Insteel Industries Reports Fourth Quarter And Fiscal 2020 Results

MOUNT AIRY, N.C., Oct. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Insteel Industries, Inc. (NasdaqGS: IIIN) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended October 3, 2020.

Fourth Quarter 2020 Results

Insteel's results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 benefitted from robust demand in the Company's construction markets and a rebound in spreads between selling prices and raw material costs from depressed levels of a year ago. Shipments in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 were at the highest quarterly level on record for the Company. Net earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 were $7.4 million, or $0.38 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.09 per share, in the same period a year ago.

Net sales increased 21.9% to $138.2 million from $113.4 million in the prior year quarter driven by a 27.7% increase in shipments that offset a 4.6% decrease in average selling prices. On a sequential basis, shipments increased 12.0% from the third quarter of fiscal 2020 and average selling prices increased 1.1%. The Company benefitted from an extra week in the current year and quarter based on its fiscal calendar.

Gross margin widened 1,070 basis points to 14.1% from 3.4% in the prior year quarter primarily due to wider spreads between selling prices and raw material costs and leverage from higher shipment levels. Earnings for the current year quarter reflect a $0.4 million gain in cash surrender value of life insurance policies in selling, general and administrative expense and $0.7 million of restructuring charges related to the Company's March 16, 2020 acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Strand-Tech Manufacturing, Inc. ("STM"), which in the aggregate decreased net earnings per share by $0.01.

Operating activities provided $11.4 million of cash during the fourth quarter compared to $32.5 million in the prior year quarter due largely to the relative changes in working capital. Working capital generated $0.3 million of cash in the current year compared to $31.4 million the prior year driven by reductions in inventories and receivables in the prior year quarter.

Fiscal 2020 Results

Net earnings for fiscal 2020 increased to $19.0 million, or $0.98 per diluted share, from $5.6 million, or $0.29 per share, in the prior year. Net sales increased 3.7% to $472.6 million from $455.7 million in the prior year driven by a 17.3% increase in shipments that offset an 11.5% decrease in average selling prices, as well as the extra week in the current year based on the Company's fiscal calendar. Gross margin expanded to 11.8% from 6.6% due to the wider spreads and, to a lesser extent, increased shipment volumes.

Insteel's earnings for fiscal 2020 reflect $1.9 million of restructuring charges and acquisition costs related to the STM transaction and a $1.0 million gain on the disposition of assets held for sale, which in the aggregate, decreased fiscal 2020 net earnings per diluted share by $0.04. Insteel's earnings for the prior year period reflect a $1.1 million gain from insurance and $0.5 million gain on the disposition of property, plant and equipment in other income, which increased fiscal 2019 net earnings per diluted share by $0.06.

Operating activities provided $56.2 million of cash compared to $6.6 million in the prior year due to both higher earnings and the relative changes in working capital. Working capital provided $19.4 million in the current year compared to a $12.0 million use of cash in the prior year.

Capital Allocation and Liquidity

Capital expenditures for fiscal 2020 decreased to $7.1 million from $10.5 million in the prior year and are expected to total up to $20 million in 2021 including expenditures to relocate and upgrade the STM assets, to advance the growth of our engineered structural mesh business and to support cost and productivity improvement initiatives and recurring maintenance requirements. The shortfall in 2020 investing activity relative to prior estimates is related solely to timing considerations.

Insteel ended the year debt-free with $68.7 million of cash and no borrowings outstanding on its $100.0 million revolving credit facility.

Outlook

"Looking ahead to fiscal 2021, we expect our financial results will remain vulnerable to uncertain market conditions depending on the strength and direction of the U.S. economic recovery," commented H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's president and CEO. "The latest forecasts for non-residential construction indicate a bottoming or modest improvement, but the sustainability of those trends is not yet clear. Public construction has not experienced the level of weakness forecast at the onset of the pandemic, although the impact varies widely from state to state. Federal action on new transportation spending or proposed state budget relief has the potential to be a positive catalyst if implemented by the U.S. Congress."

