Gorman-Rupp Reports First Quarter 2022 Financial Results

Net sales for the first quarter of 2022 were $102.2 million compared to net sales of $89.0 million for the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 14.8% or $13.2 million. Domestic sales of $72.4 million increased 15.6% and international sales of $29.8 million increased 12.8% compared to the same period in 2021. Sales have increased across nearly all of our markets and incoming orders for the quarter increased 9.6% compared to the first quarter of 2021 to $112.0 million.

Sales in our water markets increased 11.5% or $7.5 million in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2021. Sales increased $5.9 million in the fire protection market, $2.3 million in the construction market, and $1.6 million in the repair market. Partially offsetting these increases was a decrease of $2.2 million in the municipal market and $0.1 million in the agriculture market. Incoming orders and backlog for the municipal and agriculture markets were up compared to the prior year period.

Sales in our non-water markets increased 23.3% or $5.7 million in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2021. Sales increased $3.7 million in the industrial market, $1.7 million in the OEM market, and $0.3 million in the petroleum market.

Gross profit was $25.5 million for the first quarter of 2022, resulting in gross margin of 25.0%, compared to gross profit of $23.0 million and gross margin of 25.9% for the same period in 2021. The 90 basis point decrease in gross margin was driven by a 200 basis point increase in cost of material, which included an unfavorable LIFO impact of 100 basis points, partially offset by a 110 basis point improvement from labor and overhead leverage due to increased sales volume.

Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses were $16.0 million and 15.7% of net sales for the first quarter of 2022 compared to $14.1 million and 15.8% of net sales for the same period in 2021. SG&A expenses increased 14.0% or $1.9 million as a result of increased payroll and payroll related costs and increased travel expenses. SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales improved 10 basis points primarily as a result of leverage on fixed costs from increased sales volume.

Operating income was $9.5 million for the first quarter of 2022, resulting in an operating margin of 9.3%, compared to operating income of $9.0 million and operating margin of 10.1% for the same period in 2021. Operating margin decreased 80 basis points primarily as a result of the increased cost of material due to unfavorable LIFO adjustments partially offset by improved leverage on fixed costs from increased sales volume.

Net income was $7.5 million for the first quarter of 2022 compared to $7.4 million in the first quarter of 2021, and earnings per share were $0.29 and $0.28 for the respective periods. Earnings per share included an unfavorable LIFO impact of $0.05 and $0.02 per share for the first quarter of 2022 and 2021, respectively.

The Company’s backlog of orders was $195.5 million at March 31, 2022 compared to $125.5 million at March 31, 2021 and $186.0 million at December 31, 2021. Incoming orders increased 9.6% for the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. Incoming orders were up across most markets the Company serves.

Capital expenditures for first three months of 2022 were $3.5 million and consisted primarily of machinery and equipment. Capital expenditures for the full-year 2022 are presently planned to be in the range of $15-$20 million.

Scott King, President and Chief Executive Officer commented, “We continue to see top line growth across most of our markets and incoming order trends remain positive. Although backlog is still at a historically high level, our aging is consistent. While we have leveraged labor and overhead, inflationary pressures on cost of material persist, so we will continue to adjust our pricing to offset these increases. It appears that global supply chain challenges will extend into the foreseeable future. We are navigating these challenges and believe we will be able to maintain top line growth.”