American Outdoor Brands Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2017 Financial Results

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., June 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- American Outdoor Brands Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: AOBC), one of the world's leading providers of firearms and quality products for the shooting, hunting, and rugged outdoor enthusiast, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2017, ended April 30, 2017.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2017 Financial Highlights

• Quarterly net sales were $229.2 million compared with $221.1 million for the fourth quarter last year, an increase of 3.6%.
• Gross margin for the quarter was 39.6% compared with 41.6% for the fourth quarter last year. 
• Quarterly GAAP net income was $27.7 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, compared with $35.6 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, for the comparable quarter last year. Fourth quarter 2017 and 2016 GAAP net income per diluted share included expenses of $3.8 million and $1.7 million, respectively, for amortization, net of tax, related to our acquisitions.
• Quarterly non-GAAP net income was $31.8 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, compared with $37.4 million, or $0.66 per diluted share, for the comparable quarter last year. GAAP to non-GAAP adjustments to net income exclude a number of acquisition-related costs, including amortization, one-time transaction costs, and inventory valuation adjustments, as well as discontinued operations and a holding company rebranding expense. For a detailed reconciliation, see the schedules that follow in this release.
• Quarterly non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAS was $60.5 million, or 26.4% of net sales, compared with $68.7 million, or 31.1% of net sales, for the comparable quarter last year.
• Completion of $50.0 million stock repurchase program and Board of Directors authorization of an additional $50.0 million in common stock repurchases through March 28, 2019.

Full Year Fiscal 2017 Financial Highlights

• Full year net sales totaled a record $903.2 million compared with $722.9 million a year ago, an increase of 24.9%.
• Full year gross margin was 41.5% compared with 40.6% last year. 
• Full year GAAP net income was a record $127.9 million, or $2.25 per diluted share, compared with $94.0 million, or $1.68 per diluted share, last year.
• Full year non-GAAP net income was $146.5 million, or $2.58 per diluted share, compared with $102.5 million, or $1.83 per diluted share last year.
• Full year non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAS was $266.3 million, or 29.5% of net sales, compared with $202.4 million, or 28.0% of net sales, last year.

James Debney, American Outdoor Brands Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Record level revenue and profitability reflected successful execution across our strategic growth objectives, further validating our vision of being the leading provider of quality products for the shooting, hunting, and rugged outdoor enthusiast. During fiscal 2017, we rebranded our holding company name to better reflect our expansion into new and larger markets.  Accordingly, we are organized into two segments – Firearms and Outdoor Products & Accessories – providing a broad foundation for long-term organic and inorganic growth.

Debney continued, "In our Firearms segment, we introduced several important new products, including the Smith & Wesson M&P M2.0, which is our next generation full size polymer pistol and an important platform for the addition of new M&P pistols that we plan to add in 2018 and beyond.  Sales of our market-leading M&P Shield pistol designed for concealed carry remained strong. In the fourth quarter alone, we sold over 195,000 Shield units, reflecting tremendous consumer adoption rates and extraordinary market share gains. We also continued to leverage our flexible manufacturing model, allowing us to quickly respond to consumer market changes, capture revenue, and deliver healthy gross margins. In our Outdoor Products & Accessories segment, we completed three acquisitions that drove revenue growth and gross margin expansion, and marked important progress in expanding our business into new markets that resonate with our core firearm and rugged outdoor enthusiast consumers."

Jeff Buchanan, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer, commented, "The strength of our financial performance in fiscal 2017 supported a number of successful initiatives throughout the year, including several acquisitions designed to fuel our strategic growth, as well as the completion of $50.0 million in stock repurchases on the open market.  We ended the year with cash and cash equivalents totaling $61.5 million and total bank debt and Senior Notes of $219.0 million. In fiscal 2018, we expect to continue employing the strength of our balance sheet, including the unused portion of our revolving line of credit, which is expandable up to $500 million, to fuel additional growth opportunities, both organic and inorganic."

Financial Outlook

Conference Call and Webcast

The company will host a conference call and webcast today, June 29, 2017, to discuss its fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2017 financial and operational results. Speakers on the conference call will include James Debney, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jeffrey D. Buchanan, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer. The conference call may include forward-looking statements. The conference call and webcast will begin at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Pacific Time). Those interested in listening to the conference call via telephone may call directly at (844) 309-6568 and reference conference code 36222119.  No RSVP is necessary.  The conference call audio webcast can also be accessed live and for replay on the company's website at www.aob.com, under the Investor Relations section. The company will maintain an audio replay of this conference call on its website for a period of time after the call. No other audio replay will be available.

