Disciplined execution delivers strong margin, profitable growth and increased cash flow

DALLAS, Nov. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Builders FirstSource, Inc. (Nasdaq:  BLDR) today reported its results for the third quarter ending September 30, 2018.

Commenting on the results, CEO Chad Crow remarked, “In the third quarter, we delivered sales growth of 12.7 percent to $2.1 billion, with our higher margin value added products again growing by double digits. I am pleased to report that Adjusted EBITDA increased by 27 percent to $155 million, a strong performance in a volatile commodity environment. We continued to invest in our manufacturing capacity and efficiency enhancing initiatives to further strengthen and differentiate our platform and the value-added solutions we provide our customers.”

Peter Jackson, CFO, added, “The growth in Adjusted EBITDA dollars, and the improvement in EBITDA margin, reflected our ability to successfully manage the volatility in commodity costs during the quarter as well as realize cost efficiencies on a sustained basis. We generated solid cash flow in the third quarter and remain on track to delever below 3.5x by year end while continuing to fund our strategic initiatives and drive profitable growth.”

The Company has provided supplemental non-GAAP financial information of the consolidated company that is adjusted to exclude one-time integration and other one-time refinancing and other costs (“Adjusted”). As the information included herein includes non-GAAP financial information, please refer to the accompanying financial schedules for non-GAAP reconciliations to their GAAP equivalents. 

Third Quarter 2018 Compared to Third Quarter 2017:

Net Sales

• Net sales for the third quarter ending September 30, 2018 were $2.1 billion, a 12.7 percent increase compared to a year ago. Estimated sales volume grew 1.5 percent, while price increases related to commodity inflation resulted in an additional 11.2 percent in sales growth compared to the third quarter of 2017. Excluding commodity inflation, the single family homebuilding end market grew an estimated 3.1 percent while the multi-family end market was up 0.5 percent, offset by a 2.6 percent decline in the repair and remodel / other end market. Value added products sales, including the windows, doors and millwork, and manufactured products categories, grew by $92 million, or 13.9 percent, during the quarter.

Gross Margin

Gross margin of $522.8 million in the third quarter of 2018 increased by $63.5 million, or 13.8 percent, over the prior year. Gross margin percentage was 24.7 percent, an increase of approximately 0.3 percent compared to the third quarter of 2017 and an increase of 1 percent over the second quarter of 2018.  The margin percentage increased largely due to the decline in the cost of commodities during the quarter relative to our short term customer pricing commitments.  

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

• SG&A in the third quarter of 2018 was $401.0 million, or 18.9 percent of sales, compared to $370.6 million, or 19.7 percent of sales in the third quarter of 2017. The increase of approximately $30 million was largely due to higher variable compensation related to the improvement in performance, including higher commissions and incentives. As a percentage of sales, SG&A decreased by 80 basis points primarily due to cost leverage as well as continued cost management focused on general and administrative expenses.

Interest Expense

• Interest expense in the third quarter of 2018 was $29.1 million compared to $33.8 million in the same period last year.  The year over year reduction is largely a result of refinancing transactions the Company executed in 2017, slightly offset by rising interest rates.

Income Tax Expense

• GAAP income tax expense in the third quarter of 2018 was $19.4 million compared to income tax expense of $15.1 million in the third quarter of 2017.  The effective tax rate for the third quarter is approximately 20.9 percent compared to 27.5 percent in the third quarter of 2017.

Net Income

• Net income for the third quarter of 2018 was $73.3 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, compared to $39.8 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2017.
• Adjusted net income was $77.8 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, compared to $45.4 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2017. The year over year increase of $32.4 million, or 71.4 percent, was primarily driven by sales growth, particularly in higher margin value added product categories, as well as cost management and lower interest expense.   

Adjusted EBITDA

• Third quarter Adjusted EBITDA grew $32.8 million to $154.8 million compared to $122.0 million in the period a year ago, an increase of 26.9 percent.  The year over year improvement was largely driven by sales increases as higher prices, particularly in lumber and lumber sheet goods, benefited the Company’s gross profit and Adjusted EBITDA dollars. As a result, Adjusted EBITDA improved to 7.3 percent of sales in the third quarter from 6.5 percent in the same period a year ago.

Year to Date September 30, 2018 Financial Information:

Net Sales

• Net sales year to date were $5.9 billion, a 12.4 percent increase over the first nine months of 2017.

Net Income

• In the first nine months of 2018, net income was $153.2 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, compared to $81.5 million, or $0.71 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2017, an increase of $0.60 per diluted share, or 84.5 percent.
• Adjusted net income was $168.1 million, or $1.44 per diluted share, compared to $100.6 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2017, an increase of $0.57 per diluted share.  The year over year increase of $67.5 million, or 67.1 percent, was primarily driven by the Company’s sales growth, cost efficiencies, and lower interest expense. 

Adjusted EBITDA

• Adjusted EBITDA for the first nine months of 2018 grew $54.5 million to $376.6 million, or 6.4 percent of sales, compared to $322.1 million, or 6.1 percent of sales, for the first nine months of 2017. The year over year improvement was primarily attributable to sales growth and ongoing cost management, offset in part by the impact of commodity inflation on gross margin. The 16.9 percent growth was achieved as investments in growth and efficiency initiatives continued, including additional sales associates, new locations and operational excellence initiatives. 
• Although rapid commodity inflation can cause short term gross margin percentage compression as prices are rising, higher sustained commodity prices generally benefit the Company’s gross profit and Adjusted EBITDA dollars.

