Allegion plc

Good morning and welcome to the Allegiant first quarter 2019 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host today, Mike Wagnus, Vice President, Investor Relations, and Treasurer. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Keith. Good morning, everyone. Welcome and thank you for joining us for Allegiant's first quarter 2019 earnings call. With me today are Dave Petratis, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Patrick Shannon, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Allegiant. Our earnings release, which was issued earlier this morning, and the presentation, which we refer to in today's call, are available on our website at Allegiant.com. This call will be recorded and archived on our website. Please go to slides number two and three. Statements made in today's call that are not historical facts are considered forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of federal securities law. Please see our most recent SEC filings for a description of some of the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from our projections. The company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Today's presentation and commentary include non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the reconciliation in the financial tables of our press release for further details. Dave and Patrick will now discuss our first quarter 2019 results, which will be followed by a Q&A session. For the Q&A, we ask each caller to limit themselves to one question and one follow-up, and then re-enter the queue. We will do our best to get to everyone given the time allotted. Please go to slide four, and I'll turn the call over to Dave.

Thanks, Mike. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. Allegiant got out of the starting gate with a good quarter that has positioned us to deliver on our 2019 commitments. We had solid top-line revenue growth in the first quarter, which benefited from strength in the Americas and from the Gainesboro acquisition in the Asia-Pacific region. The Americas' growth was driven by the non-residential business, as in-market fundamentals continue to be positive, particularly in institutional verticals. Pricing was also strong for the company led by the Americas region. Electronics growth was at almost 10% for the quarter, which was lower than the growth rates experienced in 2018. While growth improved sequentially from the last quarter, our product portfolio and new market partnerships will drive even better growth in the coming quarters. Allegiant's combination of brands, expanded product portfolio, technical partnerships, and continuously evolving channel relationships give us a great opportunity to take advantage of this market as it develops. For the full year 2019, we expect the Americas electronics growth rate to be similar to historic levels, which is supported by the healthy demand of the recently launched Schlage ENCODE residential lock that is ramping up in Q2. Moving down the slide, Allegiant was able to drive price realization and productivity actions, which more than offset the substantial inflationary pressures we experienced. I am pleased with the performance as we saw operating margin increase for the total company and in each of the individual regions. In the first quarter, we delivered a 10% increase in adjusted EPS, driven primarily from operations. This performance highlights our continued focus on accelerating growth, margin improvement, and driving increased shareholder value. Last, we are affirming our outlooks for 2019 revenue and EPS. We project total and organic revenue growth between 5% and 6%. For reported EPS, the range continues to be $4.60 to $4.75 per share, and adjusted EPS remains at $4.75 to $4.90. Please go to slide number five, and I'll walk through the first quarter financial summary. In Q1, Allegiant delivered good top-line revenue performance. Revenue for the first quarter was $655 million, an increase of 6.8%, inclusive of 5.8% organic growth. Allegiant also contributed to the top-line revenue expansion, excuse me, acquisitions also contributed to the top-line revenue expansion, offsetting the unfavorable currency impact. Americas led the way with organic growth of nearly 8% in the quarter, supported by strong pricing and solid volume in the non-residential business. The EMEA region saw modest organic growth and Asia-Pacific total revenue was boosted by the Gainesboro acquisition completed last year. Adjusted operating margin increased by 10 basis points, aided by price and productivity, more than offsetting significant inflation. The businesses continue to focus on driving price realization, productivity savings to combat inflationary pressures. Adjusted earnings per share of 88 cents increased 8 cents or 10% versus the prior year. As mentioned, the increase was driven primarily by operational performance, reduced share count, and a slightly lower tax rate, with the other income providing a small benefit to EPS growth. Year-to-date available cash flow is down approximately $6 million. The decrease is related to increased working capital and higher capital expenditures that were offset slightly by increased earnings. Please go to slide six. When Allegiant was founded, we put together a sound strategy, values, and strategic pillars for our company, and they have allowed us to deliver industry-leading results, including industry-leading organic growth and operating margins. As we move into the next five years, we made some nice adjustments to the strategy. In March, we shared our refreshed corporate strategy with you. Our vision of seamless access and a safer world is aligned with electronic trends in security and access. It also recognizes the enhanced capabilities of technology, edge devices, and our unique ownership of the opening to provide layers of authentication and enhanced safety to increase human productivity. We believe The five strategic pillars Allegiant has laid out are the foundation for our future. Our pillars include expansion and core markets. We continue to broaden the core business through channel relationships, digital demand creation, and leading products. Be the partner of choice. Delivering seamless access means we're intent on looking beyond our walls and leveraging our partners and ecosystems to drive growth, which includes using open platforms that integrate well with others. Drive new value and access. Our innovation will focus on the user experience with access and working with partners to create unique solutions that increase their safety and speed up their productivity. We are also intent on bringing new products to the market faster through modular, global, scalable platforms. Capital allocation. Allegiant will continue to take a disciplined and flexible approach to capital deployment, one that spans organic investments, acquisitions, and shareholder distributions to optimize shareholder returns. And last, enterprise excellence. As you have seen in our Q1, Our ability to drive results through productivity and continuous improvement is a strength of our company. Allegiant is committed to create value with excellent customer experience and with a culture of safety, health, and employee engagement. Access has been a part of our company's history for over 100 years, and seamless access will define our company going forward. Patrick will now take you through the financial results, and I'll be back to discuss our full year 2019 outlook.

