News

CHARLOTTE, Mich., Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Spartan Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAR) (“Spartan” or the “Company”), a global leader in specialty chassis and vehicle design, manufacturing and assembly, today reported operating results for the fourth quarter and full year periods ending December 31, 2016.   

Full Year 2016 Highlights

For the full year 2016 compared to the full year 2015:

• Sales increased $40.4 million, or 7.3%, to $590.8 million from $550.4 million
• Gross profit margin improved 370 basis points to 12.3% of sales from 8.6% of sales
• Operating income rose $21.1 million, or 169.1%, to $8.6 million from an operating loss of $12.5 million
• Adjusted operating income increased 222.1 % to $14.5 million, or 2.5% of sales, from $4.5 million, or 0.8% of sales
• Net income improved $25.6 million, or 150.7%, to $8.6 million, or $0.25 per share, from a net loss of $17.0 million, or $0.50 per share 
• Adjusted net income improved 68.3% to $11.1 million, or $0.32 per share, from $6.6 million, or $0.20 per share
• Cash, net of debt increased 15.9% to $32.0 million at December 31, 2016 compared to $27.6 million at December 31, 2015

Fourth Quarter 2016 Highlights

For the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to the fourth quarter of 2015:

• Sales increased 3.7% to $145.9 million from $140.6 million
• Gross profit margin improved 850 basis points to 12.3% of sales from 3.8% of sales
• Operating income rose $11.0 million, or 109.6%, to $1.0 million from an operating loss of $10.0 million
• Adjusted operating income increased 182.6% to $1.9 million, or 1.3% of sales, from a loss of $2.3 million
• Net income improved $10.4 million, or 110.0%, to $0.9 million, or $0.03 per share, from a net loss of $9.5 million, or $0.28 per share
• Adjusted net income improved 158.9% to $1.5 million, or $0.04 per share from $0.6 million, or $0.02 per share

“Spartan closed 2016, on a high note with a profitable fourth quarter performance, our fourth profitable quarter in a row,” said Daryl Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer.  “While 2016 goes in the books as the strongest financial performance Spartan has had since 2009, we are most proud of the progress we have made to date, on behalf of our shareholders.  Our performance in 2016 reflects great progress toward key operational milestones as the positive momentum we sparked and fanned in 2015 started to accelerate and deliver on our turnaround initiatives, some well ahead of schedule. Take a look at 2016, and you are looking at a company whose head is squarely in the game, and it is one we intend to win.”

Full Year 2016 Segment Results

For the full year 2016 compared to the full year 2015:

Fleet Vehicles and Services (FVS)

FVS segment sales increased 22.3% to $278.4 million from $227.7 million. Revenue growth was primarily due to a favorable revenue mix and higher volume at vehicle up-fit centers.

Operating income increased $14.2 million, or 97.9%, to $28.7 million, or 10.3% of sales, from $14.5 million, or 6.4% of sales, a year ago.  Higher volume and favorable mix resulted in an increase in operating income compared to last year.

The Segment backlog at December 31, 2016, totaled $89.5 million, compared to $96.1 million at December 31, 2015. In January, 2017, FVS received approximately $37.0 million in new orders, up approximately 20% over new orders received in January 2016.     

Specialty Chassis & Vehicles (SCV)

SCV segment sales remained comparable at $129.4 million.  Sales of motorhome chassis decreased to $98.0 million from $103.3 million, primarily due to lower shipments year-over-year.  Other Specialty Vehicle revenue increased 52.2% to $21.1 million from $13.8 million, primarily due to increased contract manufacturing. 

Operating income increased 39.5% to $6.8 million, or 5.3% of sales, from $4.9 million, or 3.8% of sales, a year ago.  Favorable mix and increased contract manufacturing resulted in an increase in operating income compared to last year.  

The Segment backlog at December 31, 2016, totaled $20.0 million, compared to $18.4 million at December 31, 2015.

