Gibraltar Announces Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Gibraltar Industries, Inc., a leading manufacturer and provider of products and services for the renewable energy, residential, agtech and infrastructure markets, today reported its financial results for the three-month period ended September 30, 2021.

“Our team executed well and delivered solid results despite significant acceleration of inflation and supply chain disruption that exceeded our expectations going into the quarter,” President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Bosway stated. “We continued to drive growth through price management, participation gains, and steady end market demand, and our backlog of $385 million increased 10% on a proforma basis. We focused on optimizing operating profit dollars while navigating margin performance through higher input costs, the timing and alignment of additional price increases with our higher input costs, and project schedule disruptions in our Renewables and Agtech businesses related to industry-specific supply dynamics. We remain confident that margins will begin to improve once inflation moderates and expand further as supply chain disruptions become less impactful. Given strong fundamental demand drivers in our end markets, we expect today’s environment to have minimal impact on the long-term outlook for our portfolio businesses.”

Third Quarter 2021 Consolidated Results from Continuing Operations

Below are third quarter 2021 consolidated results from continuing operations:

Net sales from continuing operations increased 24.5% to $369.4 million, with organic growth contributing 3.9% and recent acquisitions 20.6%. Organic growth was driven by pricing, end market demand in Renewables and Infrastructure and participation gains primarily in Residential.

GAAP earnings decreased 10.9% to $27.9 million, or $0.84 per share, and adjusted earnings decreased 6.5% to $30.2 million, or $0.91 per share, as materials and transportation inflation curves steepened more sharply and supply chain became more difficult during the third quarter across the businesses, partially offset by price increases, 80/20 and lean productivity initiatives, the TerraSmart acquisition, and margin expansion in the legacy Renewables business. Adjusted measures remove charges for restructuring initiatives, acquisition-related items, and senior leadership transition costs, as further described in the appended reconciliation of adjusted financial measures.

Third Quarter Segment Results

Renewables

For the third quarter, the Renewables segment reported:

The solar industry continued to experience regulatory, geo-political, inflation, panel supply, and project management headwinds during the quarter. Despite these challenges, revenue increased 85.5% including revenue from the acquisition of TerraSmart. On a pro forma basis, revenue increased a robust 19.0% with growth in both the legacy and TerraSmart businesses. Customer bookings reflected good order strength across all product lines – fixed tilt, tracker, canopy, and eBos – and grew 30.4%, helping increase backlog to a record $184 million, up 80% over last year. On a proforma basis, backlog increased 15%.

Adjusted operating income increased 62.6% and operating margins contracted 160 basis points. The legacy business delivered adjusted operating margin improvement from last year, driven by 80/20 productivity, lean enterprise quote-to-cash initiatives, price/cost management, and product and business mix benefits. TerraSmart margin expanded less than expected but accelerated sequentially. Margin was impacted by project management and field operations inefficiencies amplified by supply chain inconsistencies for solar panels and other key components plaguing the industry. The integration of TerraSmart remains on track with organization, process development, information systems, supply chain, and in-sourcing activities gaining momentum per plan.

Residential

For the third quarter, the Residential segment reported:

Revenue increased 13.1%, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. Of total growth, 8.7% was organic and 4.4% was delivered by Architectural Mailboxes. Revenue was driven by additional price actions, recent weather-related repair demand, and participation gains. Architectural Mailboxes, acquired in 2020, continued to deliver revenue growth as expected.

Adjusted operating income was down $3.0 million or 9.2%. Adjusted operating margin of 17.2% improved 60 basis points sequentially. Current period margins were negatively impacted by continued and accelerating material cost inflation and supply chain disruptions. Gibraltar implemented additional price increases, and also executed key 80/20 in-sourcing initiatives to mitigate cost and delivery risks associated with imported product. The sequential margin improvement indicates key operating actions are beginning to positively impact margin performance.

Agtech

For the third quarter, the Agtech segment reported:

Revenue decreased 15.5%, impacted by delays in produce project schedules due to imported glass for roofing systems being held for extended time in both international and U.S. ports and project delays related to state licensing and permit approvals in our cannabis businesses. Despite the above headwinds, the commercial greenhouse business delivered sequential growth on strong demand. Order backlog continues to improve and is up 22% year-to-date, with new orders increasing 44% sequentially. The pipeline of expected new orders in all three businesses – Produce, Cannabis, and Commercial – remains strong and is expected to support momentum into the fourth quarter and 2022.

Adjusted operating margin improved 90 basis points sequentially despite overall lower sequential sales and the acceleration of both inflation and supply chain disruption in the quarter. Margin performance improvement was driven by sequential expansion in the commercial greenhouse business, 80/20 productivity and lean enterprise initiatives to effectively scale the business. Management continues to expect these benefits to accelerate sequential margin improvement through the remainder of the year.

Infrastructure

For the third quarter, the Infrastructure segment reported:

Revenue increased 11.3% with improving demand for both fabricated and non-fabricated products and improving State D.O.T. and project funding driven by the overall economic recovery. Non-fabricated demand was somewhat muted by raw material supply constraints caused by Hurricane Ida damage to the industry’s key suppliers. Backlog at quarter-end increased to $49 million, up 29%, with new customer orders up 65.6% during the quarter, reflecting strength across the business and end markets.

Adjusted operating margin declined to 8.8% due to product line mix, rubber supply issues, production inefficiencies related to production capacity expansion, and price / cost alignment.

Business Outlook

Given year-to-date results and the ongoing dynamics surrounding today’s business environment, Gibraltar is adjusting its full year guidance as follows: consolidated revenue is expected to range between $1.31 billion and $1.35 billion; GAAP EPS from continuing operations is now expected to range from $2.45 and $2.56 compared to $2.53 in 2020; adjusted EPS from continuing operations is expected to range between $2.95 and $3.06 compared to $2.73 in 2020. With these adjustments, the Company anticipates full year revenue growth in the range of 27% – 31% and adjusted EPS growth of 8% – 12%. The new EPS range assumes today’s current cost environment and supply chain disruption (material, labor, transportation) remain elevated throughout the fourth quarter as well as incremental costs and potential labor and productivity impacts associated with administering upcoming COVID mandates. GAAP EPS from continuing operations and adjusted EPS from continuing operations for the fourth quarter is expected to range between $0.48 and $0.60, and $0.71 and $0.82 respectively, compared to $0.53 and $0.59, respectively, in fourth quarter 2020, with adjusted EPS growth reflecting a 21-39% increase driven by strong demand, some moderation in inflation and the benefits of pricing actions already taken.

Mr. Bosway commented, “Demand continues to be good across our business, and our EPS guidance revision reflects the effects of the current environment. We remain well positioned with strong backlog, increasing customer orders, a healthy balance sheet, and a continued focus on daily execution, acquisition integrations, and further strengthening our operating systems.”

For the complete press release, click here.

About Gibraltar

Gibraltar Industries is a leading manufacturer and provider of products and services for the renewable energy, residential, agtech and infrastructure markets. With a three-pillar strategy focused on business systems, portfolio management, and organization and talent development, Gibraltar’s mission is to create compounding and sustainable value with strong leadership positions in higher growth, profitable end markets. Gibraltar serves customers primarily throughout North America. Comprehensive information about Gibraltar can be found on its website at www.gibraltar1.com.

Contact:

Jody Burfening – LHA Investor Relations – rock@lhai.com – (212) 838-3777

Source: Gibraltar Industries, Inc.