Insteel Industries Reports Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results

MOUNT AIRY, N.C., July 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Insteel Industries, Inc. (NasdaqGS: IIIN) today announced financial results for its third quarter ended June 30, 2018.

Third Quarter 2018 Results

Net earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 increased to $12.9 million, or $0.67 per share, from $6.9 million, or $0.36 per share, in the same period a year ago. Insteel's third-quarter results were favorably impacted by higher shipments and spreads between selling prices and raw material costs and a lower effective tax rate relative to the prior year quarter.

Net sales increased 30.7% to $126.7 million from $96.9 million in the prior year quarter driven by a 16.5% increase in shipments and a 12.2% increase in average selling prices. On a sequential basis, shipments increased 5.3% from the second quarter of fiscal 2018 while average selling prices increased 12.0%. Gross margin increased 190 basis points to 19.1% from 17.2% in the prior year quarter due to the higher shipments and spreads together with lower unit manufacturing costs on higher production volume. Insteel's effective tax rate decreased to 23.4% from 33.9% in the prior year quarter reflecting the reduction in the corporate tax rate under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Cash flow from operations increased to $25.3 million from $4.5 million in the prior year quarter primarily due to the relative changes in net working capital and the increase in earnings. Net working capital provided $10.3 million of cash while using $5.8 million in the prior year quarter.

Nine Month 2018 Results

Net earnings for the first nine months of fiscal 2018 increased to $26.9 million, or $1.40 per diluted share, from $18.7 million, or $0.98 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago. Insteel's earnings for the current year period benefited from a $3.7 million, or $0.19 per share gain on the remeasurement of deferred tax liabilities related to the impact of the new tax law.

Net sales increased 13.7% to $331.8 million from $292.0 million in the prior year period driven by a 6.6% increase in shipments and a 6.7% increase in average selling prices. Gross margin narrowed 100 basis points to 15.4% from 16.4% due to lower spreads. Excluding the deferred tax gain, Insteel's effective tax rate decreased to 24.0% from 33.8% in the prior year period.

Cash flow from operations increased to $49.8 million from $22.0 million in the prior year period primarily due to the relative changes in net working capital and the increase in earnings. Net working capital provided $14.6 million of cash while using $7.1 million in the prior year period.

Capital Allocation and Liquidity

Capital expenditures for the first nine months of fiscal 2018 decreased to $12.5 million from $16.9 million in the prior year period. Capital outlays for fiscal 2018 are expected to total up to $21.0 million largely related to additional investments in engineered structural mesh ("ESM") manufacturing capabilities, the purchase of the leased Houston facility and further upgrades of production technology and information systems.

During the first nine months of fiscal 2018, Insteel returned $20.8 million of capital to shareholders through the payment of a special cash dividend of $1.00 per share and three regular quarterly cash dividends of $0.03 per share, marking the third consecutive year in which a special dividend of at least $1.00 per share has been paid. Insteel ended the quarter debt-free with $45.2 million of cash and cash equivalents, and no borrowings outstanding on its $100.0 million revolving credit facility.

Outlook

"Looking ahead, we are encouraged by the recent favorable demand trends in our markets and strengthening in construction activity, which is expected to continue," commented H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's president and CEO. "Business conditions will remain challenging, however, as we contend with rising cost pressures and supply constraints resulting from the imposition of the Section 232 tariffs on imported steel and the impact of recent trade cases initiated by domestic wire rod producers. We will continue to maintain commercial discipline in recovering these additional costs in our markets and intensify our ongoing process improvement initiatives across our operations."

Conference Call

Insteel will hold a conference call at 10:00 a.m. ET today to discuss its third quarter 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 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 30, 2017.

