CMC Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2024 Results

    --  Second quarter net earnings of $85.8 million, or $0.73 per diluted share
    --  Consolidated core EBITDA of $224.4 million; core EBITDA margin of 12.1%
    --  Downstream contract awards rebounded to the highest quarterly level in
        nearly two years, signaling strength in the pipeline ahead of the
        upcoming construction season
    --  North America and Europe Steel Groups achieved meaningful year-over-year
        improvements in controllable costs per ton of finished steel shipped,
        contributing positively to financial performance
    --  Europe Steel Group operating results (excluding energy rebates) improved
        sequentially; market supply and demand in better balance
    --  Continued progress on strategic growth initiatives; Arizona 2
        successfully produced and sold merchant bar product, marking a global
        micro mill steelmaking first

IRVING, Texas, March 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC) today announced financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended February 29, 2024. Net earnings were $85.8 million, or $0.73 per diluted share, on net sales of $1.8 billion, compared to prior year period net earnings of $179.8 million, or $1.51 per diluted share, on net sales of $2.0 billion.

During the second quarter of fiscal 2024, the Company recorded a net after-tax charge of $17.2 million related to commissioning efforts at the Arizona 2 micro mill. Excluding this item, second quarter adjusted earnings were $103.1 million, or $0.88 per diluted share, compared to adjusted earnings of $171.3 million, or $1.44 per diluted share, in the prior year period. Prior year period adjustments included a $5.5 million after-tax charge related to commissioning efforts at the Arizona 2 micro mill, as well as a $14.0 million after-tax benefit that was reflected within Corporate and Other related to a New Market Tax Credit Settlement associated with CMC's Steel Oklahoma micro mill. "Adjusted EBITDA," "core EBITDA," "core EBITDA margin," "adjusted earnings" and "adjusted earnings per diluted share" are non-GAAP financial measures. Details, including a reconciliation of each such non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable measure prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, can be found in the financial tables that follow.

Peter Matt, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "CMC generated historically strong financial results during the second quarter despite seasonal weakness and challenging weather conditions in several key geographies. Core EBITDA and core EBITDA margin remained well above long-term averages, demonstrating the ability to consistently generate higher margins in our business. We continued to see good fundamentals within our North American markets, highlighted by several encouraging developments during the quarter. Steel product margins over scrap exited the quarter on an upward trajectory, which provides a solid baseline for continued strong margins into the seasonally robust third and fourth quarters. Additionally, new contract awards in our downstream business rebounded sharply, pointing to strength in the construction pipeline, and driving a sequential quarter increase in project backlog volumes."

Mr. Matt added, "Market conditions for our Europe Steel Group have shown some improvement in recent months, which we believe is a function of stabilizing demand and supply rationalizations. This more supportive market backdrop combined with excellent cost performance drove a substantial improvement in operating results, excluding energy rebates, compared to recent quarters. While conditions in Europe remain difficult, a combination of improving economic data and government sponsored investment could bolster Polish market demand in the quarters ahead."

"During the second quarter, we continued to invest and build for the future. In January, our new Arizona 2 plant became the first micro mill in the world to roll merchant bar quality (MBQ) product. Commissioning of MBQ continues to progress well, and we have successfully produced and sold several product varieties. Based on our current outlook for production mix and volume levels, the plant is anticipated to achieve EBITDA breakeven results by the end of the fiscal year. Site improvements at our Steel West Virginia micro mill are nearing completion. Initial equipment deliveries are scheduled for the spring and early summer, and we expect to remain on plan for a start-up in late calendar 2025. These projects, together with our recent acquisitions, position us to take advantage of favorable structural trends powering domestic construction, and are expected to drive strong future growth in earnings, cash flow, and shareholder value," Matt concluded.

The Company's balance sheet and liquidity position remained strong. As of February 29, 2024, cash and cash equivalents totaled $638.3 million, with available liquidity of nearly $1.5 billion. During the quarter, CMC repurchased 945,205 shares of common stock valued at $47.9 million in the aggregate. As of February 29, 2024, $510.4 million remained available under the current share repurchase authorization.

