CECO Environmental Corp.
Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript

Published: 10 Aug 2019

[Operator:]

Good morning, and welcome to the CECO Environmental Corp. Second Quarter 2019 Results Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded.I would now like to turn the conference over to Matt Eckl, CFO. Please go ahead.

[Matthew Eckl:]

Thank you for joining us on the CECO Environmental Second Quarter 2019 Conference Call. On the call today is Dennis Sadlowski, Chief Executive Officer; and myself, Matt Eckl, Chief Financial Officer.Before we begin, I'd like to note that we provide a presentation to help guide our discussion. The call will be webcast along with our earnings presentation on our website at cecoenviro.com. The presentation material can be accessed through the Investor Relations section of the website.I'd also like to caution investors regarding forward-looking statements. Any statements made in today's presentation that are not based on historical facts are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on certain estimates and expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual future results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We encourage you to read the risks described in our SEC filings on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update or publicly revise any of the forward-looking statements that we make here today, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.Today's presentation will also include references to certain non-GAAP financial measures. We've reconciled the comparable GAAP and non-GAAP numbers in today's press release as well as the supplemental tables in the back of the slide deck.And with that, I'll pass the ball to Dennis.

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Good morning. Thanks for joining us, and I hope everybody is enjoying their summer months. And I certainly appreciate your participation in today's call.With the first half of 2019 behind us, I can confidently say that CECO remains on track to meet our 2021 financial targets that deliver top-tier shareholder returns. We continue to keep the bar of expectation high, and our execution during the past quarter produced solid results in terms of new orders.We did, however, experience some crosswinds during the second quarter in the form of customer delays in breaking ground and progressing on projects, which dampened the quarter's revenue below our expectations.I say dampened because our backlog continues to build at a healthy rate, which should translate into increased revenue and profitability over the second half of the year. Our backlog is based on customer wins.And I'll mention a few of those today to highlight CECO's value proposition and market differentiators that are helping us to lead in the emerging low-carbon economy. The end markets we compete in remain large, healthy and growing. And as I'll discuss, we're well positioned to win share and create value.I'll now dig into CECO's performance, customer wins for the second quarter as well as our near-term market outlook, and then I'll hand it over to Matt for the financial details.After Matt's detailed report and before taking your questions, I'll highlight why we're bullish that CECO is on track and well positioned to deliver our 2021 financial targets that should produce top-tier shareholder returns.I'll start with Slide 3 by summarizing our 4-3-3 operating strategy. We launched this strategy in late 2017 with a clear and compelling value proposition

[Matthew Eckl:]

Thanks, Dennis. Let's get right to it with Slide 9, which breaks down orders and revenue. Starting with orders for the second quarter, we returned to triple digits and topped off at $103 million on the strength of our Energy Solutions segment. Energy orders were up 30% sequentially and 9% year-over-year driven by an exceptional quarter in our midstream business.As highlighted by Dennis, the water seepage treatment win showcases our technical prowess and grows our brand recognition throughout the Middle East. We expect this project to be executed throughout 2020 and 2021.Industrial orders at $20 million were back in the historical range of $18 million to $22 million after a breakout Q1 and down about 6% year-over-year as a result of customer delays in awarding project POs, which is common in the sector. Notwithstanding the current quarter, this segment remains very positive as year-to-date orders are up 18% and the pipeline remains robust.Fluid handling segment orders fell below our expectations with a decline of 6% year-over-year and off slightly from the last quarter by approximately 3%. The biggest culprit is some cyclical softness in the auto manufacturing and aquaculture markets, which impacts our Mefiag and Fybroc brands.I'll emphasize, however, that looking out in time, the flow control markets serving our industrial, petrochemical and oil and gas segment look healthy, and we remain highly competitive.A second culprit is the ongoing upgrades at our Indianapolis plant, which have temporarily limited our capacity. We're working expeditiously to remove bottlenecks from the new equipment and processes to reengage our customers. As Dennis mentioned, our revenue moderated in Q2 and ended up unexpectedly down sequentially at $81.2 million and essentially flat year-over-year.Frustrating as it is in the near term, these project delays are inherent in our energy business due to customer design changes or site commissioning delays, and a few occurred this quarter. These projects, however, will convert to revenue over the next few quarters. Long term, our backlog is robust and markets are healthy, giving me confidence in a revenue ramp-up.Turning to Slide 10. Our robust and healthy backlog also points to favorable revenue going forward. In the second quarter, we added $18 million to organic backlog, which is up 9% year-over-year. I'm also really pleased to mention that our book to bill was quite strong at 1.26 in the quarter and is 1.1 on a TTM basis.Our strong commercial execution, triple-digit orders and robust backlog are all reasons we remain convinced that we're on track to meet our 2021 financial targets that deliver top-tier shareholder returns.I'll note here that we did have one sizable project cancellation in the quarter that unfortunately removed $7 million from our backlog. The order was taken in early 2017 in our power gen business with a U.S. utility. Unfortunately, the customer's project did not receive funding and was subsequently canceled in Q2.On a positive note, we were fully paid for engineering work and remain in close partnership with the customer as they evaluate their future options. I'll note that we took on no working capital for this project.As the power gen market begins to recover from its record slump, CECO tries to turn situations like this into an opportunity by being a thought leader and consultant to our customers, which puts us in a better position to win share and create value. We remain confident in the future prospects of the nat gas power gen market as projects continue to ripen.This brings me to Slide 11 where the lower second quarter revenue clearly puts pressure on our profitability metrics. Our gross margins remained flat sequentially at a healthy 33% on strong project execution and a balanced mix of OE and aftermarket, whereas our non-GAAP operating income and adjusted EBITDA were both down sequentially and year-on-year primarily on volume but also on planned investments in SG&A that propel us toward our 2021 financial targets. The investments are in 3 main areas

