2/23/2024

speaker
Todd
Conference Coordinator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the ARCOSA fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings conference call. My name is Todd, and I will be your conference coordinator today. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. Now I would like to turn the call over to your host, Aaron Drabeck, Director of Investor Relations for ARCOSA. Ms. Drabeck, you may begin.

speaker
Erin Drabeck
Director of Investor Relations

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining ARCOSA's fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings call. With me today are Antonio Carrillo, President and CEO, and Gail Peck, CFO. A question and answer session will follow their prepared remarks. A copy of yesterday's press release and the slide presentation for this morning's call are posted on our investor relations website, ir.arcosa.com. A replay of today's call will be available for the next two weeks. Instructions for accessing the replay number are included in the press release. A replay of the webcast will be available for one year on our website under the news and events tab. Today's comments and presentation slides contain financial measures that have not been prepared in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the closest GAAP measure are included in the appendix of the slide presentation. In addition, today's conference call contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Please refer to the company's SEC filings for more information on these risks and uncertainties, including the press release we filed yesterday and our form 10K expected to be filed later today. I would now like to turn the call over to Antonio.

speaker
Antonio Carrillo
President and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you Erin. Good morning and thank you for joining us to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2023 results and the outlook for 2024. I will start with a few key messages. 2023 represented another solid year of operational and financial performance for our COSA. Our success reflects the effective execution of our strategy and the talent and dedication of our outstanding team. Normalizing for the sale of the storage tank business, ARCOSA generated double-digit growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA for 2023, outpacing the guidance we set at the beginning of the year. Additionally, we drove solid improvement in adjusted EBITDA margin, reflecting a favorable pricing environment, increased operational leverage in our transportation products business, and the benefit of wind tower tax credits. Finally, we reported 50% increase in full-year operating cash flow that helped fund key growth initiatives. Strategically, we continue to advance our objectives and position our portfolio for sustainable long-term growth. Following the divestiture of the storage tank business in the fourth quarter of 2022, we redeployed a portion of the sale proceeds to strengthen our construction product segment. Over the past year, we closed six bolt-on acquisitions, expanding our geographic presence in key natural and recycled aggregates markets, including Florida, and enhancing our capabilities in trench shoring. Consistent with our disciplined approach to capital allocation, these strategic acquisitions were completed at attractive valuations. We also progressed on several important organic initiatives, which included the expansion of our specialty plaster capacity, completion of our new concrete pole facility in Florida, as well as the build-out of our wind tower facility in New Mexico, which we expect will deliver its first tower mid-year. Looking broadly at our 2023 performance, our growth businesses benefited from healthy market fundamentals, proactive pricing actions, and reduced inflationary pressures as the year progressed. Our cyclical businesses performed well, led by our transportation products business, where adjusted EBITDA more than doubled. Operationally, our wind tower business outperformed our expectations in 2023 and achieved EBITDA profitability for the year, exclusive of tax credits. reflecting our focus on optimizing our production and managing costs as we prepare for unanticipated multiyear up cycles. Turning to our fourth quarter results on slide 11, consolidated adjusted EBITDA grew 38% on revenue, growth of 17%. Similar to our full year results, growth was driven by increase across all three segments. Fourth quarter adjusted a bit. The margin gained 220 basis points year over year, benefiting from higher barge and rail component production, increased volume in utility structures, and a favorable impact from wind tax credits. We ended the year with a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity, providing the flexibility to invest in growth initiatives while returning cash to shareholders. I will now turn over the call to Gail to discuss our segment performance, and then I will return to update you on our 2024 outlook. Gail?

Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

-

-

Investor presentation