On March 20, 2024, the board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share of CMC common stock payable to stockholders of record on April 1, 2024, which will represent an increase of approximately 13% from the prior dividend paid in February 2024. The dividend to be paid on April 10, 2024, marks the 238(th) consecutive quarterly payment by the Company.

Business Segments - Fiscal Second Quarter 2024 Review
Demand for CMC's finished steel products in North America continued to be healthy during the quarter. Solid construction activity supported a 4.9% year-over-year increase in total North America Steel Group rebar shipments, a measure that includes rebar sold directly from mills as well as fabricated product shipped from CMC's downstream facilities. The construction pipeline remained historically strong with a large number of potential projects. The rate of new contract awards improved significantly, marking the strongest second quarter on record, and driving an 11% sequential increase in downstream backlog volumes. Demand from industrial end markets, which is important for merchant products, was in-line with the prior year's second quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA for the North America Steel Group decreased to $222.3 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2024 from $274.2 million in the prior year period. The earnings reduction was driven by lower margins over scrap costs on steel and downstream products, partially offset by meaningful improvements in controllable cost performance. The adjusted EBITDA margin for the North America Steel Group of 15.0% compares to 18.2% in the prior year period.

North America Steel Group shipment volumes of finished steel, which include steel products and downstream products, increased 3.6% year-over-year. The average selling price for steel products decreased $80 per ton compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2023, while the cost of scrap utilized increased $33 per ton, resulting in a year-over-year decrease in steel products margin over scrap of $113 per ton. The average selling price for downstream products declined by $63 per ton from the prior year period.

Europe market conditions improved during the second quarter in comparison to recent quarters, but long-steel consumption remained below historical levels. Regional long steel producers took significant actions to rationalize supply, while inventories across the supply chain were reduced. As a result, product markets were in better balance, allowing both selling prices and metal margins to increase. The Europe Steel Group reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $8.6 million, marking a meaningful improvement from the prior two quarters which, excluding energy rebates of approximately $66 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, averaged losses of approximately $30 million. On a sequential basis, financial results benefited from higher margins over scrap and lower controllable costs per ton. Europe Steel Group's average selling price increased $40 per ton from the first quarter of fiscal 2024, while scrap costs increased by $29 per ton, leading to a $11 per ton margin expansion.

Emerging Businesses Group second quarter net sales of $156.0 million represented an increase of 1.6% from the prior year period, driven largely by the addition of CMC Anchoring Systems. Adjusted EBITDA for the Group of $17.9 million was down 32% compared to the prior year period. Both net sales and adjusted EBITDA were negatively impacted by severe weather across much of the United States that caused project delays for geogrid and Geopier((R)) solutions, as well as reduced activity in CMC's Texas-focused Construction Solutions business. Additionally, delayed starts on several key projects hindered financial performance within regions outside of North America. These factors more than offset the positive impacts from the addition of CMC Anchoring Systems and strong profitability within the Company's heat-treating operations. Setting aside weather disruptions, demand conditions in our North American markets remained solid during the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.5% represented a decline of 580 basis points relative to the prior year period.

Outlook
Mr. Matt said, "Finished steel shipments within our North America Steel Group are expected to follow a typical seasonal pattern during the third quarter, while adjusted EBITDA margin should be largely stable on a sequential basis. Conditions in Europe are expected to remain challenging, but adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to approach breakeven levels during the third quarter. Financial results for our Emerging Businesses Group should improve meaningfully, driven by the normal seasonal uptick in demand, strong underlying market fundamentals and a healthy order book."

Mr. Matt added, "We continue to expect robust spring and summer construction activity driven by increased infrastructure investments, which we anticipate will support an already strong demand backdrop in both the North America Steel Group and the Emerging Businesses Group. Business conditions for our Europe Steel Group are slowly improving, and should further benefit from increased residential construction activity as a government program aimed at first-time homebuyers, and other government sponsored investment programs, begin to impact steel demand."