Thanks, Dave, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the call this morning. If you would, please go to slide number seven. This slide depicts the components of our revenue growth for the first quarter. I'll focus on the total legion results and cover the regions on their respective slides. As indicated, we delivered 5.8% organic growth in Q1. This performance reflects another strong quarter in the Americas region, which included 7.6% organic growth led by the non-residential markets and returns on our channel initiatives. Pricing in the quarter was strong at 2.1%. The company will continue to take necessary pricing actions to help mitigate the impact of ongoing inflationary pressures. Also during the first quarter, acquisitions contributed more than 3% growth, offsetting the substantial currency headwinds we experienced. Please go to slide number eight. Reported net revenues for the first quarter were $655 million. As stated earlier, this reflects an increase of 6.8% versus the prior year, up 5.8% on an organic basis. Adjusted operating income of 112.1 million increased nearly 8% over the same timeframe from last year. Adjusted operating margin of 17.1% increased 10 basis points. Price realization and productivity actions outpaced inflation, which contributed to the operating income increase, and solid volume leverage contributed to the margin expansion. Headwinds to margin performance included incremental investments, which had a 40 basis point impact on adjusted operating margins, and regional mix driven by acquisitions. Each of the regions saw expansion in operating margin, which offsets in corporate expense related to deferred compensation plans due to favorable financial markets and accelerated vesting of stock-based compensation for retirement eligible employees. The incremental cost associated with deferred compensation plans were offset in other income, below operating income, such that it had no impact on earnings per share. Please go to slide number nine. This slide reflects our earnings per share reconciliation for the first quarter. For the first quarter of 2018, reported earnings per share was 75 cents. Adjusting five cents for the prior year restructuring expenses and cost-related acquisitions, the Q1 2018 adjusted EPS was $0.80. Operational results increased earnings per share by $0.09 as favorable price, operating leverage on incremental volume and productivity more than offset inflationary impacts in unfavorable currency. Favorable year-over-year share count drove another $0.01 as we executed more than $63 million in share buyback in the quarter. The impact of incremental investments in the quarter was a $0.02 reduction. These incremental investments are for new product development, channel strategies, and demand creation spending. Collectively, these incremental investments enable Legion to accelerate growth, particularly in electronics. The combination of interest expense, other income, non-controlling interest, and tax rate offset each other to have no impact on year-over-year earnings per share growth. This results in adjusted first quarter 2019 earnings per share of $0.88, an increase of $0.08 or 10% compared to the prior year. Lastly, we have a $0.04 per share reduction for charges related to acquisitions and restructuring. After giving effect to these one-time items, you arrive at the first quarter 2019 reported earnings per share of $0.84. Please go to slide number 10. First quarter revenues for the Americas region were $475.3 million up 8.2% on a reported basis and 7.6% organically. The organic growth was driven by low double-digit increase in the non-residential business. Pricing was strong in America's region, coming in at 2.6% in the quarter. While the non-residential business grew nicely, the residential business was essentially flat in the quarter when compared to Q1 of last year. Electronics growth still exceeded total growth in the Americas, and came in at nearly 10%. America's adjusted operating income of $123.1 million increased 8.5% versus the prior year period, and adjusted operating margin for the quarter increased 10 basis points. The increase in adjusted operating margin was driven primarily by volume leverage. Additionally, price and productivity exceeded the significant inflationary pressures observed in the region and contributed to the operating income increase. Incremental investments were a 30 basis point drag on margins. Please go to slide number 11. First quarter revenues for the EMEA region were 142.9 million, down 4.9%, and up 1.7% on an organic basis. The organic growth was driven by pricing and favorable volume in our Simons Voss and Interflex businesses, offsetting weakness in southern Europe. Total revenue growth was reduced by significant currency headwinds. EMEA adjusted operating income of $11.7 million increased 30% versus the prior year period. Adjusted operating margin for the quarter increased 220 basis points, driven by price and productivity exceeding moderate inflation. The region also saw volume leverage and favorable mix, which partially offset currency pressures. Incremental investments were a 30 basis point headwind operating margin. Please go to slide number 12. First quarter revenues for the Asia Pacific region were $36.8 million, up 55% versus the prior year. Organic revenue declined 2.2%, driven by an internal revenue transfer of $1.5 million to the other regions. Total revenue growth was driven by the Gainesboro acquisition which increased revenues in the region by more than 63%. Foreign currency was a significant headwind for the quarter, reducing revenue by nearly 6%. Asia Pacific adjusted operating loss for the quarter was .7 million, an improvement of .3 million, with adjusted operating margins improving 230 basis points versus the prior year period. Similar to the other regions, the price productivity inflation dynamic was positive in the region and the gains were acquisition was accretive to operating margin in the quarter. Please go to slide number 13. Year to date available cash flow for the first quarter 2019 was negative 24.9 million, which is a decrease of 6.1 million compared to the prior year period. The decrease is driven by higher working capital requirements, and increased capital spending partially offset by higher net earnings. Working capital as a percent of revenues increased slightly in the first quarter while the cash conversion cycle was down. As always, we remain committed to an effective and efficient use of working capital and will continue to evaluate opportunities to minimize investments in working capital and increase available cash flow. Lastly, we are affirming our full-year available cash flow outlook of $430 to $450 million. I will now hand the call back over to Dave for an update on our full-year 2019 outlook. Thank you, Patrick.

