Core Molding Technologies Reports Fiscal 2021 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Core Molding Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American: CMT) ("Core Molding", "Core" or the "Company"), a leading engineered materials company specializing in molded structural products, principally in building products, utilities, transportation and powersports industries across North America and Mexico, today reports financial and operating results for the fiscal quarter and year ended December 31, 2021.

David Duvall, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Fiscal 2021 was a good year for the Company as we delivered record annual sales of $307 million, an increase of 38% from 2020.  On a two-year basis, sales increased 8% compared to pre-pandemic annual sales in 2019.  In addition, sales in the fourth quarter increased 21% compared to prior year, totaling $73 million, and the Company successfully shifted back to profitability during the fourth quarter, after strategically responding to the rapidly increasing raw materials inflation in the third quarter.

"Our long-term revenue diversification strategy continued in 2021 resulting in $75 million of net new wins, primarily in new market segments including: Industrial, Utilities, Packaging, and Construction.  These new programs, which will launch mostly in 2022, represent over 26% of our 2021 full year product sales.  We estimate that our opportunity pipeline has grown to well over $160 million, apart from the $75 million of 2021's programs wins.

Fourth Quarter 2021 Highlights

• Net sales of $73.2 million, up 21% from $60.7 million in the prior year; and Product sales of $68.1 million, up 16% from the prior year.
• Gross margin of $8.5 million or 11.6% of sales, compared to $10.0 million or 16.4% of sales, with such decrease primarily due to raw materials inflation.
• Selling, general and administrative expenses of $6.5 million, down $0.4 million from the prior year.
• Operating income of $2.0 million versus $3.0 million from the prior year.
• Net income of $0.4 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, up from a net loss of ($0.9) million, or ($0.10) a year ago.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $4.7 million, or 6.5% of sales, compared to $5.9 million, or 9.7% of sales in the prior year.

Fiscal Year 2021 Highlights

• Net sales of $307.5 million, up 38% from $222.4 million in the prior year; and Product sales of $284.0 million, up 35% from the prior year.
• Gross margin of $41.3 million or 13.4% of sales, compared to $34.5 million or 15.5% of sales.
• Selling, general and administrative expenses of $30.3 million, up $6.2 million from a year ago, primarily due to the planned closure of a facility, as well as higher labor and travel costs versus last year.
• Operating income of $11.1 million, including $2.3 million costs for a facility closing, compared to $10.4 million in the prior year.
• Net income of $4.7 million, or $0.55 per diluted share, compared to net income of $8.2 million, or $0.98 a year ago.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $26.6 million, 8.6% of sales, up from $22.6 million, 10.2% of sales, in the prior year.

"Looking ahead into 2022, we are well-positioned and highly focused on continued top-line growth, margin enhancement and continued diversification in the industries we serve.  I am also very excited that our technical solutions sales are expanding into new industries and are working creatively with our customers' engineering teams to convert traditional products to engineered materials.  Our large portfolio of material processes offers distinct competitive advantages in innovating new product conversions, resulting in lighter weight, lower cost and higher performance products for our customers," concluded Duvall.  

John Zimmer, the Company's EVP and Chief Financial Officer commented, "We worked hard to stabilize and recover from 2021's second half margin pressures and were able to return the Company to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2021.  A major focus coming out of the third quarter was to increase pricing to recover the significant raw material inflation the Company was experiencing.  We are pleased to report that the Company has collaborated with its customers and implemented new pricing and surcharges, starting in the first quarter of 2022, to mitigate the higher raw material costs.     

"We will continue to drive progress on our growth and revenue diversification initiatives in 2022, and on our longer-term goals for returning Adjusted EBITDA margins to the double-digit range," concluded Zimmer.

Financial Position at December 31, 2021

The Company's total liquidity at fiscal year-end 2021 was $26 million with $6 million in cash and $20 million of undrawn capacity under the Company's revolving credit facility.  The Company also had term debt of $25.2 million at December 31, 2021.  The term debt to trailing Adjusted EBITDA¹ was less than one times Adjusted EBITDA¹ at the end of the fiscal year.  The Company had a return on capital employed¹ of 8.5% for fiscal 2021, which was consistent with fiscal 2020.

Conference Call

The Company will conduct a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss financial and operating results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2021. To access the call live by phone, dial (412) 902-6510 and ask for the Core Molding Technologies call at least 10 minutes prior to the start time.  A telephonic replay will be available through March 15, 2022, by calling (412) 317-0088 and using passcode ID: 9606077#. A webcast of the call will also be available live and for later replay on the Company's Investor Relations website at www.coremt.com/investor-relations/events-presentations/.

