MILWAUKEE, Aug. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Twin Disc, Inc. (NASDAQ:TWIN) today reported results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2024 ended June 30, 2024. Fiscal Full Year 2024 Highlights Sales increased 6.6% year-over-year to $295.1 million Net income attributable to Twin Disc was $11.0 million EBITDA* increased 2.9% year-over-year to $26.5 million Robust operating cash flow of $33.7 million Free cash flow* of $25.0 million compared to $15.0 million in the year-ago period Strong six-month backlog of $133.7 million supported by consistent end market demand Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2024 Highlights Sales increased 0.6% year-over-year to $84.4 million Net income attributable to Twin Disc was $7.4 million Robust operating cash flow of $11.5 million Free cash flow* of $10.4 million compared to $14.9 million in the year-ago period CEO Perspective "We closed fiscal 2024 on a strong note, maintaining our trend of solid results to deliver revenue growth along with robust margin expansion and free cash generation in the fourth quarter. While we faced an evolving macroeconomic environment throughout the year, we also captured healthy demand from our Land Based Transmissions and Marine businesses and are seeing signs of stabilization in Industrial," commented John H. Batten, President and Chief Executive Officer of Twin Disc. "Our consistent performance helped us execute several strategic priorities during the fiscal year, including further expansion of our global industrial product line through the acquisition of Katsa Oy, as well as the reinstatement of our quarterly cash dividend." "Looking ahead, we anticipate market conditions in fiscal 2025 to be fairly in-line with 2024. Supported by our reinforced balance sheet, we are entering the new fiscal year from a position of strength, giving us the confidence to provide updated medium-term targets which illustrate our growth potential in the coming years," continued Mr. Batten. "We look forward to continuing along our trajectory of profitable growth, enabling sustained value generation for all stakeholders." Fourth Quarter & Full-Year Results Sales for the fiscal 2024 fourth quarter increased 60 basis points year-over-year to $84.4 million and fiscal 2024 sales increased 6.6% to $295.1 million. Fourth quarter and full year sales growth were both driven by demand for the Company's Land-Based Transmissions markets, with strength in Marine and Propulsion Systems supporting full year sales. Sales by product group (certain amounts have been reclassified from marine to other): Product Group Q4 FY24 Sales Q4 FY23 Sales Change (%) (Thousands of $): Marine and Propulsion Systems $ 47,228 $ 45,662 3.4 % Land-Based Transmissions   24,989   22,864 9.3 % Industrial   7,219   7,928 (8.9 %) Other   4,982   7,469 (33.3 %) Total $ 84,418 $ 83,923 0.6 % Product Group FY24 Sales FY23 Sales Change (%) (Thousands of $): Marine and Propulsion Systems $ 171,765 $ 147,825 16.2 % Land-Based Transmissions   78,519   73,048 7.5 % Industrial   25,669   29,775 (13.8 %) Other   19,174   26,312 (27.1 %) Total $ 295,127 $ 276,960 6.6 %   For fiscal 2024, Twin Disc delivered double-digit growth year-over-year in the European and the Asia-Pacific regions. The distribution of sales across geographical regions shifted, with a greater proportion of sales coming from the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, with a lower proportion coming from North America. Gross profit increased 1.4% to $25.1 million compared to $24.7 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Fourth quarter gross margin increased approximately 20 basis points to 29.7% from the prior year period, reflecting the benefit of incremental volume, a favorable product mix and the positive impact of cost reduction and operational efficiency initiatives. For fiscal 2024, gross profit increased 12.1% to $83.3 million. For the fiscal 2024 full year, gross margin increased approximately 140 basis points to 28.2%. Marketing, engineering and administrative (ME&A) expense increased by $3.8 million, or 22.9%, to $20.4 million, compared to $16.6 million in the prior year quarter. The increased ME&A expense was primarily driven by an inflationary impact on wages and benefits, costs related to the Katsa acquisition, investments to drive our hybrid electric strategy and increased bonus and stock compensation expenses. For the fiscal 2024 full year, ME&A expense increased 15.1% to $71.6 million, primarily driven by the same factors driving the fourth quarter increase, noted above. Other income increased by $2.4 million, or 126%, to $4.3 million, compared to $1.9 million in the prior year quarter, driven by a bargain purchase gain of $3.7 million on the acquisition of Katsa. The purchase accounting on Katsa remains preliminary. Net income attributable to Twin Disc for the quarter was $7.4 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, compared to net income attributable to Twin Disc of $8.6 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2023. The year-over-year change was driven by the increased level of ME&A expense in the quarter, partially offset by favorable operating results and the bargain purchase gain related to the Katsa acquisition. For fiscal 2024, the Company generated net income attributable to Twin Disc of $11.0 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, an increase of 5.9% and 5.4%, respectively, from fiscal 2023. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $11.8 million in the fourth quarter, were down 9.1% compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Full year fiscal 2024 EBITDA increased 2.9% to $26.5 million from $25.8 million in fiscal 2023. On a consolidated basis, the backlog of orders to be shipped over the next six months is approximately $133.7 million, compared to $130.5 million at the end of the third quarter. As a percentage of six-month backlog, inventory decreased slightly from 99.5% at the end of the third quarter to 97.6% at the end of the fourth quarter. Compared to the end of fiscal 2023, cash increased 51.3% to $20.1 million, total debt increased 38.6% to $25.8 million, and net debt* increased $0.4 million to $5.7 million. The increase was primarily attributable to higher long-term debt related to the Katsa acquisition. CFO Perspective Jeffrey S. Knutson, Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary stated, "With continued strong demand across our product segments, this year has been marked by solid financial performance, underscored by our consistent margin expansion and operating cash generation. It is clear that our steadfast focus on operational execution and working capital improvement has paid off. We plan to keep this momentum up as we work towards achieving our updated financial targets and further position Twin Disc for long-term success." Discussion of Results Twin Disc will host a conference call to discuss these results and to answer questions at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time on August 15, 2024. The live audio webcast will be available on Twin Disc's website at https://ir.twindisc.com. To participate in the conference call, please dial (800) 715-9871 approximately ten minutes before the call is scheduled to begin. A replay of the webcast will be available at https://ir.twindisc.com shortly after the call until August 14, 2025. About Twin Disc Twin Disc, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells marine and heavy-duty off-highway power transmission equipment. Products offered include marine transmissions, azimuth drives, surface drives, propellers, and boat management systems, as well as power-shift transmissions, hydraulic torque converters, power take-offs, industrial clutches, and control systems. The Company sells its products to customers primarily in the pleasure craft, commercial and military marine markets, as well as in the energy and natural resources, government, and industrial markets. The Company's worldwide sales to both domestic and foreign customers are transacted through a direct sales force and a distributor network. For more information, please visit www.twindisc.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain statements that are forward looking as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission in its rules, regulations, and releases. The words "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," and "expects," or similar anticipatory expressions, usually identify forward-looking statements. The Company intends that such forward-looking statements qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from current expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include the impact of general economic conditions and the cyclical nature of many of the Company's product markets; foreign currency risks and other risks associated with the Company's international sales and operations; the ability of the Company to successfully implement price increases to offset increasing commodity costs; the ability of the Company to generate sufficient cash to pay its indebtedness as it becomes due; and the possibility of unforeseen tax consequences and the impact of tax reform in the U.S. or other jurisdictions. These and other risks are described under the caption "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of the Company's most recent Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as supplemented in subsequent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, the making of such statements should not be regarded as a representation by the Company or any other person that the results expressed therein will be achieved. The Company assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events, new information, or otherwise. *Non-GAAP Financial Information Financial information excluding the impact of asset impairments, restructuring charges, foreign currency exchange rate changes and the impact of acquisitions, if any, in this press release are not measures that are defined in U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"). These items are measures that management believes are important to adjust for in order to have a meaningful comparison to prior and future periods and to provide a basis for future projections and for estimating our earnings growth prospects. Non-GAAP measures are used by management as a performance measure to judge profitability of our business absent the impact of foreign currency exchange rate changes and acquisitions. Management analyzes the company's business performance and trends excluding these amounts. These measures, as well as EBITDA, provide a more consistent view of performance than the closest GAAP equivalent for management and investors. Management compensates for this by using these measures in combination with the GAAP measures. The presentation of the non-GAAP measures in this press release are made alongside the most directly comparable GAAP measures. Definitions Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) is calculated as net earnings or loss excluding interest expense, the provision or benefit for income taxes, depreciation, and amortization expenses. Net debt is calculated as total debt less cash. Free cash flow is calculated as net cash provided (used) by operating activities less acquisition of fixed assets. Investors: Source: Twin Disc, Incorporated CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME(In thousands; except share amounts, unaudited)       For the Quarter Ended   For the Year Ended                       June 30, 2024   June 30, 2023   June 30, 2024   June 30, 2023 Net sales $ 84,418   $ 83,923   $ 295,127   $ 276,960   Cost of goods sold   59,332     59,177     208,709     202,628   Cost of goods sold - Sale of boat management system product line and related inventory   -     -     3,099     -   Gross profit   25,086     24,746     83,319     74,332                     Marketing, engineering, and administrative expenses   20,356     16,556     71,622     62,243   Restructuring expenses   11     (31 )   218     177   Other operating income   -     (1 )   -     (4,148 ) Income from operations   4,719     8,222     11,479     16,060                     Other expense (income):                 Interest expense   394     571     1,443     2,253   Bargain purchase gain   (3,724 )   -     (3,724 )   -   Other expense (income), net   (961 )