Conference Call
CMC invites you to listen to a live broadcast of its second quarter fiscal 2024 conference call today, Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. ET. Peter Matt, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Paul Lawrence, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will host the call. The call is accessible via our website at www.cmc.com. In the event you are unable to listen to the live broadcast, the call will be archived and available for replay on our website on the next business day. Financial and statistical information presented in the broadcast are located on CMC's website under "Investors."

About CMC
CMC is an innovative solutions provider helping build a stronger, safer, and more sustainable world. Through an extensive manufacturing network principally located in the United States and Central Europe, we offer products and technologies to meet the critical reinforcement needs of the global construction sector. CMC's solutions support construction across a wide variety of applications, including infrastructure, non-residential, residential, industrial, and energy generation and transmission.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws with respect to general economic conditions, key macro-economic drivers that impact our business, the effects of ongoing trade actions, the effects of continued pressure on the liquidity of our customers, potential synergies and organic growth provided by acquisitions and strategic investments, demand for our products, shipment volumes, metal margins, the ability to operate our steel mills at full capacity, future availability and cost of supplies of raw materials and energy for our operations, growth rates in certain segments, product margins within our Emerging Businesses Group, share repurchases, legal proceedings, construction activity, international trade, the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, capital expenditures, tax credits, our liquidity and our ability to satisfy future liquidity requirements, estimated contractual obligations, the expected capabilities and benefits of new facilities, the timeline for execution of our growth plan and our expectations or beliefs concerning future events. The statements in this release that are not historical statements, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified by phrases such as we or our management "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "future," "intends," "may," "plans to," "ought," "could," "will," "should," "likely," "appears," "projects," "forecasts," "outlook" or other similar words or phrases, as well as by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions.

The Company's forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations and beliefs as of the time this news release was prepared. Although we believe that our expectations are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct, and actual results may vary materially. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update, amend or clarify any forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, new information or circumstances or any other changes. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations include those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2023, as well as the following: changes in economic conditions which affect demand for our products or construction activity generally, and the impact of such changes on the highly cyclical steel industry; rapid and significant changes in the price of metals, potentially impairing our inventory values due to declines in commodity prices or reducing the profitability of downstream contracts within our vertically integrated steel operations due to rising commodity pricing; excess capacity in our industry, particularly in China, and product availability from competing steel mills and other steel suppliers including import quantities and pricing; the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the global economy, inflation, energy supplies and raw materials; increased attention to environmental, social and governance ("ESG") matters, including any targets or other ESG or environmental justice initiatives; operating and startup risks, as well as market risks associated with the commissioning of new projects could prevent us from realizing anticipated benefits and could result in a loss of all or a substantial part of our investments; impacts from global public health crises on the economy, demand for our products, global supply chain and on our operations; compliance with and changes in existing and future laws, regulations and other legal requirements and judicial decisions that govern our business, including increased environmental regulations associated with climate change and greenhouse gas emissions; involvement in various environmental matters that may result in fines, penalties or judgments; evolving remediation technology, changing regulations, possible third-party contributions, the inherent uncertainties of the estimation process and other factors that may impact amounts accrued for environmental liabilities; potential limitations in our or our customers' abilities to access credit and non-compliance with their contractual obligations, including payment obligations; activity in repurchasing shares of our common stock under our share repurchase program; financial and non-financial covenants and restrictions on the operation of our business contained in agreements governing our debt; our ability to successfully identify, consummate and integrate acquisitions and realize any or all of the anticipated synergies or other benefits of acquisitions; the effects that acquisitions may have on our financial leverage; risks associated with acquisitions generally, such as the inability to obtain, or delays in obtaining, required approvals under applicable antitrust legislation and other regulatory and third-party consents and approvals; lower than expected future levels of revenues and higher than expected future costs; failure or inability to implement growth strategies in a timely manner; the impact of goodwill or other indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment charges; the impact of long-lived asset impairment charges; currency fluctuations; global factors, such as trade measures, military conflicts and political uncertainties, including changes to current trade regulations, such as Section 232 trade tariffs and quotas, tax legislation and other regulations which might adversely impact our business; availability and pricing of electricity, electrodes and natural gas for mill operations; our ability to hire and retain key executives and other employees; our ability to successfully execute leadership transitions; competition from other materials or from competitors that have a lower cost structure or access to greater financial resources; information technology interruptions and breaches in security; our ability to make necessary capital expenditures; availability and pricing of raw materials and other items over which we exert little influence, including scrap metal, energy and insurance; unexpected equipment failures; losses or limited potential gains due to hedging transactions; litigation claims and settlements, court decisions, regulatory rulings and legal compliance risks; risk of injury or death to employees, customers or other visitors to our operations; and civil unrest, protests and riots.


