UFP Industries Reports Record Second Quarter Results

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., July 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UFP Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: UFPI) today announced record net sales of $2.7 billion for the second quarter of 2021, a 117 percent increase over the second quarter of 2020, and record net earnings attributable to controlling interest of $173 million, a 161 percent increase over the same period of 2020. The company also reported record EPS of $2.78 per diluted share compared to $1.08 in the second quarter of last year. Recent acquisitions contributed $455 million to net sales and $0.17 to EPS.

“In the last year and a half, UFP Industries has been tested by an unprecedented economic disruption and the most turbulent supply and pricing changes in our industry’s history. Despite those challenges, we have continued to improve our business and serve customers without disruption,” said CEO Matthew J. Missad. “We continue to break records with our financial performance, a feat I attribute to the hard work of our employees, our new market-focused organizational structure, and our balanced business model, which allows us to sell into a variety of diverse markets. Another key contributor to our success is our improved pricing model and managed inventory programs, which allow us to mitigate the impact of lumber market fluctuations like those we experienced during the second quarter.”  

Second Quarter 2021 Highlights (comparisons on a year-over-year basis):

• Net sales of $2.7 billion increased 117 percent due to a 70 percent increase in selling prices, a 36 percent unit increase from acquisitions, and an 11 percent increase in organic unit sales.
• Earnings from operations of $236.9 million increased 157 percent, including the impact of an inventory valuation reserve. Management evaluated the impact of falling lumber prices on its products sold with a variable price tied to the lumber market, primarily in its ProWood and Sunbelt wood pressure-treating operations. As a result of its evaluation, a lower of cost or net realizable value reserve was recorded, which reduced the value of inventory and gross profits by approximately $23 million. The company’s vendor-managed inventory programs and ability to shift lumber inventory to business units with high demand and volume requirements helped mitigate the impact of the decline in prices on variable-priced products, particularly in its ProWood business unit.
• An increase in SG&A of nearly $71 million, or 62 percent, is largely attributable to recent acquisitions ($15 million, including amortization expense of $1.5 million) and increases in bonus and sales compensation resulting from increased profitability (up $33 million and $9 million, respectively, over 2020). SG&A as a percentage of gross profit improved from 56 percent in 2020 to 44 percent in 2021, as the company continues to focus on leveraging its cost structure as it grows.
• New product sales of $232.1 million increased 61 percent.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $261.5 million increased 137 percent and the adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 80 basis points to 9.7 percent.
  

UFP Industries maintains a strong balance sheet with liquidity of approximately $288 million at the end of the second quarter despite an increase in our seasonal investment in net working capital of $444 million, which resulted from unprecedentedly high lumber prices and market demand. Net debt increased to $562 million from a net cash position of $37 million at the end of the second quarter of 2020, primarily due to these factors and the acquisitions of PalletOne and Spartanburg Forest Products. Management anticipates that as lumber prices and seasonal demand normalize, the increase in net working capital will be converted to cash, providing significant capital available to pursue growth opportunities and returns to shareholders through its dividend and share repurchase activities.

“We remain optimistic about the rest of this year and our prospects in 2022,” said Missad. “We expect market conditions to normalize during the second half of 2021. While falling lumber prices and more normalized demand create challenging year-over-year profitability comparisons for our retail segment, the stabilized lumber market should benefit our industrial and construction segments. Furthermore, we expect all of our segments to benefit from more stable pricing in 2022. In addition, our industrial and retail segments should continue to benefit from the integration of our recent acquisitions of PalletOne and its subsidiary, Sunbelt Forest Products, as well as Spartanburg Forest Products.”