Reconciliation of U.S. GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In this press release, certain non-GAAP financial measures, including "non-GAAP net income," "Adjusted EBITDAS," and "free cash flow" are presented. From time-to-time, the company considers and uses these supplemental measures of operating performance in order to provide the reader with an improved understanding of underlying performance trends.  The company believes it is useful for itself and the reader to review, as applicable, both (1) GAAP measures that include (i) amortization of acquired intangible assets, (ii) transition costs, (iii) discontinued operations, (iv) DOJ and SEC costs including insurance recovery costs, (v) acquisition-related costs, (vi) fair value inventory step-up and backlog expense, (vii) bond premium paid, (viii) debt extinguishment costs, (ix) the tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments, (x) net cash provided by operating activities, (xi) net cash used in investing activities, (xii) acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired, (xiii) receipts from note receivable, (xiv) interest expense (xv) income tax expense, (xvi) depreciation and amortization, (xvii) stock-based compensation expense, and (xviii) corporate rebranding expenses; and (2) the non-GAAP measures that exclude such information. The company presents these non-GAAP measures because it considers them an important supplemental measure of its performance. The company's definition of these adjusted financial measures may differ from similarly named measures used by others. The company believes these measures facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period by eliminating potential differences caused by the existence and timing of certain expense items that would not otherwise be apparent on a GAAP basis.  These non-GAAP measures have limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the company's GAAP measures.  The principal limitations of these measures are that they do not reflect the company's actual expenses and may thus have the effect of inflating its financial measures on a GAAP basis.

About American Outdoor Brands Corporation

American Outdoor Brands Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: AOBC) is a provider of quality products for shooting, hunting, and rugged outdoor enthusiasts in the global consumer and professional markets. The Company reports two segments: Firearms and Outdoor Products & Accessories. Firearms manufactures handgun and long gun products sold under the Smith & Wesson®, M&P®, and Thompson/Center Arms™ brands as well as provides forging, machining, and precision plastic injection molding services. Outdoor Products & Accessories provides shooting, hunting, and outdoor accessories, including reloading, gunsmithing, and gun cleaning supplies, tree saws, vault accessories, knives, laser sighting systems, tactical lighting products, and survival and camping equipment. Brands in Outdoor Products & Accessories include Smith & Wesson®, M&P®, Thompson/Center Arms™, Crimson Trace®, Caldwell® Shooting Supplies, Wheeler® Engineering, Tipton® Gun Cleaning Supplies, Frankford Arsenal® Reloading Tools, Lockdown® Vault Accessories, Hooyman® Premium Tree Saws, BOG POD®, Golden Rod® Moisture Control, Schrade®, Old Timer®, Uncle Henry®, UST®, and Imperial™. For more information on American Outdoor Brands Corporation, call (844) 363-5386 or log on to www.aob.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under federal securities laws, and we intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor created thereby.  Such forward-looking statements include, among others, our strategy to continue growing and balancing our business across the shooting, hunting, and rugged outdoor enthusiast market; our belief that the launch of our next generation, full size M&P M2.0 pistol significantly strengthens our growing family of innovative polymer pistols; our belief that higher year-over-year revenue in the Outdoor Products & Accessories segment was driven largely by our acquisitions of Taylor Brands, LLC, Ultimate Survival Technologies Inc. and Crimson Trace Corporation, all of which occurred in fiscal 2017;  our belief that we successfully rebranded our holding company as American Outdoor Brands Corporation, a name that we believe better represents our strategic direction as we explore markets outside of our core firearms business; our commitment to creating long-term shareholder value by innovating, preserving, and selectively acquiring strong brands that best meet the needs and lifestyles of our valued customers; our belief that our strong balance sheet provides us with opportunities to further diversify our company by investing in our future – both organically and through highly selective, strategic acquisitions; and our expectations for net sales, GAAP income per diluted share, acquisition-related costs, amortization of acquired intangible assets, fair value inventory step-up and backlog expense, tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments, and non-GAAP income per diluted share for the first quarter of fiscal 2018 and for fiscal 2018.  We caution that these statements are qualified by important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such forward-looking statements.  Such factors include, among others, the demand for our products; the state of the U.S. economy in general and the firearm industry in particular; general economic conditions and consumer spending patterns; our competitive environment; the supply, availability and costs of raw materials and components; the potential for increased regulation of firearms and firearm-related products; speculation surrounding fears of terrorism and crime; our anticipated growth and growth opportunities; our ability to increase demand for our products in various markets, including consumer, law enforcement, and military channels, domestically and internationally; our penetration rates in new and existing markets; our strategies; our ability to maintain and enhance brand recognition and reputation; risks associated with the establishment of our new 500,000 square foot national distribution center; our ability to introduce new products; the success of new products; our ability to expand our markets; our ability to integrate acquired businesses in a successful manner; the general growth of our outdoor products and accessories business; the potential for cancellation of orders from our backlog; and other risks detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2017.

Contact:Liz Sharp, VP Investor Relations 
American Outdoor Brands Corporation
(413) 747-6284
lsharp@aob.com       

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SOURCE American Outdoor Brands Corporation