Upgrade to SI Premium - Free Trial

The Middleby Corporation Reports First Quarter Results

May 9, 2018 7:00 AM

ELGIN, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ: MIDD), a leading worldwide manufacturer of equipment for the commercial foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen industries, today reported net sales and earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018. Net earnings for the first quarter were $65,420,000 or $1.18 diluted earnings per share on net sales of $584,800,000 as compared to the prior year first quarter net earnings of $70,702,000 or $1.24 diluted earnings per share on net sales of $530,297,000.

2018 First Quarter Financial Highlights

Selim A. Bassoul, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “At the Commercial Foodservice Equipment Group, sales were impacted by the strategic changes in our sales organization implemented in the second half of 2017 and completed in the first quarter of 2018. This effort has allowed us to align with the strongest sales representatives in the industry, which now carry our complete portfolio of leading brands and product innovations. Although this initiative has been disruptive in the short term, it has resulted in a stronger, more aligned selling organization and greatly simplified the sales process for our customers. We remain very excited about the pipeline of new innovative products introduced over the past several years. During the first quarter we have seen the adoption of several new products at both new and existing customers, and realized orders for several opportunities that will convert into sales in upcoming quarters. As a result, we anticipate improving sales trends as we progress throughout the year. We have continued to further develop our pipeline of product innovations with a heavy focus on automation and labor savings innovations. Through the 2017 acquisition of L2F, a leader in robotics and automated solutions, we have added a unique capability and are developing integrated solutions to address labor, safety and efficiency issues at our restaurant customers.”

Mr. Bassoul continued, “At our Residential Kitchen Equipment Group, we were very pleased to report 5% sales growth at the Viking brand in the first quarter. Incoming orders outpaced first quarter sales at a double digit growth rate and we anticipate consistent growth throughout the remainder of 2018. We believe the substantial investments made over the past several years in new products, quality, service and sales have repositioned Viking for long-term profitable growth. During the quarter we remained committed to heavily invest in new product displays at our dealer partners and are excited about the continued positive response in the marketplace. During the quarter, we also maintained our focus to execute on our long-term strategy of consolidating our premium brands including Marvel, Lynx, LaCornue and AGA through our company owned sales and distribution organization. Through this initiative we will be able to leverage our portfolio of premium residential brands and offer unique sales and service programs to our customers. This will also provide for greater profitability as we leverage investments made in our company owned distribution model. This strategic change adversely impacted sales and profitability during the quarter as our cancelled distributors destocked inventory. We anticipate the transitional impact of the distribution changes will be completed by end of the second quarter. The AGA businesses also adversely impacted sales due to sluggish market conditions in the UK and continual decline in revenues at non-core businesses as we restructure operations to focus on profit improvements at those entities.”

“At the Food Processing Equipment Group, we have had several anticipated orders not materialize. The decline in revenues reflects the significance of large projects on this business segment, which has historically resulted in quarterly sales volatility. We anticipate revenues will be impacted for the upcoming quarters due to the delay in a number of larger projects.”

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition and addition of several new brands to the portfolio early in 2018. These new additions include Firex, a leader in steam cooking equipment, Josper, a leader in charcoal cooking equipment, and JoeTap, a leader in nitro-brew and cold-brew coffee dispensing equipment. The addition of Firex and Josper further extend our portfolio of leading cooking brands and product innovation in commercial foodservice industry. In both cases, these companies are well positioned to benefit from growing foodservice trends related to steam, sous-vide, and charcoal cooking. JoeTap further adds to our beverage and coffee platform. Cold-brew and nitro-brew are quickly gaining momentum and we have seen significant interest in these products from our existing customers.”

Conference Call

A conference call will be held at 10 a.m. Central Time on Wednesday, May 9 and can be accessed by dialing (888) 391-6937 or (315) 625-3077 and providing conference code 1892863#. The conference call is also accessible through the Investor Relations section of the company website at www.middleby.com. A replay of the conference call will be available two hours after the conclusion of the call by dialing (855) 859-2056 and entering conference code 1892863#.

Statements in this press release or otherwise attributable to the company regarding the company's business which are not historical fact are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company cautions investors that such statements are estimates of future performance and are highly dependent upon a variety of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Such factors include variability in financing costs; quarterly variations in operating results; dependence on key customers; international exposure; foreign exchange and political risks affecting international sales; changing market conditions; the impact of competitive products and pricing; the timely development and market acceptance of the company's products; the availability and cost of raw materials; and other risks detailed herein and from time-to-time in the company's SEC filings.

