Blue bird reports fiscal 2022 second quarter results;
focused on electric vehicle growth and process improvement;
challenging business environment;
revising fy2022 guidance
Macon, ga.--(business wire)--blue bird corporation (“blue bird”) (nasdaq: blbd), the leader in electric and low-emission school buses, announced today its fiscal 2022 second quarter results. gaap net loss for the quarter of $12.1 million was $11.5 million higher than the same fy2021 fiscal period. adjusted ebitda for the quarter was $(10.7) million, $18.2 million below prior year level. order backlog remains strong at a record 6,600 buses, worth approximately $700 million. highlights (in millions except unit sales and eps data) three months ended april 2, 2022 b/(w) 2021 six months ended april 2, 2022 b/(w) 2021 unit sales 1,931 442 3,080 336 gaap measures: revenue $ 207.7 $ 43.0 $ 336.9 $ 41.8 net income $ (12.1 ) $ (11.5 ) $ (16.2 ) $ (14.0 ) diluted earnings per share $ (0.38 ) $ (0.36 ) $ (0.54 ) $ (0.46 ) non-gaap measures1: adjusted ebitda $ (10.7 ) $ (18.2 ) $ (7.1 ) $ (20.4 ) adjusted net loss $ (10.1 ) $ (11.5 ) $ (12.1 ) $ (13.6 ) adjusted diluted loss per share $ (0.31 ) $ (0.36 ) $ (0.40 ) $ (0.45 ) 1 reconciliation to relevant gaap metrics shown below blue bird faced a challenging second quarter marked by supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures exacerbated by russia’s war in ukraine and covid lockdowns in china. the continued rise in raw material, freight, and labor costs, as well shortages on a number of key components drove increased costs to manufacture the units in the quarter, the majority of which were ordered nearly a year ago and were delayed due to supply chain constraints. blue bird consciously chose to honor pricing on those units in the quarter to preserve long-standing franchised dealer and customer relationships. blue bird continued to implement its multi-source supplier strategy for a number of critical components successfully addressing supply chain issues that had previously impacted production. however, new supply chain issues emerged amid geo-political global upheaval. blue bird again brought its pricing in line with expected cost increases. the company has implemented price increases totaling more than 25% over the past 10 months and expects that pricing to catch up with costs in the latter half of the fiscal year. as an employee-centric organization, blue bird continued to invest in its workforce and workplace upgrades to further improve safety, quality, cost and delivery. in addition, the company is finalizing a transformation of its leadership team and filled two key leadership positions in the quarter with seasoned industry veterans, including new top executives for electrification and global supply chain management. blue bird also advanced its lean transformation initiatives with efforts starting to show material improvements in the quarter in the areas of efficiency, quality, cost, and throughput. many of these improvements are being overshadowed by the difficult supply chain environment. blue bird continues to stay focused on capitalizing on significant growth opportunities in the areas of electric commercial chassis and the growing demand for electric school buses accelerated by the clean school bus rebate program. the company unveiled this week a flexible electric commercial chassis at the 2022 advanced clean transportation (act) expo. blue bird will expand its product reach beyond its core school transportation market to start serving the dynamic commercial vehicle sector. "we are combining our first-rate chassis-building capabilities with our technology leadership in electric zero-emission transportation solutions,” said matthew stevenson, president and ceo of blue bird corporation. “blue bird showcased at act expo a flexible class 5-6 electric chassis which will enable a broad range of zero-emission vehicles, including last-mile delivery step vans, motorhomes, and other specialty vehicles. with a market size of more than 30,000 units we will effectively double our total addressable market.” the clean school bus rebate program is part of the bipartisan infrastructure law (bil), which allocates $5b in funding for electric and low-emission school buses and supporting infrastructure. the u.s. environmental protection agency (epa) recently announced its 2022 clean school bus rebate program which earmarks the first $500m for the replacement of diesel-powered student transportation with electric and low-emission school buses. the epa plans to accept online applications starting this month and notify applicants by october 2022. selected school districts are required to order electric or low-emission school buses by april 2023 to qualify for the rebates. the epa will provide up to $375,000 per electric bus. added stevenson: “blue bird remains committed to further grow its share of electric and low-emission school buses in north america.” “blue bird is the proven technology leader for zero-emission electric school buses. we anticipate scaling up our electric vehicle production capacity to 4,000 vehicles a year by 2024 to meet increasing demand. blue bird continues to transform the transportation industry.” 