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: 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 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 30, 2017 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 amounts)

                                                                 (Unaudited)




                                                 Three Months Ended                          Nine Months Ended
                                                 ------------------                          -----------------

                                                      June 30,                                    July 1,              June 30,          July 1,

                                                                      2018                                        2017              2018             2017
                                                                      ----                                        ----              ----             ----


    Net sales                                                     $126,688                                     $96,938          $331,846         $291,985

    Cost of sales                                                  102,502                                      80,262           280,583          244,005
                                                                   -------                                      ------           -------          -------

        Gross profit                                                24,186                                      16,676            51,263           47,980

    Selling, general and administrative expense                      7,541                                       6,216            20,779           19,535

    Restructuring charges, net                                           -                                         60                 -             133

    Other expense (income), net                                       (32)                                         50               153               50

    Interest expense                                                    23                                          34                74              103

    Interest income                                                  (150)                                       (75)            (279)           (175)
                                                                      ----                                         ---              ----             ----

        Earnings before income taxes                                16,804                                      10,391            30,536           28,334

    Income taxes                                                     3,936                                       3,522             3,678            9,585
                                                                     -----                                       -----             -----            -----

        Net earnings                                               $12,868                                      $6,869           $26,858          $18,749
                                                                   =======                                      ======           =======          =======



    Net earnings per share:

        Basic                                                        $0.67                                       $0.36             $1.41            $0.99

        Diluted                                                       0.67                                        0.36              1.40             0.98


    Weighted average shares outstanding:

        Basic                                                       19,070                                      19,025            19,054           19,003

        Diluted                                                     19,274                                      19,225            19,252           19,219


    Cash dividends declared per share                                $0.03                                       $0.03             $1.09            $1.34

                                                          INSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

                                                                 CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

                                                                        (In thousands)




                                                       (Unaudited)                                                      (Unaudited)
                                                        ----------

                                                         June 30,                                   March 31,          September 30,           July 1,

                                                                           2018                                   2018                    2017               2017
                                                                           ----                                   ----                    ----               ----

    Assets

    Current assets:

        Cash and cash equivalents                                       $45,232                                $23,464                 $32,105            $37,848

        Accounts receivable, net                                         55,832                                 50,455                  40,284             42,307

        Inventories                                                      54,751                                 63,156                  81,853             83,682

        Other current assets                                              5,075                                  4,071                   5,949              5,182
                                                                          -----                                  -----                   -----              -----

            Total current assets                                        160,890                                141,146                 160,191            169,019

    Property, plant and equipment, net                                  102,789                                103,277                  98,670             99,383

    Intangibles, net                                                      9,976                                 10,275                   7,913              8,195

    Goodwill                                                              8,293                                  8,293                   6,965              6,965

    Other assets                                                          9,778                                  9,649                   9,334              8,934
                                                                          -----                                  -----                   -----              -----

            Total assets                                               $291,726                               $272,640                $283,073           $292,496
                                                                       ========                               ========                ========           ========


    Liabilities and shareholders' equity

    Current liabilities:

        Accounts payable                                                $34,420                                $32,561                 $33,651            $48,079

        Accrued expenses                                                 10,017                                  5,497                   8,667              7,606
                                                                         ------                                  -----                   -----              -----

            Total current liabilities                                    44,437                                 38,058                  42,318             55,685

    Other liabilities                                                    16,602                                 16,537                  17,379             17,644

    Shareholders' equity:

        Common stock                                                     19,085                                 19,063                  19,041             19,025

        Additional paid-in capital                                       70,982                                 70,658                  69,817             69,060

        Retained earnings                                               141,953                                129,657                 135,851            132,623

        Accumulated other comprehensive loss                            (1,333)                               (1,333)                (1,333)           (1,541)
                                                                         ------                                 ------                  ------             ------

            Total shareholders' equity                                  230,687                                218,045                 223,376            219,167
                                                                        -------                                -------                 -------            -------

            Total liabilities and shareholders' equity                 $291,726                               $272,640                $283,073           $292,496
                                                                       ========                               ========                ========           ========

