Genuine Parts Company Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2023 Results

Declares Dividend Increase for 68th Consecutive Year
Provides 2024 Outlook

Fourth Quarter 2023 Highlights

• Sales of $5.6 billion, Up 1.1%
• Diluted EPS of $2.26, Up 27.7%, or Up 10.2% from Adjusted Diluted EPS in 2022

Full-Year 2023 Highlights

• Sales of $23.1 billion, Up 4.5%
• Diluted EPS of $9.33, Up 12.3%, or Up 11.9% from Adjusted Diluted EPS in 2022
• Cash from Operations of $1.4 billion; Free Cash Flow of $923 million
• Returned $788 million to Shareholders via Cash Dividends and Share Repurchases

2024 Outlook

• Revenue Growth of 3% to 5%
• Adjusted Diluted EPS of $9.70 to $9.90

ATLANTA , Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Genuine Parts Company (NYSE: GPC), a leading global distributor of automotive and industrial replacement parts, announced today its results for the fourth quarter and twelve months ended December 31, 2023.

"We are pleased to report that GPC delivered on our financial commitments in 2023 and finished the year with a solid fourth quarter. We reported mid-single-digit total sales growth and our third consecutive year of double-digit earnings growth," said Paul Donahue, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We achieved these results despite a more challenging environment and are confident we are investing in the right areas of our business to deliver long-term profitable growth. Thank you to all our teammates and vendor partners across the globe for the ongoing commitment to serving our customers."

Fourth Quarter 2023 Results

Sales were $5.6 billion, a 1.1% increase compared to $5.5 billion in the same period of the prior year. The improvement is attributable to a 2.0% benefit from acquisitions, 0.3% favorable impact of foreign currency and other, partially offset by a 1.2% decrease in comparable sales.

Net income was $317 million, an increase of 25.8% compared to prior year net income of $252 million or 8.7% when compared to prior year period adjusted net income of $292 million. Diluted earnings per share was $2.26, an increase of 27.7% compared to prior year period diluted earnings per share of $1.77 or 10.2% when compared to prior year period adjusted diluted earnings per share of $2.05. Refer to the reconciliation of GAAP net income to adjusted net income and GAAP diluted earnings per share to adjusted diluted earnings per share for more information.

Fourth Quarter 2023 Segment Highlights

Automotive Parts Group ("Automotive")

Global Automotive sales were $3.5 billion, up 0.8% from the same period in 2022, with a 2.9% benefit from acquisitions, 0.6% favorable impact of foreign currency and other, partially offset by a 2.7% decrease in comparable sales. Segment profit of $259 million decreased 12.2%, with profit margin of 7.5%, down 110 basis points to last year.

Industrial Parts Group ("Industrial")

Industrial sales were $2.1 billion, up 1.7% from the same period in 2022, reflecting a 1.2% increase in comparable sales, 0.5% benefit from acquisitions and no impact of foreign currency. Segment profit of $275 million increased 19.3% with segment profit margin of 12.9%, up 190 basis points from the same period of the prior year.

"The value and benefit of our diverse business were evident in our fourth quarter and full-year results," said Will Stengel, President and Chief Operating Officer. "Our Industrial and International Automotive businesses outperformed our expectations in 2023, offsetting softer results in our U.S. Automotive business. We took accelerated action on targeted priorities during the year to improve U.S. Automotive and have seen positive impacts from these efforts. Around the world, we are focused on our near- and long-term strategic initiatives to deliver value for our customers every day."

Full-Year 2023 Results

Sales for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 were $23.1 billion, up 4.5% from the same period in 2022. Net income for the twelve months was $1.3 billion, or $9.33 per diluted share, an increase of 12.3% compared to $8.31 per diluted share in 2022 or an increase of 11.9% when compared to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $8.34 in 2022.

Balance Sheet, Cash Flow and Capital Allocation

The company generated cash flow from operations of $1.4 billion for the twelve months of 2023. We used $706 million in cash for investing activities, including $513 million in capital expenditures primarily in supply chain, facilities and technology, $25 million proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipment, $309 million for acquisitions of business and other investing activities, and $80 million in proceeds from the sale of our remaining investment in S.P. Richards and other investments. We also used $292 million for financing activities, including $527 million for quarterly dividends paid to shareholders and $261 million for stock repurchases. Included in financing activities is $531 million of net proceeds from debt primarily from the Senior Notes offering. Free cash flow was $923 million for the twelve months in 2023.

The company ended the quarter and year with $2.6 billion in total liquidity, consisting of $1.5 billion availability on the revolving credit facility and $1.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

Dividend Declaration

GPC's Board of Directors approved an approximately 5% increase in its regular quarterly cash dividend for 2024. This increased the cash dividend payable to an annual rate of $4.00 per share from $3.80 per share in 2023. The quarterly cash dividend of $1.00 per share is payable April 1, 2024 to shareholders of record March 1, 2024. The company has paid a cash dividend every year since going public in 1948, and 2024 marks the 68th consecutive year of increased dividends paid to shareholders.

Global Restructuring

The company is introducing a global restructuring designed to better align the company's assets and further improve the efficiency of the business. This initiative includes an announced voluntary retirement offer in the U.S., along with a rationalization and optimization of certain distribution centers, stores and other facilities. GPC expects to incur costs of approximately $100 million to $200 million related to the restructuring efforts in 2024 and will report these costs as a non-recurring expense. Through these efforts, the company expects to realize approximately $20 million to $40 million of savings in 2024, and approximately $45 million to $90 million on an annualized basis.