2022 guidance revised “the previously anticipated recovery in the supply base in the second half of the fiscal year has been delayed due primarily to russia’s war in ukraine and to covid-related lockdowns in china,” said razvan radulescu, cfo of blue bird corporation. “we still expect to see gradual relief beginning in fiscal q4 as fully-priced orders begin to be delivered, however it is unclear how the supply disruptions will trend. given what we have seen in the recent months, we are revising our guidance for fiscal 2022 to net revenue of $800-900m, adj. ebitda of $20-30m and adj. free cash flow of $15-25m.” fiscal 2022 second quarter results net sales net sales were $207.7 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2022, an increase of $43.0 million, or 26.1%, from prior year period. bus unit sales were 1,931 units for the quarter compared with 1,489 units for the same period last year, contributing to a $38.2 million increase. this was largely due to a return to in-person learning and increased demand, partially offset by constraints in the company's ability to produce and deliver buses due to shortages of critical components. additionally, there was an increase of $4.8 million in parts segment sales, primarily attributed to (a) more schools offering in-person learning during the 2021/2022 school year when compared with the 2020/2021 school year, which increased school bus units in operation and thus increased bus repair and maintenance activities and (b) pricing actions taken by management to offset increases in purchased part costs. gross profit second quarter gross profit of $3.2 million represented a decrease of $15.3 million from the second quarter of last year. the decrease was primarily driven by increases in manufacturing costs attributable to both a) supply chain disruptions that resulted in higher purchase costs for components and freight and b) increased manufacturing inefficiencies resulting from the shortage of certain critical components that required more off-line labor to produce buses. gross profit margin declined 9.7 points to 1.5%. net loss net loss was $12.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2022, which was $11.5 million higher than the same period last year. the increase was primarily driven by the $15.3 million decrease in net profit. also contributing was an increase of $2.5 million in sg&a, which was largely a result of increases in professional services related to operational transformational initiatives, increases in r&d, and increases in payroll. these increases were partially offset by a $6.9 million increase in income tax benefit. adjusted net (loss) income adjusted net (loss) income was $(10.1) million, representing a decrease of $11.5 million compared with the same period last year. this decrease is primarily due to the $11.5 million increase in net loss. adjusted ebitda adjusted ebitda was $(10.7) million, which was a decrease of $18.2 million compared with the second quarter last year. this decrease is primarily due to the $17.7 million increase in loss before income taxes. conference call details blue bird will discuss its second quarter 2022 results in a conference call at 4:30 pm et today. participants may listen to the audio portion of the conference call either through a live audio webcast on the company's website or by telephone. the slide presentation and webcast can be accessed via the investor relations portion of blue bird's website at www.blue-bird.com. webcast participants should log on and register at least 15 minutes prior to the start time on the investor relations homepage of blue bird’s website at http://investors.blue-bird.com. click the link in the events box on the investor relations landing page. participants desiring audio only should dial 1-844-826-3035 or 1-412-317-5195 a replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes via the same link on blue bird’s website. about blue bird corporation blue bird (nasdaq: blbd) is recognized as a technology leader and innovator of school buses since its founding in 1927. our dedicated team members design, engineer and manufacture school buses with a singular focus on safety, reliability, and durability. blue bird buses carry the most precious cargo in the world – the majority of 25 million children twice a day – making us the most trusted brand in the industry. the company is the proven leader in low- and zero-emission school buses with more than 20,000 propane, natural gas, and electric powered buses in operation today. blue bird is transforming the student transportation industry through cleaner energy solutions. for more information on blue bird's complete product and service portfolio, visit www.blue-bird.com. for blue bird's line of emission-free electric buses, visit www.bluebirdelectricbus.com. key non-gaap financial measures we use to evaluate our performance this press release includes the following non-gaap financial measures “adjusted ebitda,” "adjusted ebitda margin," "adjusted net income," "adjusted diluted earnings per share," “free cash flow” and “adjusted free cash flow”. adjusted ebitda and free cash flow are financial metrics that are utilized by management and the board of directors to determine (a) the annual cash bonus payouts, if any, to be made to certain members of management based upon the terms of the company’s management incentive plan, and (b) whether the performance criteria have been met for the vesting of certain equity awards granted annually to certain members of management based upon the terms of the company’s omnibus equity incentive plan. additionally, consolidated ebitda, which is an adjusted ebitda metric defined by our amended credit