Gibraltar Industries, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Gibraltar industry's fourth quarter 2024 financial results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listening mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. At this time, it is now my pleasure to introduce Carolyn Capaccio with Alliance Advisors IR. Thank you, Carolyn. You may now begin.

Thanks, Rob. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. With me on the call is Bill Bosway, Gibraltar Industries Chairman, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Joe Lavecchio, Gibraltar's Chief Financial Officer. The earnings press release that was issued this morning, as well as the side presentation that management will use during the call, are both available in the investor section of the company's website, GibraltarOne.com. Gibraltar's earnings press release and remarks contain non-GAAP finance measures. Tables of reconciliation of GAAP to adjusted financial measures can be found in the earnings press release that was issued today. Further, please note that adjusted results exclude the net sales and operating results of the Japan renewables business that was sold on December 1st, 2023. Also, as noted on slide two of the presentation, the earnings press release and slide presentation contain forward-looking statements with respect to future financial results. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, and the company's actual results may differ materially from the anticipated events, performance, or results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Gibraltar advises you to read the risk factors detailed in its SEC filings, which can also be accessed through the company's website. Now, I'll turn the call over to Bill Bosway. Bill?

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. I'll start with our 2024 results, and then we'll review our outlook and plan for 2025, and then we'll open the call up for questions. So let's turn to slide three. We'll talk about our 2024 year in review, and we'll start actually with our fourth quarter. Our fourth quarter performance is closely aligned with expectations in each segment, ending the year with EPS at the top end of the outlook range and net sales just under the range. During the quarter, net sales were down 7.9%, driven mainly by ongoing market issues facing the renewables business. But despite down revenue, we improved operating income 11%, or 210 basis points. We increased adjusted EPS 17.4%, and we improved adjusted EBIT at 220 basis points. As well, when you look at the collective performance of the rest of the portfolio, the residential, ag tech, and infrastructure businesses, our results in the quarter showed additional performance improvement with net sales down 3.9% versus 7.9% for the total business, And operating income improving 45%, and operating margin expanding 480 basis points. And EBITDA improving 32%, and EBITDA margin improving 460 basis points. So solid performance in these three businesses, which helped to offset some of the market and business challenges our renewables team continued to work through. Now let's talk about the full year. Consolidated net sales were down 3.9% to 1.31 billion. as both our residential renewables businesses navigated less than favorable in-market dynamics. That being said, on an adjusted basis, operating margin, EBITDA margin, and EPS all expanded with margin improvement in three of our four segments. We also generated $174 million in operating cash flow and $154 million in free cash flow, or 12% of net sales. The collective performance of the residential, ag tech, and infrastructure businesses was also positive for the full year. Net sales were down slightly, 1.9%, versus 3.9% for the total business. And operating income improved 12%, with operating margin up 180 basis points. And EBITDA improved 10%, with EBITDA margin also up 180 basis points. So again, solid performance in these three businesses as we work through market and execution improvements in the renewables business. Backlog at year end was down 24% as new bookings, driven mainly by the time of new orders for both renewables and ag tech, moved from the fourth quarter into the first quarter of 2025. Since the start of the year, order activity has increased for both businesses. And to date, versus prior year, renewables bookings are up 33% and ag tech bookings are up over 300%. And both businesses maintain an active pipeline of additional opportunities as well. Our infrastructure business is also seeing solid demand with its backlog of 10% coming into 2025. And residential demand has also improved as participation gains awarded in 2024 are now beginning to materialize in the first quarter. Relative to portfolio management, just last week we expanded our ag tech structures business with the acquisition of Lane Supply, an industry leader in the design, manufacture, and installation of canopies serving convenience stores, quick serve restaurants, travel centers, food retailers, and EV charging stations. We are very excited to have Lane join Gibraltar, and we'll talk more about them later in the presentation. Now we're gonna jump into each of the business segments, and Joe will get us started.