Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA) Q2 2020 Earnings Call

0:00 Good day and welcome to the Bell Fuse Incorporated Second Quarter 2020 Results Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Dan Bernstein, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir. Thank you, Steve. Joining me on the call today is Greg Brocious, our Vice President of Finance, and Lynn Hutkin, our Director of Financial Reporting. Before we begin the call, I'd like to ask Lynn to go over the Safe Harvest Statement. Lynn? Thank you, Dan. Good morning, everybody. Before we start, I'd like to read the following Safe Harbor Statements. Except for historical information contained on this call, the matters discussed on this call, such as statements regarding our efforts to improve profitability, the impact of the closure of our power R&D facility in Utrecht, Switzerland, anticipated cost savings resulting from restructuring, and the continuing impact of Bell's efforts to reevaluate its customer base and product portfolio, are forward-looking statements as described under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainty. Actual results could differ materially from those projections.

1:11 Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements are the market concerns facing our customers, the continuing viability of sectors that rely on our products, the impact of public health crises such as the governmental, social, and Economic Effects of COVID-19, The Effects of Business and Economic Conditions, Difficulties Associated with Integrating Recently Acquired Companies, Capacity and Supply Constraints or Difficulties, Product Development, Commercialization or Technological Difficulties, Regulatory and Trade Environment, Risks Associated with Foreign Currencies, Uncertainties Associated with Legal Proceedings, The Market's Acceptance of the Company's New Products and competitive responses to those new products, the impact of changes to U.S. trade and tariff policies, the risk factors detailed from time to time, and the company's FCC report.

2:12 In light of the risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement will in fact prove to be correct. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. We may also discuss non-GAAP results during this call and reconciliations of our GAAP results to non-GAAP results have been included in our release. I would now like to turn the call back to Dan for a general business update. Thank you, Lynn, and thank you for joining our call today. I hope that you and your families are staying safe during these difficult times. Our first priority throughout this past quarter continues to be the safety of our associates around the world. We continue to provide these essential products to our customers. As of today, we are pleased to report that all our manufacturing sites are operating, with the majority of them at or near normal production rates.

3:03 However, the situation remains fluid. Our production managers around the world have done an excellent job in ensuring ongoing compliance with local regulations related to COVID-19. I would once again like to take a moment to acknowledge our manufacturing associates in each of those factories. for their dedication to our company and our customers during this period. Turning to our results, we were pleased that our efforts related to cost reductions and containment measures over the past year have translated into meaningful gross margin improvement. As reflected in our second quarter 2020 financial results, many of the factors that drove this improvement are expected to provide a sustained benefit to our margins for the foreseeable future.

3:50 Those factors include lower overhead costs from restructuring efforts, a reduction of material prices related to components, lower direct labor costs due to the favorable foreign exchange rates in effect during 2020, and the inclusion of higher margin CUI sales. Further, we made a concerted effort to exit customers and product lines that have lower margins in order to better utilize our manufacturing resources. As a result of these and other factors, Bell's adjusted EBITDA as outlined in our release more than doubled compared to last year's second quarter, despite the lower sales volume. Sales were down 6.2 million, or 4.9% from last year's second quarter.

4:35 Acquisition of CUI in late 2019 contributed to 10.6 million for sales during the second quarter, and a gross margin of over 39%. driven by sales of adopters used in home workplace. Excluding CUI sales in the second quarter, we were down 16.9 million from last year's second quarter with declines in, of course, all product groups. Sales of front-end power products were down 7.3 million from last year's second quarter largely due to reduction in sales for low-margin customers. The weakness in commercial aerospace and markets accounted for 5.6 million of this decline. and sales to our distribution partners remain lower than price prior year quarter by $2.9 million.

5:25 We entered the second half of the year with very limited visibility as our second quarter build hookings were soft. However, there are areas of strength as we enter the third quarter. Recent awards for our connectivity products on key defense programs in munitions, military avionics platforms, mobile communication programs, resulted in improvement in military sales of over 40% in second quarter versus last year's second quarter. Booking in this area has also remained healthy, providing an opportunity for continued strength in shipments throughout the second half of the year. Our magnetic solution group continues to see strong demand for product going into communication hardware and next generation network infrastructure as our associates need to accommodate increased bandwidth requirements to do a large number of people working from home. Within the power solution protection group, Bell was awarded a design grant for a power supply for a cost-effective ventilator.