Mr. Woltz added, "Despite the economic uncertainties, we remain optimistic about our key initiatives, which should benefit our fiscal 2021 performance. We are pleased with our performance in the engineered structural mesh market during 2020 and expect further growth in 2021. Additionally, the trade cases filed in April and June 2020 alleging illegal activity by importers in the U.S. PC strand and standard welded wire reinforcement markets have progressed favorably. The PC strand cases are now scheduled to conclude during our third fiscal quarter and the standard welded wire reinforcing case is expected to conclude during the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021. As with any litigation, we cannot predict the outcome, but we believe the facts supporting the cases are strong."

Conference Call

Insteel will hold a conference call at 10:00 a.m. ET today to discuss its fourth quarter and 2020 fiscal year end 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 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 28, 2019.

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: the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, demand for our products and our operations, including the measures taken by governmental authorities to address it, which may precipitate or exacerbate other risks and/or uncertainties; 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 business or 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 28, 2019 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 data)


                                                                            
            (Unaudited)








                                      Three Months Ended              
            
              Year Ended



                                  
     
         (Unaudited)                
            
              (Unaudited)                 
      
      (Unaudited)


                                  
     
         October 3,                
            
              September 28,                 
      
      October 3,        
     
     September 28,


                                                     2020                                             2019                               2020                    2019






     Net sales                                  $138,231                                         $113,403                           $472,618                $455,713



     Cost of sales                               118,769                                          109,575                            416,831                 425,652




         Gross profit                             19,462                                            3,828                             55,787                  30,061


      Selling, general and
       administrative expense                       9,308                                            5,898                             31,348                  24,504


      Restructuring charges                           738                                                                              1,695



     Acquisition costs                                                                                                                 195


      Other expense (income), net                      29                                               50                            (1,254)                (1,773)



     Interest expense                                 28                                               31                                106                     168



     Interest income                                (21)                                           (117)                             (473)                  (293)



          Earnings (loss) before
           income taxes                             9,380                                          (2,034)                            24,170                   7,455



     Income taxes                                  1,954                                            (267)                             5,161                   1,857



          Net earnings (loss)                      $7,426                                         $(1,767)                           $19,009                  $5,598







      Net earnings (loss) per
       share:



         Basic                                     $0.38                                          $(0.09)                             $0.99                   $0.29



         Diluted                                    0.38                                           (0.09)                              0.98                    0.29




      Weighted average shares
       outstanding:



         Basic                                    19,296                                           19,256                             19,278                  19,243



         Diluted                                  19,396                                           19,256                             19,383                  19,340




      Cash dividends declared per
       share                                        $0.03                                            $0.03                              $0.12                   $0.12

                                                   
       
           INSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES


                                                     
       
                CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS


                                                           
              (In thousands)








                                                 
       
         (Unaudited)



                                                 
       
         October 3,                     
              
       June 27,      
     
     September 28,


                                                                    2020                                          2020                 2019




     
                Assets



     Current assets:


          Cash and cash equivalents                              $68,688                                       $61,371              $38,181


          Accounts receivable, net                                53,817                                        54,901               44,182



         Inventories                                             68,963                                        74,269               70,851


          Other current assets                                     5,570                                         6,245                7,370



              Total current assets                               197,038                                       196,786              160,584


      Property, plant and equipment,
       net                                                       101,392                                       101,089              104,960



     Intangibles, net                                             8,567                                         8,810                8,610



     Goodwill                                                     9,745                                         9,745                8,293



     Other assets                                                21,160                                        20,260               10,562



              Total assets                                      $337,902                                      $336,690             $293,009





                   Liabilities and shareholders'
                    equity


      Current liabilities:


          Accounts payable                                       $38,961                                       $47,891              $21,595


          Accrued expenses                                        14,717                                        11,839                6,818



              Total current liabilities                           53,678                                        59,730               28,413



     Long-term debt



     Other liabilities                                           19,421                                        19,894               18,579


      Commitments and contingencies


      Shareholders' equity:



         Common stock                                            19,304                                        19,283               19,261


          Additional paid-in capital                              76,387                                        75,811               74,632


          Retained earnings                                      171,068                                       164,220              154,372


          Accumulated other
           comprehensive loss                                    (1,956)                                      (2,248)             (2,248)



              Total shareholders' equity                         264,803                                       257,066              246,017



