• Pool Corporation Reports First Quarter Results and Updates 2023 Earnings Guidance

    Source: Nasdaq GlobeNewswire / 20 Apr 2023 07:00:01   America/New_York

    Highlights

    • Net sales of $1.2 billion exceeded $1.0 billion in the first quarter for the third consecutive year
    • Operating income of $145.8 million with a seasonally strong operating margin of 12.1%
    • Q1 2023 diluted EPS of $2.58 or $2.46 without tax benefits
    • Updates annual earnings guidance range to $14.62 - $16.12 per diluted share

    COVINGTON, La., April 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pool Corporation (Nasdaq/GSM:POOL) today reported results for the first quarter of 2023 and updated its 2023 earnings guidance.

    “The outdoor-living industry is larger than ever as the trend over the past three years to enhance outdoor-living spaces added more than 300,000 units to the installed base of in-ground pools. We are privileged to be the leader in a durable industry that grows intrinsically; as new pools are built, demand for products to maintain and enhance those pools grows too. In the first quarter of 2023, differing weather conditions contributed to variability in our results across geographies. Our southern markets experienced more typical weather during the quarter and generated encouraging results. However, higher precipitation and cooler temperatures suppressed results in our western markets, hampering new pool construction activities and sales of maintenance-related products. These conditions continued into late March where we saw a considerable impact on our biggest sales month of the quarter. Headwinds from economic conditions, including tightening financial markets and higher interest rates, further weighed on new pool construction. Going forward, we remain committed to our strategic goals of organic growth of our sales center network and key working capital investments that provide our customers with convenient access to our broad assortment of products and tools to help them grow,” commented Peter D. Arvan, president and CEO.

    First quarter ended March 31, 2023 compared to the first quarter ended March 31, 2022

    Net sales decreased 15% in the first quarter of 2023 to $1.2 billion compared to $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022 following 33% net sales growth in the first quarter of 2022 and 57% growth in the first quarter of 2021. Weather conditions were generally favorable in our southern markets, where Texas and Florida, our two largest markets in the South, realized combined base business sales in-line with 2022. In contrast, results were limited by unusually wet and cold weather in the western U.S., including in California and Arizona, two of our largest markets, where base business sales were down a combined 21% from last year. We estimate that sales were also negatively impacted 2% from lower customer early buy activity in the first quarter of 2023 versus the first quarter of 2022 and 1% from continued softness in our European markets.

    Gross profit decreased 17% to $369.8 million in the first quarter of 2023 from $447.2 million in the same period of 2022. In-line with our expectations, gross margin decreased 110 basis points to 30.6% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 31.7% in the first quarter of 2022.

    Selling and administrative expenses (operating expenses) increased 6% to $224.0 million in the first quarter of 2023 compared to $211.5 million in the first quarter of 2022. Our largest expense growth drivers during the quarter related to rent and facility costs, the return of in-person customer-facing retail events and investments in customer-focused projects. As a percentage of net sales, operating expenses increased to 18.6% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 15.0% in the same period of 2022.

    Operating income in the first quarter of 2023 decreased 38% to $145.8 million from a tough comparison of $235.7 million last year but was 13% higher than operating income in the first quarter of 2021 of $129.0 million. Operating margin was 12.1% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 16.7% in the first quarter of 2022.

    Interest and other non-operating expenses, net for the first quarter of 2023 increased $10.6 million compared to the first quarter of 2022, primarily reflecting higher average interest rates.

    We recorded a $4.8 million tax benefit from Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to a tax benefit of $7.3 million realized in the same period of 2022. This resulted in a $0.12 per diluted share tax benefit compared to an $0.18 per diluted share tax benefit realized in the same period of 2022.

    Net income decreased 43% to $101.7 million in the first quarter of 2023 compared to $179.3 million in the first quarter of 2022. Earnings per diluted share decreased 41% to $2.58 in the first quarter of 2023 compared to $4.41 in the same period of 2022. Without the impact from ASU 2016-09 in both periods, earnings per diluted share decreased 42% to $2.46 compared to $4.23 in the first quarter of 2022.

    Balance Sheet and Liquidity

    Total net receivables, including pledged receivables, decreased 17% compared to March 31, 2022, primarily driven by our sales trends. Inventory levels increased 3% to $1.69 billion compared to March 31, 2022, which compares to the 19% increase that we reported as of December 31, 2022 (compared to December 31, 2021). We are pleased with the progress in utilizing our strategic inventory buys and believe that we are appropriately stocked to ensure product availability during the swimming pool season and to support our new locations. Total debt outstanding was $1.4 billion at March 31, 2023 compared to $1.5 billion at March 31, 2022.