Emergency Response (ER)

ER segment sales decreased 5.3% to $183.0 million from $193.2 million.  Lower revenue resulted from fewer shipments of complete fire apparatus and custom cab and chassis compared to a year ago. 

Operating loss improved $10.1 million, or 42.4%, to $13.7 million from $23.7 million a year ago.  The improvement was primarily the result of improved operating efficiencies and a reduction in charges recorded in 2016, compared to 2015, relating to asset impairment ($1.8 million), restructuring ($1.8 million), product repair campaign and warranty reserves ($1.6 million), and a non-recurring NHTSA fine ($0.7 million).      

Adjusted operating loss improved $0.9 million, or 9.8%, to $8.7 million from $9.6 million last year.  

The Segment backlog at December 31, 2016, totaled $139.9 million, compared to $156.3 million at December 31, 2015.

Acquisition Update

As previously announced, the Company completed the acquisition of Smeal Fire Apparatus Co. (“Smeal”) and its subsidiaries effective January 1, 2017.  Smeal, an industry-leading innovator and manufacturer of fire apparatus in North America, generated 2016 revenues of approximately $70 million, which excludes revenues associated with Smeal’s sale of approximately $30 million of chassis purchased from Spartan.  In connection with the transaction, the cash consideration paid of approximately $32.5 million was funded primarily through borrowings from the Company’s existing $100 million line of credit. 

The Company results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2016, include approximately $0.7 million, or $0.02 per share, and $0.9 million, or $0.03 per share, respectively, of acquisition related expenses. 

“As Spartan shared from the beginning, we expect the transaction to be accretive to 2017 earnings and to further accelerate the turnaround of the Spartan Emergency Response business unit. What we could not measure at the beginning of the acquisition were the benefits we would see from a reinvigorated dealer channel and a motivated workforce,” continued Adams.  “We understood immediately how important integrating Smeal and its Ladder Tower and UST brands was going to be for the success of our combined Company. Today, we are happy to report that our dealer channel is excited about our increasingly expanding product portfolio, and our combined employees are happy and optimistic about the expanded employment opportunities a larger publically traded company brings.”  

2017 Outlook

“Our balance sheet at year end, with essentially zero long-term debt, remains strong,” said Rick Sohm, Chief Financial Officer of Spartan Motors.  “Cash, net of debt, improved $4.4 million year-over-year to end at $32.0 million.  Our strong operating results continued to generate cash in excess of our working capital requirements, which enabled us to repay our $5 million senior note and repurchase approximately 422,000 shares at an average price of $4.74 per share, or $2.0 million in the aggregate, during 2016. 

“As we move into 2017, we will continue with a disciplined working capital management approach, as well as being opportunistic as market conditions dictate, to support future growth and maximize shareholder value.  As a result of the Smeal acquisition, our 2017 forecast was adjusted for certain acquisition related costs and adjustments ($0.4 million, net of tax) and the impact from the one-time lag in recognizing sales and gross margin on  chassis sales ($2.4 million, net of tax) that are now inter-company.”

Outlook for full year 2017 is expected to be as follows (which includes the Smeal acquisition):

• Revenue to be in the range of $615.0 – $685.0 million
• Acquisition costs and inter-company chassis impact of approximately $2.8 million, net of tax
• Adjusted EBITDA of $25.1 – $28.3 million
• Income tax expense of $1.7 – $2.8 million
• Interest expense of approximately $1.0 million
• Adjusted earnings per share of $0.30 – $0.36, assuming approximately 34.8 million shares outstanding

“Progress like Spartan has experienced in such a short amount of time took a great deal of hard work and a commitment to excellence, across the organization.  Implementing key process improvement methodologies and keenly focusing on enhancing our products has gone a long way to help us ensure this success will continue.  That said, we are incredibly optimistic that 2017 will bring increasingly positive outcomes to shareholders and customers alike,” Adams concluded.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This release contains adjusted operating income, adjusted net income attributable to Spartan Motors, Inc., forecasted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), forecasted adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted earnings per share, which are all Non-GAAP financial measures.  These are calculated by excluding items that we believe to be infrequent or not indicative of our operating performance.  For the periods covered by this release such items consist of expenses associated with restructuring actions taken to improve the efficiency and profitability of certain of our manufacturing operations, accruals for product recalls and regulatory settlements, non-cash asset impairment charges, expenses related to a recent business acquisition and a non-cash deferred tax asset valuation allowance.  We present these adjusted Non-GAAP measures because we consider them to be important supplemental measures of our performance and believe them to be useful to show ongoing results from operations distinct from items that are infrequent or not indicative of our operating performance.  