6:28 This non-cancelable, non-return award totaled $1.6 million and is expected to start shipping in the third quarter. We also continue to see year-over-year growth related to the CUI acquisition for the remainder of the year. In addition, our surge protection group had a 14% increase for the quarter due to a competitor not being able to ship. The closure of our facility in Ooster, Switzerland will bring our annual fixed costs down by $3 million with those savings taking place by the fourth quarter of this year. The Bell management team remain focused on bottom line growth and continue to focus on which customer products and Bell facilities best align with the goal of improving profitability.

7:13 Before I turn back, to call to Craig. I would like again to acknowledge and thank our global team. The efforts enabled us to be flexible in responding to this rapidly changing environment. Our ability to generate results to give us as much of the credit of our frontline associates for making it happen under these difficult circumstances. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Craig to run through the financial update. Craig? Thanks, Stan. Sales by product segment for the second quarter of 2020 were as follows. Power Solutions and Protection sales were $45.1 million, up 2% from last year's second quarter. Connectivity Solutions sales were $38.9 million, a decline of 9%, and Magnetic Solutions sales were $37.2 million, also down 9% from last year's second quarter.

8:06 On a consolidated basis, gross profit margin, excluding R&D expenses, increased to 26.2% in the second quarter of 2020 as compared with 21% in the second quarter of 2019 as a result of a combination of factors. Overhead and indirect labor costs were $4.7 million lower during the second quarter of 2020 primarily due to the restructuring measures implemented during late 2019. and a reduction in the cost structure for our sensor connectivity solution segment to align with current sales volumes within that segment. A portion of the margin improvement in the second quarter of 2020 related to lower material costs as stocks of high-cost components that had previously been built up in our supply chain have now been worked through, resulting in significantly lower material costs in the P&L as compared to the same quarter last year.

9:03 A favorable shift in product mix and low direct labor costs resulting from favorable fluctuation in foreign exchange rates were also factors contributing to the margin improvement in the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the same period of 2019. Research and development costs were $6.1 million during the second quarter of 2020, a decline of over $700,000 from the second quarter of 2019 as a result of restructuring efforts implemented during the latter part of 2019. Our selling, general, and administrative expenses were $18.1 million or 13.9% of sales as compared with $19.2 million or 15.1% of sales in the second quarter of 2019.

9:48 Lower travel expenses of $682,000, a reduction of ERP costs of $391,000, and savings from other cost containment efforts outweighed the $1.9 million of incremental SG&A expenses associated with the newly acquired CUI business. SG&A expense also included a gain on the cash surrender value of COE policies of $1 million in the second quarter of 2020 compared to a gain on these policies of $159,000 in the second quarter of 2019. On a go-forward basis, we would expect SG&A to run between $19 and $20 million per quarter in the near term, as we expect our traveling entertainment spend will be lower than normal for the remainder of the year.

10:39 These factors result in income from operations of $7.5 million in the second quarter of 2020 as compared to income from operations of $4.5 million in the second quarter of 2019. Other income and expense net was an expense of $302,000 for the second quarter of 2020 as compared to income of $267,000 during the second quarter of 2019. The fluctuation from last year's second quarter was largely related to a foreign exchange loss of $103,000 in the second quarter of 2020 as compared to a foreign exchange gain of $450,000 in the second quarter of 2019. Interest expense was $1.3 million in the second quarter of 2020 and Slightly from the same quarter last year due to the lower interest rate in effect during the 2020 quarter.

11:36 The expected interest expense to be lower by approximately $600,000 to $700,000 in the second half of the year as compared to the first half of 2020 related to the decreases in both LIBOR and in the company's spread on its credit facility. We had a provision for infant taxes of $423,000 in the second quarter of 2020 compared to a provision of $421,000 during last year's second quarter. The impact of permanent differences on U.S. tax exempt activities led to a slightly higher effective tax rate in the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the same quarter of 2019. Earnings per share for the Class A common shares was earnings of $0.43 per share in the second quarter of 2020 as compared with earnings of 23 cents per share in the second quarter of 2019.