Please go to slide number 14. As noted on the slide, we are affirming our revenue outlook. The consolidated outlook for total organic revenue remains at a range of 5% to 6%. In the Americas, we see continued positive fundamentals in our non-residential verticals, led by institutional markets, which we believe will continue to be strong throughout 2019. We expect the general trend toward electronic products to continue, and we are positioned to take advantage of this trend. For the EMEA region, we expect strength in our electronic businesses, led by Simons Voss and Interflex. to more than offset weaknesses that we are experiencing in Southern Europe. However, total revenue will be negatively affected by currency headwinds. In Asia Pacific, we continue to see healthy growth in China, with softening markets in Australia and New Zealand. The total revenue growth reflects the full year impact of the Gainsborough acquisition, which has another quarter before we pass the anniversary date. We are also affirming earnings per share outlook with reported EPS at the range of $4.60 to $4.75 per share and adjusted EPS to be between $4.75 and $4.90. This represents adjusted EPS growth of approximately 6% to 9%. As Patrick stated, we are also affirming our cash flow outlook of $430 to $450 million. The outlook assumes no change in the previously provided investment spend of approximately 15 cents per share. The full year adjusted effective tax rate continues to be approximately 16%, with an anticipated higher rate in the first half of the year than in the second half. We are updating our outlook for outstanding diluted shares to approximately 95 million, reflecting the buyback activity completed in Q1. Please go to slide 15. As a summary of Allegiant's Q1 performance, total revenue grew nearly 7%, organic revenue grew almost 6%, adjusted operating margins were up 10 basis points, and were up in all regions. Adjusted EPS saw 10% growth in the quarter. Access has been an important part of our past and will be more important part of the future as we connect the world through seamless access and smart devices. Now Patrick and I will be happy to take your questions.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then 1 on your touchtone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To try a question, please press star then 2. We do ask that in consideration of the others, you limit yourself to one question and a follow-up. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble the roster. And today's first question comes from John Walsh with Credit Suisse.

