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Miller Industries Inc (MLR -1.95%)
Q3Â 2019 Earnings Call
Nov 7, 2019, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
- Prepared Remarks
- Questions and Answers
- Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Miller Industries third quarter 2019 results conference call. Please note this event is being recorded. And now at this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Brendan Dunlap at FTI Consulting. Please go ahead, sir.
Brendan Dunlap -- FTI Consulting
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I would like to welcome you to the Miller Industries conference call. We are here to discuss the company's 2019 third quarter results, which were released after the close of market yesterday. With us from the management team today are Bill Miller, Chairman of the Board; Jeff Badgley, Co-CEO; Debbie Whitmire, Executive Vice President and CFO, and Frank Madonia, Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel.
Today's call will begin with formal remarks from management followed by a question-and-answer period. Please note in this morning's conference call management may make forward-looking statements in accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. I'd like to call your attention to the risks related to these statements, which are more fully described in the company's Annual Report filed on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
With these formalities out of the way, I'd like to turn the call over to Jeff. Please go ahead, Jeff.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
Thank you and good morning. We are pleased to discuss our third quarter results with you today. This was a solid quarter. Miller Industries increased its gross profits, expanded its gross margins and continued to strengthen its balance sheet. The strong execution during the third quarter reflects our continued focus on driving operational excellence across our business.
Revenue during the third quarter declined 0.1% to $195.5 million versus $195.7 million a year ago, which reflects temporary supply chain challenges with certain chassis manufacturers. These challenges have been addressed by both the suppliers and ourselves and we do not anticipate this will impact the fourth quarter. Despite these temporary challenges, we were able to increase gross profits by 1.3% year-over-year to $21.7 million and expand our gross margins 10 basis points year-over-year to 11.1%, which reflects our strong cost control and discipline. As such, net income was $8.1 million or $0.71 per share compared to net income of $8.7 million or $0.76 per share in the third quarter of 2018.
Additionally, during the quarter we continue to invest in our business by enhancing our software capabilities to better serve our customers, which resulted in a 50 basis point increase in SG&A, as a percentage of net sales to 5.3%. The investments we're making in technology will enable us to increase our administrative efficiency, improve our data analytic capabilities and increase our service levels for our customers.
We are currently in the early phases of rolling out this new technology and I am pleased to announce that the implementation is on schedule. As we move into the fourth quarter we remain confident in the underlying strength of our business, both domestic and international, and are committed to providing best-in-class service to our customers while investing for long-term growth. Further, our balance sheet remains healthy, as we continue to pay down debt and strategically deploy our resources to drive long-term organic growth and profitability to meet the demand of our customers and create sustainable value for our shareholders.
We remain confident in our competitive position and in our financial outlook. Now I'll turn the call over to Debbie who will review the third quarter financial results. After that I'll be back with comments about the market environment and some closing remarks. Debbie?
Debbie Whitmire -- Chief Financial Officer
Thanks, Jeff. Good morning, everyone. Net sales for the third quarter 2019 were $195.5 million versus $195.7 million for the third quarter of 2018, a 0.1% year-over-year increase driven by -- decrease -- I'm sorry, driven by temporary supply related delays mentioned earlier. Cost of operations decreased 0.3% to $173.7 million for the third quarter 2019 compared to $174.2 million for the third quarter of 2018 as a result of our continued commitment to increasing production efficiencies. Cost of operations, as a percentage of net sales, contracted approximately 15 basis points to 88.9% from the prior year period. Gross profit of $21.7 million, or 11.1% of net sales for the third quarter 2019, compared to $21.5 million or 11% of net sales for the third quarter 2018, reflecting our stringent cost control efforts. SG&A expenses were $10.5 million for the third quarter 2019, compared to $9.5 million for the third quarter 2018. As a percentage of sales, SG&A increased approximately 50 basis points to 5.3% from 4.8% in the prior-year period, driven by escalated marketing efforts and investments we've made to implement our new systems technology.
Interest expense net for the third quarter 2019 was $424,000 compared to $525,000 for the third quarter 2018, which decrease was primarily due to increases in interest income on distributor receivables. Other expense for the third quarter 2019 was a net expense of $231,000, compared to a net expense of $76,000 for the third quarter 2018, due to currency exchange rate fluctuations.
Net income for the third quarter 2019 was $8.1 million or $0.71 per diluted share. Net income for the third quarter 2018 was $8.7 million, or $0.76 per diluted share. Now, let me briefly review the results for our nine months ended September 30th, 2019. Net sales for the first nine months for 2019 were $615 million compared to $531.7 million in the prior-year period, an increase of 15.7%. Gross profit for the nine months ended September 30th, 2019 was $69.6 million or 11.3% of sales, compared to $61.1 million or 11.5% of sales for the first nine months of 2018. Net income for the first nine months of 2019 was $27.4 million or $2.41 per diluted share, an increase of 19.5% compared to net income for the first nine months of 2018 of $22.9 million or $2.01 per diluted share.