                                                          
            
      COMMERCIAL METALS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

                                                         
            
      FINANCIAL & OPERATING STATISTICS (UNAUDITED)


                                                                                            
            
              Three Months Ended                                 Six Months Ended



     
              (in thousands, except per ton amounts)  2/29/2024                    11/30/2023                            8/31/2023   5/31/2023    2/28/2023        2/29/2024      2/28/2023



     
              North America Steel Group



     Net sales from external customers                 $1,486,202                     $1,592,650                            $1,717,979   $1,818,391    $1,503,774        $3,078,852      $3,167,935



     Adjusted EBITDA                                      222,294                        266,820                               336,843      367,561       274,240           489,114         624,027



     Adjusted EBITDA margin                                15.0 %                        16.8 %                               19.6 %      20.2 %       18.2 %           15.9 %         19.7 %





     External tons shipped



     Raw materials                                            347                            374                                   344          409           321               721             637



     Rebar                                                    460                            522                                   542          539           425               982             886



     Merchant bar and other                                   234                            230                                   215          249           235               464             478



     Steel products                                           694                            752                                   757          788           660             1,446           1,364



     Downstream products                                      316                            346                                   387          382           315               662             697





     Average selling price per ton



     Raw materials                                           $880                           $783                                  $838         $833          $868              $829            $846



     Steel products                                           905                            892                                   932          979           985               898           1,003



     Downstream products                                    1,358                          1,389                                 1,428        1,452         1,421             1,374           1,409





     Cost of raw materials per ton                           $658                           $578                                  $606         $619          $639              $617            $618



     Cost of ferrous scrap utilized per ton                  $379                           $343                                  $338         $384          $346              $361            $335





     Steel products metal margin per ton                     $526                           $549                                  $594         $595          $639              $537            $668





     
              Europe Steel Group



     Net sales from external customers                   $192,500                       $225,175                              $273,961     $330,767      $337,560          $417,675        $724,063



     Adjusted EBITDA                                      (8,611)                        38,942                              (30,081)       5,837        11,469            30,331          72,717



     Adjusted EBITDA margin                               (4.5) %                        17.3 %                             (11.0) %       1.8 %        3.4 %            7.3 %         10.0 %





     External tons shipped



     Rebar                                                     64                            122                                   151          146           183               186             387



     Merchant bar and other                                   211                            221                                   238          283           253               432             522



     Steel products                                           275                            343                                   389          429           436               618             909





     Average selling price per ton



     Steel products                                          $673                           $633                                  $682         $753          $756              $651            $775





     Cost of ferrous scrap utilized per ton                  $394                           $365                                  $398         $427          $389              $380            $377





     Steel products metal margin per ton                     $279                           $268                                  $284         $326          $367              $271            $398





     
              Emerging Businesses Group



     Net sales from external customers                   $155,994                       $177,239                              $208,559     $189,055      $153,598          $333,233        $324,132



     Adjusted EBITDA                                       17,929                         30,862                                42,612       38,395        26,551            48,791          57,977



     Adjusted EBITDA margin                                11.5 %                        17.4 %                               20.4 %      20.3 %       17.3 %           14.6 %         17.9 %


                                                              
       
       COMMERCIAL METALS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

                                                                
       
           BUSINESS SEGMENTS (UNAUDITED)


                                                                                   
              
                Three Months Ended                                 Six Months Ended



     
                (in thousands)                     2/29/2024               11/30/2023                               8/31/2023   5/31/2023    2/28/2023      2/29/2024       2/28/2023



     
                Net sales from external customers



     North America Steel Group                      $1,486,202                $1,592,650                               $1,717,979   $1,818,391    $1,503,774      $3,078,852       $3,167,935