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Thanks, Matt, and well done. Before opening up the call to your questions, I want to turn to Slide 16 and wrap up our remarks with some thoughts on our market position. The execution of our 4-3-3 operating strategy is well underway and has placed CECO Environmental in an ideal position to take advantage of growing end markets.We continue to demonstrate accelerating market success and are becoming the go-to resource for our customers as they entrust us on challenging service and mission-critical projects.Our competitive edge is derived at the intersection of superior product technology, deep application understanding for end-to-end solutions and our talented team of responsive professionals. This team loves to compete and win in the market.Our end markets remain strong and are growing. Looking to the horizon, we are more likely to experience a tailwind. And please keep in mind, the longer-term catalyst of our market is the developing low-carbon economy, which has created a social and regulatory imperative for customers to seek sustainable, clean, safe and efficient solutions.Internally, guided by our 4-3-3 operating strategy, we continue to root out and eliminate complexity. We've become a much more streamlined, interconnected and efficient organization. Legal entities, ERPs and bank accounts have been significantly reduced, and the cash required for working capital has decreased. In short, we're much more agile and capable of executing with speed and accuracy.Externally, we've become much more outside in-oriented and market responsive, and we recognize the challenge of doing that in a dynamic marketplace. This means that we must target staying ahead of our customers' requirements. We're addressing that through our 4-3-3 operating strategy by making innovation a priority.I'm pleased with the steady progress to that end as we see more focus on the connectedness of our products and solutions via digital technologies in the so-called Internet of Things.We've also reduced and refinanced our debt with a new $190 million credit facility agreement that provides substantial financial capacity and flexibility to support our growth aspirations. As you know, we've placed a premium on organic growth, and that's not changing. And we are now much better prepared to seize high-value opportunities that can compound our progress through targeted M&A.I previously mentioned that we have a more stringent strategic process that aligns any such actions. Acquisitions have to be a direct complement toward both our mission, our value proposition and enhance the long-term financial targets.These are exciting times for CECO. And that's why I'm confident that we remain right on track to achieve our 2021 targets for top-tier shareholder returns. As Matt discussed, the track to top-tier returns involves aggressive metrics.We know what must be done, and our entire team is highly motivated to produce results. We have our sights set on the 2021 targets, not as the finish line but as a milestone for continually improving the organization.Now I'd like to open up the call to your questions. Operator?

[Operator:]

[Operator Instructions] And our first question comes from Chris Van Horn of B. Riley FBR. Please go ahead.

[Chris Van Horn:]

Good morning. Thanks for taking my call.

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Hi, Chris, good morning.

[Matthew Eckl:]

Hi, Chris.

[Chris Van Horn:]

So on the 33% gross margins, it looks like despite lower revenue, you've been able to hold those up. It sounds like we -- aftermarket mix was part of the driver but also some of your operational controls. Is that a good run rate to think about as we head through 2019 and into 2020 just given that you have been able to operationally withstand some of this revenue headwind?

