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Strong double-digit sales and earnings growth; increasing full year sales growth outlook to low double-digits

PITTSBURGH, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global safety equipment and solutions provider MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE: MSA) today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2023.

Quarterly Highlights

• Achieved quarterly net sales of $447 million, a 20% increase year-over-year, reflecting broad-based strength across MSA's product portfolio and regions.
• Generated GAAP operating income of $95 million, or 21.2% of sales, and adjusted operating income of $104 million, or 23.2% of sales.
• Recorded GAAP net income of $67 million, or $1.70 per diluted share, and adjusted earnings of $72 million, or $1.83 per diluted share.
• Invested $10 million in capital expenditures, repaid $59 million of debt and deployed $18 million for dividends to shareholders.

"Our team delivered excellent results in the second quarter, as we built on the positive momentum from the start of the year to achieve strong quarterly sales and healthy growth," said Nish Vartanian, MSA Safety Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our results demonstrate the strength of our diversified portfolio, leading global market positions and the resiliency of our end markets. Our purposeful investments in talent, innovation and strategic acquisitions have helped to enhance the breadth and depth of our portfolio, serving as a sustainable foundation for ongoing profitable growth." 

Commenting on the recent promotions of Steve Blanco to President and Chief Operating Officer, Stephanie Sciullo to President of MSA's Americas segment and Rick Roda to Chief Legal Officer, Mr. Vartanian added, "I am excited about the promotions of Steve, Stephanie and Rick to their new roles, which recognizes their significant contributions to MSA's success and my confidence in their ability to create positive impacts and deliver results going forward."

Mr. Vartanian concluded, "As we move into the second half of the year, we will continue to emphasize operational and commercial excellence, supported by the MSA Business System. We are focused on providing our customers with innovative safety products and solutions, capturing growth from end markets aligned with secular growth trends and delivering long-term value creation for all our stakeholders."

Financial Highlights and Balance Sheet

Lee McChesney, MSA Safety Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commented, "Our team executed well in the second quarter and delivered robust growth, margin expansion and cash flow generation. We strengthened our balance sheet position and ended the quarter with 1.7x net leverage, a sequential improvement from 2.0x in the prior quarter. Looking ahead, we are confident in our ability to deliver on our financial commitments, and based on the strong first half performance, we are increasing our sales growth outlook to low double-digits for the full year and remain focused on delivering healthy margins and cash flow generation."

Conference Call
MSA Safety will host a conference call on Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its second quarter 2023 results and outlook. 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.

The Americas segment is comprised of our operations in Northern North American and Latin American 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 (loss), 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 (loss), adjusted operating margin, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are useful metrics for investors. Adjusted operating income (loss) 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 (loss) divided by segment net sales to external customers. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as adjusted operating income (loss) plus depreciation and amortization, and adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as adjusted EBITDA divided by segment net sales to external customers. Adjusted operating income (loss), 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 (loss), 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 (loss) 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.

About MSA Safety:  

Established in 1914, MSA Safety Incorporated is the global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of safety products and solutions that protect people and facility infrastructures. Many MSA products integrate a combination of electronics, software, mechanical systems and advanced materials to protect users against hazardous or life-threatening situations. The company's comprehensive product line is used by workers around the world in a broad range of markets, including fire service, the oil, gas and petrochemical industry, construction, industrial manufacturing applications, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, utilities, mining and the military. MSA's core products include self-contained breathing apparatus, fixed gas and flame detection systems, portable gas detection instruments, industrial head protection products, firefighter helmets and protective apparel, and fall protection devices. With 2022 revenues of $1.5 billion, MSA employs approximately 5,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered north of Pittsburgh in Cranberry Township, Pa., and has manufacturing operations in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. With more than 40 international locations, MSA realizes approximately half of its revenue from outside North America. For more information visit MSA's web site at 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, and net debt to adjusted EBITDA. 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