agreement that could differ from adjusted ebitda discussed above as the adjustments to the calculations are not uniform, is used to determine the company's ongoing compliance with several financial covenant requirements, including being utilized in the denominator of the calculation of the total net leverage ratio. accordingly, management views these non-gaap financial metrics as key for the above purposes and as a useful way to evaluate the performance of our operations as discussed further below. adjusted ebitda is defined as net income or loss prior to interest income; interest expense including the component of operating lease expense (which is presented as a single operating expense in selling, general and administrative expenses in our gaap financial statements) that represents interest expense on lease liabilities; income taxes; and depreciation and amortization including the component of operating lease expense (which is presented as a single operating expense in selling, general and administrative expenses in our gaap financial statements) that represents amortization charges on right-of-use lease assets; as adjusted for certain non-cash charges or credits that we may record on a recurring basis such as stock-compensation expense and unrealized gains or losses on certain derivative financial instruments; net gains or losses on the disposal of assets as well as certain charges such as (i) significant product design changes; (ii) transaction related costs; (iii) discrete expenses related to major cost cutting initiatives; or (iv) costs directly attributed to the covid-19 pandemic. while certain of the charges that are added back in the adjusted ebitda calculation, such as transaction related costs and operational transformation and major product redesign initiatives, represent operating expenses that may be recorded in more than one annual period, the significant project or transaction giving rise to such expenses is not considered to be indicative of the company’s normal operations. accordingly, we believe that these, as well as the other credits and charges that comprise the amounts utilized in the determination of adjusted ebitda described above, should not be used in evaluating the company’s ongoing annual operating performance. we define adjusted ebitda margin as adjusted ebitda as a percentage of net sales. adjusted ebitda and adjusted ebitda margin are not measures of performance defined in accordance with gaap. the measures are used as a supplement to gaap results in evaluating certain aspects of our business, as described below. we believe that adjusted ebitda, adjusted ebitda margin, adjusted net income, and adjusted diluted earnings per share are useful to investors in evaluating our performance because the measures consider the performance of our ongoing operations, excluding decisions made with respect to capital investment, financing, and certain other significant initiatives or transactions as outlined in the preceding paragraph. we believe the non-gaap measures offer additional financial metrics that, when coupled with the gaap results and the reconciliation to gaap results, provide a more complete understanding of our results of operations and the factors and trends affecting our business. adjusted ebitda, adjusted ebitda margin, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share should not be considered as alternatives to net income or gaap earnings per share as an indicator of our performance or as alternatives to any other measure prescribed by gaap as there are limitations to using such non-gaap measures. although we believe the non-gaap measures may enhance an evaluation of our operating performance based on recent revenue generation and product/overhead cost control because they exclude the impact of prior decisions made about capital investment, financing, and other expenses, (i) other companies in blue bird’s industry may define adjusted ebitda, adjusted ebitda margin, adjusted net income, and adjusted diluted earnings per share differently than we do and, as a result, they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies in blue bird’s industry, and (ii) adjusted ebitda, adjusted ebitda margin, adjusted net income, and adjusted diluted earnings per share exclude certain financial information that some may consider important in evaluating our performance. we compensate for these limitations by providing disclosure of the differences between adjusted ebitda, adjusted ebitda margin, adjusted net income, and adjusted diluted earnings per share and gaap results, including providing a reconciliation to gaap results, to enable investors to perform their own analysis of our operating results. our measures of “free cash flow” and "adjusted free cash flow" are used in addition to and in conjunction with results presented in accordance with gaap and free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow should not be relied upon to the exclusion of gaap financial measures. free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow reflect an additional way of viewing our liquidity that, when viewed with our gaap results, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our cash flows. we strongly encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure. we define free cash flow as total cash provided by/used in operating activities as adjusted for net cash paid for the acquisition of fixed assets and intangible