REV Group, Inc.

Greetings. Welcome to the REV Group Incorporated first quarter 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to your host, Drew Knopp. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Stacey. Good morning and thanks for joining us. This morning we issued our first quarter fiscal 2021 results. A copy of the release is available on our website at investors.revgroup.com. Today's call is being webcast and a slide presentation, which includes a reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures, is available on our website. Please refer now to slide two of that presentation. Our remarks and answers will include forward-looking statements which are subject to risks that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks include, among others, matters that we have described in our Form 8K filed with the SEC this morning and other filings we make with the SEC. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, which may not be updated until our next quarterly earnings call, if at all. All references to a quarter or year are our fiscal quarter or fiscal year, unless otherwise stated. Joining me on the call today are our president and CEO, Rod Rushing, as well as our CFO, Mark Skanechny. Please turn now to slide three, and I'll turn the call over to Rod.

Thank you, Drew, and good morning, everyone that's joining us on today's call. I will begin with an overview of the quarter's consolidated performance, and then I'll move to commercial and operating highlights achieved within the quarter before turning it over to Mark for our segment financial details. We're very pleased to report our best first quarter adjusted EBITDA performance since our IPO in 2017, with over 200 basis points of margin improvement versus our first quarter of last year. These results reflect the commitment of our employees toward building a culture of continuous improvement, combined with the changes that we've made over the last nine months. First quarter net sales of 554 million were up 4% versus last year quarter. Driven by increased sales in F&E and recreation segments, and partially offset by softness in school bus and municipal transit markets, which were impacted by COVID-19-related demand headwinds in the first quarter and throughout much of 2020. However, the quoting activity has picked up over the past few months, and we expect school bus end markets to respond favorably as more people have access to vaccines that are now available, and this will likely lead to reopening of schools next fall. First quarter adjusted EBITDA of 23.2 million increased 105% versus 11.3 million a year ago, and it also reflects 210 basis points of a consolidated margin improvement. The structural cost out actions and restructuring over the past year as part of our operating model review are delivering bottom line improvement. These cost actions combined with our building of operational excellence capabilities and implementing our cadence of operational reviews have realized opportunities to drive a waste out and operate more efficiently. Within the quarter, many of our businesses improved on their throughput and operating leverage that drove revenue growth and gross margin improvements. Strong first quarter order intake resulted in 12% organic bookings growth versus first quarter of last year, and we exited the quarter with a healthy $2 billion backlog. Turning to slide four, we had several milestones and accomplishments within the first quarter that highlight the strength of our brands, our commitment to innovation, and our focus on serving our customers. Across the portfolio, our brands hold market-leading positions within their categories. Three of these celebrated decade-long anniversaries that I'd like to publicly recognize. First, our Wheel Coach Ambulance celebrated an amazing 45 years of innovation and market leadership, having sold over 50,000 vehicles to commercial fleets and municipalities across the U.S., including the Fire Department of New York and the U.S. General Services Administration. Will Coach's tagline, trusted by the toughest, and this year's 45-year milestone, certainly backed that up. Also celebrating milestone anniversaries are two motorhomes within the Fleetwood brand portfolio. The Class A Bounder recently released its 35th anniversary edition model, and the Class A Discovery released its 25th anniversary edition. These motorhomes have been two of Fleet's top-selling RVs and have proudly represented the legendary Fleetwood brand. Their enduring presence for the Fleetwood brand and these models is a testament to being the best-loved RV for generations of families. We are pleased that families have and continue to be entering the RV lifestyle, and we look forward to another 25 years of delivering our customers the conveniences of home while they are on the road. Our Spartan Firebrand announced a new purpose-built chassis that is designed to provide fire departments with safety, comfort, and the performance of a custom cab and chassis while meeting lower budget requirements. Typically, these trucks have been built using a conventional commercial chassis with a standard cab that does not always accommodate the equipment and protective gear that fire personnel need in serving our communities. This provides our customers with the opportunity to meet their requirements that only a custom cab and chassis can deliver Why the commercial cabin chassis economics? And it is a real opportunity for Spartan to expand their cabin chassis market share. Ambulance fleet owners will be able to more efficiently, more effectively manage an efficiency of their crews and the safety of their patients with the advance, the issue of advanced vehicle informatics introduced within our AEV business in January of this year. Among the benefits of the TraumaHawk telematics are allowing real-time driver and fleet monitoring that includes GPS location service, accelerometer data, collision alerts, maintenance monitoring, and functional accessory information. This will enable our customers to respond more quickly and reduce their total cost of ownership by utilizing predictive maintenance and extend their fleet service life. In the first quarter, we announced a partnering agreement with Hyster Yale and our capacity business to develop electric and hydrogen automation-ready terminal trucks. These trucks have an attractive profile for fleet electrification. They operate in relatively close radius, they have high torque requirements, and they have relatively higher carbon emissions. The project is currently under development, and we expect prototypes on the ground by the end of this calendar year, beginning full-scale production within fiscal year 2022. In recreational vehicles, we continue to experience high demand. Our momentum continued at the Tampa Super Show this January, which marked record sales for a Class A business. This year's show, our motorhome and luxury coaches reported nearly 40% growth versus last year, despite the attendance being down 25%. Outside this show and in all categories, we're experiencing unprecedented pre-sale of units as inventory on dealer lots remains near historic lows. Within the quarter, we introduced innovations and product enhancements to the REV portfolio. I would like to highlight one that I feel offers differentiated features that provide enhanced value to our customers. The onset of COVID-19 has heightened safety protocols for all employers. REV, like all others, has substantially limited the presence of personnel in our offices and manufacturing sites. We've increased testing frequency and quarantined suspected cases to provide the necessary spacing for social distancing. The workplace situation that our nation's first responders face is no different, and it's actually probably even more challenging. We are proud to support those who are on the front lines every day and proud to provide an active air purification system that reduces exposure to airborne contaminants like COVID-19. The use of this system provides a safer cabin environment for first responders that have a hard time distancing from others and do not have the option to work at home. We have been working with municipalities, dealers, and contractors to retrofit existing units and equip new unit deliveries with this enhanced safety feature. Finally, we are placing focus on all areas of value creation for our shareholders. We have discussed our efforts in operational excellence, but we are equally focused on improving our commercial capabilities. This includes our product management, marketing, sales operation, and channel performance. We are very focused on how we can work more closely and better support our dealers. We have announced new dealer signings and we are focused on commercial operations and performance. These efforts coincided with the rationalization of certain brands over the past two quarters and the realignment of these brands within our dealer network. This focus on commercial excellence combined with our improving operational performance and our organizational cadence and rigor will enable us to continue to deliver improved financial performance with consistent conversion to free cash flow, increasing total shareholder returns. I will now turn it over to Mark for the details on our first quarter financial performance. Mark?