    Net cash provided by operations improved to $103.2 million in the first three months of 2023 compared to net cash used by operations of $208.1 million in the first three months of 2022, primarily driven by positive changes in working capital partially offset by lower net income. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 36% to $160.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 compared to $249.0 million last year.

    Outlook

    “We are updating our annual earnings guidance range to $14.62 to $16.12 per diluted share, including the impact of year-to-date tax benefits of $0.12. Our expectations for the 2023 fiscal year have changed based on our results to-date and trends observed into the second quarter. Looking ahead, we believe that we are well-positioned to continue our long-standing track record of solid performance by leveraging our extensive sales center network, broad product assortment, substantial capital resources and our talented team. We are confident in the long-term growth opportunities of the outdoor-living industry and our continued success providing our customers, suppliers and shareholders exceptional value,” said Arvan.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    This press release contains certain non-GAAP measures (adjusted EBITDA and adjusted diluted EPS). See the addendum to this release for definitions of our non-GAAP measures and reconciliations of our non-GAAP measures to GAAP measures.

    About Pool Corporation

    POOLCORP is the world’s largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool and related backyard products. POOLCORP operates 427 sales centers in North America, Europe and Australia, through which it distributes more than 200,000 national brand and private label products to roughly 125,000 wholesale customers. For more information, please visit www.poolcorp.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This news release includes “forward-looking” statements that involve risks and uncertainties that are generally identifiable through the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “may,” and similar expressions and include projections of earnings. The forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur. Actual results may differ materially due to a variety of factors, including the sensitivity of our business to weather conditions; changes in economic conditions, consumer discretionary spending, the housing market, inflation or interest rates; our ability to maintain favorable relationships with suppliers and manufacturers; the extent to which home-centric trends will moderate or reverse; competition from other leisure product alternatives or mass merchants; our ability to continue to execute our growth strategies; changes in the regulatory environment; new or additional taxes, duties or tariffs; excess tax benefits or deficiencies recognized under ASU 2016-09 and other risks detailed in POOLCORP’s 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports and filings filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as updated by POOLCORP's subsequent filings with the SEC.

    CONTACT:
    Curtis J. Scheel
    Director of Investor Relations
    985.801.5341
    curtis.scheel@poolcorp.com



    POOL CORPORATION
    Consolidated Statements of Income
    (Unaudited)
    (In thousands, except per share data)

     Three Months Ended
     March 31,
      2023   2022 
    Net sales$1,206,774  $1,412,650 
    Cost of sales 837,019   965,461 
    Gross profit 369,755   447,189 
    Percent 30.6%  31.7%
        
    Selling and administrative expenses 223,984   211,466 
    Operating income 145,771   235,723 
    Percent 12.1%  16.7%
        
    Interest and other non-operating expenses, net 15,835   5,198 
    Income before income taxes and equity in earnings 129,936   230,525 
    Provision for income taxes 28,273   51,322 
    Equity in earnings of unconsolidated investments, net 36   58 
    Net income$101,699  $179,261 
        
    Earnings per share attributable to common stockholders: (1)   
    Basic$2.60  $4.46 
    Diluted$2.58  $4.41 
    Weighted average common shares outstanding:   
    Basic 38,877   39,932 
    Diluted 39,189   40,392 
        
    Cash dividends declared per common share$1.00  $0.80 

    (1)   Earnings per share under the two-class method is calculated using net income attributable to common stockholders (net income reduced by earnings allocated to participating securities), which was $101.2 million and $178.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2022, respectively. Participating securities excluded from weighted average common shares outstanding were 213,000 and 239,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2022, respectively.



