NFI Group reports Q4 adjusted EPS (31c) vs. (21c) last year

Reports Q4 revenue $683M vs. $694.8 last year. "In Fiscal 2022, we saw record demand for our products and services, juxtaposed with continued supply chain disruption, associated production inefficiencies, and the impacts of heightened inflation and rapid foreign exchange movements. Our financial results reflect those realities, with declines in certain performance metrics, paired with significant growth in backlog and contract pricing. The aftermarket segment was also a significant bright spot in 2022, delivering profitability while the navigating through supply challenges," said Paul Soubry, President and Chief Executive Officer, NFI. "We continued to see the benefits of unprecedented government investments in public transportation, which drove record bid activity, and our highest new order performance since 2017. We secured significant new orders from customers in North America, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, many for ZEBs, which represented 23% of our total deliveries, and were a record 29% of our backlog. We also achieved a multi-year milestone of over 100 million zero-emission miles driven by NFI vehicles, and the installation of more than 340 EV chargers. Capital allocation remains a critical priority as we focus on lowering leverage and strengthening our balance sheet. Discussions with our banking syndicate partners are ongoing to develop a new long-term credit agreement by the end of June, and we are continuing to pursue opportunities to generate cash flows. These include the unwinding of heightened inventory, pursuing advance payments and deposits from customers, potential sale and leaseback of select manufacturing facilities and other capital market activities. Fiscal 2023 is expected to be a transition period with significant improvement from 2022 results, but still challenged by certain contracts being at inflation-impacted margins, a result of those contracts originally being bid in 2020 and 2021. We will also operate at lower production rates until supply chain challenges begin to ease, which we anticipate for the second half of the year. Going forward, our updated pricing, inflation-adjusted option backlog, higher ZEB deliveries, and increased production rates are expected to drive stronger margins and financial performance in 2024, 2025, and beyond," Soubry concluded.