By business segment, the company reported the following second quarter 2021 results:

UFP Retail Solutions

• $1.26 billion in net sales, up 107 percent over the second quarter of 2020 due to a 59 percent increase in selling prices and a 48 percent unit increase due to the acquisitions of Sunbelt Forest Products and Spartanburg Forest Products. Organic unit sales fell 4 percent due to a 17 percent decline in the ProWood business unit. Organic growth was achieved by UFP-Edge (up 27 percent), Deckorators (up 11 percent), and Outdoor Essentials (up 6 percent), due in part to expanded operational capacity. Additional capacity for each of these product lines is expected to come online in 2022. New product sales grew 32 percent, driven by UFP-Edge shiplap and trim, ProWood Fire Retardant treated lumber, and Outdoor Essentials fencing and picnic tables.
• Gross profit dollars for the retail segment grew 47 percent. Acquisitions contributed approximately $3.5 million, or 4 percent, to the increase and were significantly impacted by the inventory valuation reserve.

UFP Industrial

• $611 million in net sales, up 172 percent from the second quarter of 2020, reflecting in part the benefits of reopening the U.S. economy after pandemic-related closures. Unit sales increased 73 percent and selling prices increased 99 percent. Organic growth accounted for 26 percent of the unit sales growth; the acquisitions of PalletOne and T&R Lumber accounted for 47 percent. New product sales grew 192 percent from the second quarter of 2020.
• Gross profit for the segment rose 262 percent, exceeding unit sales growth of 73 percent, due to the company’s focus on adding value-added products and the significant improvement in unit sales, which allows the company to better leverage fixed costs and include the impact of higher lumber, labor, and transportation costs in its selling prices. Acquisitions contributed over $23 million, or 62 percent, to the increase in gross profit.

UFP Construction

• $739 million in net sales, up 106 percent over the second quarter of 2020, due to a 29 percent increase in unit sales and a 77 percent increase in selling prices. Unit sales to factory-built and site-built housing customers rose 56 percent and 32 percent, respectively. Unit sales to commercial customers improved, rising 11 percent. New product sales increased 184 percent from the prior comparative quarterly period.
• Gross profit for the construction segment grew 118 percent over the second quarter of 2020, primarily as a result of significantly improved unit sales and the company’s ability to better leverage fixed costs and include the impact of higher lumber, labor, and transportation costs in its selling prices.

CONFERENCE CALL
UFP Industries will conduct a conference call to discuss information included in this news release and related matters at 4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. The call will be hosted by CEO Matthew J. Missad and CFO Michael Cole, and will be available for analysts and institutional investors domestically at 866-518-4547 and internationally at 213-660-0879. Use conference pass code 5780277. The conference call will be available simultaneously and in its entirety to all interested investors and news media through a webcast at http://www.ufpi.com. A replay of the call will be available through July 23, 2021, at 855-859-2056, 404-537-3406 or 800-585-8367.

UFP Industries, Inc.

UFP Industries is a holding company whose operating subsidiaries – UFP Industrial, UFP Construction and UFP Retail Solutions – manufacture, distribute and sell a wide variety of value-added products used in residential and commercial construction, packaging and other industrial applications worldwide. Founded in 1955, the company is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., with affiliates in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more about UFP Industries, go to www.ufpi.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended, that are based on management’s beliefs, assumptions, current expectations, estimates and projections about the markets we serve, the economy and the Company itself. Words like “anticipates,” “believes,” “confident,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “likely,” “plans,” “projects,” “should,” variations of such words, and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. These statements do not guarantee future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood and degree of occurrence. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect facts, circumstances, events, or assumptions that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made. Actual results could differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements are the following: fluctuations in the price of lumber; adverse or unusual weather conditions; adverse economic conditions in the markets we serve; government regulations, particularly involving environmental and safety regulations; and our ability to make successful business acquisitions. Certain of these risk factors as well as other risk factors and additional information are included in the Company's reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Non-GAAP Financial Information
This release includes certain financial information not prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Because not all companies calculate non-GAAP financial information identically (or at all), the presentations herein may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. Management considers Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, an alternative performance measure which may provide useful information to investors.

Net earnings
Net earnings refers to net earnings attributable to controlling interest unless specifically noted.

---------------AT THE COMPANY---------------

Dick Gauthier
VP, Business Outreach
(616) 365-1555