Honeywell Delivers 9% Sales Growth And Expands Operating Margin By 180 Basis Points

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) today announced outstanding results for the third quarter that met or exceeded the company's guidance.

"The third quarter was another strong one for Honeywell, with sales growth in all four segments, significant margin expansion, and exceptional execution even as we faced tough challenges in the supply chain environment," said Darius Adamczyk, chairman and chief executive officer of Honeywell. "Organic sales grew 8%, led by 38% growth in Aerospace commercial aftermarket, 21% growth in Safety and Productivity Solutions, and 29% growth in UOP and 14% growth in advanced materials within Performance Materials and Technologies. Our focus on operational and commercial excellence enabled us to expand segment margin by 130 basis points to 21.2%, exceeding the high end of our guidance range by 60 basis points. As a result, we delivered adjusted earnings per share¹ of $2.02, up 29% year over year, achieving the high end of our third-quarter guidance range. Our cash performance was strong, and we remain on track to meet our cash flow commitments for the year. We continued to execute on our capital deployment strategy, repurchasing $0.7 billion in shares, announcing our 12th dividend increase in the past 11 years, and completing the acquisition of Performix Inc. to expand our portfolio of automation solutions for the life sciences industry."

Adamczyk continued, "Our disciplined approach to productivity and pricing helped deliver a strong third quarter despite an uncertain global environment marked by supply chain constraints, increasing raw material inflation, and labor market challenges. We continue to focus on mitigating these challenges in the fourth quarter, while capitalizing on near-term growth opportunities across our portfolio."

Honeywell updated its full-year guidance to reflect the persistent effects of the macro-challenged environment as well as the third-quarter results. Full-year sales are now expected to be in the range of $34.2 billion to $34.6 billion with organic sales growth in the range of 4% to 5% due to supply chain constraints. Segment margin is expected to be in the range of 20.9% to 21.1%. Adjusted earnings per share² is expected to be $8.00 to $8.10. Operating cash flow is still expected to be in the range of $5.9 billion to $6.2 billion and free cash flow is still expected to be in the range of $5.3 billion to $5.6 billion. A summary of the company's full-year guidance changes can be found in Table 1.

Third-Quarter Performance
Honeywell sales for the third quarter were up 9% on a reported basis and up 8% on an organic basis. The third-quarter financial results can be found in Tables 2 and 3.

Aerospace sales for the third quarter were up 2% on an organic basis driven by an ongoing recovery in commercial aftermarket demand as flight hours continued to increase as well as by strong growth in business and general aviation original equipment, partially offset by lower defense volumes, which were impacted by supply chain constraints. Commercial aftermarket sales were up 38% year over year and air transport aftermarket sales were up double digits sequentially from the second quarter, demonstrating momentum in the aftermarket recovery. Segment margin expanded 390 basis points to 27.1% driven by commercial excellence, favorable sales mix, and productivity net of inflation.

Honeywell Building Technologies sales for the third quarter were up 3% on an organic basis driven by strength across the building products portfolio and continued growth in building solutions services. Orders were up double digits year over year, driven by strong demand for building projects and products. The services backlog was up over 35% driven by strong global bookings, positioning the business for continued growth. Segment margin expanded 190 basis points to 23.5% driven by commercial excellence and productivity, partially offset by inflation.

Performance Materials and Technologies sales for the third quarter were up 9% on an organic basis driven by demand for process solutions services and thermal solutions, petrochemical catalyst shipments and equipment volumes in UOP, and continued double-digit growth in advanced materials driven by strong demand across the portfolio. Robust demand for services, automation projects, gas processing, and advanced materials drove double-digit orders growth year over year for the second consecutive quarter. Segment margin expanded 260 basis points to 22.2% driven by commercial excellence and productivity, partially offset by inflation.

Safety and Productivity Solutions sales for the third quarter were up 21% on an organic basis driven by another quarter of double-digit growth in the warehouse and workflow solutions, productivity solutions and services, and gas analysis businesses, partially offset by lower personal protective equipment volumes. Orders were up double digits year over year driven by over 50% orders growth in warehouse and workflow solutions, productivity solutions and services, and advanced sensing, which should drive continued growth. Segment margin contracted 70 basis points to 13.2% driven by unfavorable business mix and Intelligrated supply chain challenges, partially offset by commercial excellence.

Conference Call Details
Honeywell will discuss its third-quarter results and updated full-year guidance during an investor conference call starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time today. To participate on the conference call, please dial (301) 715-8592 approximately 10 minutes before the 8:30 a.m. EDT start. The meeting ID is 996 7173 6928. The access code is 528460. A live webcast of the investor call as well as related presentation materials will be available through the Investor Relations section of the company's website (www.honeywell.com/investor). A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days following the presentation.

TABLE 1: FULL-YEAR 2021 GUIDANCE⁵

TABLE 2: SUMMARY OF HONEYWELL FINANCIAL RESULTS

TABLE 3: SUMMARY OF SEGMENT FINANCIAL RESULTS

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

Honeywell uses our Investor Relations website, www.honeywell.com/investor, as a means of disclosing information which may be of interest or material to our investors and for complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor our Investor Relations website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, webcasts, and social media.