Hi. Good morning.

Good morning, John.

Hi. So I guess maybe a first question here around electronics, you know, the near almost 10% growth. I think you've been talking about, you know, sustaining a mid-teens type growth rate on an annual basis. You have another quarter here of a high teens comp. How should we think about the cadence and, you know, maybe a little bit underneath that number between residential and non-residential would also be helpful as well?

I would say continue your cadence in terms of mid-teens growth for our electronics businesses. As I said in Investor Day, our industry was going to do well with this transformation over the next decade. Feel good about the business with the launch of ENCODE, our partnership with Ring, the conversion of Lenar, who's leading on electronics home launch. We see that the adoption continues to be strong. We have a strong pipeline of new products and partnerships. When I see the 10% growth in the quarter, There was some work behind the scenes that we conducted in the channel that I think took some steam out of our sales but will help us accelerate as we go forward.

And, you know, I guess maybe can you elaborate on those actions in the channel a little bit?

I would describe it as this. You know, with the advent and growth of e-commerce, It can be at times a little bit of the wild west. And we went in and buttoned up some channel partners that will help us to drive price realization and growth in the marketplace.

Gotcha. And then maybe just one quick one here. Nice to see the price and productivity net be a 60 basis point contributor year on year. How should we think about that cadence as we go through the year, does that actually pick up?

So as we've commented earlier, well, first of all, was very pleased with the performance in the quarter. It's good to see us turn the quarter on the price productivity inflation dynamic. As you recall, last year, every quarter, we were a little bit underwater. So we turned positive this year, particularly across all regions. So very pleased with the performance as it relates to that As we look forward during the course of the year, you would see from a margin expansion, continued improvement as we progress throughout the year, but the margin improvement being more heavily weighted towards the back half of the year, and that's when the comparisons on inflation become a little bit more easier, particularly as we look at input costs on steel and those type of things. consider continued migration of margin expansion, but more heavily back-end loaded in the back half of the year.

Thank you. And the next question comes from Joshua Flinsky with Morgan Stanley.

Hi. Good morning, guys. Good morning, Josh. So I guess thinking back on 1Q, it seems like every company we've heard from so far has had some mix of inventory and weather discussions. So just wondering as it pertains to residential where the mechanical side looks like it was probably a little bit weaker. Anything that you saw from weather or channel destocking that makes that less of a trend line and something that can accelerate or at least improve a little bit from here?

I'd say first look at the macro. We see the renovation and retrofit softened in the quarter. I think you see overall starts down or at least softened. Uh, not surprising. I think again, uh, third, uh, there's some pretty big players in, uh, retail that have your ends that tends to, you know, wind down inventory. And then it was a pretty tough winter. I don't like to point at that, but, uh, especially in res north of the Mason Dixon line, people generally don't go out and replace their front door locks, uh, when it's below zero. So I think there was a lot of things working in that overall. I think, you know, we performed pretty well in the quarter, you know, with some of those stressors.

Got it. That's helpful. And then just on the price mix in Americas, I think that's a high watermark that we haven't hit in some time. Just understanding that mix was probably particularly solid, you know, given resi versus non-resi and electronics, which probably could have been a little bit better to your earlier point. How should we think about how that paces through the rest of the year? Should that price mix number start to moderate as you lap some of the increases last year?

Yeah, so you would expect to see kind of a similar type of dynamic maybe for Q2. And then, as you said, the price increase implemented earlier last year, beginning of Q2, so that lapse, you know, beginning, or excuse me, beginning of Q3, so that lapse in Q3. And the price increase that we're going out with this year isn't of the same magnitude. And so, therefore, the price increase year over year becomes less in the back half of the year.

Got it. That's helpful. Thanks, Dave. Thanks, Patrick.

Thank you. And the next question comes from Julian Mitchell with Barclays.

Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Maybe just the first question on your residential business. So as you said, this is the second quarter in a row of sort of no growth really, a lot of issues in the broader market and also weather. Maybe just update us on what you're expecting your residential business to grow in 2019. and what sort of impact do you think we could see from electronics products within that and whether there's been any evidence of demand destruction from price increases?

