L.B. Foster pany(FSTR) - 2023 Q4 - Annual Results

Financial Performance - Full year 2023 net sales reached $543.7 million, a 9.3% increase over the prior year, with organic growth of 11.7%[5] - Fourth quarter net sales were $134.9 million, down 1.7% year over year, but up 7.7% organically[5] - Full year 2023 adjusted EBITDA was $31.8 million, an increase of $7.6 million over the prior year, exceeding guidance by $0.8 million[5] - Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was $6.1 million, a decrease of $1.4 million year over year, primarily due to higher selling and administrative expenses[5] - Gross profit for the full year 2023 was $112.8 million, an increase of $23.2 million or 25.9%, with gross profit margin expanding by 270 basis points to 20.7%[15] - Gross profit for Q4 2023 was $29.043 million, representing a gross margin of 21.5%, compared to $26.774 million in Q4 2022[28] - Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 2023 was $6,099 million, down from $7,478 million in Q4 2022, reflecting a margin of 4.5% compared to 5.5% in the prior year[37] - The adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2023, was $31,775 million, up from $24,179 million in 2022, indicating improved operational efficiency[37] Orders and Backlog - New orders in the fourth quarter totaled $105.5 million, a decrease of 23.4% year over year, with a backlog of $213.8 million[5] - New orders for the full year totaled $529.0 million, a decrease of 4.2% from the prior year, while backlog decreased by $58.5 million or 21.5%[15] - New orders in the Rail segment decreased by $13.5 million, or 18.3%, with a backlog of $84.4 million, down $20.8 million or 19.8% from the prior year[11] - New orders in the Infrastructure segment decreased by $18.8 million, or 29.3%, with a backlog of $129.4 million, down $37.6 million or 22.5% from the prior year[12] - New orders for Q4 2023 totaled 105,509, a decrease of 23.4% compared to 137,827 in Q4 2022, with organic new orders down by 15.6%[38] Segment Performance - The Infrastructure Solutions segment achieved organic sales growth of 23.1% with gross profit margin expanding to 24.0%[6] - Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2023 in the Rail segment were $69.3 million, a decrease of $8.4 million or 10.9% compared to the prior year, primarily due to the divestiture of the prestressed concrete railroad tie business[11] - In the Infrastructure segment, net sales for Q4 2023 were $65.6 million, an increase of $6.1 million or 10.3% over the prior year, driven by Precast Concrete Products and Steel Products[14] - Gross profit for the Infrastructure segment in Q4 2023 was $15.7 million, an increase of $6.9 million or 77.8%, with gross profit margin rising by 910 basis points to 24.0%[14] - Infrastructure sales increased by 10.3% in Q4 2023, reaching $65,583 million, while rail sales decreased by 10.9% to $69,294 million[38] Debt and Cash Flow - Net debt decreased by $36.3 million in 2023, finishing at $52.7 million, with gross leverage improving from 2.8x to 1.7x[5] - Cash flow from operations for the fourth quarter was $22.1 million, a $13.8 million increase over the prior year quarter[9] - Total debt decreased to $55,273 million as of December 31, 2023, down from $91,879 million in the previous year[37] - The company reported a net debt of $52,713 million as of December 31, 2023, compared to $88,997 million in 2022[37] Loss and Earnings - Operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2023, was $10.138 million, a significant recovery from an operating loss of $7.206 million in 2022[28] - Net loss attributable to L.B. Foster Company for Q4 2023 was $430,000, compared to a net loss of $43.931 million in Q4 2022[28] - The company reported a basic loss per share of $0.04 for Q4 2023, an improvement from a loss of $4.09 per share in Q4 2022[28] - Net loss for Q4 2023 was $(470) million, a significant improvement from a loss of $(43,962) million in Q4 2022[37] Strategic Actions - The company completed four acquisitions and three divestitures in 2023 as part of its strategic transformation plan[8] - The company made adjustments to exclude expenses related to the exit of the bridge grid deck product line and restructuring costs for the year ended December 31, 2023[32] - The company views net debt as an important metric, with total debt less cash and cash equivalents indicating its operational and financial health[33]