[Matthew Eckl:]

It is. 2018 was 33%. Q1 was 33%. Q2 was 33%. And we try to stay in the range of 32% to 34%. We'd like to push that higher over time, but that is a good range.

[Chris Van Horn:]

Okay. Got it. And then if I think about the backlog, do you see it generally as some higher-margin work relative to historical averages?

[Matthew Eckl:]

We see a mixed bag. So obviously, aftermarket is higher content. Nat gas power gen does have its pricing pressure. But on the average, that's why we say a range of 32% to 34%.

[Chris Van Horn:]

Okay. Got it. And then just on the project delays, it sounds like it's mainly due to timing. But I'm just curious, is there any change in scope, any change in dollar amounts and maybe any more specifics on what's driving those delays?

[Matthew Eckl:]

Yes. That's a great question. The delays, no major change in the scope. If so, those would oftentimes warrant a change order, which would benefit us, of course. As far as those delays go, they are mostly timing really tied to site commissioning delays. If you have a large balance of plant, sometimes we're a smaller piece of that, which will push something out.And when they slow production, we slow production. And then on top of that, it could also be engineering design changes, some things that they need to work around that maybe has to do with geography or logistics.

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

And Chris, if I can add, the reality is it's just a handful of projects that contributed to the delays. And we did have 1 or 2 of them with some design changes and the like that moved both the time line contractually but also some things we got change orders for in the process. So that's kind of typical normally in some of the larger projects. But in this case, the fact is that it also pushed the time lines out on the customers' end.

[Chris Van Horn:]

Okay. It makes sense. Thanks for the time. I’ll jump in the queue.

[Matthew Eckl:]

Thanks, Chris.

[Operator:]

Our next question comes from Amit Dayal of H.C. Wainwright. Please go ahead.

[Amit Dayal:]

Good morning, guys. Thank you for taking my questions. In -- with respect to the sequential drop in the Energy Solutions segment, is this due to exposure to 1 or 2 customers? Or is this generally across the board for that segment?

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Yes. Thanks, Amit, and thanks for joining us. What you're referring to, I'm sure, is that the revenue declined there, and it was the energy segment where a number of the customer delays contributed to revenue shortfall even as backlog has been growing and building once again. That's one of the things I just mentioned to Chris' question as well. It is a small handful of projects. In a couple of cases, I think there are areas where the industry is tight with people.And so if the customer and/or other related products are falling off the pace, it can delay our overall execution and revenue recognition. But we're keeping up. Our customer metrics look to be improving on time and the like. So unfortunately, this just moves the backlog a little further out and extends that into the future.

[Amit Dayal:]

Understood. And then with respect to the backlog, can you provide some sense of the time line to recognize this backlog as revenues?

[Matthew Eckl:]

Yes. So as Dennis said, about a handful of jobs totaling around $5 million to $6 million that flowed out of Q2, and those will be parsed out over the second half and 2020. And that's when we expect to recognize the revenue over the next 3 quarters.

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

And for the aggregate, our -- we have -- like to think about the business in the aggregate in short cycle, the fluid handling segment, which means bookings to revenue in a 30-day-ish cycle. The industrial segment is a little more mid-cycle, so 3 to 9 months on average, although again, that can range from very quick to a little longer.And in the energy segment, in the 9 to 15 months to full revenue recognition. As I think you're aware, with our POC revenue recognition, in some cases, we can get revenue beginning immediately, but it's smoothened out until the end of the project.

[Amit Dayal:]

Yes. That was what I was actually looking for. Really appreciate it. And exposure to China in relation to this backlog, any other metrics? I mean how are we positioned there with these recent headlines related to tariffs, et cetera? Is there some level of risk in meeting some of these metrics, et cetera?

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Well, I think it's a good question because as you saw, we chose to highlight one of our key wins today from China. And China has been an important market for CECO. We've been solidly entrenched for the last 15 years and have the teams executed fairly well in the context of what's happening in the local market and as well what's -- in the context of what's happening in kind of U.S.-China trade relations.Having said that, most of our business in China is made in China for China, a lot of it engineered as well locally and what we do with support from our technical hubs in the key product areas. And so we're somewhat -- have a look of a Chinese company when we're in China. So we haven't seen much impact from any of what's gone on to date.Yesterday's noise and news around currency also directly wouldn't have a huge exposure for us because we have limited import to the U.S. from China at this point. But you can't say for sure where that uncertainty might take us. In the big picture, market's developing. China is committed to improving air quality, and that is the reason we're still very constructive on China overall.