assets. we use free cash flow, and ratios based on free cash flow, to conduct and evaluate our business because, although it is similar to cash flow from operations, we believe it is a more conservative measure of cash flow since purchases of fixed assets and intangible assets are a necessary component of ongoing operations. forward looking statements this press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. these forward-looking statements relate to expectations for future financial performance, business strategies or expectations for our business. specifically, forward-looking statements include statements in this press release regarding guidance, seasonality, product mix and gross profits and may include statements relating to: inherent limitations of internal controls impacting financial statements growth opportunities future profitability ability to expand market share customer demand for certain products economic conditions (including tariffs) that could affect fuel costs, commodity costs, industry size and financial conditions of our dealers and suppliers labor or other constraints on the company’s ability to maintain a competitive cost structure volatility in the tax base and other funding sources that support the purchase of buses by our end customers lower or higher than anticipated market acceptance for our products other statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or similar expressions these forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. the factors described above, as well as risk factors described in reports filed with the sec by us (available at www.sec.gov), could cause our actual results to differ materially from estimates or expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements. blue bird corporation and subsidiaries condensed consolidated balance sheets (unaudited) (in thousands of dollars, except for share data) april 2, 2022 october 2, 2021 assets current assets cash and cash equivalents $ 14,867 $ 11,709 accounts receivable, net 11,203 9,967 inventories 155,675 125,206 other current assets 12,872 9,191 total current assets $ 194,617 $ 156,073 property, plant and equipment, net 103,006 105,482 goodwill 18,825 18,825 intangible assets, net 48,438 49,443 equity investment in affiliate 12,802 14,817 deferred tax assets 13,540 4,413 finance lease right-of-use assets 4,737 5,486 other assets 1,947 1,481 total assets $ 397,912 $ 356,020 liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit) current liabilities accounts payable $ 111,915 $ 72,270 warranty 6,816 7,385 accrued expenses 19,632 12,267 deferred warranty income 7,262 7,832 finance lease obligations 1,353 1,327 other current liabilities 4,638 8,851 current portion of long-term debt 17,325 14,850 total current liabilities $ 168,941 $ 124,782 long-term liabilities revolving credit facility $ — $ 45,000 long-term debt 139,612 149,573 warranty 10,169 11,165 deferred warranty income 11,152 12,312 deferred tax liabilities 3,813 3,673 finance lease obligations 3,853 4,538 other liabilities 12,104 14,882 pension 20,690 22,751 total long-term liabilities $ 201,393 $ 263,894 stockholders' equity (deficit) preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized, 0 shares outstanding at april 2, 2022 and october 2, 2021 $ — $ — common stock, $0.0001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized, 31,990,860 and 27,205,269 shares outstanding at april 2, 2022 and october 2, 2021, respectively 3 3 additional paid-in capital 172,191 96,170 accumulated deficit (49,982 ) (33,753 ) accumulated other comprehensive loss (44,352 ) (44,794 ) treasury stock, at cost, 1,782,568 shares at april 2, 2022 and october 2, 2021 (50,282 ) (50,282 ) total stockholders' equity (deficit) $ 27,578 $ (32,656 ) total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit) $ 397,912 $ 356,020 blue bird corporation and subsidiaries condensed consolidated statements of operations (unaudited) three months ended six months ended (in thousands of dollars except for share data) april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 net sales $ 207,659 $ 164,698 $ 336,882 $ 295,132 cost of goods sold 204,502 146,205 317,528 262,171 gross profit $ 3,157 $ 18,493 $ 19,354 $ 32,961 operating expenses selling, general and administrative expenses 19,858 17,361 38,091 32,051 operating loss $ (16,701 ) $ 1,132 $ (18,737 ) $ 910 interest expense (2,491 ) (2,334 ) (5,573 ) (4,264 ) interest income — — — 1 other income, net 744 422 1,480 1,065 loss on debt modification — — (561 ) (598 ) loss before income taxes $ (18,448 ) $ (780 ) $ (23,391 ) $ (2,886 ) income tax benefit 7,415 483 9,177 1,004 equity in net loss of non-consolidated affiliate (1,114 ) (322 ) (2,015 ) (351 ) net loss $ (12,147 ) $ (619 ) $ (16,229 ) $ (2,233 ) loss per share: basic weighted average shares outstanding 31,981,073 27,118,452 30,039,240 27,089,342 diluted weighted average shares outstanding 31,981,073 27,118,452 30,039,240 27,089,342 basic loss per share $ (0.38 ) $ (0.02 ) $ (0.54 ) $ (0.08 ) diluted loss per share $ (0.38 ) $ (0.02 ) $ (0.54 ) $ (0.08 ) blue bird corporation and subsidiaries condensed consolidated statements of cash flows (unaudited) six months ended (in thousands of dollars) april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 cash flows from operating activities net loss $ (16,229 ) $ (2,233 ) adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: depreciation and amortization 6,678 