WEST CHICAGO, Ill., (July 31, 2024) -- Titan International, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of off-highway wheels, tires, assemblies, and undercarriage products, today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024.
Paul Reitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The work we have done to optimize our operations, build a strong team, reduce our debt and diversify our company, culminating with the acquisition of Carlstar in February, has enabled Titan to deliver solid financial results while our industry is working its way through a cyclical trough.”
“Despite this, we are very pleased to report adjusted EBITDA of $49 million and free cash flow of $53 million. While sales of new equipment by leading OEMs in both Ag and Construction have slowed, our expanded ability to provide aftermarket products as the premier one-stop shop with the acquisition of Carlstar is an important addition as farmers, power sports enthusiasts, homeowners, and others continue to delay new equipment purchases, thus driving a need for replacement tires."
Reitz continued, "Our results over the past few years speak for themselves. An integral piece of that success is our Low-Side Wall ("LSW") wheel/tire assemblies that were developed back in 1997 when my old boss had the crazy idea to increase the outside diameter of the wheel and reduce the inside diameter of the tire on farm tire/wheel assemblies.
"He worked hard to get the OEMs to bite on that concept, but didn't get any takers. Now that LSW design is on nearly every pickup truck and SUV around the world. When I became CEO in 2017, LSW was still seen by some inside Titan as concept that was not meant for Ag equipment.”
“We have since proven to not just ourselves, but throughout the farming community the real benefits of LSW, especially its ability to make them more money by saving fuel and improving yields while tackling the most difficult conditions and enjoying a more comfortable ride in the field and on the road,” said Reitz. “We have proven this with thousands of farmers and have seen our LSW sales significantly grow since 2017. We believe that growth is nowhere near its pinnacle."
"In August, I was invited to visit a couple large farmers in central Canada that recently started using Titan's 1400 LSWs and are ecstatic with the fuel efficiency and overall performance of their LSWs,” Reitz said. “These farmers have a lot of influence among their peers, and we expect the leading OEMs will be listening closely to hear what they are saying about LSWs. This opportunity in Canada is an example of how Titan sees a continuing growth path ahead for LSWs to increase market penetration there and in Brazil while continuing to also grow our base in the US.
“Farmers are seeing the benefits of LSW just as the rest of us have all seen the benefits in our trucks and SUVs, so it's easy to see how nearly all Agriculture and Construction equipment could perform better with LSWs. Our team has developed a deep connection with farmers which has led to dealers developing a strong aftermarket channel to get LSWs to end-users in order to make their equipment perform better,” he said.
“That aftermarket demand created the pull to where we now have OEMs offering LSWs across their equipment portfolio,” Reitz said. “6% savings on fuel costs along with superior performance in the field and lower maintenance costs gets peoples' attention. Today we estimate that approximately 80% of tractors run a dual tire configuration that could benefit by converting to LSWs. Looking towards the future, we have a deep drop rim that will only make LSWs perform better and further excites our team. “
“We're also excited about other, non-farm opportunities, such as the military. I just met a retired military general that handled procurement and he was ecstatic about working with us to get LSWs introduced to the military branches. The government is a substantial buyer of trucks and we are going to chase that volume with LSWs. If it works in the heartland, it will work on the front lines."
Mr. Reitz continued, "Interest rates continue to weigh on the industries we serve. High horsepower agricultural equipment represents a significant purchase for farmers and thus they are highly attuned to the associated financing costs. With the possibility of interest rate cuts on the horizon, farmers are choosing to defer major purchases. Similarly, interest rates impact the cost of working capital for both OEMs and Aftermarket dealers who are being extremely cautious about the levels of inventory they are carrying in their factories and on their lots.”
“We believe that the headwinds we are presently facing are transitory. Equipment currently in the field continues to be used and will ultimately need to be replaced. Additionally, as Ag OEMs continue to introduce new technologies into their products, the ROI that new equipment can produce, including the latest tire technology, will begin to outweigh the financing costs and help drive long term demand. Turning to our EMC segment, sales there held up relatively well.”
“From a volume perspective, ITM, our steel undercarriage business saw an increase year over year in the quarter, while total sales in the segment were down, with lower prices driven by steel costs and softness on construction wheels and tires in the US,” said Reitz. “Resource industries like mining continue to be active as our technologically dependent society demands an ever-increasing supply of rare earth elements and we expect that to underpin solid demand over the mid to long term."
Mr. Reitz concluded, "Identifying the cyclical bottom for our industries in advance is virtually impossible to do with any precision. Even so, as we continue to work through the current trough, we are confident that the long term, structural demand drivers for the industries we serve are very much intact. Our team also has extensive experience navigating through these cycles and we are confident in our strategy. Recognition of the cyclicality of our business was one of the reasons we worked hard to de-lever when buoyant market conditions afforded us the opportunity to do so the last few years.”
“As a result, we entered this down part of the cycle with the ability to continue generating free cash flow, which, when compared to the first quarter of 2024, allowed us to reduce our net debt by $43 million, increase our cash position by more than $20 million, and deliver value to our shareholders through additional share repurchases,” he said. “As conditions improve, which they unquestionably will, we expect to be well positioned to drive organic revenue growth with accelerating profitability."