Now turning to our balance sheet. Cash and cash equivalents, as of September 30 2019, was $27.5 million compared to $27.2 million as of June 30, 2019 and $27 million at December 31, 2018. Accounts receivable at September 30, 2019 totaled $165.8 million, compared to $197.8 million, as of June 30, 2019 and $149.1 million at December 31, 2018. Inventories were $98.1 million, as of September 30, 2019, compared to $91 million as of June 30, 2019 and $93.8 million at December 31, 2018. Accounts payable at September 30, 2019 was $114.9 million, compared to $129.4 million, as of June 30, 2019 and $98.2 million at December 31, 2018. We reduced our long-term debt by approximately $10 million during the quarter from the prior quarter, bringing the balance to approximately $10 million as of September 30, 2019.
Overall, our balance sheet remains strong and we continue to generate solid free cash flow, which provides us with financial flexibility to invest in our business and continue to drive long-term shareholder value. Lastly, the company also announced that its Board of Directors approved our quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share payable December 16, 2019 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 9, 2019.
Now I'll turn the call back to Jeff for further remarks.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Debbie. Our performance this quarter was very encouraging as we were able to overcome challenging circumstances faced during the quarter. Reflecting on the first nine months of 2019, we are extremely pleased with our performance, specifically the year-over-year revenue increased during the first nine months of $83.3 million along with the gross profit increase of $8.5 million and a $0.40 increase in net income per diluted share.
As we move toward year-end and look forward into 2020, we continue to be confident in the strength of our backlog and the underlying positive fundamentals in all our end markets. To underscore our continued commitment to returning shareholder value, we have declared our quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share. Finally, we are confident that we will continue to benefit from our strategic capital investments, while we continue to explore future opportunities. In closing, I'd like to thank our employees, our customers, suppliers and shareholders for their ongoing support of Miller Industries. With that we're ready to take your questions. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question today will come from James Lee with Potrero Capital.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Thanks for taking my call. The supply chain issues regarding chassis, was it -- did it impact domestic or is there also international as well?
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
The supply chain issues on revenue were purely domestic.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Okay. So, I see that domestically that you guys were up 11%. If you didn't have the supply chain issue, what do you think your growth would have been?
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
And we believe that the supply chain issue with the chassis had 3% to 4% impact on total revenue.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Okay, total revenue, not just domestic.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
No, total revenue.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
And you said that's been fixed. So that shouldn't impact Q4. Correct.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, we're on the right track in Q4.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Okay. So it sounds like there should be some backlog that will get pushed to Q4 because of the supply chain issue that you should see sort of a greater delivery in Q4 from the delay in Q3.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
I don't know that it will be totally additive, but I'm not going to disagree with your statement, but we are back on the right track with our chassis deliveries.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
And internationally is it -- where does that -- to read from your press release that you expect international growth to bounce back, to be positive in Q4.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
Well, we certainly due to timing of certain contracts Q3 deliveries were down. We have started those contracts and in fact in Q4 have already started delivering on those contracts. So I would expect us to get back to a normalized range, yes.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Okay. And that normalized means growth. Correct. I think that in the press release it reads like, I think you said deliveries -- anticipate increase in deliveries in fourth quarter. So I'm expecting --
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
We will increase deliveries in the fourth quarter over the third quarter. That is for sure. Long-term growth we have been very successful in military contracts and some foreign contracts with companies. I would expect that we will continue to be successful, especially on the military side. But to look at the 2020 growth perspectives over 2019, I think we're there based on the backlog. But again, there are certain delivery timing issues that I haven't completely gone through or performance of those contracts. And I don't want to mislead you. So I can do that. I have the ability to do that and I apologize that I haven't.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Okay. And as you talk to your dealers, have you heard from the dealers as I've expressed macro concerns in the US or internationally and whether that has impacted dealer inventories?
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
Our dealers are still reporting strong sales and a busy environment domestically. So, I don't know that they've impacted their inventory levels. Our dealers are very good business people. Their inventory -- I have not checked their inventory levels because I have international responsibility. But I don't think they've been impacted. In other words, I don't think they are slowing down. Things in the market seem to be very, very good.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
And that's in the US. What about internationally, because I think you guys called out Brexit.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, I don't think Brexit will have any significant impact to Miller Industries in overall. Our UK subsidiary, mainly cells in the UK, their customer base is in the UK and it does very little export business out of the UK. So although I can't guarantee that. I can't guarantee what our currency is going to do. I can't guarantee what the psychological effect Brexit will have on the customer base. But overall, I don't think it will have a significant impact to Miller Industries.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Okay. And I noticed your capex -- capital expenditures this year is starting to ramp again. Could you discuss why because my understanding is that capex should have normalized from the lower level after your plant renovation has completed?
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
Debbie, I'm going to turn that one over to you.
Debbie Whitmire -- Chief Financial Officer
Okay, thanks, Jeff. Part of the capex for the year is the investment in the systems technology that we mentioned in the 10-Q. We have started the road of upgrading our ERP system and adding on some different modules to that for data analytics, artificial intelligence, that type of technology. So part of that capital expenditure is to invest in that future technology.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
What do you think the -- how is the capex will trend both this year and next year?