              Total liabilities and
               shareholders' equity                             $337,902                                      $336,690             $293,009


                                                          
              
          INSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES


                                                            
              
          CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS


                                                                         
             (In thousands)


                                                                          
             (Unaudited)




                                                     Three Months Ended                                 Year Ended



                                                         (Unaudited)            
              
                (Unaudited)           (Unaudited)


                                               
       
         October 3,           
              
                September 28,   
       
       October 3,    
     
     September 28,


                                                                   2020                                          2019                  2020                 2019



                   Cash Flows From Operating
                    Activities:



       Net earnings                                             $7,426                                      $(1,767)              $19,009               $5,598


        Adjustments to reconcile net
         earnings to net cash
         provided by


          operating activities:


            Depreciation and amortization                         3,629                                         3,469                14,255               13,553


            Amortization of capitalized
             financing costs                                         17                                            17                    66                   65


            Stock-based compensation
             expense                                                751                                           856                 2,028                2,057


            Deferred income taxes                                 (816)                                        (395)                (424)               1,798


            Asset impairment charges                                                                                                  343


            Loss (gain) on sale and
             disposition of property,
             plant and equipment                                   (83)                                           72               (1,114)             (1,688)


            Increase in cash surrender
             value of life insurance
             policies over premiums paid                          (419)                                                             (243)               (187)


            Gain from life insurance
             claims                                                                                                                 (200)


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


              Accounts receivable, net                            1,084                                         6,561               (5,806)               7,302


              Inventories                                         5,306                                        33,773                 5,060               23,306


              Accounts payable and accrued
               expenses                                         (6,122)                                      (8,952)               20,159             (42,592)


              Other changes                                         647                                       (1,104)                3,091              (2,604)



                Total adjustments                                 3,994                                        34,297                37,215                1,010



                  Net cash provided by
                   operating activities                          11,420                                        32,530                56,224                6,608





                   Cash Flows From Investing
                    Activities:


        Acquisition of business                                                                                                  (18,356)


        Capital expenditures                                    (3,666)                                      (1,132)              (7,114)            (10,512)


        Increase in cash surrender
         value of life insurance
         policies                                                  (81)                                                             (390)               (322)


        Proceeds from sale of assets
         held for sale                                              311                                                              2,186


        Proceeds from property
         insurance                                                                                                                                      1,192


        Proceeds from sale of
         property, plant and
         equipment                                                                                                 2                    40                   19


        Proceeds from surrender of
         life insurance policies                                     65                                                                260                   67


        Proceeds from life insurance
         claims                                                                                                                       200



                  Net cash used for investing
                   activities                                   (3,371)                                      (1,130)             (23,174)             (9,556)





                   Cash Flows From Financing
                    Activities:


        Proceeds from long-term debt                                 99                                            94                   322               44,333


        Principal payments on long-
         term debt                                                 (99)                                         (94)                (322)            (44,333)


        Cash dividends paid                                       (578)                                        (578)              (2,313)             (2,310)



       Financing costs                                                                                         (26)                                    (263)


        Payment of employee tax
         withholdings related to net
         share transactions                                       (154)                                         (64)                (230)               (239)



                  Net cash used for financing
                   activities                                     (732)                                        (668)              (2,543)             (2,812)





      Net increase (decrease) in
       cash and cash equivalents                                  7,317                                        30,732                30,507              (5,760)


      Cash and cash equivalents at
       beginning of period                                       61,371                                         7,449                38,181               43,941



      Cash and cash equivalents at
       end of period                                            $68,688                                       $38,181               $68,688              $38,181





                   Supplemental Disclosures of
                    Cash Flow Information:


        Cash paid during the period
         for:



         Interest                               
       $                -                
              $                -    
       $           -                 $49


          Income taxes, net                                       1,577                                          (16)                1,919                1,743


        Non-cash investing and
         financing activities:


          Purchases of property, plant
           and equipment in accounts
           payable                                                  769                                           377                   769                  377


          Restricted stock units and
           stock options surrendered
           for withholding taxes
           payable                                                  154                                            64                   230                  239


          Payable related to holdback
           for business acquired                                                                                                    1,000

IIIN - E

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SOURCE Insteel Industries, Inc.