"We continuously pursue initiatives to simplify and streamline our business, enhance our service proposition and align with the market environments. Our coordinated global restructuring program is designed to improve service for customers and create value for our shareholders. We are focused on what we can control and will execute with discipline to deliver on our long-term financial targets," Stengel concluded.

2024 Outlook

In consideration of several factors, the company is establishing full-year 2024 guidance. The company considered its recent business trends and financial results, current growth plans, strategic initiatives, global economic outlook, geopolitical conflicts and the potential impact on results in establishing its guidance, which is outlined in the table below.

Non-GAAP Information

This release contains certain financial information not derived in accordance with United States ("U.S.") generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). These items include adjusted net income, adjusted diluted net income per common share and free cash flow. The company believes that the presentation of adjusted net income, adjusted diluted net income per common share and free cash flow, when considered together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures and the reconciliations to those measures, provide meaningful supplemental information to both management and investors that is indicative of the company's core operations. The company considers these metrics useful to investors because they provide greater transparency into management's view and assessment of the company's ongoing operating performance by removing items management believes are not representative of our continuing operations and may distort our longer-term operating trends. We believe these measures are useful and enhance the comparability of our results from period to period and with our competitors, as well as show ongoing results from operations distinct from items that are infrequent or not associated with the company's core operations. The company does not, nor does it suggest investors should, consider such non-GAAP financial measures as superior to, in isolation from, or as a substitute for, GAAP financial information. The company has included a reconciliation of this additional information to the most comparable GAAP measure following the financial statements below. We do not provide forward-looking guidance for certain financial measures on a GAAP basis because we are unable to predict certain items contained in the GAAP measures without unreasonable efforts. These items may include acquisition-related costs, litigation charges or settlements, impairment charges, and certain other unusual adjustments.

Comparable Sales

Comparable sales is a key metric that refers to period-over-period comparisons of our sales excluding the impact of acquisitions, foreign currency and other. Our calculation of comparable sales is computed using total business days for the period. The company considers this metric useful to investors because it provides greater transparency into management's view and assessment of the company's core ongoing operations. This is a metric that is widely used by analysts, investors and competitors in our industry, although our calculation of the metric may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies, because not all companies and analysts calculate this metric in the same manner.

Conference Call

Genuine Parts Company will hold a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the results of the quarter. A supplemental earnings deck will also be available for reference. Interested parties may listen to the call and view the supplemental earnings deck on the company's investor relations website. The call is also available by dialing 800-836-8184. A replay of the call will be available on the company's website or toll-free at 888-660-6345 conference ID 30941#, two hours after completion of the call.

About Genuine Parts Company

Established in 1928, Genuine Parts Company is a leading global service organization specializing in the distribution of automotive and industrial replacement parts. Our Automotive Parts Group operates across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australasia, France, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, while our Industrial Parts Group serves customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australasia. We keep the world moving with a vast network of over 10,700 locations spanning 17 countries supported by more than 60,000 teammates. Learn more at genpt.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Some statements in this release, as well as in other materials we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), release to the public, or make available on our website, constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in the future tense and all statements accompanied by words such as "expect," "likely," "outlook," "forecast," "preliminary," "would," "could," "should," "position," "will," "project," "intend," "plan," "on track," "anticipate," "to come," "may," "possible," "assume," or similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include our view of business and economic trends for the coming year, our expectations regarding our ability to capitalize on these business and economic trends and to execute our strategic priorities, and the established full-year 2024 financial guidance provided above. Senior officers may also make verbal statements to analysts, investors, the media and others that are forward-looking.

We caution you that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and while we believe that our expectations for the future are reasonable in view of currently available information, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events may differ materially from those indicated as a result of various important factors. Such factors may include, among other things, changes in general economic conditions, including unemployment, inflation (including the impact of tariffs) or deflation, financial institution disruptions and geopolitical conflicts such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict in the Gaza strip and other unrest in the Middle East; volatility in oil prices; significant cost increases, such as rising fuel and freight expenses; public health emergencies, including the effects on the financial health of our business partners and customers, on supply chains and our suppliers, on vehicle miles driven as well as other metrics that affect our business, and on access to capital and liquidity provided by the financial and capital markets; our ability to maintain compliance with our debt covenants; our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses into our operations and to realize the anticipated synergies and benefits; our ability to successfully implement our business initiatives in our two business segments; slowing demand for our products; the ability to maintain favorable supplier arrangements and relationships; changes in national and international legislation or government regulations or policies, including changes to import tariffs, environmental and social policy, infrastructure programs and privacy legislation, and their impact to us, our suppliers and customers; changes in tax policies; volatile exchange rates; our ability to successfully attract and retain employees in the current labor market; uncertain credit markets and other macroeconomic conditions; competitive product, service and pricing pressures; failure or weakness in our disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting, including as a result of the work from home environment; the uncertainties and costs of litigation; disruptions caused by a failure or breach of our information systems, as well as other risks and uncertainties discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2023 and from time to time in our subsequent filings with the SEC.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statements except as required by law. You are advised, however, to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our subsequent Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and other reports filed with the SEC.

SOURCE Genuine Parts Company