    POOL     CORPORATION
    Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (Unaudited)
    (In thousands)

     March 31, March 31,  Change 
     2023 2022  $ % 
                  
    Assets             
    Current assets:             
    Cash and cash equivalents$26,470  $35,365  $(8,895) (25)%
    Receivables, net (1) 163,048   195,951   (32,903) (17) 
    Receivables pledged under receivables facility 401,123   483,976   (82,853) (17) 
    Product inventories, net (2) 1,686,683   1,641,155   45,528  3 
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets 27,875   42,310   (14,435) (34) 
    Total current assets 2,305,199   2,398,757   (93,558) (4) 
                  
    Property and equipment, net 200,997   180,504   20,493  11 
    Goodwill 693,242   688,350   4,892  1 
    Other intangible assets, net 303,753   310,848   (7,095) (2) 
    Equity interest investments 1,206   1,184   22  2 
    Operating lease assets 274,428   260,285   14,143  5 
    Other assets 84,004   42,213   41,791  99 
    Total assets$3,862,829  $3,882,141  $(19,312) —%
                  
    Liabilities and stockholders’ equity             
    Current liabilities:             
    Accounts payable$739,749  $685,946  $53,803  8%
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 126,093   179,552   (53,459) (30) 
    Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt 33,080   21,265   11,815  56 
    Current operating lease liabilities 78,498   71,685   6,813  10 
    Total current liabilities 977,420   958,448   18,972  2 
                  
    Deferred income taxes 57,868   40,944   16,924  41 
    Long-term debt, net 1,332,670   1,483,808   (151,138) (10) 
    Other long-term liabilities 37,623   32,940   4,683  14 
    Non-current operating lease liabilities 200,498   191,723   8,775  5 
    Total liabilities 2,606,079   2,707,863   (101,784) (4) 
    Total stockholders’ equity 1,256,750   1,174,278   82,472  7 
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity$3,862,829  $3,882,141  $(19,312) —%

    (1)   The allowance for doubtful accounts was $9.0 million at March 31, 2023 and $6.0 million at March 31, 2022.
    (2)   The inventory reserve was $24.5 million at March 31, 2023 and $19.8 million at March 31, 2022.   



    POOL CORPORATION
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (Unaudited)
    (In thousands)

     Three Months Ended   
     March 31,   
      2023   2022   Change
    Operating activities        
    Net income$101,699  $179,261  $(77,562)
    Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:        
     Depreciation 7,632   7,663   (31)
     Amortization 2,135   2,192   (57)
     Share-based compensation 4,923   3,657   1,266 
     Equity in earnings of unconsolidated investments, net (36)  (58)  22 
     Other 2,732   5,777   (3,045)
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects of acquisitions:        
     Receivables (211,015)  (303,400)  92,385 
     Product inventories (96,011)  (306,582)  210,571 
     Prepaid expenses and other assets (5,786)  (23,330)  17,544 
     Accounts payable 332,800   287,449   45,351 
     Accrued expenses and other liabilities (35,870)  (60,738)  24,868 
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 103,203   (208,109)  311,312 
             
    Investing activities        
    Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired (1,760)  —   (1,760)
    Purchases of property and equipment, net of sale proceeds (15,570)  (9,159)  (6,411)
    Other investments, net (230)  —   (230)
    Net cash used in investing activities (17,560)  (9,159)  (8,401)
             
    Financing activities        
    Proceeds from revolving line of credit 256,079   564,288   (308,209)
    Payments on revolving line of credit (376,895)  (604,960)  228,065 
    Proceeds from term loan under credit facility —   250,000   (250,000)
    Proceeds from asset-backed financing 151,200   155,000   (3,800)
    Payments on asset-backed financing (51,100)  (50,000)  (1,100)
    Payments on term facility (2,313)  (2,313)  — 
    Proceeds from short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt 3,011   10,277   (7,266)
    Payments on short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt (1,223)  (784)  (439)
    Payments of deferred and contingent acquisition consideration (551)  (1,374)  823 
    Proceeds from stock issued under share-based compensation plans 5,896   3,135   2,761 
    Payments of cash dividends (39,073)  (32,132)  (6,941)
    Purchases of treasury stock (50,549)  (62,420)  11,871 
    Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (105,518)  228,717   (334,235)
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 754   (405)  1,159 
    Change in cash and cash equivalents (19,121)  11,044   (30,165)
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 45,591   24,321   21,270 
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period$26,470  $35,365  $(8,895)



    ADDENDUM

    Base Business

    The following table breaks out our consolidated results into the base business component and the excluded component (sales centers excluded from base business):

    (Unaudited) Base Business Excluded Total
    (in thousands) Three Months Ended Three Months Ended Three Months Ended
      March 31, March 31, March 31,
       2023   2022   2023   2022   2023   2022 
    Net sales $1,130,353  $1,337,685  $76,421  $74,965  $1,206,774  $1,412,650 
                 
