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Strong quarterly results and resilient demand support healthy outlook for 2024

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global safety equipment and solutions provider MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE: MSA) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2023.

Fourth Quarter 2023 Highlights

• Achieved net sales of $495 million, a 12% increase year-over-year, reflecting strength across MSA's portfolio and in each reportable segment.
• Generated GAAP operating income of $102 million, or 20.6% of sales, and adjusted operating income of $115 million, or 23.3% of sales.
• Recorded GAAP net income of $76 million, or $1.93 per diluted share, and adjusted net income of $82 million, or $2.06 per diluted share.
• Invested $12 million for capital expenditures, repaid $145 million of debt, and returned $18 million to shareholders through dividends.

Full Year 2023 Highlights

• Achieved net sales of $1.8 billion, a 17% increase year-over-year.
• Generated GAAP operating income of $231 million, or 12.9% of sales, and adjusted operating income of $398 million, or 22.2% of sales.
• Recorded GAAP earnings of $59 million, or $1.48 per diluted share, and adjusted earnings of $278 million, or $7.03 per diluted share.
• Invested $43 million for capital expenditures, repaid $289 million of debt subsequent to the January 2023 divestiture of a subsidiary holding legacy liabilities, and returned $73 million to shareholders through dividends.
• Strengthened financial position with net leverage of 1.0x at year end.

"Our strong performance in the fourth quarter capped an outstanding 2023 for MSA," said Nish Vartanian, MSA Safety Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our team delivered excellent full year results with double-digit sales growth and robust margin expansion. Investments we have made in the development of innovative new products and solutions, our commercial strategy, and across our functional support areas are enabling us to better serve our customers and advance our mission. We enter 2024 with strong momentum and an ongoing focus on delivering value for all our stakeholders. Looking ahead, I believe our unique mission, highly talented team, and differentiated portfolio provide a solid foundation to fuel future growth and generate attractive long-term returns for our shareholders."

"Our team's strong commercial and operational execution resulted in a year of accelerated sales growth, margin enhancement, and free cash flow generation. We also made substantial progress during the year to strengthen our financial position, with net leverage of 1.0x at year end," commented Lee McChesney, MSA Safety Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "As we move forward, we expect to build on our progress and leverage the MSA Business System to drive further sales growth and margin expansion. Despite the backdrop of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, we are focused on delivering mid-single digit sales growth in 2024. We  continue to execute our disciplined and balanced capital allocation strategy with a focus on driving sustainable value creation in 2024 and beyond."

Conference Call

MSA Safety will host a conference call on Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the fourth quarter and full year 2023 results. The call and an accompanying slide presentation will be webcast at http://investors.msasafety.com/ under the "News and Events" tab, subheading "Events & Presentations." Investors and interested parties can also dial into the call at 1-844-854-4415 (Toll Free) or 1-412-902-6599 (International). When prompted, please instruct the operator to be joined into the MSA Safety Incorporated conference call. A replay of the conference call will be available at http://investors.msasafety.com/ shortly after the conclusion of the presentation and will be available for the next 90 days.

Investor Day Announcement

MSA Safety will hold an Investor Day for institutional investors and financial analysts in New York City on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, with a presentation given by members of executive management, along with Q&A sessions. A live webcast and presentation slides will be posted on the day of the event. Dial-in information and a detailed agenda will be provided at a later date. Due to limited capacity, in-person attendance is by invitation only.

The Americas segment is comprised of our operations in North America and Latin America geographies. The International segment is comprised of our operations in all geographies outside of the Americas. Certain global expenses are allocated to each segment in a manner consistent with where the benefits from the expenses are derived.

Adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and adjusted EBITDA margin are the measures used by the chief operating decision maker to evaluate segment performance and allocate resources. As such, management believes that adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are useful metrics for investors. Adjusted operating income is defined as operating income excluding restructuring charges, currency exchange gains / losses, loss on divestiture of MSA LLC, product liability expense, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, and transaction costs. Adjusted operating margin is defined as adjusted operating income divided by segment net sales to external customers. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as adjusted operating income plus depreciation and amortization, and adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as adjusted EBITDA divided by segment net sales to external customers. Adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are not recognized terms under GAAP, and therefore do not purport to be alternatives to operating income or operating margin as a measure of operating performance. The company's definition of adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. As such, management believes that it is appropriate to consider operating income determined on a GAAP basis in addition to these non-GAAP measures. 

