Insteel Industries Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results

MOUNT AIRY, N.C., July 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Insteel Industries, Inc. (NasdaqGS: IIIN) today announced financial results for its third quarter ended June 29, 2019.

Third Quarter 2019 Results

Insteel's results for the third quarter of fiscal 2019 were unfavorably impacted by increasing low-priced import competition resulting from the Section 232 tariff on imported steel together with adverse weather conditions. Net earnings decreased to $2.2 million, or $0.11 per share, from $12.9 million, or $0.67 per share, in the same period a year ago.

Net sales were essentially unchanged at $126.3 million compared to $126.7 million in the prior year quarter as a 3.7% increase in average selling prices was offset by a 3.9% decrease in shipments. Shipments for the current year quarter were adversely impacted by increasing low-priced import competition spurred by the lower raw material costs available to offshore competitors following the March 2018 implementation of the Section 232 steel tariff together with unusually wet weather across many of Insteel's markets, which slowed the usual start of the construction season. On a sequential basis, shipments increased 17.5% from the second quarter of fiscal 2019 while average selling prices decreased 4.0%. Gross margin narrowed to 6.5% from 19.1% in the prior year quarter due to narrower spreads between selling prices and raw material costs, higher manufacturing costs and the reduction in shipments.

Operating activities provided $14.3 million of cash compared with $25.3 million in the prior year quarter primarily due to the decrease in earnings and the relative changes in net working capital. Net working capital provided $9.2 million of cash in the current year quarter due to a reduction in inventories compared to $10.3 million in the prior year quarter.

Nine Month 2019 Results

Net earnings for the first nine months of fiscal 2019 decreased to $7.4 million, or $0.38 per share, from $26.9 million, or $1.40 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago. Net sales increased 3.2% to $342.3 million from $331.8 million in the prior year period driven by a 16.4% increase in average selling prices that offset an 11.4% decrease in shipments. Gross margin narrowed to 7.7% from 15.4% due to the lower spreads, higher manufacturing costs and the reduction in shipments.

Other income for the current year period includes a $1.2 million gain from insurance proceeds and a $0.6 million gain on the disposition of property, plant and equipment, which, in the aggregate, increased net earnings per share by $0.07. The income tax provision for the prior year period benefited from a $3.7 million, or $0.19 per share, gain on the remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities related to the lower corporate tax rate enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Excluding the deferred tax gain in the prior year period, Insteel's effective tax rate decreased to 22.4% from 24.0% a year ago.

Operating activities used $25.9 million of cash while providing $49.8 million in the prior year period primarily due to the relative changes in net working capital and the decrease in earnings. Net working capital used $43.4 million of cash in the current year period to fund a reduction in accounts payable and accrued expenses and an increase in inventories while providing $14.6 million in the prior year period.

Capital Allocation and Liquidity

Capital expenditures for the first nine months of fiscal 2019 decreased to $9.4 million from $12.5 million in the prior year period. Capital outlays for fiscal 2019 are expected to total up to $15.0 million primarily related to cost and productivity improvement initiatives in addition to recurring maintenance requirements. The reduction in forecasted outlays from the previous estimate of up to $22.0 million is related to the deferral of certain projects into fiscal 2020.

Insteel ended the quarter with $7.4 million of cash and no borrowings outstanding on its $100.0 million revolving credit facility.

Outlook

"Looking ahead to the remainder of 2019, the infrastructure-related portion of our business should benefit from the recent acceleration in state and local spending supported by various funding initiatives and the federal funding provided for under the FAST Act and supplemental measures," commented H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's president and CEO. "The most recent industry forecasts for nonresidential construction, our other primary demand driver, indicate that growth rates are likely to moderate, but remain positive.

"We expect continued pricing pressure, however, in our PC strand and standard welded wire reinforcement markets driven by the surge in imports resulting from the Section 232 tariff program. The tariffs have enabled offshore competitors to further their penetration of the U.S. market by leveraging their access to lower cost raw materials and significantly underpricing domestic producers. We continue to have dialogue with the Administration regarding the detrimental impact of the tariffs and are hopeful a solution will be reached that addresses the deterioration in the competitive position of downstream producers of steel products."

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 engineered structural mesh ("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 29, 2018.

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 29, 2018 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 29,                      
            
              June 30,       
     
     June 29,     
     
     June 30,


                                                    2019                                               2018              2019              2018






     Net sales                                 $126,252                                           $126,688          $342,310          $331,846



     Cost of sales                              118,016                                            102,502           316,077           280,583




         Gross profit                             8,236                                             24,186            26,233            51,263


      Selling, general and
       administrative expense                      5,516                                              7,541            18,606            20,779


      Other expense (income), net                   (23)                                              (32)          (1,823)              153



     Interest expense                                62                                                 23               137                74



     Interest income                                (9)                                             (150)            (176)            (279)



          Earnings before income
           taxes                                   2,690                                             16,804             9,489            30,536



     Income taxes                                   500                                              3,936             2,124             3,678




         Net earnings                            $2,190                                            $12,868            $7,365           $26,858







      Net earnings per share:



         Basic                                    $0.11                                              $0.67             $0.38             $1.41



         Diluted                                   0.11                                               0.67              0.38              1.40




      Weighted average shares
       outstanding:



         Basic                                   19,252                                             19,070            19,239            19,054



         Diluted                                 19,334                                             19,274            19,336            19,252




      Cash dividends declared per
       share                                       $0.03                                              $0.03             $0.09             $1.09

                                                      
              
         INSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES


                                                             
         
              CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS


                                                                     
            (In thousands)








                                                     (Unaudited)                                                   
       
       (Unaudited)



                                                 
     