Capital Structure, Leverage, and Liquidity Information:

• Adjusted EBITDA, on a trailing 12 month basis, was $473.4 million and net debt was $1,824.2 million as of September 30, 2018. The Company decreased its leverage ratio versus September 30, 2017 by 0.7x, to 3.9x net debt / Adjusted EBITDA despite the higher commodity costs in its working capital. The Company expects to reduce its leverage ratio to below 3.5x by year end. 
• Due to seasonal working capital needs in the first nine months of 2018, net cash used in operations and investing was $67.3 million.  The Company expects to generate $170 – 190 million in cash from operations and investing activities for the full year 2018, in line with its full year cash flow guidance.
• Liquidity at September 30, 2018 was $448.2 million, which consisted of net borrowing availability under the revolving credit facility and cash on hand.

Please refer to the accompanying financial schedules for more information.

Outlook
Concluding, Mr. Crow added, “While the rate of market growth has recently eased, the long term outlook for the housing industry continues to be favorable as do the opportunities for Builders FirstSource to generate profitable growth for the balance of 2018 and beyond. We continue to invest in high margin value added products and operational excellence initiatives that position us well within the industry.  Our associates remain focused on developing close relationships with our customers across our national footprint and have demonstrated this commitment in the third quarter. I want to thank our team for its disciplined execution and continuing focus on customer value, as well as delivering strong earnings and cash flow to our shareholders.” 

Conference Call
Builders FirstSource will host a conference call Friday, November 2, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time (CT) and will simultaneously broadcast it live on the Internet. The earnings release presentation will be posted at www.bldr.com under the “investors” section before the call.  To participate in the teleconference, please dial into the call a few minutes before the start time: 877-260-1479 (U.S. and Canada) and 334-323-0522 (international), Conference ID: 5738521.  A replay of the call will be available at 1:00 p.m. Central Time through November 17^th.  To access the replay, please dial 888-203-1112 (U.S. and Canada) and 719-457-0820 (international) and refer to pass code 573821. The live webcast and archived replay can also be accessed on the Company's website at www.bldr.com under the “Investors” section.  The online archive of the webcast will be available for approximately 90 days.

About Builders FirstSource

2017 Sales: $7.0 Billion   |  Associates:  15 Thousand   |   Operations in 40 states

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Builders FirstSource is the largest U.S supplier of building products, prefabricated components, and value-added services to the professional market segment for new residential construction and repair and remodeling.  We provide customers an integrated homebuilding solution, offering manufacturing, supply, delivery and installation of a full range of structural and related building products.  We operate in 40 states with over 400 locations and have a market presence in 75 of the top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, providing geographic diversity and balanced end market exposure.  We service customers from strategically located distribution facilities and manufacturing facilities (some of which are co-located) that produce value-added products such as roof and floor trusses, wall panels, stairs, vinyl windows, custom millwork and pre-hung doors. Builders FirstSource also distributes dimensional lumber and lumber sheet goods, millwork, windows, interior and exterior doors, and other building products. For more information about Builders FirstSource, visit the Company’s website at www.bldr.com.

Cautionary Notice
Statements in this news release and the schedules hereto that are not purely historical facts or that necessarily depend upon future events, including statements about expected market share gains, forecasted financial performance or other statements about anticipations, beliefs, expectations, hopes, intentions or strategies for the future, may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.  In addition, oral statements made by our directors, officers and employees to the investor and analyst communities, media representatives and others, depending upon their nature, may also constitute forward-looking statements. As with the forward-looking statements included in this release, these forward-looking statements are by nature inherently uncertain, and actual results may differ materially as a result of many factors.  All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to Builders FirstSource, Inc. on the date this release was submitted.  Builders FirstSource, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Any forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements, including risks or uncertainties related to the Company’s growth strategies, including gaining market share, or the Company’s revenues and operating results being highly dependent on, among other things, the homebuilding industry, lumber prices and the economy.  Builders FirstSource, Inc. may not succeed in addressing these and other risks.  Further information regarding factors that could affect our financial and other results can be found in the risk factors section of Builders FirstSource, Inc.’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Consequently, all forward-looking statements in this release are qualified by the factors, risks and uncertainties contained therein.

Contact:
Binit Sanghvi
VP Investor Relations                                                 
Builders FirstSource, Inc.
(214) 765-3804                                              

Financial Schedules to Follow

BUILDERS FIRSTSOURCE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME 

BUILDERS FIRSTSOURCE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

BUILDERS FIRSTSOURCE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

Supplemental disclosure of non-cash activities

For the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, the Company retired assets subject to lease finance obligations of $0.6 million and $15.0 million and extinguished the related lease finance obligation of $0.7 million and $12.9 million, respectively.

The Company purchased equipment which was financed through capital lease obligations of $9.0 million and $14.2 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. In addition, purchases of property, plant and equipment included in accounts payable were $2.5 million and $1.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Source: Builders FirstSource, Inc.