KADANT INC Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (form 10-Q) | MarketScreener

2022-05-14 10:52:28 By : Mr. guangfa zhang

Company Background We are a global supplier of technologies and engineered systems that drive Sustainable Industrial Processing. Our products and services play an integral role in enhancing efficiency, optimizing energy utilization, and maximizing productivity in process industries while helping our customers advance their sustainability initiatives with products that reduce waste or generate more yield with fewer inputs, particularly fiber, energy, and water. Producing more while consuming less is a core aspect of Sustainable Industrial Processing and a major element of the strategic focus of our operating segments. Our financial results are reported in three reportable operating segments: Flow Control, Industrial Processing, and Material Handling. The Flow Control segment consists of our fluid-handling and doctoring, cleaning, & filtration product lines; the Industrial Processing segment consists of our wood processing and stock-preparation product lines; and the Material Handling segment consists of our conveying and vibratory, baling, and fiber-based product lines. A description of each segment is as follows:

•Flow Control - Custom-engineered products, systems, and technologies that control the flow of fluids used in industrial and commercial applications to keep critical processes running efficiently in the packaging, tissue, food, metals, and other industrial sectors. Our primary products include rotary sealing devices, steam systems, expansion joints, doctor systems, roll and fabric cleaning devices, and filtration and fiber recovery systems.

•Industrial Processing - Equipment, machinery, and technologies used to recycle paper and paperboard and process timber for use in the packaging, tissue, wood products, and alternative fuel industries, among others. Our primary products include stock-preparation systems and recycling equipment, chemical pulping equipment, debarkers, stranders, chippers, and logging machinery. In addition, we provide industrial automation and digitization solutions to process industries.

•Material Handling - Products and engineered systems used to handle bulk and discrete materials for secondary processing or transport in the aggregates, mining, food, and waste management industries, among others. Our primary products include conveying and vibratory equipment and balers. In addition, we manufacture and sell biodegradable, absorbent granules used as carriers in agricultural applications and for oil and grease absorption.

We had record consolidated bookings of $266.1 million in the first quarter of 2022, including bookings of $22.4 million attributable to our acquisitions. See Acquisitions below for further details. Our first quarter of 2022 bookings include record orders for parts and consumables products and continued strong demand for our capital equipment. We ended the first quarter of 2022 with record consolidated backlog of $348.3 million. An overview of our business by segment is as follows:

•Flow Control - Our Flow Control segment had record bookings in the first quarter of 2022, increasing 32% compared to first quarter of 2021, including a 17% increase from our acquisition of The Clouth Group of Companies (Clouth). Orders for both parts and consumables products and capital equipment at our existing Flow Control businesses continue to be strong due to growth in the industries we serve.

•Industrial Processing - Our Industrial Processing segment had record bookings for parts and consumables products during the first quarter of 2022 and continued strong demand for capital equipment. Orders for both capital equipment and parts and consumables products at our wood processing business were fueled by an ongoing robust U.S. housing market and high demand for lumber, oriented strand board and plywood, which continues to result in high parts consumption and drives new capital equipment investment by our customers. Maintenance requirements at many of our wood processing customers and high mill operating rates have augmented demand for our parts products. Capital bookings at our stock-preparation business were strong, especially at our operations in China, but lower compared to the record bookings levels in the second and third quarters of 2021. Orders for parts and consumables products for our stock-preparation business increased over the first quarter of 2021 and sequentially to a near record quarter due to a continued improvement in market conditions and further expansion into packaging grades.

•Material Handling - Our Material Handling segment had record bookings in the first quarter of 2022, increasing 42% compared to the first quarter of 2021, including a 23% increase from our acquisition of East Chicago Machine Tool Corporation (Balemaster). Capital bookings at our conveying and vibratory business were more than double the bookings in the first quarter of 2021 due to several large orders. Bookings for baling products at our European operations continue to be bolstered by improved business conditions, including the recovery of recycled commodity prices.

Many of our operations continue to be impacted by labor availability and supply chain constraints, the latter of which resulted in inflationary pressure on material costs, longer lead times, and increased freight costs. Our businesses are alleviating supply chain constraints through various measures, including advance purchases of raw materials to prevent potential manufacturing disruptions and mitigating increased material and freight costs through price adjustments, when possible. We believe that the fundamentals of our business will remain positive, particularly given our high backlog levels, continued strong bookings, and ongoing strength in the markets we serve. Despite this optimism, we expect our operating environment to continue to be challenging as a result of the factors impacting our business discussed above and the uncertainties and risks surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including China's zero-COVID policy. For more information related to these challenges, and other factors impacting our business, including recent geopolitical tensions, please see Risk Factors, included in Part II, Item 1A , of this report and Part I, Item 1A, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2022.

More than half of our sales are to customers outside the United States, mainly in Europe, Asia, and Canada. As a result, our financial performance can be materially affected by currency exchange rate fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies. To mitigate the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, we generally seek to charge our customers in the same currency in which our operating costs are incurred. Additionally, we may enter into forward currency exchange contracts to hedge certain firm purchase and sale commitments denominated in currencies other than our subsidiaries' functional currencies. We currently do not use derivative instruments to hedge our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations created by the translation into the U.S. dollar of our foreign subsidiaries' results that are in functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

The United States imposes tariffs on certain imports from China, which has and will continue to increase the cost of some of the equipment that we import. Although we have worked to mitigate the impact of tariffs through pricing and sourcing strategies, we cannot be sure these strategies will effectively mitigate the impact of these costs. For more information on risks associated with our global operations, including tariffs, please see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2022.

We expect that a significant driver of our growth over the next several years will be the acquisition of businesses and technologies that complement or augment our existing products and services or may involve entry into a new process industry. We continue to pursue acquisition opportunities.

In the third quarter of 2021, we acquired Clouth for $92.9 million, net of cash acquired plus debt assumed. Clouth, which is included in our Flow Control segment, is a leading manufacturer of doctor blades and related equipment used in the production of paper, packaging, and tissue. We expect several synergies in connection with this acquisition, including deepening our presence in the growing ceramic blade market and expansion of product sales at our existing businesses by leveraging Clouth's complementary global geographic footprint. Clouth has three manufacturing facilities in Germany and one in Poland. In the third quarter of 2021, we also acquired Balemaster for $53.5 million, net of cash acquired. Balemaster, which is included in our Material Handling segment, is a leading U.S. manufacturer of horizontal balers and related equipment used primarily for recycling packaging waste at corrugated box plants and large retail and distribution centers. We expect several synergies in connection with this acquisition, including expanding our presence in the secondary material processing sector and creating new opportunities for leveraging our high-performance balers produced in Europe.

First Quarter 2022 Compared With First Quarter 2021

The following table presents the change in revenue by segment between the first quarters of 2022 and 2021, and those changes excluding the effect of foreign currency translation and acquisitions which we refer to as change in organic revenue. The presentation of the change in organic revenue is a non-GAAP measure. We believe this non-GAAP measure helps investors gain an understanding of our underlying operations consistent with how management measures and forecasts its performance, especially when comparing such results to prior periods. This non-GAAP measure should not be considered superior to or a substitute for the corresponding U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) measure. Revenue by segment in the first quarters of 2022 and 2021 was as follows:

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