Allied Motion Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2016

AMHERST, N.Y., March 13, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allied Motion Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AMOT ) (“Company”), a global designer and manufacturer of motion control products and solutions, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2016.  Results include the acquisition of Heidrive GmbH (“Heidrive”) acquired on January 12, 2016.

“We had growth in our Industrial/Electronics, Medical and Aerospace & Defense markets that was generated both organically as well as from our Heidrive acquisition,” commented Dick Warzala, Chairman and CEO of Allied Motion.  “As has been the case through the year, sales to the Vehicle market were down due to program end of life and softness in demand in certain applications within the market.  We continue to work on, and have made progress with diversifying our customers and applications to reduce the impact a specific market or customers can have on our results in the future.  We are building a solid pipeline of opportunities that addresses our diversification effort and which we expect will generate growth looking out for several years.  We are also addressing the impact of lower volume in certain facilities by adapting our operations to better meet the needs of the overall company.”

Full Year 2016 Results (Narrative compares with prior-year period unless otherwise noted)

Revenue of $245.9 million was up $13.5 million, or nearly 6% primarily due to Heidrive.  Sales to U.S. customers were 54% of total sales compared with 66% for the same period last year, with the balance of sales to customers primarily in Europe, Canada and Asia.  The impact of foreign currency exchange fluctuations was nominal.

Gross profit increased 6%, or $4.2 million, to $73.0 million largely due to higher year-over-year revenue. 

Operating costs and expenses were up $6.3 million, or 13%, to $54.1 million, primarily due to the addition of Heidrive and increased investments in information technology (“IT”) infrastructure and the sales organization.  Within operating expenses, engineering and development (“E&D”) was up $1.9 million, or 14%, to $16.2 million and increased as a percent of revenue to 6.6% from 6.1%.  Higher E&D investments were to develop standardized product platforms and provide customized motion solutions for customers.   

Higher interest expense included a $1.0 million write off of deferred financing costs in the fourth quarter associated with obtaining a new senior secured revolving credit facility.  Interest expense excluding the write off was down $0.4 million.  Given the lower cost of debt with the new credit facility, annual interest expense is expected to be reduced by approximately $3.3 million on a pre-tax basis, assuming a weighted average interest rate of approximately 3.1%. 

The effective tax rate for 2016 was 29.1%.  The Company anticipates its effective tax rate for 2017 to range from 29% to 32%.  Net income declined to $9.1 million reflecting increased operating costs from the acquisition and additional investments in IT infrastructure and the sales organization, which outpaced the rate of revenue growth. 

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock compensation expense, business development costs, and insurance recoveries (“Adjusted EBITDA”) was $30.5 million, slightly lower than 2015.  As a percent of sales, Adjusted EBITDA was 12.4% compared with 13.4% in 2015.

The Company believes that, when used in conjunction with measures prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP measure, helps in the understanding of its operating performance.  See the attached table for a description of non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliation table for Adjusted EBITDA.

Fourth Quarter 2016 Results (Narrative compares with prior-year period unless otherwise noted)

Revenue was $55.3 million, up $4.5 million, or 8.9%.  Sales to U.S. customers were 51% of total sales for the quarter compared with 65% for the same period last year, with the balance of sales to customers primarily in Europe, Canada and Asia. 

Gross profit for the quarter of $16.7 million, or 30.2% of sales, included a $780 thousand adjustment to correct an accounting error for certain intercompany sales.  The adjustment was retroactively applied to the first three quarters of 2016 for which gross profit and resulting net income had been understated previous to the correction.  The revisions to prior quarters and impact on the reported fourth quarter gross profit and net income are provided in the tables included in this release.

Operating costs and expenses were up $2.3 million to $14.1 million.  The increase was due to reasons similar as those in the year.  E&D expenses were $4.0 million, up 6.8%, although as a percent of revenue, E&D decreased 10 basis points to 7.2%.  E&D expenses are primarily related to new product development for standardized product platforms and customer specific application solutions. 