                                                                                           INSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

                                                                                             CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

                                                                                                         (In thousands)

                                                                                                          (Unaudited)


                                                                                                                                  Three Months Ended        Nine Months Ended
                                                                                                                                  ------------------        -----------------

                                                                                                                                       June 30,                  July 1,              June 30,            July 1,

                                                                                                                                                       2018                      2017                2018                2017
                                                                                                                                                       ----                      ----                ----                ----

    Cash Flows From Operating Activities:

      Net earnings                                                                                                                                  $12,868                    $6,869             $26,858             $18,749

      Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operating activities:

          Depreciation and amortization                                                                                                               3,169                     2,847               9,578               8,576

          Amortization of capitalized financing costs                                                                                                    16                        16                  48                  48

          Stock-based compensation expense                                                                                                              168                       210               1,241               1,343

          Deferred income taxes                                                                                                                        (51)                    1,795             (2,321)              2,705

          Loss on sale and disposition of property, plant and equipment                                                                                  49                         3                 270                  49

          Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies over premiums paid                                                              (153)                    (208)              (428)              (568)

          Net changes in assets and liabilities (net of assets and liabilities acquired):

            Accounts receivable, net                                                                                                                (5,377)                    7,270            (15,548)              5,082

            Inventories                                                                                                                               8,405                  (24,452)             27,102            (12,496)

            Accounts payable and accrued expenses                                                                                                     7,229                    11,422               3,011                 290

            Other changes                                                                                                                             (981)                  (1,309)                 24             (1,739)
                                                                                                                                                       ----                    ------                 ---              ------

              Total adjustments                                                                                                                      12,474                   (2,406)             22,977               3,290
                                                                                                                                                     ------                    ------              ------               -----

                Net cash provided by operating activities                                                                                            25,342                     4,463              49,835              22,039
                                                                                                                                                     ------                     -----              ------              ------


    Cash Flows From Investing Activities:

      Capital expenditures                                                                                                                          (3,165)                  (6,199)           (12,481)           (16,855)

      Acquisition of business                                                                                                                             -                        -            (3,300)                  -

      Proceeds from surrender of life insurance policies                                                                                                 31                        23                 152                 100

      Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies                                                                                      (46)                     (53)              (291)              (330)
                                                                                                                                                        ---                       ---                ----                ----

                Net cash used for investing activities                                                                                              (3,180)                  (6,229)           (15,920)           (17,085)
                                                                                                                                                     ------                    ------             -------             -------


    Cash Flows From Financing Activities:

      Proceeds from long-term debt                                                                                                                      121                       146                 290                 322

      Principal payments on long-term debt                                                                                                            (121)                    (146)              (290)              (322)

      Cash dividends paid                                                                                                                             (572)                    (571)           (20,756)           (25,440)

      Cash received from exercise of stock options                                                                                                      242                         -                242                 107

      Payment of employee tax withholdings related to net share transactions                                                                           (64)                        -              (274)              (646)
                                                                                                                                                        ---                       ---               ----                ----

                Net cash used for financing activities                                                                                                (394)                    (571)           (20,788)           (25,979)
                                                                                                                                                       ----                      ----             -------             -------


    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents                                                                                             21,768                   (2,337)             13,127            (21,025)

    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period                                                                                                 23,464                    40,185              32,105              58,873
                                                                                                                                                     ------                    ------              ------              ------

    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period                                                                                                      $45,232                   $37,848             $45,232             $37,848
                                                                                                                                                    =======                   =======             =======             =======


    Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information:

      Cash paid during the period for:

        Income taxes, net                                                                                                                            $2,493                    $2,636              $3,553              $6,796

      Non-cash investing and financing activities:

        Purchases of property, plant and equipment in accounts payable                                                                                  499                     2,092                 499               2,092

        Restricted stock units and stock options surrendered for withholding taxes payable                                                               64                         -                274                 646

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SOURCE Insteel Industries, Inc.