Third Quarter 2024 Outlook
The Company is introducing financial guidance for Q3 2024 as follows:
- Revenues of $450 million to $500 million
- Adjusted EBITDA of $25 million to $30 million
- Free cash flow of $20 to $30 million
- Capital expenditures of $10 to $15 million
David Martin, Chief Financial Officer, added, "As Paul noted, Titan is in a strong financial position which enables the Company to navigate the current industry conditions and put us in position to expand sales and accelerate our profitability when conditions improve, as they ultimately will. Our integration of Carlstar continues to go well. Our pursuit of acquisition-related synergies have placed us well along the path to achieve our target bottom-line benefit of $5 million to $6 million this year and $25 million to $30 million long term."
Mr. Martin continued, "Our solid cash flow during the second quarter allowed us to continue reducing our net debt from $370 million at the end of the first quarter to $326 million on June 30th. Our resulting net leverage at the end of the second quarter was 1.8x, compared to 2.0x as of March 31st.
"During the second quarter we focused on identifying and implementing enterprise-wide cost control initiatives, including workforce realignment, along with reducing working capital, most notably inventory. Our flexible balance sheet also allowed us to continue our share repurchase program as we bought 775,000 shares during the second quarter. As of June 30th, we had approximately $9.6 million remaining under the Board authorized $50 million share repurchase program."
Mr. Martin concluded, "Our adjusted net income applicable to shareholders of $7.1 million, and adjusted EPS of $0.10 for the quarter were negatively impacted by higher than normal tax expense of $15.5 million for the quarter. With the lower profitability in our United States operations in 2024, we are now faced with additional non-deductible interest expense. Additionally, there are temporary negative impacts of the tax structure of Carlstar which we will be actively managing. It is worth noting that cash taxes incurred in the second quarter were significantly lower, at $6.3 million"
Results of Operations
Net sales for the three months ended June 30, 2024 were $532.2 million, compared to $481.2 million in the comparable period of 2023. This growth was primarily driven by higher volumes in the consumer segment, bolstered by the net sales contribution from the Carlstar acquisition completed on February 29, 2024.
The sales increase was partially offset by reduced sales in the agricultural and earthmoving/construction segments, stemming from reduced global end customer demand. Furthermore, the net sales increase was impacted by negative price effects and an unfavorable currency translation impact of 3.7%.
Gross profit for the three months ended June 30, 2024 was $80.4 million, or 15.1% of net sales, compared to $85.9 million, or 17.9% of net sales, for the three months ended June 30, 2023.
The changes in gross profit and margin were attributed to negative price/mix, reduced fixed cost leverage, higher material costs and inventory revaluation step-up of $7.3 million associated with the Carlstar purchase price allocation. Excluding the inventory revaluation step-up, adjusted gross margin for the three months ended June 30, 2024 would have been 16.5% of net sales.
Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) for the three months ended June 30, 2024 were $51.6 million, or 9.7% of net sales, compared to $34.9 million, or 7.2% of net sales, for the three months ended June 30, 2023. This change was attributed to the ongoing SG&A associated with the Carlstar operations.
Income from operations for the three months ended June 30, 2024 was $22.3 million, compared to income from operations of $45.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023. The change was primarily due to lower gross profit and the net result of the items previously discussed.
The Company recorded income tax expense of $15.5 million and $9.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The Company's effective income tax rate was 81.9% and 22.8% for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
The income tax expense and rate was negatively impacted by non-deductible interest expense in the United States due to the decrease in pretax income in the United States and foreign branch income related to the Carlstar acquisition. Additionally, the rate was impacted by the results of foreign income tax rate differential on the mix of earnings, non-deductible royalty expenses in certain jurisdictions, and certain foreign inclusion items on the domestic provision.
Segment Information
Agricultural Segment
Net sales in the agricultural segment were $216.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to $269.1 million for the comparable period in 2023. The net sales change was primarily attributed to significantly reduced global demand for agricultural equipment, most notably in North America and Brazil. Additionally, an unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation of 5.3% contributed to the change in net sales.
Gross profit in the agricultural segment was $32.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to $48.7 million in the comparable period in 2023. The change in gross profit was attributed to the lower sales volume, reduced fixed cost leverage, negative price/mix and higher material costs and inventory revaluation step-up associated with the Carlstar purchase price allocation.
Excluding the impact of the Carlstar purchase price allocation, adjusted gross margins in the Agriculture segment were 15.5% and 16.4% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024, respectively.
Consumer segment net sales were $150.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to $37.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023. This growth was primarily driven by increased sales volumes resulting from the positive impact of the Carlstar acquisition. The increase was partially offset by negative price/product mix and reduced sales volumes in the Americas region due to weaker market conditions.
Gross profit from the consumer segment was $26.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to $8.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023. The increase in gross profit was primarily driven by the benefits of the Carlstar acquisition.
The shift in profit margin was influenced by the inventory revaluation step-up of $6.0 million associated with the Carlstar purchase price allocation and reduced fixed cost leverage resulting from lower sales volumes in the Americas. Excluding the impact of the Carlstar purchase price allocation, adjusted gross margins in the Consumer segment were 21.8% and 21.6% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024, respectively.