The Middleby Corporation is a global leader in the foodservice equipment industry. The company develops, manufactures, markets and services a broad line of equipment used in the commercial foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen equipment industries. The company's leading equipment brands serving the commercial foodservice industry include Anets®, Bear Varimixer®, Beech®, Blodgett®, Blodgett Combi®, Blodgett Range®, Bloomfield®, Britannia®, Carter-Hoffmann®, Celfrost®, Concordia®, CookTek®, CTX®, Desmon®, Doyon®, Eswood®, frifri®, Firex®, Follett®, Giga®, Globe®, Goldstein®, Holman®, Houno®, IMC®, Induc®, Jade®, JoeTap®, Josper®, L2F®, Lang®, Lincat®, MagiKitch'n®, Market Forge®, Marsal®, Middleby Marshall®, MPC®, Nieco®, Nu-Vu®, PerfectFry®, Pitco Frialator®, QualServ®, Southbend®, Star®, Sveba Dahlen®, Toastmaster®, TurboChef®, Wells® and Wunder-Bar®. The company’s leading equipment brands serving the food processing industry include Alkar®, Armor Inox®, Auto-Bake®, Baker Thermal Solutions®, Burford®, Cozzini®, CVP Systems®, Danfotech®, Drake®, Emico®, Glimek®, Hinds-Bock®, Maurer-Atmos®, MP Equipment®, RapidPak®, Scanico®, Spooner Vicars®, Stewart Systems®, Thurne® and VeMa.C.®. The company’s leading equipment brands serving the residential kitchen industry include AGA®, AGA Cookshop®, Brigade®, Fired Earth®, Grange®, Heartland®, La Cornue®, Leisure Sinks®, Lynx®, Marvel®, Mercury®, Rangemaster®, Rayburn®, Redfyre®, Sedona®, Stanley®, TurboChef®, U-Line® and Viking®.

For more information about The Middleby Corporation and the company brands, please visit www.middleby.com.

THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS

(Amounts in 000’s, Except Per Share Information)

(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

1st Qtr, 2018

1st Qtr, 2017

Net sales $ 584,800 $ 530,297
Cost of sales 373,167 320,847
Gross profit 211,633 209,450
Selling, general and administrative expenses 122,948 114,984
Restructuring expenses 1,693 1,725
Income from operations 86,992 92,741
Interest expense and deferred financing amortization, net 8,823 5,805
Net periodic pension benefit (other than service costs) (9,705 ) (8,338 )
Other expense, net 1,173 1,867
Earnings before income taxes 86,701 93,407
Provision for income taxes 21,281 22,705
Net earnings $ 65,420 $ 70,702
Net earnings per share:
Basic $ 1.18 $ 1.24
Diluted $ 1.18 $ 1.24
Weighted average number of shares
Basic 55,573 57,103
Diluted 55,573 57,103

THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Amounts in 000’s, Except Per Share Information)

(Unaudited)

Mar 31, 2018 Dec 30, 2017
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents $ 103,290 $ 89,654
Accounts receivable, net 331,609 328,421
Inventories, net 459,151 424,639
Prepaid expenses and other 48,464 55,427
Prepaid taxes 17,141 33,748
Total current assets 959,655 931,889
Property, plant and equipment, net 296,473 281,915
Goodwill 1,293,896 1,264,810
Other intangibles, net 787,513 780,426
Long-term deferred tax assets 46,284 44,565
Other assets 43,073 36,108
Total assets $ 3,426,894 $ 3,339,713
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current maturities of long-term debt $ 5,113 $ 5,149
Accounts payable 145,366 146,333
Accrued expenses 305,132 322,171
Total current liabilities 455,611 473,653
Long-term debt 1,043,885 1,023,732
Long-term deferred tax liability 91,433 87,815
Accrued pension benefits 338,843 334,511
Other non-current liabilities 56,464 58,854
Stockholders' equity 1,440,658 1,361,148
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 3,426,894 $ 3,339,713

The Middleby Corporation

Darcy Bretz, (847) 429-7756

Investor and Public Relations

or

Tim FitzGerald, (847) 429-7744

Chief Financial Officer

Source: The Middleby Corporation

Categories

Press Releases

Next Articles