Q4 Highlights
  • Sales of $147.5 million, compared to $155.0 million last year
  • Operating income of $11.5 million compared to $12.2 million last year
  • Adjusted EBITDA1 of $22.1 million, or 15.0% of sales, compared to $25.0 million, or 16.1% last year
  • Earnings per share up to $0.33 from $0.24 last year, or $0.38 from $0.28 last year on an adjusted basis
  • New normal course issuer bid to repurchase up to 1.9 million shares announced today

LONGUEUIL, QC, May 19, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Héroux-Devtek Inc. (TSX: HRX) ("Héroux-Devtek" or the "Corporation"), a leading international manufacturer of aerospace products and the world's third-largest landing gear manufacturer, today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2022. Unless otherwise indicated, all amounts are in Canadian dollars.

"I am proud of the results we generated this quarter despite strong headwinds. Compared to last quarter, we increased our deliveries by 12.5% to our customers in the civil and defense sectors around the world, thanks to our employees' hard work and dedication," said Martin Brassard, President and CEO of Héroux-Devtek. "We have a strong balance sheet and a world-class customer base. We fully intend to continue delivering quality products while staying close to our customers and seizing new opportunities in the market," added Mr. Brassard.

"As the world is slowly recovering from the pandemic, we now face macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges and, in the coming quarters, we expect to continue to operate in a difficult environment. However, our financial position, strong business relationships with OEMs and our dedicated employees will continue to enable us to perform at a high level, as our Q4 results demonstrate," said Mr. Brassard.

Today, the board of directors has made the decision to initiate a new normal course issuer bid for Fiscal 2023. "Our Fiscal 2022 NCIB was well received by shareholders and the company delivered on its commitment to repurchase all of the shares authorized under the program. With the objective of optimizing capital allocation, we believe this tool is flexible and allows us to seize opportunities, both organic and acquisition-related, while maintaining our strong financial position," concluded Mr. Brassard.

1 This is a non-IFRS measures. Please refer to the "Non-IFRS Measures" section at the end of this press release.

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Three months ended

March 31,

Twelve months ended

March 31,

(in thousands, except per share data)

2022

2021

2022

2021

Sales

$ 147,459

$ 154,989

$ 536,087

$ 570,685

Operating income

11,463

12,229

44,758

34,096

Adjusted operating income1

13,772

13,848

47,067

45,211

Adjusted EBITDA1

22,149

24,975

83,049

88,297

Net income

11,459

8,802

32,140

19,813

Adjusted net income1

13,158

10,169

33,839

29,034

Cash flows related to operating activities

10,016

31,565

63,166

89,188

Free cash flow1

6,843

22,691

45,894

67,665

in dollars per share





Diluted earnings per share

$     0.33

$     0.24

$     0.90

$     0.55

Adjusted EPS1

0.38

0.28

0.95

0.80

As at



March 31,

2022

March 31,

2021

Funded backlog2



$ 682,000

$ 717,000

1. Non-IFRS financial measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS financial measures section for definitions and reconciliations to the most comparable IFRS measures.

2.  Represents firm orders.

FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS

Consolidated sales decreased 4.9% to $147.5 million, down from $155.0 million last year. Defence sales were up 2.1%, from $107.3 million to $109.5 million, namely resulting from the ramp-up of deliveries under the Boeing F-18, Sikorsky CH-53K and Boeing MQ-25 contracts, as well as from higher deliveries of spares. Civil sales decreased $9.7 million to $37.9 million. The decrease was mainly the result of lower deliveries for large commercial programs and the repatriation by customers of certain Tier-2 contracts in the large commercial sector, partially offset by the higher deliveries for proprietary business jet programs.

Operating income decreased to $11.5 million from $12.2 million last year, largely due to higher non-recurring items. Excluding these, adjusted EBITDA, stood at $22.1 million, or 15.0% of sales, compared with $25.0 million, or 16.1% of sales, a year ago due to the $1.4 million negative year-over-year impact of foreign exchange , representing 1.0% of sales, and to lower throughput caused by the current difficult environment.

Earnings per share increased from $0.24 last year to $0.33, or from $0.28 to $0.38 per share on an adjusted basis mainly as a result of lower net financial and income tax expenses.

FISCAL 2022 RESULTS

Consolidated sales decreased 6.1% to $536.1 million from $570.7 million last year, in part due to the $21.9 million negative impact of foreign exchange fluctuations, representing 3.8% of sales. Excluding this factor, civil sales decreased by $37.7 million mainly due to lower sales for large civil programs as the pandemic's effect was not fully realized last year, while defence sales were up 6.6%, from $377.5 million to $386.7 million.