The adjusted Non-GAAP measures are not measurements of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to operating income, net income attributable to Spartan Motors, Inc. or earnings per share under GAAP. These adjusted Non-GAAP measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. In addition, in evaluating the adjusted Non-GAAP measures, you should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses similar to the adjustments in this presentation, despite our assessment that such expenses are infrequent or not indicative of our operating performance.  Our presentation of the adjusted Non-GAAP measures should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or infrequent items. We compensate for these limitations by providing equal prominence of our GAAP results and using adjusted Non-GAAP measures only as a supplement.

The following tables reconcile operating income (loss) to adjusted operating income (loss), net income (loss) attributable to Spartan Motors to adjusted net income (loss) attributable to Spartan Motors, forecasted net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA and forecasted earnings (loss) per share to adjusted earnings (loss) per share for the periods indicated.

Conference Call, Webcast, Investor Presentation and Investor Information
Spartan Motors will host a conference call for analysts and portfolio managers at 10 a.m. ET today to discuss these results and current business trends.  The conference call and webcast will be available via:
Webcast: theshyftgroup.com (Click on “Investor Relations” then “Webcasts”)
Conference Call: 1-844-868-8845 (domestic) or 412-317-6591 (international); passcode: 10101442

For more information about Spartan, please visit theshyftgroup.com. 

About Spartan Motors
Spartan Motors, Inc. is a leading designer, engineer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialty vehicles, specialty chassis, vehicle bodies and parts for the fleet and delivery, recreational vehicle (RV), emergency response, defense forces and contract assembly (light/medium duty truck) markets. The Company’s brand names— Spartan Motors, Spartan Specialty Vehicles, Spartan Emergency Response, Spartan Parts and Accessories, and Utilimaster®, a Spartan Motors Company— are known for quality, durability, performance, customer service and first-to-market innovation. The Company operates facilities in Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, South Dakota, Saltillo, Mexico; and Lima, Peru. Spartan reported sales of $591 million in 2016. Visit Spartan Motors at theshyftgroup.com.

This release contains several forward-looking statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning our business, strategic position, financial projections, financial strength, future plans, objectives, and the performance of our products and operations.  These statements can be identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “potential,” “future,” “may,” “will,” “should,” and similar expressions regarding future expectations.  These forward-looking statements involve various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, and likelihood.  Therefore, actual performance and results may materially differ from what may be expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could contribute to these differences include operational and other complications that may arise affecting the implementation of our plans and business objectives; continued pressures caused by economic conditions and the pace and extent of the economic recovery; challenges that may arise in connection with the integration of new businesses or assets we acquire or the disposition of assets; restructuring of our operations, and/or our expansion into new geographic markets; issues unique to government contracting, such as competitive bidding processes, qualification requirements, and delays or changes in funding; disruptions within our dealer network; changes in our relationships with major customers, suppliers, or other business partners, including Isuzu; changes in the demand or supply of products within our markets or raw materials needed to manufacture those products; and changes in laws and regulations affecting our business.  Other factors that could affect outcomes are set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available at www.sec.gov or our website.  All forward-looking statements in this release are qualified by this paragraph.  Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results.  We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

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SOURCE Spartan Motors, Inc.

Rick Sohm, Chief Financial Officer, Spartan Motors, Inc., (517) 543-6400 or Juris Pagrabs, Group Treasurer & Director of Investor Relations, Spartan Motors, Inc., (517) 543-6400