William J. Burke - AMETEK, Inc.
Management
Thank you, Dave. As Dave noted, we had a very strong first quarter with results that exceeded our expectations. Let me provide some financial highlights. In the first quarter, organic selling expenses were up in line with organic sales growth. General and administrative expenses were up over last year's first quarter due largely to higher compensation expense. The effective tax rate in the first quarter was 27.4% versus last year's first quarter rate of 26.7%, and in line with our expectations. For 2017, we expect our tax rate to be between 27% and 28%. As we've said before, actual quarterly tax rates can differ dramatically, either positively or negatively, from this full year rate. Working capital, defined as receivables plus inventory less payables, was 18.4% of sales in the quarter, down from 20.8% in last year's first quarter. Capital expenditures were $13 million for the quarter and we expect full year capital expenditures to be approximately $75 million. Depreciation and amortization was $43 million in the quarter. For the full year 2017, depreciation and amortization expense is expected to be approximately $180 million. In the first quarter, we made a $50 million contribution to our U.S. and international defined benefit pension plans. Excluding this contribution, operating cash flow in the first quarter was excellent at $193 million, up 27% from the first quarter of 2016 and free cash flow was $179 million or 129% of net income. For the full year, excluding the $50 million pension contribution, we expect free cash flow to be approximately 125% of net income. The primary use of our excellent free cash flow was to support our acquisition strategy, and as Dave mentioned, we have been very active on this front. Following a strong year for acquisitions in 2016, we deployed $340 million on the acquisition of Rauland-Borg in the first quarter, and in April, we announced a merger agreement to acquire MOCON. Total debt at March 31 was $2.41 billion, up from $2.34 billion at December 31, 2016. Offsetting this debt is cash and cash equivalents of $570 million, resulting in a net debt-to-capital ratio at March 31 of 35%. At the end of the quarter, we had approximately $1.6 billion of cash and existing credit lines to support our growth initiatives. In summary, we delivered excellent results in the first quarter with a high quality of earnings. We are well positioned to support our growth initiatives with our strong balance sheet and excellent cash flows. Kevin?