     Europe Steel Group                                192,500                   225,175                                  273,961      330,767       337,560         417,675          724,063



     Emerging Businesses Group                         155,994                   177,239                                  208,559      189,055       153,598         333,233          324,132



     Corporate and Other                                13,591                     7,987                                    8,729        6,776        23,071          21,578           29,186



     Total net sales from external customers        $1,848,287                $2,003,051                               $2,209,228   $2,344,989    $2,018,003      $3,851,338       $4,245,316





     
                Adjusted EBITDA



     North America Steel Group                        $222,294                  $266,820                                 $336,843     $367,561      $274,240        $489,114         $624,027



     Europe Steel Group                                (8,611)                   38,942                                 (30,081)       5,837        11,469          30,331           72,717



     Emerging Businesses Group                          17,929                    30,862                                   42,612       38,395        26,551          48,791           57,977



     Corporate and Other                              (34,512)                 (30,987)                                (38,171)    (37,715)     (15,573)       (65,499)        (55,298)



     Total adjusted EBITDA                            $197,100                  $305,637                                 $311,203     $374,078      $296,687        $502,737         $699,423


                                                                     
      
                COMMERCIAL METALS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

                                                           
           
       CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED
                 STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS (UNAUDITED)


                                                                                                                                     Three Months Ended                             Six Months Ended



     
                (in thousands, except share and per share data)                                                  February 29,                        February 28,  February 29,                   February 28,
                                                                                                                         2024                                 2023           2024                            2023



     Net sales                                                                                                       $1,848,287                           $2,018,003     $3,851,338                      $4,245,316



     Costs and operating expenses:



     Cost of goods sold                                                                                               1,552,046                            1,621,763      3,156,114                       3,341,177



     Selling, general and administrative expenses                                                                       167,444                              150,805        329,976                         307,160



     Interest expense                                                                                                    11,878                                9,945         23,634                          22,990



     Net costs and operating expenses                                                                                 1,731,368                            1,782,513      3,509,724                       3,671,327



     Earnings before income taxes                                                                                       116,919                              235,490        341,614                         573,989



     Income taxes                                                                                                        31,072                               55,641         79,494                         132,366



     Net earnings                                                                                                       $85,847                             $179,849       $262,120                        $441,623





     Earnings per share:



     Basic                                                                                                                $0.74                                $1.53          $2.25                           $3.77



     Diluted                                                                                                               0.73                                 1.51           2.22                            3.71





     Cash dividends per share                                                                                             $0.16                                $0.16          $0.32                           $0.32



     Average basic shares outstanding                                                                               116,396,530                          117,224,517    116,584,235                     117,249,266



     Average diluted shares outstanding                                                                             117,524,113                          118,723,259    118,051,249                     118,985,098


                                                                            
              
              COMMERCIAL METALS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

                                                                        
              
               CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)



              
                (in thousands, except share and per share data)                                                                      February 29,
                                                                                                                                                  2024        August 31, 2023



              Assets



              Current assets:



              Cash and cash equivalents                                                                                                             $638,261        $592,332



              Accounts receivable (less allowance for doubtful accounts of $4,335 and $4,135)                                                      1,118,514       1,240,217



              Inventories, net                                                                                                                     1,150,447       1,035,582



              Prepaid and other current assets                                                                                                       290,868         276,024



              Total current assets                                                                                                                 3,198,090       3,144,155



              Property, plant and equipment, net                                                                                                   2,474,520       2,409,360



              Intangible assets, net                                                                                                                 245,945         259,161



              Goodwill                                                                                                                               383,587         385,821



              Other noncurrent assets                                                                                                                360,123         440,597



              Total assets                                                                                                                        $6,662,265      $6,639,094



              Liabilities and stockholders' equity



              Current liabilities:



              Accounts payable                                                                                                                      $367,944        $364,390



              Accrued expenses and other payables                                                                                                    359,015         438,811



              Current maturities of long-term debt and short-term borrowings                                                                          35,588          40,513



              Total current liabilities                                                                                                              762,547         843,714