12:31 Earnings per share from Class B common shares with earnings of 46 cents per share in the second quarter of 2020 as compared with earnings of 24 cents per share in the second quarter of 2019. On a non-GAAP basis, which excludes certain unusual and other non-recurring items, EPS or Class A shares with earnings of $0.43 per share in the second quarter of 2020 as compared with earnings of $0.03 per share in the second quarter of 2019. On a non-GAAP basis, EPS for Class B shares was $0.46 per share in the second quarter of 2020 as compared with earnings of $0.03 per share in the second quarter of 2019. And now I'd like to go through some balance sheet and cash flow items.

13:20 Our cash and cash equivalence balance at June 30, 2020 was $75.3 million, a decrease of $3 million from December 31, 2019. Our cash balance grew by $6.9 million sequentially from the March 31 balance. During the first half of 2020, we generated cash flow from operating activities of $16.8 million. We made net payments of $8.2 million towards our outstanding debt balance, and Eve Cash for capital expenditures of $3 million, dividend payments of $1.6 million, and interest payments of $2.3 million. Accounts receivable were $78.3 million at June 30, 2020, as compared with $76.1 million at December 31, 2019.

14:10 Days held outstanding decreased slightly to 59 days at June 30, 2020, as compared to 60 days at December 31st, 2019. The increase in our accounts receivable balance was largely due to higher sales volume in the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Inventories were $104.7 million at June 30th, 2020, down $2.6 million from December 31st, 2019 level. The decline was seen in finished goods, partially offset by increases in working process. The reduction in inventory is also partially due to the write-down of excess stocks related to projects that ended.

14:55 Accounts payable were $44.8 million at June 30, 2020, up to $657,000 from its level at December 31, 2019, primarily due to the implementation of new supplier payment guidelines to better manage our cash reserves. Bell's total outstanding debt balance was $135.2 million as of June 30, 2020, net of deferred financing costs, a decrease of $8.5 million since the 2019 year-end balance. This primarily reflects the voluntary prepayment of $8.2 million made during the first quarter of 2020 in connection with an amendment to our credit agreement. will value per share, which is calculated as stockholders' equity, divided by our combined A and B classes of common stock outstanding.

15:47 It's $13.57 per share on June 30, 2020, as compared to $13.69 per share on December 31, 2019. And with that, I'll turn the call back over to Dan. Dan? Thank you, Craig. At this time, Steve, we would like to open up the call for any questions people might have. Thank you, sir. If you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star 1 on your telephone keypad. If you're using a speakerphone, please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow your signal to reach our equipment. Again, that's star 1 to ask a question. We will take our first question from Mr. Theodore O'Neill with Let's Feel Heels Research. Please go ahead.

16:32 Thank you. Congratulations on a good quarter, earnings-wise. Thank you. Yeah, just one question here. You talk in the press release about rationalizing the customer base and the product portfolio, and I was wondering if you could talk about, give us a little more color on that and which vertical was impacted the most by that, and if there were opportunities where you could sort of X out a customer and that also took care of the product as well, or was it two separate, you know, analysis going on? Thanks. Okay, we had one major... are building a product for one of the big data storage people. It was an Internet company that had their own data storage, and it was a power supply that we do have the capability to work with second-tier, third-tier companies, which we think we can do a better job. If you're looking at the Amazons, the Googles, the Facebooks, they tend to be overly price sensitive, and the cost, we can't compete in that market any longer.

17:37 So that was one situation. The other major situation that we're getting out of, which represents about 12 to 13 million, is a modular product. We build a custom-built product where we do the manufacturing for a company and probably label it, and the margins are just too low. But we are working with other companies on doing ODM work, where we act as a design and a manufacturing, and those opportunities where we can offer more value I think we can be competitive in those types of products. But again, just being very sensitive at this time. I think historically we were always looking at top line growth and took product in that maybe we should have just had that growth. I think at this point in time we really want to focus on bringing cash into the company and working off our debt.

18:28 Great. Thanks very much. Again, that's all one to ask a question. If you find your question has been answered, you may remove yourself from the queue by pressing star two. We will take our next question from Jim Rusciutti with Needham & Company. Please go ahead. Hi, good morning. Thank you, good morning. Maybe just to follow on Ian's question, is there a way to aggregate all of this in terms of total Revenue Impact. I mean, you gave us some of it in pieces, and I'm just wondering if there's a way to think about it in totality, because there's some offset to it as well, I guess. I think the two big pieces is, I think both one customer we walked away from, again, and that was a data center company customer, and I think that sales are going anywhere from $12 to $15 million annually going forward. Starting in the fourth quarter, that would probably be another $10 to $13 million.