So we don't split out the overall residential growth. I think as you look at the macro on new build, I think we're going to continue for single family in North America around $850 million. a relatively flat market. I think multifamily continues to be robust. That surprises me, but people are moving into the inner city. These projects tend to be more price competitive, especially on the traditional mechanical hardware. We do like the trend that these are becoming more electronic. We have, over the last two years, had a focused effort around this, and we think it will give us some lift. The strength of our company continues to be on the retrofit side of this, so I like our opportunities as we go into the res, and it will advance. Our growth will advance beyond what we saw in Q1.

And let me just add, too, on the price perspective as it relates to residential. You know, it has been a little choppy, not in the sale-to price to the distribution channel, but more on the rebate side and discounts and those type of things. We actually had positive price realization in Q1 this year as it relates to residential. So there's no deterioration, if you will, in the pricing dynamics. and what's going on in the marketplace, and believe we can continue to hold our own, particularly as it relates to some of our new electronic products, and I think we'll continue to be extremely competitive there.

Thanks, and then my second question, just on those Americas margins, it was good to see the slight increase year on year in the first quarter. Based on your comments around productivity efforts in the margin bridge and also acquisition impacts, should we see that that margin expansion accelerates through the year? What kind of headwind from M&A on margin do you expect in Americas?

We would continue to see expansion throughout the course of the year. Again, the back half will be a wider gap there, more favorable than Q2. M&A, as we've indicated historically, the businesses we acquired, we like very much, believe we will continue to drive improvement as they become part of the Allegiant business operating system and continue to drive synergies on both the top end and the cost side. Those businesses, though, when we acquired them, had a lower margin profile, and therefore, by nature, they're dilutive businesses. to the America's margin. But we'll continue to get improvement in those businesses, and that will help margin performance year over year comparisons going forward.

Thank you. And the next question comes from Deepika Raghavan with Wells Fargo Securities.

Good morning. So my question is on the guide here, 2019. There's not much we can glean from this unchanged foliar guide. You know, there seems to be some crosswinds. Europe is softer, obviously. North America holding better than we thought. Asia may be okay there. But let me ask you this way. Does the guide at midpoint, say 482 EPS or organic growth of 5.5% for the full year, does that feel bolstered now where you stand post Q1? Or is it just stable at this point in time versus, you know, what you were thinking prior? Yeah.

Pretty stable, I'd say, you know, basis of the performance, you know, pretty much in line with what we were expecting. So, therefore, you don't really see an uptick, you know, relative to the guide. So, feel pretty good where we are in our execution and, you know, basis of what Dave indicated, the demand, particularly in institutional markets going forward, feel really good about that and feel like we've got good visibility to execute on our guidance for

for 2019? Deepa, I'd add to that. I'd just say confident. What we see came in at a Q1. I'd go back 90, 120 days ago, a lot of uncertainty about what was going to unfold in 19. And my message to the street is confidence. We see good, solid in markets. As I travel really globally, there's opportunity for a legion. And as I think about the electronic convergence, I like what I see ahead in 2019.

Got it. My follow-on is on Q2. Is there any quirkiness either on your basis or sequentially or, you know, comp-wise we should be mindful of?

Nothing comes to mind out of the ordinary. Other than maybe below-the-line items, you're going to see some pressure as it relates to other income expense, and the tax rate, I believe, was anticipated to be higher.

Got it. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. And the next question is from David McGregor with Longwell Research.

Good morning, everyone. Congratulations on the quarter. Just looking at America's non-residential business, the low double-digit growth, is there any way you can separate institutional versus commercial for us there?

We don't. I would say, as I look at our execution in those markets, we continue to perform at a high level. I think that's reflective in number. We see strength in the institutionals, especially around K-12 and college campuses. But as I look at those segments, I think we see the electronic trends that are driving us, things like overture that we have rolled out help us to better connect with specifiers and contractors to drive that growth. And I think fundamentally the market's strong, and we're executing at a very good level.

Okay, thanks for that. And I guess just as a follow-up, just talking about the electronics business and the profitability there, any notable change in terms of the profitability of that business? It sounds like maybe there were some investments this quarter in the residential electronics. Just how should we think about the profitability and then how you're thinking about that as it extends through the balance of the year?