              Deferred income taxes                                                                                                                  293,342         306,801



              Other noncurrent liabilities                                                                                                           257,472         253,181



              Long-term debt                                                                                                                       1,126,216       1,114,284



              Total liabilities                                                                                                                    2,439,577       2,517,980



              Stockholders' equity:



              Common stock, par value $0.01 per share; authorized 200,000,000 shares; issued                                                           1,290           1,290
    129,060,664 shares; outstanding 116,023,685 and 116,515,427 shares



              Additional paid-in capital                                                                                                             389,568         394,672



              Accumulated other comprehensive loss                                                                                                  (71,519)        (3,778)



              Retained earnings                                                                                                                    4,322,008       4,097,262



              Less treasury stock, 13,036,979 and 12,545,237 shares at cost                                                                        (418,900)      (368,573)



              Stockholders' equity                                                                                                                 4,222,447       4,120,873



              Stockholders' equity attributable to non-controlling interests                                                                             241             241



              Total stockholders' equity                                                                                                           4,222,688       4,121,114



              Total liabilities and stockholders' equity                                                                                          $6,662,265      $6,639,094


                                                                   
              
                COMMERCIAL METALS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

                                                    
              
                CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED
                 STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED)


                                                                                                                                                                  Six Months Ended



     
                (in thousands)                                                                                                                    February 29,                  February 28,
                                                                                                                                                          2024                           2023



     Cash flows from (used by) operating activities:



     Net earnings                                                                                                                                       $262,120                       $441,623



     Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash flows from operating activities:



     Depreciation and amortization                                                                                                                       137,485                        102,399



     Stock-based compensation                                                                                                                             23,047                         33,624



     Write-down of inventory                                                                                                                              10,392                          5,532



     Deferred income taxes and other long-term taxes                                                                                                       1,901                         26,930



     Other                                                                                                                                                 2,225                          4,616



     Settlement of New Markets Tax Credit transaction                                                                                                                                 (17,659)



     Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions                                                                                   (87,149)                      (38,158)



     Net cash flows from operating activities                                                                                                            350,021                        558,907



     Cash flows from (used by) investing activities:



     Capital expenditures                                                                                                                              (160,772)                     (289,251)



     Acquisitions, net of cash acquired                                                                                                                                               (65,153)



     Other                                                                                                                                                 2,312                          1,802



     Net cash flows used by investing activities                                                                                                       (158,460)                     (352,602)



     Cash flows from (used by) financing activities:



     Repayments of long-term debt                                                                                                                       (17,199)                     (160,263)



     Debt issuance costs                                                                                                                                                               (1,800)



     Debt extinguishment costs                                                                                                                                                            (96)



     Proceeds from accounts receivable facilities                                                                                                         38,079                         74,963



     Repayments under accounts receivable facilities                                                                                                    (45,693)                      (77,843)



     Treasury stock acquired                                                                                                                            (76,347)                      (66,323)



     Tax withholdings related to share settlements, net of purchase plans                                                                                (9,227)                      (14,789)



     Dividends                                                                                                                                          (37,374)                      (37,524)



     Net cash flows used by financing activities                                                                                                       (147,761)                     (283,675)



     Effect of exchange rate changes on cash                                                                                                                 380                          6,545



     Increase (decrease)
               in cash, restricted cash, and cash equivalents                                                                        44,180                       (70,825)



     Cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period                                                                                   595,717                        679,243



     Cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents at end of period                                                                                        $639,897                       $608,418





     Supplemental information:



     Cash paid for income taxes                                                                                                                          $86,506                       $114,585



     Cash paid for interest                                                                                                                               24,260                         35,036





     Cash and cash equivalents                                                                                                                          $638,261                       $603,966



     Restricted cash                                                                                                                                       1,636                          4,452



     Total cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents                                                                                                   $639,897                       $608,418

COMMERCIAL METALS COMPANY
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (UNAUDITED)

This press release contains financial measures not derived in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). Reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measure are provided below.