Management believes that constant currency revenue growth is a useful metric for investors, as foreign currency translation can have a material impact on revenue growth trends. Constant currency revenue growth highlights ongoing business performance excluding the impact of fluctuating foreign currencies, which is outside of management's control. There can be no assurances that MSA's definition of constant currency revenue growth is consistent with that of other companies. As such, management believes that it is appropriate to consider revenue growth determined on a GAAP basis in addition to this non-GAAP financial measure.

Management believes that constant currency revenue growth is a useful metric for investors, as foreign currency translation can have a material impact on revenue growth trends. Constant currency revenue growth highlights ongoing business performance excluding the impact of fluctuating foreign currencies, which is outside of management's control. There can be no assurances that MSA's definition of constant currency revenue growth is consistent with that of other companies. As such, management believes that it is appropriate to consider revenue growth determined on a GAAP basis in addition to this non-GAAP financial measure.

Management believes that constant currency revenue growth is a useful metric for investors, as foreign currency translation can have a material impact on revenue growth trends. Constant currency revenue growth highlights ongoing business performance excluding the impact of fluctuating foreign currencies, which is outside of management's control. There can be no assurances that MSA's definition of constant currency revenue growth is consistent with that of other companies. As such, management believes that it is appropriate to consider revenue growth determined on a GAAP basis in addition to this non-GAAP financial measure. 

Management believes that adjusted earnings and adjusted earnings per diluted share are useful measures for investors, as management uses these measures to internally assess the Company's performance and ongoing operating trends. There can be no assurances that additional special items will not occur in future periods, nor that MSA's definition of adjusted earnings is consistent with that of other companies. As such, management believes that it is appropriate to consider both net income determined on a GAAP basis as well as adjusted earnings.

Management believes that Debt to Adjusted EBITDA and Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA are useful measures for investors, as management uses these measures to internally assess the Company's liquidity and balance sheet strength. There can be no assurances that that MSA's definition of Debt to Adjusted EBITDA and Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA is consistent with that of other companies.

Management believes that Adjusted Payments on Debt is a useful measure for investors, as management uses this measure to internally assess the Company's debt activity, less the divestiture of MSA LLC. There can be no assurances that MSA's definition of  Adjusted Payments on Debt is consistent with that of other companies.

About MSA Safety:  

MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE: MSA) is the global leader in advanced safety products, technologies and solutions. Driven by its singular mission of safety, the Company has been at the forefront of safety innovation since 1914, protecting workers and facility infrastructure around the world across a broad range of diverse end markets while creating sustainable value for shareholders. With 2023 revenues of $1.8 billion, MSA Safety is headquartered in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania and employs a team of over 5,000 associates across its more than 40 international locations. For more information, please visit www.MSASafety.com 

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Except for historical information, certain matters discussed in this press release may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve various assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or other comparable words. Actual results, performance or outcomes may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and may not align with historical performance and events due to a number of factors, including those discussed in the sections of our annual report on Form 10-K entitled "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors," and those discussed in our Form 10-Q quarterly reports filed after such annual report. MSA's SEC filings are readily obtainable at no charge at www.sec.gov, as well as on its own investor relations website at http://investors.MSAsafety.com. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements, and caution should be exercised against placing undue reliance upon such statements. We are under no duty to update publicly any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this earnings press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures:
This press release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures. These financial measures include constant currency revenue growth, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted earnings, adjusted earnings per diluted share, debt to adjusted EBITDA, net debt to adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted payments on debt. These non-GAAP financial measures provide information useful to investors in understanding our operating performance and trends, and to facilitate comparisons with the performance of our peers. Management also uses these measures internally to assess and better understand our underlying business performance and trends related to core business activities. The non-GAAP financial measures and key performance indicators we use, and computational methods with respect thereto, may differ from the non-GAAP financial measures and key performance indicators, and computational methods, that our peers use to assess their performance and trends.

The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures does not comply with U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed as supplemental in nature, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, our reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. When non-GAAP financial measures are disclosed, the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation G requires: (i) the presentation of the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP and (ii) a reconciliation of the differences between the non-GAAP financial measure presented and the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. The presentation of these financial measures does not comply with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). For an explanation of these measures, with a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, see the Reconciliation of As Reported Financial Measures to Non-GAAP Financial Measures in the financial tables section above.

SOURCE MSA Safety