RPM International reported record third quarter results
Medina, OH – RPM International reported financial results for its fiscal 2021 third quarter ended February 28, 2021.
“In mid-February, severe winter storm Uri disrupted North American transportation, distribution and supply chains. With concern about the potential impact of transportation gridlock and lost shipping days as we closed out the quarter and the desire to maintain transparent communication with our investors, we lowered our third-quarter guidance on February 18. The third quarter is our seasonally low quarter and historically generates only 5% to 10% of our annual earnings, so the magnitude of relatively small variations in earnings becomes magnified. Fortunately, due to the extraordinary efforts of our associates who were able to catch up and execute delivery of customer orders, as well as the fact that plants, distribution centers and transportation networks resumed operation more quickly than anticipated, we exceeded our original third-quarter sales and earnings guidance,” stated RPM Chairman and CEO Frank C. Sullivan.
Third-Quarter Consolidated Results
Fiscal 2021 third-quarter net sales were $1.27 billion, an increase of 8.1% over the $1.17 billion reported a year ago. Third-quarter net income increased 222.6% to $38.2 million compared to $11.9 million reported in the year-ago period, and diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.29, an increase of 222.2% compared to $0.09 in the year-ago quarter. Income before income taxes (IBT) was $55.9 million compared to $16.3 million reported in the fiscal 2020 third quarter. RPM’s consolidated earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were up 48.2% to $65.4 million compared to $44.1 million reported in the fiscal 2020 third quarter.
Third-quarter EBIT included restructuring and other items that are not indicative of ongoing operations of $14.5 million during fiscal 2021 and $16.3 million in fiscal 2020. Excluding these items, RPM’s adjusted EBIT was up 32.2% to $79.9 million compared to $60.5 million during the year-ago period. In addition, the company has continued to exclude the impact of all gains and losses from marketable securities from adjusted EPS, as their inherent volatility is outside of management’s control and cannot be predicted with any level of certainty. These investments resulted in a net after-tax gain of $5.5 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 and a net after-tax loss of $4.9 million during the same quarter last year. Finally, RPM recorded a $5.3 million discrete tax adjustment during the third quarter to increase our deferred tax liability for withholding taxes on additional unremitted foreign earnings not considered permanently reinvested. Excluding the restructuring and other items, as well as investment gains/losses and the discrete tax adjustment, fiscal 2021 third-quarter adjusted diluted EPS increased 65.2% to $0.38 compared to $0.23 in the fiscal 2020 third quarter.
“Similar to last quarter, three of our four operating segments generated solid sales growth and significant EBIT growth due to MAP to Growth benefits being leveraged to the bottom line. This was particularly impressive given a difficult comparison to last year’s third quarter when adjusted EBIT increased 30.4%. Organic sales grew 4.9% during the quarter and acquisitions contributed 2.1%. Foreign currency translation added 1.1% as a result of the weaker U.S. dollar. Our year-to-date cash flow from operations improved by $270.7 million over last fiscal year as a result of continued better working capital management and margin improvement from our MAP to Growth program,” stated Sullivan.