The effective tax rate in the fourth quarter was 24.5%.  The tax rate was lower than statutory rates due to a discreet tax benefit within the quarter associated with stock compensation expense and differences in foreign tax rates.  Net income for the quarter was relatively unchanged at $0.7 million.

Fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $5.8 million, up $0.3 million.  As a percent of sales, Adjusted EBITDA was 10.5% in the 2016 fourth quarter compared with 10.9% in the prior-year period. 

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Review

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2016 were $15.5 million compared with $21.3 million at the end of 2015.  For the acquisition of Heidrive in January 2016, the Company used $7.7 million in cash.  Capital expenditures were $5.2 million in 2016, up $0.5 million from the prior year.  Cash provided by operations in 2016 was $14.3 million compared with $20.1 million in the prior-year period.  Capital expenditures in 2017 are expected to be somewhat similar to 2016. 

Total debt was $71.4 million at quarter-end, up $4.0 million from year-end 2015 due to the Heidrive acquisition.  Debt, net of cash, was $55.9 million, or 43.6% of net debt to capitalization. 

During the fourth quarter, the Company secured a new senior revolving credit facility of $125 million.  The new facility was used to redeem the $30 million, 14.5% senior subordinated notes due in 2019 and repay $40.5 million outstanding on the Company’s previously existing revolving credit facility and term loan.  Assuming a weighted average interest rate of 3.1% and an effective tax rate of 31.5%, annual interest saving after tax is expected to be approximately $2.2 million, or $0.24 per diluted share.  

Orders and Backlog Summary ($ in thousands)

The increases in orders and backlog in the fourth quarter and full year compared with the prior-year periods primarily reflect the Heidrive acquisition.  The sequential quarterly decline in orders was mostly the result of weakness in certain applications within the Company’s Vehicle market. 

Mr. Warzala concluded, “The current projects we are working on, and believe we can win, will take a few years to get to full production.  But, they provide us a great position in the marketplace, validate the strength of our value proposition and enable us to leverage our successes to continue to grow.  We believe our unique offering of total motion solutions and the depth of our engineering know-how provides us a solid competitive advantage in this highly-fragmented industry.”

Conference Call and Webcast

The Company will host a conference call and webcast on Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 11:00 am ET.  During the conference call, management will review the financial and operating results and discuss Allied Motion’s corporate strategy and outlook.  A question and answer session will follow.

To listen to the live call, participants can call (631) 891-4304.  Alternatively, participants can pre-register at the link below.  An email notification will provide the dial-in number and a unique PIN to gain access to the call.  Pre-registration link: http://services.choruscall.ca/DiamondPassRegi...=19567f110

In addition, the call will be webcast live and may be found at: http://www.alliedmotion.com/investors   

To listen to the archived call, dial (412)-317-6671 and enter replay pin number 10002330 or access the webcast replay via the Company’s website.  The telephonic replay will be available from 2:00 pm ET on the day of the call through Tuesday, March 21, 2017.  A transcript will also be posted to the website once available.

About Allied Motion Technologies Inc.

Allied Motion (NASDAQ: AMOT ), designs, manufactures and sells precision and specialty motion control components and systems used in a broad range of industries within our major served markets, which include Vehicle, Medical, Aerospace & Defense, and Industrial/Electronics.  The Company is headquartered in Amherst, NY, has global operations and sells into markets across the United States, Canada, South America, Europe and Asia.

Allied Motion is focused on motion control applications and is known worldwide for its expertise in electro-magnetic, mechanical and electronic motion technology.  Its products include brush and brushless DC motors, brushless servo and torque motors, coreless DC motors, integrated brushless motor-drives, gear motors, gearing, modular digital servo drives, motion controllers, incremental and absolute optical encoders, and other associated motion control-related products. 

The Company’s growth strategy is focused on becoming the motion solution leader in its selected target markets by leveraging its “technology/know how” to develop integrated precision motion solutions that utilize multiple Allied Motion technologies to “change the game” and create higher value solutions for its customers.  The Company routinely posts news and other important information on its website at http://www.alliedmotion.com/ .