       June 29,          
              
                March 30,       
       
       September 29,    
     
     June 30,


                                                             2019                                        2019                        2018              2018




     
                Assets



     Current assets:


          Cash and cash equivalents                        $7,449                                        $490                     $43,941           $45,232


          Accounts receivable, net                         50,743                                      50,574                      51,484            55,832



         Inventories                                     104,624                                     117,227                      94,157            54,751


          Other current assets                              6,911                                       6,265                       5,895             5,075



              Total current assets                        169,727                                     174,556                     195,477           160,890


      Property, plant and equipment,
       net                                                107,331                                     109,377                     106,148           102,789



     Intangibles, net                                      8,884                                       9,157                       9,703             9,976



     Goodwill                                              8,293                                       8,293                       8,293             8,293



     Other assets                                         10,560                                      10,188                       9,913             9,778



              Total assets                               $304,795                                    $311,571                    $329,534          $291,726





                   Liabilities and shareholders'
                    equity


      Current liabilities:


          Accounts payable                                $31,311                                     $35,124                     $60,059           $34,420


          Accrued expenses                                  6,396                                       5,991                      11,929            10,017



              Total current liabilities                    37,707                                      41,115                      71,988            44,437



     Long-term debt                                                                                   5,365



     Other liabilities                                    18,764                                      18,561                      15,881            16,602


      Shareholders' equity:



         Common stock                                     19,252                                      19,252                      19,223            19,085


          Additional paid-in capital                       73,849                                      73,667                      72,852            70,982


          Retained earnings                               156,717                                     155,105                     151,084           141,953


          Accumulated other
           comprehensive loss                             (1,494)                                    (1,494)                    (1,494)          (1,333)



              Total shareholders' equity                  248,324                                     246,530                     241,665           230,687



              Total liabilities and
               shareholders' equity                      $304,795                                    $311,571                    $329,534          $291,726




                                                     
              
            INSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES


                                                       
              
            CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS


                                                                      
             (In thousands)


                                                                       
             (Unaudited)




                                                   Three Months Ended                                 Nine Months Ended



                                               
     
          June 29,                   
              
                June 30,      
     
     June 29,   
       
       June 30,


                                                                 2019                                               2018           2019                2018



                   Cash Flows From Operating
                    Activities:



       Net earnings                                           $2,190                                            $12,868         $7,365             $26,858


        Adjustments to reconcile net
         earnings to net cash provided
         by (used for)


          operating activities:


            Depreciation and amortization                       3,462                                              3,169         10,084               9,578


            Amortization of capitalized
             financing costs                                       16                                                 16             48                  48


            Stock-based compensation
             expense                                              182                                                168          1,201               1,241


            Deferred income taxes                                  57                                               (51)         2,193             (2,321)


            Loss (gain) on sale and
             disposition of property,
             plant and equipment                                  (2)                                                49        (1,760)                270


            Increase in cash surrender
             value of life insurance
             policies over premiums paid                        (142)                                             (153)         (204)              (428)


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


              Accounts receivable, net                          (169)                                           (5,377)           741            (15,548)



             Inventories                                      12,603                                              8,405       (10,467)             27,102


              Accounts payable and accrued
               expenses                                       (3,283)                                             7,229       (33,640)              3,011


              Other changes                                     (662)                                             (981)       (1,500)                 24



                Total adjustments                              12,062                                             12,474       (33,304)             22,977



                  Net cash provided by (used
                   for) operating activities                   14,252                                             25,342       (25,939)             49,835





                   Cash Flows From Investing
                    Activities:


        Capital expenditures                                  (1,273)                                           (3,165)       (9,380)           (12,481)


        Increase in cash surrender
         value of life insurance
         policies                                                (42)                                              (46)         (305)              (291)


        Proceeds from property
         insurance                                                144                                                            1,192


        Proceeds from surrender of
         life insurance policies                                   49                                                 31             67                 152


        Proceeds from sale of
         property, plant and equipment                              9                                                               17


        Acquisition of business                                                                                                                  (3,300)



                  Net cash used for investing
                   activities                                 (1,113)                                           (3,180)       (8,409)           (15,920)





                   Cash Flows From Financing
                    Activities:


        Proceeds from long-term debt                           26,613                                                121         44,239                 290


        Principal payments on long-
         term debt                                           (31,978)                                             (121)      (44,239)              (290)


        Cash dividends paid                                     (578)                                             (572)       (1,732)           (20,756)


        Cash received from exercise of
         stock options                                                                                              242                               242



       Financing costs                                         (237)                                                           (237)


        Payment of employee tax
         withholdings related to net
         share transactions                                                                                        (64)         (175)              (274)



                  Net cash used for financing
                   activities                                 (6,180)                                             (394)       (2,144)           (20,788)





      Net increase (decrease) in
       cash and cash equivalents                                6,959                                             21,768       (36,492)             13,127


      Cash and cash equivalents at
       beginning of period                                        490                                             23,464         43,941              32,105



      Cash and cash equivalents at
       end of period                                           $7,449                                            $45,232         $7,449             $45,232





                   Supplemental Disclosures of
                    Cash Flow Information:


        Cash paid during the period
         for:



         Interest                                                $49                         
              $             -           $49    
       $          -


          Income taxes, net                                       372                                              2,493          1,759               3,553


        Non-cash investing and
         financing activities:


          Purchases of property, plant
           and equipment in accounts
           payable                                                518                                                499            518                 499


          Restricted stock units and
           stock options surrendered for
           withholding taxes payable                                -                                                64            175                 274

IIIN - E

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/insteel-industries-reports-third-quarter-2019-results-300884760.html

SOURCE Insteel Industries, Inc.