Operating income grew to $44.8 million, from $34.1 million last year, mainly due to restructuring charges of $11.1 million recorded last year. Excluding such items, adjusted EBITDA stood at $83.0 million, compared with $88.3 million, remaining stable as a percentage of sales at 15.5%.

Diluted earnings per share grew from $0.55 last year to $0.90, while adjusted EPS increased to $0.95, from $0.80 last year as a result of the factors described above.

FINANCIAL POSITION

As at March 31, 2022, net debt stood at $152.1 million, down from $157.5 million a year prior. The Corporation's net debt position remained relatively stable throughout the fiscal year with a net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 1.8, as free cash flow generation offset the $43.0 million allocated to the Normal Course Issuer Bid ("NCIB"). The Corporation has no obligatory capital repayments required on its credit facilities until June 2027.

NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID

During the fiscal year, Héroux-Devtek announced and completed a NCIB, resulting in the repurchase and cancellation of the maximum number of common shares allowed, 2.4 million shares, for a total consideration of $43 million at an average price per share of $17.83. Of this total, 256,645 shares were repurchased over the course of the fourth quarter, for a consideration of $4.4 million.

The Corporation filed a notice with the Toronto Stock Exchange to initiate a new NCIB. Under the terms of the new NCIB, the Corporation may acquire up to 1.9 million (or approximately 5.5%) of the issued and outstanding common shares of Héroux-Devtek. The actual number of common shares purchased, the timing of such purchases and the price at which common share are purchased will be determined by Héroux-Devtek.

Management continues to view the NCIB as a flexible means to allocate capital to drive shareholder value without compromising the Corporation's position for future growth initiatives, whether they are new contract opportunities or acquisitions.

CONFERENCE CALL

Héroux-Devtek Inc. will hold a conference call to discuss these results on Thursday, May 19, 2022, at 8:30 AM Eastern Time. Interested parties can join the call by dialing 1-888-390-0549 (North America) or 1-416-764-8682 (overseas). The conference call can also be accessed via live webcast on Héroux-Devtek's website, www.herouxdevtek.com/events or at https://bit.ly/HRXQ42022An accompanying presentation is also available on Héroux-Devtek's website at https://www.herouxdevtek.com/en/investors/financial-documents.

If you are unable to call in at this time, you may access a tape-recording of the meeting by calling toll-free 1-888- 390-0541 and entering the passcode 338473 on your phone. Local dial-in number is 416-764-8677. This recording will be available from Thursday, May 19, 2022, as of 11:30 AM, until 23:59 PM on Thursday, May 26, 2022.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Except for historical information provided herein, this press release contains information and statements of a forward-looking nature concerning the future performance of the Corporation.

Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and uncertainties as well as on management's best possible evaluation of future events. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the effect of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on Héroux-Devtek's operations, customers, supply chain, the aerospace industry and the economy in general; the impact of other worldwide general economic conditions; industry conditions including changes in laws and regulations; increased competition; the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management; availability of commodities and fluctuations in commodity prices; financial and operational performance of suppliers and customers; foreign exchange or interest rate fluctuations; and the impact of accounting policies issued by international standard setters. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future growth, results and performance is not exhaustive and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

As a result, readers are advised that actual results may differ from expected results. Please see the Economic Outlook section under Overview of the Business, as well as the Risk Management section under Additional Information in the Corporation's MD&A for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, for further details regarding the material assumptions underlying the forecasts and guidance. Such forecasts and guidance are provided for the purpose of assisting the reader in understanding the Corporation's financial performance and prospects and to present management's assessment of future plans and operations, and the reader is cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes.

NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow are financial measures not prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and are not likely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Management considers these to be useful information to assist investors in evaluating the Corporation's profitability, liquidity and ability to generate funds to finance its operations. Refer to Non-IFRS financial measures section under Operating Results in the Corporation's MD&A for definitions of these measures and reconciliations to the most comparable IFRS measures.

ABOUT HÉROUX-DEVTEK

Héroux-Devtek Inc. (TSX: HRX) is an international company specializing in the design, development, manufacture, repair and overhaul of aircraft landing gear, hydraulic and electromechanical actuators, custom ball screws and fracture-critical components for the Aerospace market. The Corporation is the third-largest landing gear company worldwide, supplying both the defence and commercial sectors. Approximately 94% of the Corporation's sales are outside of Canada, including about 58% in the United States. The Corporation's head office is located in Longueuil, Québec with facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain.

SOURCE Héroux-Devtek Inc.

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