[Amit Dayal:]

Appreciate that. And Matt, maybe for you, are there any other GAAP benefits expected over the next few quarters?

[Matthew Eckl:]

Could you restate the question? When you say GAAP, I didn't...

[Amit Dayal:]

You've got the tax benefit to your net income this quarter. Anything like that coming into play over the next few quarters?

[Matthew Eckl:]

No. From a tax perspective, we've actually suggested for people to go ahead and model in a 25% effective tax rate for the next few quarters. That's where we think we'll end up for the full year on a normalized basis. We know that on a pretty regular basis, our tax rate can be somewhat lumpy because of the pretax income size, as well as outstanding items with those divestitures, acquisitions, earnouts or, in this case, this quarter, this post-divestiture action that yielded a nice benefit. So for modeling purposes, we always suggest people model in 25% right now.

[Amit Dayal:]

That’s all I have. Thank you so much.

[Matthew Eckl:]

Thanks, Amit.

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Thanks, Amit.

[Operator:]

[Operator Instructions] And our next question will come from Gerry Sweeney of Roth Capital. Please go ahead.

[Gerry Sweeney:]

Hey, good morning Dennis and Matt.

[Matthew Eckl:]

Good morning, Dennis.

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Good morning, Dennis.

[Gerry Sweeney:]

Just wanted to dig a little - dig in a little bit on the order side. Obviously, they're increasing, and they've been doing quite well especially in this most recent quarter. But midstream was up about $20 million quarter-over-quarter, and industrial was down, but they certainly had a breakout quarter in Q1.How much visibility do you have into these orders or these pipelines? Are you -- is this a little bit more onetime? Or is this truly breakout? Should we see some more consistent growth? Just trying to figure this out a little bit. It's a little bit lumpy from end market to end market over the last couple of quarters.

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Yes. Well, my optimism in outlook stems from -- directly from our sales pipeline that, throughout the year, has been improving even despite uncertainty that's creeping into the market. It's not kind of the same across all product segments, all reporting segments, but we have seen a steadily improving pipeline throughout the year. And those projects then tend to gestate at their own rate.And with that, I mentioned power gen probably 4 or 5 months ago with green shoots that we're seeing in the market. We've seen then some awards go to the big OEM players, to GE, Siemens, Mitsubishi. And as those work their way through, many of them have not been awarded in terms of the emissions control, the noise management, a solution set that we do have not yet been awarded. And we think if those work their way through the market, there'll be some good activity.There is pressure developing in the fluid handling segment, where our Mefiag product line is largely geared towards filtration for plating. And a lot of the plating has been investment towards automotive, and the automotive investment cycle is maybe coming down from a hill. But other than that, we still see a number of favorable conditions that we think we can execute into.

[Gerry Sweeney:]

Got it. And then I know your longer-term target is, I think, to grow 2x the market, right? But as you make CECO more nimble given some of the friction in the business, how much of the growth are we seeing today as maybe market growth versus CECO being better positioned to capture more sales? Is this that you're growing with the market, and then there's more upside from creating less friction? Or just any thoughts on that front?

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

It's very difficult to measure the market in terms of a specific quarter. But the indications that we have are in many of our key segments that our hit rate and our execution of having people in the right place, having added people into new territories, India, China, Europe as well as in the key energy segments is that we absolutely are improving our hit rate and improving the number of views that we get into the market.And so while it's always a little bit lumpy, as we've mentioned before, on the project side of the business, I do think that, that execution, it's one of the things that I think the team is getting right.The value selling that the team is doing is helping us maintain good margins across a broad mix of the portfolio. And those are some of the things then that we're using to invest in new product development that's beginning to also take shape as well for the future.

[Gerry Sweeney:]

So to summarize, market growth, but your investments in -- on sales, marketing, et cetera, you're starting to see improved hit rates across the board?

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Yes. And I think that that's the case. The market is still growing but modestly. As you look at our outlook chart, all of that refers to what we think we see in the context of our outlook, how our sales pipeline is developing and modest improvement and growth. And armed with that, we are still executing into that to try and outgrow the market.

[Gerry Sweeney:]

Great. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Yeah. Thanks, Gerry.

[Operator:]

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Dennis Sadlowski for any closing remarks.

[Dennis Sadlowski:]

Okay. Well, thank you all again for joining us. Despite dampened revenue in the quarter, I think the team is executing to keep us on track to a strong future. I look forward to our next update in about 90 days or so. So good day, all.

[Operator:]

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.