WEST FARGO, N.D., — Titan Machinery Inc., a leading network of full-service agricultural and construction equipment stores, reported financial results for the fiscal first quarter ended April 30, 2018.

David Meyer, Titan Machinery's chairman and chief executive officer, stated, "During the first quarter, we experienced improvements in gross and pre-tax margins driven by higher equipment margins, lower interest expense and our better-positioned expense structure. These results were partially offset by the late start to the spring planting season, which affected certain areas of our business including parts and service revenue. Overall, our first quarter margin improvements highlight the enhancements we've made to our operating model, and we believe this is setting the foundation for stronger top and bottom line results in fiscal 2019."

Fiscal 2019 First Quarter Results

Consolidated Results
For the first quarter of fiscal 2019, revenue was $245.7 million, compared to $264.1 million in the first quarter last year. Equipment sales were $156.9 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to $167.9 million in the first quarter last year. Parts sales were $51.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to $56.6 million in the first quarter last year. Revenue generated from service was $27.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to $28.8 million in the first quarter last year. Revenue from rental and other was $9.9 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to $10.9 million in the first quarter last year.

Gross profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $47.6 million, compared to $48.9 million in the first quarter last year. The company's gross profit margin was 19.4% in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to 18.5% in the first quarter last year primarily due to improved equipment margins.

Operating expenses decreased by $5.3 million to $46.7 million, or 19.1% of revenue, for the first quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to $52.0 million, or 19.6% of revenue, for the first quarter of last year. These decreases are primarily the result of cost savings arising from the company's fiscal 2018 restructuring efforts that were completed early in the third quarter of fiscal 2018, partially offset by an increase in International segment operating expenses resulting from the continued build-out of the company's footprint and presence in European markets.

Floorplan interest expense was $1.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to $2.7 million in the first quarter of last year. The decrease in floorplan interest expense is primarily due to a decrease in the level of interest-bearing inventory in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 as well as a $0.6 million expense recognized in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 related to the unwinding of the Company's interest rate swap instrument.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, net loss was $1.6 million, or a loss per diluted share of $0.07, compared to a net loss of $5.9 million, or a loss per diluted share of $0.27 for the first quarter of last year.

On an adjusted basis, net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $1.6 million, or an adjusted loss per diluted share of $0.07, compared to an adjusted net loss of $4.2 million, or an adjusted loss per diluted share of $0.19, for the first quarter of last year.

The company generated $5.3 million in adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to $1.6 million in the first quarter of last year.

Segment Results
Agriculture Segment - Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $142.9 million, compared to $163.6 million in the first quarter last year. A portion of the decrease was due to a lower store count resulting from the company's fiscal 2018 restructuring plan. Pre-tax income for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $1.3 million, compared to pre-tax loss of $3.9 million in the first quarter last year. Adjusted pre-tax income for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $1.3 million, compared to an adjusted pre-tax loss of $2.4 million in the first quarter last year.

Construction Segment - Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $62.1 million, compared to $63.4 million in the first quarter last year. Pre-tax loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $2.9 million, compared to a pre-tax loss of $2.6 million in the first quarter last year. Adjusted pre-tax loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $2.9 million, compared to an adjusted pre-tax loss of $2.5 million in the first quarter last year.

InternationalSegment - Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $40.7 million, compared to $37.1 million in the first quarter last year. The increase in revenue is primarily due to increased equipment revenue as the result of the build out of the company's footprint in its European markets, partially offset by a slow start to the planting season in certain of the company's European markets, which impacted the company's parts and service business. Pre-tax loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $0.1 million, compared to pre-tax income of $0.6 million in the first quarter last year. The decrease in pre-tax results for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was primarily due to increased operating expenses resulting from the build out of the Company's footprint and presence in its European markets.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

