Business
Sales and Profitability Growth Drive Continuing Momentum in L.B. Foster First Quarter 2024 Results; Company Reaffirms 2024 Guidance
First quarter net sales of $124.3 million up 7.6% year over year (up 16.9% organically1); gross profit of $26.2 million up 12.7% year over year with gross
About this update from L.b. Foster Company
[{"type":"text","content":"First quarter net sales of $124.3 million up 7.6% year over year (up 16.9% organically1); gross profit of $26.2 million up 12.7% year over year with gross margins expanding 90 basis points (\"bps\") to 21.1%.First quarter net income of $4.4 million favorable $6.6 million year over year; first quarter adjusted EBITDA1 of $5.9 million up 32.4% year over year.Net debt1 of $74.9 million down $2.5 million and Gross Leverage Ratio1 of 2.2x down 0.2x versus last year's comparable quarter end. Net debt at quarter end included the impact of $3.5 million in net proceeds received for a non-core property sale completed during the quarter.First quarter new orders1 were $132.4 million, down $7.1 million from last year, but up sequentially $26.9 million, or 25.5%. Organic orders1 were up 3.0% over last year excluding an $11.3 million impact from divestitures and product line exits. The trailing twelve month book-to-bill ratio1 was 0.94 : 1.00.Backlog1 at quarter end was $222.3 million, down $37.6 million from last year (including $12.1 million from divestitures and product line exits), but up sequentially $8.5 million, or 4.0%.Full year 2024 financial guidance reaffirmed; net sales expected to range from $525.0 million to $560.0 million, adjusted EBITDA expected to range from $34.0 million to $39.0 million, free cash flow expected to range from $12.0 million and $18.0 million, and capital spending as a percent of sales expected to range from 2.0% to 2.5%. PITTSBURGH, May 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- L.B. Foster Company (Nasdaq: FSTR), a global technology solutions provider of products and services for the rail and infrastructure markets (the \"Company\"), today reported its 2024 first quarter operating results. CEO Comments John Kasel, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, \"We had an exceptionally-strong start to 2024 with organic growth and profitability expansion as the key highlights of the first quarter. After a sluggish finish to 2023, our Rail business rebounded in the first quarter delivering 29.4% organic sales growth and 22.5% gross margins which were up 30 bps over last year and up 330 bps sequentially. Results in the Infrastructure business were somewhat softer with sales essentially flat year over year on an organic basis as adverse weather conditions impacted volumes in our Precast Concrete business. However, we grew ...