So profitability really similar to prior years. You know, as we've indicated, similar margin profile. but a higher ASP, meaning more EBIT dollars. And so this whole trend of electronics growth really positive for Allegiant. And, you know, we'll continue. There's nothing in the horizon that would suggest any margin deterioration, you know, relative to the new products we've introduced. Some are margin profiles, and we believe we can sustain that going forward.

Patrick, as the new product cadence accelerates, does that – Does that profitability improve, or how should we think about that?

No.

You know, similar margin profile. As we think about that pipeline of new electronic products, our desire is to use design innovation, standardization, global platforms to be able to maintain that margin profile. Thanks very much.

Thank you. And the next question comes from Jeff Kessler with Imperial Capital.

Thank you. Thank you for taking my question. First question is, this year or the last year and a half, we've seen an acceleration in companies that have been doing, let's call it enhanced card access. Companies like I just mentioned, like One, Identiv, but some of them compete with you on card access. Some of them have things that are actually outside of what you've been doing. are you looking at expanding into that business a little bit further? And I'm not just talking about generic card access. I'm talking about card access that actually has permissions on it that gets you in, that has some maybe federal attachments to it. I know you're mostly commercial, but there are other vertical markets that the entire access business gets involved with and brings involved new technologies like audio over IT, things like that. So the question, the bottom line question is, are there card access areas that interest you to expand the business in that area?

I think... A couple ways we think about that. Number one, with acquisition, Isonis was part of that. We think we've got some nice IP and capabilities. I think second, partnerships. I really am excited, you know, with our venture group and potential partners and new technologies that walk through. And I think, you know, partnership is not a bad place to position. I also think edge devices will also be, with layers of authenticity, will be –

important part of that equation to be able to drive access through cards and readers okay quickly on on overture I'm just wondering if you thinking about overture as a service the fact that you can now have a collaborative capability that brings in a number of parties which really does I think create some value some value added to the your ability to bring a a group of people to design something and help you get that product out faster. Is there a way to make that some type of a service or other parts of Allegiant a service subscription? I'm not going to say subscription, but, yes, I would call it a recurring revenue subscription-based way to get involved in working with Allegiant in some way, shape, way, shape, or form if something like Overture becomes ubiquitous?

So the answer would be yes. However, our first priority is to make sure the user satisfaction and adoption is at the high level. So why would my answer be yes? I think if you think about an institutional campus, a hospital, a K-12 school, the ability to digitally capture access, workflows, and keep that updated is attractive to an operator of that hospital or college campus. Think about if the system, Overture, keeps those things current, It's not easy for a campus administrator to go out and access those multiple documents would be one example. Another is what's installed on that door as the potential is needed for service in a variety of areas. So I'd say we're trying to stretch our thinking of what the possibilities of digital access systems like Overture can mean to the business, and I think there's positive opportunity as we go forward, Jeff.

Okay, thank you. I'm just kind of following up. You have futurists who work with you and who are working inside you, and I think there's a lot of things that they can think about right now, given the base, the broader base of your products, and if something like this were to get a higher price, a very high user rate, you could probably move forward with a recurring revenue type of program.

I hope all of our listeners will take a look at our Investor Day presentations and our view on seamless access. There's great opportunities for us to redefine our industry and develop new ecosystems that will benefit Allegiant in a variety of ways beyond overture. And we're excited about it.

Thank you. And the next question comes from Josh Chan with Baird.

Hi, good morning, Dave, Patrick, Mike. Good morning. Good morning. Yeah, my first question is on the non-res business. In America, its growth is obviously very strong. Just wondering... You talked about visibility through the whole year. Could you give us some color in terms of what you're hearing from the channel or contractor backlogs or anything like that that lends you that confidence regarding growth for the rest of the year?

Contractor backlogs, close to nine months. Historically, that's extremely healthy. I think we continue to see labor in the construction markets is tight. I think that continues to snowplow, as you heard me say. I think the adoption of electronics continues to be an attractive trend. You get into the K-12 opportunity. Bond issuance is on the rise. And the other one that's a little bit more sobering, the average age of a K-12 school is 40 years old. And, you know, the need for upgrade with the opportunity or driver around campus security, you know, is going to continue to be good for our business. You move over to health care, we see some softening in the big hospitals, but we see uptick. around what we call medical offices and specialty clinics. You know, there's a repositioning here, but these medical clinics still drive the same complexity of code and specification, product enhancements that we think drive growth. And for me as well, the commercial market continues to have legs. So we like the overall view. We think things like Overture – our spec writing capability, and then adding electronics bode well for 2019.