6,811 non-cash interest expense 2,509 1,458 share-based compensation 2,486 1,595 equity in net loss of non-consolidated affiliate 2,015 351 loss on disposal of fixed assets 12 21 impairment of fixed assets 1,354 — deferred taxes (9,127 ) (463 ) amortization of deferred actuarial pension losses 581 931 loss on debt modification 561 598 changes in assets and liabilities: accounts receivable (1,236 ) 1,121 inventories (30,469 ) (35,437 ) other assets (3,072 ) 1,363 accounts payable 38,883 22,832 accrued expenses, pension and other liabilities (6,356 ) (10,146 ) total adjustments $ 4,819 $ (8,965 ) total cash used in operating activities $ (11,410 ) $ (11,198 ) cash flows from investing activities cash paid for fixed assets $ (3,478 ) $ (7,007 ) total cash used in investing activities $ (3,478 ) $ (7,007 ) cash flows from financing activities payments of revolving credit facility borrowings $ (45,000 ) $ — principal payments of senior term loan borrowings (7,425 ) (4,950 ) principal payments of finance lease borrowings (659 ) (765 ) cash paid for debt costs (2,468 ) (2,476 ) proceeds from private placement 75,000 — cash paid for stock issuance costs (202 ) — cash paid for repurchases of common stock in connection with employee stock award exercises (1,503 ) (518 ) cash received from employee stock option exercises 303 1,129 total cash provided by (used in) financing activities $ 18,046 $ (7,580 ) change in cash and cash equivalents 3,158 (25,785 ) cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 11,709 44,507 cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 14,867 $ 18,722 reconciliation of net loss to adjusted ebitda three months ended six months ended (in thousands of dollars) april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 net loss $ (12,147 ) $ (619 ) $ (16,229 ) $ (2,233 ) adjustments: interest expense, net (1) 2,563 2,422 5,720 4,434 income tax benefit (7,415 ) (483 ) (9,177 ) (1,004 ) depreciation, amortization, and disposals (2) 3,622 3,591 7,145 7,267 operational transformation initiatives 1,585 153 1,586 208 share-based compensation 813 871 2,486 1,595 product redesign initiatives 281 1,081 534 1,267 restructuring and other charges — — 246 494 costs directly attributed to the covid-19 pandemic (3) 8 527 37 697 loss on debt modification — — 561 598 adjusted ebitda $ (10,690 ) $ 7,543 $ (7,091 ) $ 13,323 adjusted ebitda margin (percentage of net sales) (5.1 ) % 4.6 % (2.1 ) % 4.5 % (1) includes $0.1 million for both three month fiscal periods, and $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the six month fiscal periods ended april 2, 2022 and april 3, 2021, respectively, representing interest expense on lease liabilities, which are a component of lease expense and presented as a single operating expense in selling, general and administrative expenses on our condensed consolidated statements of operations. (2) includes $0.2 million for both three month fiscal periods and $0.4 million for both six month fiscal periods, representing amortization charges on right-of-use lease assets, which are a component of lease expense and presented as a single operating expense in selling, general and administrative expenses on our condensed consolidated statements of operations. (3) primarily represents costs incurred for third party cleaning services and personal protective equipment for our employees in response to the covid-19 pandemic. reconciliation of free cash flow to adjusted free cash flow three months ended six months ended (in thousands of dollars) april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 net cash used in operating activities $ 21,667 $ 299 $ (11,410 ) $ (11,198 ) cash paid for fixed assets (1,908 ) (3,690 ) (3,478 ) (7,007 ) free cash flow $ 19,759 $ (3,391 ) $ (14,888 ) $ (18,205 ) cash paid for product redesign initiatives 281 1,081 534 1,267 cash paid for operational transformation initiatives / other 1,585 153 1,586 208 cash paid for restructuring charges — — 246 494 cash paid for costs directly attributed to covid-19 8 527 37 697 adjusted free cash flow 21,633 (1,630 ) (12,485 ) (15,539 ) reconciliation of net loss to adjusted net (loss) income three months ended six months ended (in thousands of dollars) april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 net loss $ (12,147 ) $ (619 ) $ (16,229 ) $ (2,233 ) adjustments, net of tax benefit or expense (1) operational transformation initiatives 1,189 115 1,190 156 product redesign initiatives 211 811 401 950 share-based compensation 610 653 1,865 1,196 restructuring charges — — 185 371 costs directly attributed to the covid-19 pandemic (2) 6 395 28 523 loss on debt modification — — 421 449 adjusted net (loss) income, non-gaap $ (10,132 ) $ 1,355 (12,142 ) 1,411 (1) amounts are net of estimated statutory tax rates of 25%. (2) primarily costs incurred for third party cleaning services and personal protective equipment for our employees in response to the covid-19 pandemic. reconciliation of diluted eps to adjusted diluted eps three months ended six months ended april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 april 2, 2022 april 3, 2021 diluted loss per share $ (0.38 ) $ (0.02 ) $ (0.54 ) $ (0.08 ) one-time charge adjustments, net of tax benefit or expense 0.07 0.07 0.14 0.13 adjusted diluted (loss) earnings per share, non-gaap $ (0.31 ) $ 0.05 $ (0.40 ) $ 0.05 weighted average dilutive shares outstanding 32,311,549 27,330,267 30,317,464 27,357,778
