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RF Industries, Ltd. (RFIL)

Q4 2017 Earnings Call· Wed, Jan 24, 2018

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the RF Industries Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2017 Results Conference Call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded today Wednesday January 24, 2018. Please note that except for the historical statements, statements in this release, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. When used, the words anticipates, beliefs, expects, intends, future and other similar expressions, identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect management’s current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from the outcomes contained in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause these forward-looking statements to differ from actual results include delays in development, marketing or sales of new products and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company’s periodic reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. RF Industries undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. I will now turn the conference over to Rob Dawson, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Mark Turfler, Chief Financial Officer of RF Industries. Rob, you may begin.

Rob Dawson

Analyst

Thank you, Anna. Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the first of what will be the company’s regular quarterly earnings calls. We are going to use this forum to communicate what we’re doing here at RFI and to keep investors, customers and employees up to date with our business developments. With me is Mark Turfler, our CFO, who will review financial and other business highlights here in a few minutes. The company returned to profitability in fiscal 2017 achieving full year growth in net revenue, gross profit, operating and net income compared to 2016. As a result, we achieved earnings of $0.04 per share for fiscal 2017 compared to a net loss in fiscal 2016. While sales increased modestly compared to fiscal 2016, selling and general expenses dropped 21% contributing to a $5 million improvements in operating profitability compared to fiscal 2016. We finished the year with a solid fourth quarter with higher sales for the fourth consecutive quarter and year-over-year. Fourth quarter revenue increased 10% and gross profit increased to 30% of sales from 24% of sales in the fourth quarter last year. Control of operating expenses significantly contributed to higher operating profits, which resulted in a $3.8 million swing in profitability, compared to the operating loss in the fourth quarter last year. By comparison, to our previous third quarter operating income jumped 161% and net income increased 59%. Mark will have more details on the financials shortly. Fourth quarter net income improved to $0.03 per share over a loss of $0.34 per share in the final quarter of fiscal 2016. Cash flow increased and we finished the fiscal year with higher working capital, cash and cash equivalents than in fiscal 2016. The Company also recently paid a regular quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, our 30th consecutive quarterly dividend.…

Mark Turfler

Analyst

Good afternoon and thank you Rob. As Rob mentioned, our fourth quarter consolidated net sales increased 10%, reaching $8.9 million, compared to $8.1 million in the fourth quarter last year. The sales growth was primarily led by the RF Connectors segment and resulted in a $0.6 million, or 22% increase to $3.4 million, compared to $2.7 million in the fourth quarter last year. Over to Custom Cabling, segment sales increased 4% to $5.5 million, from $5.3 million in the fourth quarter of last year, where demand for this segment’s products accelerated appreciably than in the second half of fiscal 2017. Overall gross profits for the fourth quarter increased 37% to $2.7 million from $2.0 million in the same quarter last year. Most of this increase was related to sales gains during the fourth quarter, which helped raise overall gross margins to 30% of sales from 24% of sales in the same quarter last year. This improvement was achieved due to higher sales at the Custom Cabling segment, with a modest 4% increase in revenue helped raise gross margin as a percentage of sales to 23% compared to only 14% in the fourth quarter last year. Gross margins declined modestly at the RF Connector segment to 41% of sales from 43% of sales in the fourth quarter last year, related to higher sales. Setting aside one-time noncash impact of the goodwill and intangible impairment on total operating expenses in the fourth quarter last year. Operating expenses were positively affected by lower selling and general expenses. Fourth quarter’s selling and general expenses declined, despite the 10% sales gain by $286,000 or 12% to $2 million compared to $2.3 million in the fourth quarter last year and to 23% of sales compared to 28% of sales in the same period last year. Savings…

Rob Dawson

Analyst

Thanks, Mark. To review we see positive results in revenue gross profit and earnings in Q4 and for the full year 2017 compared to a net loss to prior year. Our forth quarter revenue increased for the fourth consecutive quarter and year-over-year. Gross profit improved and operating income also improved compared to the fourth quarter last year. We’ve achieved improved cash flow, higher working capitals, recently paid our 30th consecutive quarterly dividend. We feel positive about the direction of the business. And as I mentioned earlier in the call, we will continue to focus on our growth culture and go-to-market strategies. So far the hard work that’s seen in these areas is providing strong momentum as we wrap up out first quarter. And as we discussed, we expect to show double-digit growth over Q1 of last year. With that, Anna, I’d like to open the floor to questions please.

Operator

Operator

Yes, sir. [Operator Instructions] And there are no questions at this time. [Operator Instructions] And it appears there are no telephone questions.

Rob Dawson

Analyst

All right. Well, thank you, Anna, I appreciate that. And thanks to everybody for giving me a pass on the hard questions on the first call. We’re excited to be able to share what’s going on at the company. We’ve been working very hard. And I appreciate everybody taking the time to join the call this afternoon. And as always feel free to reach out to us directly if you have other questions or things that you’d like to hear more about. Thanks again for supporting our industry and we look forward to sharing first quarter results mid of March. Have a good day.

Operator

Operator

Once again, that does conclude today’s conference. We thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.