And then, Josh, just as an add-on, some of our leading indicators of bid quote activity, specifications, written, those type of things, very strong. Trend continues to be up. And normally, you know, there's a lag, obviously, between the time you get those and when the products are put in place. So, feel really good relative to the market demand and the feedback we get from our customer base.

Okay, thanks. Yeah, that's good to hear. And then my second question is on the buyback. It seems like the pace in Q1 was maybe slightly above what you normally do in Q1, so just wondering if buybacks are more of a focus this year than in the prior years.

Well, as we indicated during our shareholder day, capital allocation is a key strategic pillar for the company. As you know, we're in a really good financial position. Our balance sheet is the healthiest expense and spend with a two-time debt to EBITDA. Cash flow will continue to increase as our business grows and expands. So we have a lot of optionality. And the key message is we're going to deploy capital put it to use for our shareholders to drive shareholder returns. Last year, as you know, we're extremely busy in adding some really good businesses to the portfolio. We're still integrating those. Our pipeline from an M&A perspective remains active and busy. We'll remain disciplined, but if we're not active in M&A, we've always said we would provide incremental shareholder distributions. either through dividends or share repurchases. You saw the dividend increase executed in Q1. So we're more active now in share repurchases. We have available cash to put it to use, and we'll continue to do so.

Great. Thanks for taking my questions. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, and the next question comes to Joe Ritchie with Goldman Sachs. Thank you. Good morning, guys. Hi, Joe Ritchie.

Dave, you've become a friend. My friends typically will refer to me by both names. I don't know why, but it's been a trait since I've been in high school. Anyhow, going off on a tangent, the question I have is really regarding trends. If we think about the first quarter, we've heard like varying degrees of trends throughout the quarter, you know, because of weather, because of tariffs. And I'm just wondering, as you guys progress through the quarter, how did your trends either improve or decelerate as we move through the quarter?

I think there was another little fly in the ointment there called the government shutdowns. I think clearly as we went through the quarter, things got better. And it's always – there's a hangover after the New Year's, you know, things pick up. But I felt good with the momentum. I felt better about our execution on price and productivity. We put up, I thought, an aggressive 2019 plan with margin expansion, and I was very pleased – uh, you know, with our ability, not only to put up good organic growth, but, uh, more pleased by our execution on the price and productivity side.

But I guess specifically though, Dave, I mean, as we kind of progressed through March, did things get any better? Did they get worse? Like how did, how did things progress?

As we went through March, uh, You know, and it's normal with the thawing of the ground. Things get better. That's happened, you know, for the last 38 years in my exposure to building products. And in my mind, it's just part of the spring routine. It gets better.

Okay, that's helpful. And if I could just kind of follow on on your investment spending. I saw that you did $0.02 this quarter. still looking to do about 15 cents for the year. And so how does the, Patrick, how does the cadence come through for the rest of the year on the investments and perhaps maybe some color around the investments that you're doing for the rest of the year?

Yeah, so obviously it's going to pick up here, you know, think more heavily weighted towards the back half of the year, which, you know, kind of matches our improvement and margin expansion here. The incremental investments are the same kind of criteria. New product development, so acceleration of products, particularly around electronics. I feel like we're getting really good demand from those going forward. Channel development, continue to invest in the channel and underserved market opportunities around the globe. We'll continue to do that. And then demand creation. as it relates to trying to accelerate adoption centered around electronics. Those are kind of the three primary categories, all kind of front end, you know, loaded in terms of revenue driving growth. And, you know, we'll continue to do that. And, again, it will expand, you know, during the course of the year.

Thank you. And this concludes the question and answer section. I would now like to return the call to Mike Wagnus for any closing remarks.

We'd like to thank everyone for participating in today's call. Please contact me for any further questions, and have a great day.

Thank you. The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. May I disconnect your lines?