The company ended the first quarter of fiscal 2019 with $57.3 million of cash. The company's inventory level increased to $518.2 million as of April 30, 2018, compared to $472.5 million as of January 31, 2018. This inventory increase includes a $44.4 million increase in equipment inventory, which reflects an increase in new equipment inventory of $48.7 million, partially offset by a $4.2 million decrease in used equipment inventory. The increase in new equipment reflects seasonal stocking, purchasing certain core equipment earlier than normal due to longer manufacturer lead times and purchasing equipment ahead of potential steel surcharges later in the year. The company had $320.9 million outstanding floorplan payables on $629.4 million total discretionary floorplan lines of credit as of April 30, 2018, compared to $247.4 million outstanding floorplan payables as of January 31, 2018.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, the company's net cash used for operating activities was $27.0 million, compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $40.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. The company evaluates its cash flow from operating activities net of all floorplan payable activity and maintaining a constant level of equity in its equipment inventory. Taking these adjustments into account, adjusted net cash used for operating activities was $25.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to adjusted net cash used for operating activities of $6.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2018.

Acquisition of German Dealership Group, AGRAM

As previously announced on April 30, 2018, the company entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire all of the interests of two companies, AGRAM Landtechnikvertrieb GmbH and AGRAM Landtechnik Rollwitz GmbH (collectively, "AGRAM"), which consists of four CaseIH agriculture dealership locations in the following cities of Germany: Altranft, Burkau, Gutzkow and Rollwitz. In its most recent fiscal year, AGRAM generated revenue of approximately $30 million. The acquisition is expected to close in July 2018.

Meyer concluded, "We are extremely excited about bringing AGRAM into the Titan Machinery family and leveraging their expertise in one of the most developed agricultural markets in Europe. As a result of AGRAM's expected contributions to our consolidated financials, we are raising our International segment revenue growth assumption to a new range of 10% to 15% for fiscal 2019. We are also raising our equipment margin range for fiscal 2019, which gives us increased confidence in our previously announced EPS range for the year."

Updating Fiscal 2019 Modeling Assumptions

The company's fiscal 2019 modeling assumptions are as follows:

 

Conference Call and Presentation Information

The company will host a conference call and audio webcast today at 7:30 a.m. Central time (8:30 a.m. Eastern time). Investors interested in participating in the live call can dial (866) 548-4713 from the U.S. International callers can dial (323) 794-2093. A telephone replay will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes and will be available through Thursday, June 14, 2018, by dialing (844) 512-2921 from the U.S., or (412) 317-6671 from international locations, and entering confirmation code 7293506.

A copy of the presentation that will accompany the prepared remarks from the conference call is available on the company's website under Investor Relations at www.titanmachinery.com. An archive of the audio webcast will be available on the company's website under Investor Relations at www.titanmachinery.com for 30 days following the audio webcast.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Within this release, the company refers to certain adjusted financial measures, which have directly comparable GAAP financial measures as identified in this release. The company believes that these non- GAAP financial measures, when reviewed in conjunction with GAAP financial measures, can provide more information to assist investors in evaluating current period performance and in assessing future performance. For these reasons, internal management reporting also includes non-GAAP measures. Generally, the non-GAAP measures include adjustments for items such as gains on the repurchase of senior convertible notes, costs associated with our restructuring activities and the reclassification of accumulated loss on our interest rate swap instrument. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not superior to or as a substitute for the GAAP financial measures presented in this release and the company's financial statements and other publicly filed reports. Non-GAAP measures as presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliations of adjusted financial measures used in this release to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. These reconciliations are attached to this release. The tables included in the Non-GAAP Reconciliations section reconcile net income (loss), diluted earnings (loss) per share, income (loss) before income taxes, and net cash provided by (used for) operating activities (all GAAP financial measures) for the periods presented to adjusted net income (loss), adjusted EBITDA, adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share, adjusted income (loss) before income taxes, and adjusted net cash provided by (used for) operating activities (all non-GAAP financial measures) for the periods presented.

For the full fiscal results view the press release here.