    Gross profit  339,597   416,167   30,158   31,022   369,755   447,189 
    Gross margin  30.0%  31.1%  39.5%  41.4%  30.6%  31.7%
                 
    Operating expenses  204,922   195,909   19,062   15,557   223,984   211,466 
    Expenses as a % of net sales  18.1%  14.6%  24.9%  20.8%  18.6%  15.0%
                 
    Operating income  134,675   220,258   11,096   15,465   145,771   235,723 
    Operating margin  11.9%  16.5%  14.5%  20.6%  12.1%  16.7%


    We have excluded the following acquisitions from our base business results for the periods identified:

    Acquired  Acquisition
    Date    		 Net
    Sales Centers
    Acquired    		 Periods
    Excluded
    Pro-Water Irrigation & Landscape Supply, Inc. March 2023 2 March 2023
    Tri-State Pool Distributors April 2022 1 January - March 2023
    Porpoise Pool & Patio, Inc. December 2021 1 January - March 2023 and
    January - March 2022
    Wingate Supply, Inc. December 2021 1 January - February 2023 and
    January - February 2022


    When calculating our base business results, we exclude sales centers that are acquired, closed or opened in new markets for a period of 15 months. We also exclude consolidated sales centers when we do not expect to maintain the majority of the existing business and existing sales centers that are consolidated with acquired sales centers.

    We generally allocate corporate overhead expenses to excluded sales centers on the basis of their net sales as a percentage of total net sales. After 15 months of operations, we include acquired, consolidated and new market sales centers in the base business calculation including the comparative prior year period.

    The table below summarizes the changes in our sales center count in the first three months of 2023.

    December 31, 2022420 
    Acquired locations2 
    New locations5 
    March 31, 2023427 


    Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    The non-GAAP measures described below should be considered in the context of all of our other disclosures in this press release.

    Adjusted EBITDA

    We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income or net loss plus interest and other non-operating expenses, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, share-based compensation, goodwill and other impairments (recoveries) and equity in earnings or loss of unconsolidated investments.  Other companies may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently than we do, which may limit its usefulness as a comparative measure.

    Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of performance as determined by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). We believe Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, operating income or loss, net income or loss, net cash flows provided by or used in operating, investing and financing activities or other income statement or cash flow statement line items reported in accordance with GAAP.

    We have included Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental disclosure because management uses it to monitor our performance, and we believe that it is widely used by our investors, industry analysts and others as a useful supplemental performance measure. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA, when viewed with our GAAP results and the accompanying reconciliations, provides an additional measure that enables management and investors to monitor factors and trends affecting our ability to service debt, pay taxes and fund capital expenditures.
      
    The table below presents a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA.

    (Unaudited)Three Months Ended
    (in thousands)March 31,
      2023   2022 
    Net income$101,699  $179,261 
    Add:     
    Interest and other non-operating expenses (1) 15,835   5,198 
    Provision for income taxes 28,273   51,322 
    Share-based compensation 4,923   3,657 
    Equity in earnings of unconsolidated investments, net (36)  (58)
    Depreciation 7,632   7,663 
    Amortization (2) 1,948   1,977 
    Adjusted EBITDA$160,274  $249,020 

    (1)   Shown net of losses on foreign currency transactions of $505 for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and $76 for the three months ended March 31, 2022.
    (2)   Excludes amortization of deferred financing costs of $187 for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and $215 for the three months ended March 31, 2022, which is included in Interest and other non-operating expenses, net on the Consolidated Statements of Income.


    Adjusted Diluted EPS

    We have included adjusted diluted EPS, a non-GAAP financial measure, in this press release as a supplemental disclosure, because we believe this measure is useful to management, investors and others in assessing our period-to-period operating performance.

    Adjusted diluted EPS is a key measure used by management to demonstrate the impact of tax benefits from ASU 2016-09 on our diluted EPS and to provide investors and others with additional information about our potential future operating performance to supplement GAAP measures.

    We believe this measure should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, diluted EPS presented in accordance with GAAP, and in the context of our other disclosures in this press release. Other companies may calculate this non-GAAP financial measure differently than we do, which may limit its usefulness as a comparative measure.  

    The table below presents a reconciliation of diluted EPS to adjusted diluted EPS.

    (Unaudited) Three Months Ended
      March 31,
       2023   2022 
    Diluted EPS $2.58  $4.41 
    ASU 2016-09 tax benefit  (0.12)  (0.18)
    Adjusted diluted EPS $2.46  $4.23 


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