS of $0.69 to $0.71 • Q2 2015 revenues of $95 to $97 million • FY 2015 GAAP diluted EPS of $3.05 to $3.15 • FY 2015 revenues of $403 to $410 million

15 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. FINANCIAL REVIEW Thomas M. O’Brien Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

16 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Quarterly Gross Margins 47.6% 45.7% 42.7% 38.6% 45.6% 43.7% 43.4% 43.0% 47.3% 48.6% 43.9% 43.9% 45.2% 43.0% 44.7% 44.7% 48.1% 36% 38% 40% 42% 44% 46% 48% 50%

17 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Quarterly SG&A 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 SG&A SG&A as a % of Revenues

18 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. 1Q14 to 1Q15 Diluted EPS from Continuing Operations $0.45 $0.19 $0.06 $0.01 $0.01 ($0.08) ($0.02) $0.62 $0.00 $0.25 $0.50 $0.75 $1.00

19 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Cash Flow ($ Millions) 1Q15 1Q14 Income from Continuing Operations $6.9 $5.2 Depreciation and Amortization 2.9 3.0 Stock-Based Compensation 1.6 1.4 Other Items (1.6) (0.5) Change in Current Assets & Liabilities (excl. acquisitions) (14.3) (2.9) Cash Provided by Continuing Operations $(4.5) $6.2

20 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Key Working Capital Metrics 1Q15 4Q14 1Q14 Days in Receivables 63 55 68 Days in Inventory 109 87 110 Days in Payables 50 42 46 68 55 63 110 87 109 46 42 50 20 40 60 80 100 120 Days in Receivables Days in Inventory Days in Payables

21 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Working Capital and Cash Conversion Days 1Q15 4Q14 1Q14 Working Capital % LTM Revenues* 15.4% 12.8% 15.4% Cash Conversion Days** 122 days 100 days 132 days *Working Capital is defined as current assets less current liabilities, excluding cash, debt, and the discontinued operation. ** Based on days in receivables plus days in inventory less days in accounts payable. 0 50 100 150 200 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% D ay s % o f R ev en u e Cash Conversion Days Working Capital % LTM Revenues *

22 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Cash and Debt ($ Millions) 1Q15 4Q14 1Q14 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash $43.2 $45.8 $57.2 Debt (30.7) (25.9) (42.9) Net Cash $12.5 $19.9 $14.3 $40.0 $28.6 $30.7 $35.4 $30.9 $30.1 $41.5 $47.7 $51.8 $48.5 $58.7 $11.6 $14.3 $9.5 $18.7 $19.9 $12.5 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 1Q11 2Q11 3Q11 4Q11 1Q12 2Q12 3Q12 4Q12 1Q13 2Q13 3Q13 4Q13 1Q14 2Q14 3Q14 4Q14 1Q15

23 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Leverage Ratio * Calculated by adding or subtracting certain items, as required by our Credit Facility, from Adjusted EBITDA. Under our new Credit Facility entered into on August 3, 2012 total debt is defined as debt less domestic cash of up to $25 million. For periods prior to 3Q12, total debt was not reduced for domestic cash. 0.43 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 Debt/EBITDA *

24 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Questions & Answers To ask a question, please call 877-703-6107 within the U.S. or +1-857-244-7306 outside the U.S. and reference 83375884. Please mute the audio on your computer.

25 KAI 1Q15 Business Review–May 5, 2015 © 2015 Kadant Inc. All rights reserved. Q1 2015 Key Take-Aways • Solid quarter with near-record gross margin • Internal revenue growth, excluding FX, was 5% • Parts and consumables revenues set a new record and represented 71% of total revenues • 2015 expected to be a solid year with improved operating margin

First Quarter 2015 Business Review Jonathan W. Painter, President & CEO Thomas M. O’Brien, Executive Vice President & CFO