Safe Harbor Statement

The statements in this news release and in the Company’s March 14, 2017 conference call that relate to future plans, events or performance are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward‑looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate, or imply future results, performance, or achievements, and may contain the word “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” “should” or words or phrases of similar meaning.  Forward‑looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the expected results described in the forward‑looking statements.  The risks and uncertainties include those associated with: the domestic and foreign general business and economic conditions in the markets we serve, including political and currency risks and adverse changes in local legal and regulatory environments; the introduction of new technologies and the impact of competitive products; the ability to protect the Company’s intellectual property; our ability to sustain, manage or forecast its growth and product acceptance to accurately align capacity with demand; the continued success of our customers and the ability to realize the full amounts reflected in our order backlog as revenue; the loss of significant customers or the enforceability of the Company’s contracts in connection with a merger, acquisition, disposition, bankruptcy, or otherwise; our ability to meet the technical specifications of our customers; the performance of subcontractors or suppliers and the continued availability of parts and components; changes in government regulations; the availability of financing and our access to capital markets, borrowings, or financial transactions to hedge certain risks; the Company's ability to realize the annual interest expense savings from its debt refinancing; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel who can design new applications and products for the motion industry; the ability to implement our corporate strategies designed for growth and improvement in profits including to identify and consummate favorable acquisitions to support external growth and the development of new technologies; the ability to successfully integrate an acquired business into our business model without substantial costs, delays, or problems; our ability to control costs, including the establishment and operation of low cost region manufacturing and component sourcing capabilities; and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company’s SEC filings.  Actual results, events and performance may differ materially.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward‑looking statements as a prediction of actual results.  Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties arise over time, and it is not possible for us to predict the occurrence of those matters or the manner in which they may affect us. The Company has no obligation or intent to release publicly any revisions to any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

FINANCIAL TABLES FOLLOW

ALLIED MOTION TECHNOLOGIES INC. Adjustments by Quarter for Elimination of Intercompany Cost of Goods Sold ($, In thousands)

The Company's quarterly financial statements for each of the quarters included in its Form 10-Qs for the year ended December 31, 2016 contained an error related to the elimination of intercompany cost of sales.  The error has been corrected as of December 31, 2016, but since the adjustment was not material to any of the quarters the Form 10-Qs will not be amended.  Management has determined the effects to be neither quantitatively or qualitatively material to any of the Form 10-Qs filed during 2016. 

The following table illustrates the correction of the error to the previous three quarters of 2016 as shown in the statement of operations in the Form 10-Qs:

The following table illustrates the correction of the error as recorded in the Company’s financial statements:

  ALLIED MOTION TECHNOLOGIES INC.  Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures  (In thousands)

In addition to reporting net income, a U.S. generally accepted accounting principle (“GAAP”) measure, the Company presents Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock compensation expense, business development costs and insurance recoveries), which is a non-GAAP measure.  The Company believes Adjusted EBITDA is often a useful measure of a Company’s operating performance and is a significant basis used by the Company’s management to evaluate and compare the core operating performance of its business from period to period by removing the impact of the capital structure (interest), tangible and intangible asset base (depreciation and amortization), taxes, stock-based compensation expense, business development costs related to acquisitions, and other items that are not indicative of the Company’s core operating performance.  Adjusted EBITDA does not represent and should not be considered as an alternative to net income, operating income, net cash provided by operating activities or any other measure for determining operating performance or liquidity that is calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

The Company’s calculation of Adjusted EBITDA for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 is as follows:

Company Contact: Sue Chiarmonte Allied Motion Technologies Inc. Phone: 716-242-8634 x602 Email: sue.chiarmonte@alliedmotion.com Investor Contact: Deborah K. Pawlowski Kei Advisors LLC Phone: 716-843-3908 Email: dpawlowski@keiadvisors.com