This release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that we or our management intends, expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. The forward-looking statements included in this release are also subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental, technological, and COVID-19 public health factors affecting our operations, markets, products, services and prices. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, and other developments, including the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and business decisions may differ from those envisaged by such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking plans described herein are not final and may be modified or abandoned at any time. We identify the principal risks and uncertainties that affect our performance in our Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This release contains financial measures presented on a non-GAAP basis. Honeywell's non-GAAP financial measures used in this release are as follows: segment profit, on an overall Honeywell basis, a measure by which we assess operating performance, which we define as operating income adjusted for certain items as presented in the Appendix; segment margin, on an overall Honeywell basis, which we define as segment profit divided by sales; organic sales growth, which we define as sales growth less the impacts from foreign currency translation and acquisitions and divestitures for the first 12 months following the transaction date; free cash flow, which we define as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures plus cash receipts from Garrett, if and as noted in the release; adjusted free cash flow conversion, which we define as free cash flow divided by adjusted net income attributable to Honeywell; adjusted net income attributable to Honeywell, which we define as net income attributable to Honeywell which we adjust to exclude changes in fair value for Garrett equity securities, an expense related to UOP matters, gain on the sale of the retail footwear business, and the 3Q20 non-cash charges associated with the reduction in value of reimbursement receivables due from Garrett, if and as noted in the release; and adjusted earnings per share, which we adjust to exclude pension mark-to-market, changes in fair value for Garrett equity securities, an expense related to UOP matters, gain on the sale of the retail footwear business, the non-cash charges associated with the reduction in value of reimbursement receivables due from Garrett, net of proceeds from settlement of related hedging transactions, the favorable resolution of a foreign tax matter related to the spin-off transactions, and a non-cash charge associated with a further reduction in value of reimbursement receivables following Garrett's emergence from bankruptcy on April 30, 2021, if and as noted in the release. Management believes that, when considered together with reported amounts, these measures are useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in the analysis of ongoing operating trends. These metrics should be considered in addition to, and not as replacements for, the most comparable GAAP measure. Certain metrics presented on a non-GAAP basis represent the impact of adjusting items net of tax. The tax-effect for adjusting items is determined individually and on a case-by-case basis. Refer to the Appendix attached to this release for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.   

We define organic sales percent as the year over year change in reported sales relative to the comparable period, excluding the impact on sales from foreign currency translation and acquisitions, net of divestitures, for the first 12 months following the transaction date. We believe this measure is useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends.

A quantitative reconciliation of reported sales percent change to organic sales percent change has not been provided for forward-looking measures of organic sales percent change because management cannot reliably predict or estimate, without unreasonable effort, the fluctuations in global currency markets that impact foreign currency translation, nor is it reasonable for management to predict the timing, occurrence and impact of acquisition and divestiture transactions, all of which could significantly impact our reported sales percent change.

We define segment profit as operating income, excluding stock compensation expense, pension and other postretirement service costs, and repositioning and other charges. We believe these measures are useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends.

A quantitative reconciliation of segment profit, on an overall Honeywell basis, to operating income has not been provided for all forward-looking measures of segment profit and segment margin included herewithin. Management cannot reliably predict or estimate, without unreasonable effort, the impact and timing on future operating results arising from items excluded from segment profit. The information that is unavailable to provide a quantitative reconciliation could have a significant impact on our reported financial results. To the extent quantitative information becomes available without unreasonable effort in the future, and closer to the period to which the forward-looking measures pertain, a reconciliation of segment profit to operating income will be included within future filings.

We define free cash flow as cash provided by operating activities less cash expenditures for property, plant and equipment plus cash receipts from Garrett.

We believe that free cash flow is a non-GAAP metric that is useful to investors and management as a measure of cash generated by operations that will be used to repay scheduled debt maturities and can be used to invest in future growth through new business development activities or acquisitions, pay dividends, repurchase stock or repay debt obligations prior to their maturities. This metric can also be used to evaluate our ability to generate cash flow from operations and the impact that this cash flow has on our liquidity. For forward looking information, we do not provide cash flow conversion guidance on a GAAP basis as management cannot reliably predict or estimate, without unreasonable effort, the pension mark-to-market expense and the changes in fair value for Garrett equity securities. Pension mark-to-market is dependent on macroeconomic factors, such as interest rates and the return generated on invested pension plan assets. Based on economic and industry conditions, future developments and other relevant factors, these assumptions are subject to change. Changes in fair value of Garrett equity securities cannot be forecasted due to the inherent nature of changing conditions in the overall market.

We define free cash flow as cash provided by operating activities less cash expenditures for property, plant and equipment plus cash receipts from Garrett.

We believe that free cash flow is a non-GAAP metric that is useful to investors and management as a measure of cash generated by operations that will be used to repay scheduled debt maturities and can be used to invest in future growth through new business development activities or acquisitions, pay dividends, repurchase stock or repay debt obligations prior to their maturities. This metric can also be used to evaluate our ability to generate cash flow from operations and the impact that this cash flow has on our liquidity. For forward looking information, we do not provide cash flow conversion guidance on a GAAP basis as management cannot reliably predict or estimate, without unreasonable effort, the pension mark-to-market expense or changes in fair value of Garrett equity securities. Pension mark-to-market is dependent on macroeconomic factors, such as interest rates and the return generated on invested pension plan assets. Based on economic and industry conditions, future developments and other relevant factors, these assumptions are subject to change. Changes in fair value of Garrett equity securities cannot be forecasted due to the inherent nature of changing conditions in the overall market.

We believe adjusted earnings per share is a measure that is useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends. For forward looking information, management cannot reliably predict or estimate any potential future one-time items, such as pension mark-to-market or changes in fair value for Garrett equity securities, without unreasonable effort. Pension mark-to-market expense is dependent on macroeconomic factors, such as interest rates and the return generated on invested pension plan assets. Based on economic and industry conditions, future developments and other relevant factors, these assumptions are subject to change. Changes in fair value for Garrett equity securities cannot be forecasted due to the inherent nature of changing conditions in the overall market.

SOURCE Honeywell