Adjusted EBITDA, core EBITDA, core EBITDA margin and adjusted earnings are non-GAAP financial measures. Adjusted earnings per diluted share is defined as adjusted earnings on a diluted per share basis. Core EBITDA margin is defined as core EBITDA divided by net sales. The adjustment "Mill operational commissioning costs" represents costs incurred during the final stages of testing and commissioning of the Company's third micro mill, until the point at which the micro mill is fully operational. The adjustment "Settlement of New Markets Tax Credit transaction" represents the recognition of deferred revenue from 2016 and 2017 resulting from the Company's participation in the New Markets Tax Credit program provided for in the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 during the development of a micro mill, spooler and T-post shop located in eligible zones as determined by the Internal Revenue Service.

Non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as alternatives for, the most directly comparable measures derived in accordance with GAAP and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. However, we believe that the non-GAAP financial measures provide relevant and useful information to management, investors, analysts, creditors and other interested parties in our industry as they allow: (i) comparison of our earnings to those of our competitors; (ii) a supplemental measure of our underlying business operational performance; and (iii) the assessment of period-to-period performance trends. Management uses non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate financial performance and set target benchmarks for annual and long-term cash incentive performance plans.

A reconciliation of net earnings to adjusted EBITDA and core EBITDA is provided below:


                                                                       
          
     Three Months Ended                                  Six Months Ended



     
                (in thousands)                       2/29/2024 11/30/2023                 8/31/2023   5/31/2023    2/28/2023      2/29/2024       2/28/2023



     Net earnings                                        $85,847    $176,273                   $184,166     $233,971      $179,849        $262,120         $441,623



     Interest expense                                     11,878      11,756                      8,259        8,878         9,945          23,634           22,990



     Income taxes                                         31,072      48,422                     53,742       76,099        55,641          79,494          132,366



     Depreciation and amortization                        68,299      69,186                     61,302       55,129        51,216         137,485          102,399



     Asset impairments                                         4                                 3,734            1            36               4               45



     Adjusted EBITDA                                     197,100     305,637                    311,203      374,078       296,687         502,737          699,423



     Non-cash equity compensation                         14,988       8,059                     16,529       10,376        16,949          23,047           33,624



     Mill operational commissioning costs(1)              12,286      11,593                     12,297        7,264         6,811          23,879           12,385



     Settlement of New Markets Tax Credit transaction                                                                 (17,659)                       (17,659)



     Core EBITDA                                        $224,374    $325,289                   $340,029     $391,718      $302,788        $549,663         $727,773





     Net sales                                        $1,848,287  $2,003,051                 $2,209,228   $2,344,989    $2,018,003      $3,851,338       $4,245,316



     Core EBITDA margin                                   12.1 %     16.2 %                    15.4 %      16.7 %       15.0 %         14.3 %          17.1 %




              (1)              Net of depreciation
                                                   .

A reconciliation of net earnings to adjusted earnings is provided below:


                                                                        
          
     Three Months Ended                                 Six Months Ended



     
                (in thousands, except per share data) 2/29/2024 11/30/2023                8/31/2023   5/31/2023    2/28/2023      2/29/2024       2/28/2023



     Net earnings                                         $85,847    $176,273                  $184,166     $233,971      $179,849        $262,120         $441,623



     Asset impairments                                          4                                3,734            1            36               4               45



     Mill operational commissioning costs                  21,774      20,752                    16,131        7,287         6,825          42,526           12,409



     Settlement of New Markets Tax Credit transaction                                                                 (17,659)                       (17,659)



     Total adjustments (pre-tax)                          $21,778     $20,752                   $19,865       $7,288     $(10,798)        $42,530         $(5,205)



     Related tax effects on adjustments                   (4,573)    (4,358)                  (4,172)     (1,530)        2,268         (8,931)           1,093



     Adjusted earnings                                   $103,052    $192,667                  $199,859     $239,729      $171,319        $295,719         $437,511



     Net earnings per diluted share                         $0.73       $1.49                     $1.56        $1.98         $1.51           $2.22            $3.71



     Adjusted earnings per diluted share                    $0.88       $1.63                     $1.69        $2.02         $1.44           $2.51            $3.68

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SOURCE Commercial Metals Company