Debbie Whitmire -- Chief Financial Officer
Yeah obviously, we've got some maintenance coming up for some of our assets that we put in place over the last few years. I would say it's going to trend pretty much the way that it has been in the last few quarters. As we look for opportunities both on -- in innovation of our product and investment in robotics, 3D printing, any of those opportunities that might arise as well as the technology stock. I think we'll try to take advantage of those opportunities. So, I wouldn't be conservative with it because we do like to take advantage of those opportunities when they arise.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
I mean just I'm trying to figure out with it, what should we expect CapEx potentially to trend back toward the level that you guys have seen in the past before the factory event -- the expansion.
Debbie Whitmire -- Chief Financial Officer
I would say, a good average to use would be $15 million for the year, but again as opportunities arise, we may take advantage of those. But a normalized run rate would probably be in the neighborhood of $15 million.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
That's the rate we should look forward to over the next few years, not just this year or next.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
While we certainly hope that's the case. Opportunities do present themselves. And if we're given the opportunity to increase shareholder value by making the proper capex expenditure, we will take advantage of that, especially with our financial position and our debt levels being so low. So, yeah, that would be the plan.
Bill Miller -- Chairman of the Board
Jeff, and Lee, this is Bill Miller. I think that what you have to keep in mind and having been the Founder and built the company. All of our growth historically, which has averaged over I think our internal growth rate has been over 12% for the entire life of this company is all done internally with R&D, new products, new ideas. As Jeff was commenting as to the the current attitude of the distributors, we just introduced a new 100 ton rotator at a special showing of which -- what was it Jeff? 1,500 of our distributors and best customers paid their own way there to see it. They were all extremely excited.
So I know that they are in very good stead. But I also know that if we don't invest in our capex we will not be able to continue to get this over 10% per year kind of growth rate. A good example and part of the issue, we just built a whole new R&D center just for the projects that are on the future in the forefront right now. So that we can continue to get this kind of growth rate looking forward.
So we spend money to generate money, our returns or the Board doesn't like to look at anything under 30%, unless it's a capital constraint kind of issue, capacity constraints. So all right. Yeah. We spend a little money, but our return is very large compared to making acquisitions or some other alternative.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Got it. So, I suppose -- I mean we are going to capex level prior to your factory expansion, I think it was neighborhood of $5 million, $10 million per year before that. So that's not a level that we should be thinking about going forward, it won't be that low.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
Well, the only thing I would realize, Debbie what is our depreciation write-off to -- I seem to remember it's about --
Debbie Whitmire -- Chief Financial Officer
$10 million, $12 million.
Bill Miller -- Chairman of the Board
Yeah $12 million. You got a little bit more. And we historically have tried to at least stay on that kind of a track to continue to replace and build our plant. Other than this expansion, which was not as staying up [Indecipherable] better idea. And we have an R&D business out there and you -- when you look at capex right now our R&D business, there we go out to build these new products. Thanks to the current situation. We are able to recover that cash, so we are all about new products, new ideas and future growth through internal growth. Got it.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Assuming, last question is on capital allocation. Assuming your demand environment remains strong and it sounds like capex is going to be like what it was in, when you guys were expanding the new factory, you should see start generating more free cash flow. How do you guys think about return on capital to shareholders either via increase in dividend or perhaps stock buyback?
Bill Miller -- Chairman of the Board
We do everything we can and we will continue to do everything we can to give a great return to our shareholders, which includes, as you said, dividends, stock buybacks, those are items that our Board considers every quarter. And as we feel comfortable with them we move forward with them. We kind of put a little freeze on dividend for the last little period because of the capex we're spending and the lack of timing between when we generated the cash and when we had to spend the cash. So we used our bank loan to offset that. Now as you can see we've almost got it all paid back now and we would hope that in the near future, we will be back to zero debt. And at that point we start to look at other ways to enhance our shareholder value.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Are there any big capital projects that you see in the horizon that may constrain your return of capital to shareholders?
Bill Miller -- Chairman of the Board
No, I don't see them. Jeff, do you see any?
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
No sir.
Bill Miller -- Chairman of the Board
Debbie?
Debbie Whitmire -- Chief Financial Officer
No sir.
Bill Miller -- Chairman of the Board
Right now I don't see any that are in front of us that would have some kind of already strained like the $50 million we had to spend to be able to jump from $500 billion to have capacity to get to $800 million, $900 million whatever the customers demand.
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
Got it, great, thank you.
Operator
Thank you. And just a reminder, ladies and gentlemen. [Operator Instructions] And with no further questions in the queue that does conclude today's question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Jeff Badgley for any additional or closing remarks.
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
We'd like to thank you for joining us on our Q3 conference call and we look forward to talking to you and reporting our Q4 results in our next call. Thank you very much.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks].
Duration: 28 minutes
Call participants:
Brendan Dunlap -- FTI Consulting
Jeffrey I. Badgley -- Co-Chief Executive Officer
Debbie Whitmire -- Chief Financial Officer
Bill Miller -- Chairman of the Board
James Lee -- Potrero Capital -- Analyst
