Mueller Industries, Inc.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Miller Industries fourth quarter 2019 results conference call. Please note this event is being recorded, and now at this time I would like to turn the call over to Brendan Dunlap of FTI Consulting. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I would like to welcome you to the Miller Industries conference call. We are here to discuss the company's 2019 fourth quarter results, which were released after the close of market yesterday. With us from the management team today are Bill Miller, Chairman of the Board, Will Miller, President and Co-CEO, Jeff Badgley, Co-CEO, Debbie Whitmire, Executive Vice President and CFO, and Frank Madonia, Executive Vice President, Secretary, and General Counsel. Today's call will begin with formal remarks from management, followed by a question and answer period. Please note this morning's conference call, management may make forward-looking statements in accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Security Litigation Reform Act of 1995. I'd like to call your attention to the risks related to these statements, which are more fully described in the company's annual report filed on Form 10-K and other filings of the Securities and Exchange Commission. With these formalities out of the way, I'd like to turn the call over to Jeff. Please go ahead, Jeff.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. We're pleased to discuss our fourth quarter and full year results with you today. This has been a record breaking year for Miller Industries as we achieved the highest full year revenue and net income in our company's history. We finished the year with strong top line growth, gross margin expansion, and an increase in earnings per share. Revenue during the fourth quarter increased 12.9% to $203.1 million versus $180 million a year ago, driven by broad-based demand across our portfolio. Our domestic business continued its strong performance during the quarter as new order rates remained steady and our distributors continued to work at full capacity to deliver existing orders. Our international business also performed in line with our expectations on a year-over-year basis. Additionally, our fourth quarter results benefited from a catch-up related to supply chain delays we experienced during the third quarter. Quarterly gross profits increased by 21.6% year-over-year to $26.9 million and our gross margin expanded 100 basis points year over year to 13.3%, which reflects strong demand, favorable mix, and other cost reduction measures. Additionally, during the quarter, we continued to realize benefits from our cost control initiatives as SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales decreased by approximately 20 basis points from the prior year period. Net income was $11.7 million or $1.03 per share compared to net income of $10.8 million or 95 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2018. As we move into the first quarter of 2020, Our backlog remains healthy in both our domestic and international markets, and we remain committed to providing best-in-class customer service while continuing to invest in our business and generating shareholder value. Further, our balance sheet remains healthy as we continue to pay down debt and strategically deploy our resources to drive sustainable long-term growth. Now I'll turn the call over to Debbie, who will review the fourth quarter financial results. After that, I'll be back with comments about the market environment and some closing remarks. Debbie?