19:33 Okay. Those are major hits. There are other customers, but the volumes are not that substantial. Got it. I think we're also looking at individual products in certain customer portfolios where they may not meet the margins. You know, standards that we're setting, so it wouldn't necessarily be everything we sell to a customer, but the products within that portfolio might not be suitable anymore. Understood. You called out some of the impact that you experienced in the commercial aerospace market. I got the number right.

20:18 It's about 5.6 million in the quarter. That's correct. Yeah, what is that? I don't recall. What was the number in Q1? Do you guys have that at your ready? If not, we can discuss it offline. What I'm trying to do is I'm trying to, I mean, it doesn't look like we're going to see a recovery any time soon in the commercial aerospace market, or maybe there's some aftermarket that you're going to get. But I'm wondering if we should think about this as kind of a A $20 million or more headwind that you're going to probably have to deal with over the next year or so. I think, Jim, I think we've dealt with it.

21:08 We realigned our manufacturing. I think that's why we did so well this quarter on the aerospace. We did lose those sales. If you looked at yesterday's Wall Street Journal where a major Boeing had statements that they're going to They're initially going to hit 31 planes in 2021. They push that back by a year, and they get no visibility of how well they're going to do. So, again, based on that, it's going to be tough sledding for the next 18 months in the aerospace business. But I think we're aligned. There's no more alignment we have to do to address this. We know what it is, and we've taken the steps already. to address the new sales value we're going to have for these customers.

21:58 Yeah, no, just looking at the margins, please, Lynn, go ahead. Just to answer your question, Jim, initially, in the first quarter, our commercial aerospace sales were down $3.4 million versus last year's first quarter. And then in the second quarter, we saw a A year-over-year decline of the $5.6 million that we had mentioned. So overall, about $9 million down versus the first six months of 2019. Got it. And to your point, Dan, it sounds like you've already aligned the cost structure in other, not only here, but in other parts of the company. And I guess that's the other question. I mean, there are a lot of puts and takes here, a lot of moving parts to gross margins. And I'm wondering how we...

22:46 Thank you. Thank you. In the quarter, Jim, there was some favorability that we would kind of look at more of a one-time impact. But I think looking forward, and obviously we can't look too far forward, but we would think probably our more normalized margin might be in that maybe 23%, 25% range.

23:37 taking out these one-time influences that we had. So it would be, I think, an incremental improvement over the last years, at least the third quarter. But maybe not quite as good as we saw this quarter. That's helpful. And then final question for me is, I mean, it sounds like a lot of the focus here is on – Paying Down Debt, Strengthening the Balance Sheet, and all good stuff. I'm just wondering, is M&A, at least for the time being, off the table, or are you just still looking at the various potential assets that might be out there?

24:23 What's your point of view in terms of your term on that? Are you taking more of a kind of wait and see? I think we are still very active in the M&A area. However, as you know, there's not much activity going on. We do have a smaller, you know, we are talking to two or three potential companies out there that we're looking at. However, they tend to be on the smaller side, more strategic fits. However, you know, if something comes across our table that makes sense, we definitely would look at possibly acquiring another company, yes. and we're still being as active as we can. That's it for me. I'll jump back in the queue. Thanks a lot. Thanks, Jim. Thanks, Jim.

25:09 We will take our next question from Lenny Dunn with Mutual Trust Co. of America. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Dan, I'm very pleased to hear that you're only going to do, likely only going to do small acquisitions and that you are finally and the rest of them. So, I think it's really important for us to be able to do that. I think it's important for us to be able to do that. have been disappointments over the last few years.

25:59 So anyhow, it sounds to me that you're pointing in the right direction. And I guess if you see something that makes sense, it has to make a lot of sense to stretch the balance. Yes, you're correct about that. And things look good, I mean. I thought the numbers were better than I expected, and I expected a fairly good quarter, but I appreciate what you've done in what I would consider very adverse conditions. Thank you. Thank you. It appears there are no further questions at this time.

26:58 Mr. Bernstein, I'd like to turn the conference back over to you for any additional or closing remarks. Thank you, Steve. Again, we appreciate everybody joining the call today during these difficult times, and we just wish you and your family the best, and looking forward to speaking to you again next quarter. Thank you. This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.