About Core Molding Technologies, Inc.

Core Molding Technologies is a leading engineered materials company specializing in molded structural products, principally in building products, utilities, transportation and powersports industries across North America and Mexico.  The Company operates in one operating segment as a molder of thermoplastic and thermoset structural products.  The Company's operating segment consists of one reporting unit, Core Molding Technologies.  The Company offers customers a wide range of manufacturing processes to fit various program volume and investment requirements.  These processes include compression molding of sheet molding compound ("SMC"), resin transfer molding ("RTM"), liquid molding of dicyclopentadiene ("DCPD"), spray-up and hand-lay-up, direct long-fiber thermoplastics ("D-LFT") and structural foam and structural web injection molding ("SIM").  Core Molding Technologies serves a wide variety of markets, including the medium and heavy-duty truck, marine, automotive, agriculture, construction, and other commercial products.  The demand for Core Molding Technologies' products is affected by economic conditions in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.  Core Molding Technologies' operations may change proportionately more than revenues from operations.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities law.  As a general matter, forward-looking statements are those focused on future plans, objectives or performance as opposed to historical items and include statements of anticipated events or trends and expectations and beliefs relating to matters not historical in nature.  Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and are subject to uncertainties and factors relating to Core Molding Technologies' operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond Core Molding Technologies' control.  Words such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "anticipate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "expect," "intend," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "encouraged," "confident," and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements.  These uncertainties and factors could cause Core Molding Technologies' actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Core Molding Technologies believes that the following factors, among others, could affect its future performance and cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made in this press release:  business conditions in the plastics, transportation, marine and commercial product industries (including changes in demand from truck production);  federal and state regulations (including engine emission regulations); general economic, social, regulatory (including foreign trade policy) and political environments in the countries in which Core Molding Technologies operates; the adverse impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic on our business, results of operations, financial position, liquidity or cash flow, as well as impact on customers and supply chains; safety and security conditions in Mexico and Canada; fluctuations in foreign currency exchanges; dependence upon certain major customers as the primary source of Core Molding Technologies' sales revenues; efforts of Core Molding Technologies to expand its customer base; the ability to develop new and innovative products and to diversify markets, materials and processes and increase operational enhancements; ability to accurately quote and execute manufacturing processes for new business; the actions of competitors, customers, and suppliers; failure of Core Molding Technologies suppliers to perform their obligations; the availability of raw materials; inflationary pressures; new technologies; regulatory matters; labor relations; labor availability; a work stoppage or labor disruption at one of our union locations or one of our customer or supplier locations; the loss or inability of Core Molding Technologies to attract and retain key personnel; the Company's ability to successfully identify, evaluate and manage potential acquisitions and to benefit from and properly integrate any completed acquisitions; federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations; the availability of sufficient capital; the ability of Core Molding Technologies to provide on-time delivery to customers, which may require additional shipping expenses to ensure on-time delivery or otherwise result in late fees and other customer charges; risk of cancellation or rescheduling of orders; management's decision to pursue new products or businesses which involve additional costs, risks or capital expenditures; inadequate insurance coverage to protect against potential hazards; equipment and machinery failure; product liability and warranty claims; and other risks identified from time to time in Core Molding Technologies' other public documents on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, includes those described in Item 1A of the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Company Contact:
Core Molding Technologies, Inc.
John Zimmer
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
614-870-5604

Investor Relations Contact:
Three Part Advisors, LLC
Sandy Martin or Steven Hooser
214-616-2207

- Financial Statements Follow – 

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA represents net income before, as applicable from time to time, (i) interest expense, net, (ii) provision (benefit) for income taxes, (iii) depreciation and amortization of long-lived assets, (iv) share based compensation expense, (v) restricting costs, (vi) nonrecurring legal settlement costs and associated legal expenses unrelated to the Company's core operations. Free Cash Flow represents Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities less Purchase of property, plant and equipment and net working capital. These metrics are supplemental measures of our operating performance that are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. These measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP as an indicator of our operating performance. We present Adjusted EBITDA because management uses these measures as key performance indicators, and we believe that securities analysts, investors and others use these measures to evaluate companies in our industry. Our calculation of these measures may not be comparable to similarly named measures reported by other companies. The following tables present a reconciliation of net income (loss), the most directly comparable measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, to Adjusted EBITDA for the periods presented:

SOURCE Core Molding Technologies, Inc.