NOVI, Mich., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHYF) ("Shyft" or the "Company"), the North American leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing, assembly and upfit for the commercial, retail and service specialty vehicle markets, today reported operating results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2021. 

Second Quarter 2021 Highlights from Continuing Operations¹

For the second quarter of 2021 compared to the second quarter of 2020:

• Sales of $244.0 million, an increase of $120.0 million, or 96.8%, from $124.0 million, reflecting increased sales in all product categories. 
• Gross profit margin of 21.3% of sales, a 190 basis point improvement from 19.4% of sales, driven by sales volume and actions taken to improve overall operating efficiency. 
• Income from continuing operations of $17.0 million, or $0.44 per share, compared to a loss of ($1.1) million, or ($0.03) per share. 
• Adjusted EBITDA of $28.6 million, or 11.7% of sales, an increase of $19.2 million, or 205.6%, from $9.4 million, or 7.5% of sales. 
• Adjusted net income of $19.0 million, or $0.53 per share, an increase of $14.4 million, or 316.1%, from $4.6 million, or $0.13 per share. 
• Consolidated backlog at June 30, 2021, was a record $751.4 million, up $413.9 million, or 122.6%, compared to $337.5 million at June 30, 2020.

"The Shyft Group's momentum continued to build in the second quarter, producing results that exceeded our expectations, including doubling our sales and tripling adjusted EBITDA over the prior year," said Daryl Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "Our strength in quality, innovation, and customer-driven product development, combined with rising demand in our markets, led to record backlog across all segments.  While the environment remains challenging, our team continues to outperform and delivered our highest quarterly sales on record. We continue to see strong demand in parcel delivery and luxury motor coach, as well as accelerating demand in service bodies, which further cement our plans toward continued growth in the second half of the year."

Fleet Vehicles and Services (FVS)

FVS segment sales were $168.3 million, an increase of 73.1% from $97.2 million, mainly due to strong sales across all product categories, including strong demand for last-mile delivery vehicles and growth in the recently introduced Velocity™ product line. 

Adjusted EBITDA increased $14.6 million to $28.3 million, or 16.8% of sales, from $13.7 million, or 14.0% of sales, a year ago.  The increase was primarily due to higher volume and productivity driven by capital investments.

The segment backlog at June 30, 2021, totaled a record $660.9 million, up 130.3%, compared to $287.0 million at June 30, 2020.  On a sequential basis, backlog increased $71.3 million, or 12.1% from $589.6 million in the first quarter of 2021.  This increase reflects strong demand for delivery vehicles, including the Velocity product line.

Specialty Vehicles (SV)

SV segment sales were $75.7 million, an increase of 183.2% from $26.7 million, led by luxury motor coach chassis sales and accelerating growth in service bodies. 

Adjusted EBITDA increased $7.4 million to $8.6 million, or 11.4% of sales, from $1.2 million, or 4.6% of sales, a year ago.  The increase was primarily due to higher sales volume.

The segment backlog at June 30, 2021, totaled $90.5 million, up 79.1% compared to $50.5 million at June 30, 2020.  On a sequential basis, backlog increased $13.6 million, or 17.7%, from $76.9 million in the first quarter of 2021.  The increase reflects increased orders across all product lines.

Update 2021 Outlook

"In addition to our strong financial performance during the quarter, we continued to make investments that will drive productivity improvements and position us for future growth," said Jon Douyard, Chief Financial Officer.  "Our current liquidity position remains healthy at $120.0 million, and our leverage ratio stands at just 0.4 times adjusted EBITDA, leaving ample room for further strategic investments.  While our strong order intake resulted in record backlog, we continue to manage through a challenging supply environment.  Despite this headwind, we are confident raising our guidance for the year to reflect the strong first-half performance and our team's ability to meet customer needs through the second half."

The Company expects full-year 2021 results from continuing operations to be as follows:

• Revenue to be in the range of $900 to $950 million
• Net income of $55 to $62 million
• Adjusted EBITDA of $100 to $110 million
• Effective tax rate of approximately 26%
• Earnings per share of $1.52 - $1.72
• Adjusted earnings per share of $1.75 - $1.95

"Our achievements during the first half of the year highlight our proven business strategy and our team's capacity to execute.  This exceptional team continues to bring aptitude and energy to the organization and operate at the highest level, both from a day-to-day production and support standpoint, as well as in the areas of product research and development.  With the strength of demand in our core markets and the tremendous opportunities inherent in our new products coming to market – such as the Velocity and our recently announced all-electric battery powered EV chassis – we have never been more excited about the future of our Company," concluded Adams.

Conference Call, Webcast, Investor Presentation and Investor Information
The Shyft Group will host a conference call for analysts and portfolio managers at 10 a.m. EDT today to discuss these results and current business trends.  The conference call and webcast will be available via:

Webcast: www.TheShyftGroup.com/investor-relations/webcasts  
Conference Call: 1-877-317-6789 (domestic) or 412-317-6789 (international); passcode: 10155593

For more information about The Shyft Group, please visit www.TheShyftGroup.com. 

About The Shyft Group
The Shyft Group is the North American leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing, assembly, and upfit for the commercial, retail, and service specialty vehicle markets. Our customers include first-to-last mile delivery companies across vocations, federal, state, and local government entities; the trades; and utility and infrastructure segments. The Shyft Group is organized into two core business units: Shyft Fleet Vehicles & Services™ and Shyft Specialty Vehicles™. Today, its family of brands include Utilimaster®, Royal Truck Body™, DuraMag® and Magnum®, Strobes-R-Us™, Spartan RV Chassis™, Builtmore Contract Manufacturing™, and corresponding aftermarket provisions. The Shyft Group and its go-to-market brands are well known in their respective industries for quality, durability, and first-to-market innovation. The Company employs approximately 2,900 associates across campuses, and operates facilities in Michigan, Indiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, California, Arizona, Texas, and Saltillo, Mexico. The Company reported sales from continuing operations of $676 million in 2020. Learn more about The Shyft Group at www.TheShyftGroup.com.  

This release contains several forward-looking statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning our business, strategic position, financial projections, financial strength, future plans, objectives, and the performance of our products and operations.  These statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "potential," "future," "may," "will," "should," and similar expressions regarding future expectations.  Furthermore, statements contained in this document relating to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the impact of which remains inherently uncertain on our financial results, are forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements involve various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, and likelihood.  Therefore, actual performance and results may materially differ from what may be expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could contribute to these differences include future developments relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, including governmental responses, supply chain shortages, and potential labor issues; operational and other complications that may arise affecting the implementation of our plans and business objectives; continued pressures caused by economic conditions including weaknesses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; challenges that may arise in connection with the integration of new businesses or assets we acquire or the disposition of assets; restructuring of our operations, and/or our expansion into new geographic markets; issues unique to government contracting, such as competitive bidding processes, qualification requirements, and delays or changes in funding; disruptions within our dealer network; changes in our relationships with major customers, suppliers, or other business partners; changes in the demand or supply of products within our markets or raw materials needed to manufacture those products; and changes in laws and regulations affecting our business.  Other factors that could affect outcomes are set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available at www.sec.gov or our website.  All forward-looking statements in this release are qualified by this paragraph.  Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results.  We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

CONTACT: 

Juris Pagrabs
Group Treasurer
The Shyft Group
(517) 997-3862   

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This release presents Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), adjusted net income, and adjusted earnings per share, each of which is a non-GAAP financial measure. These non-GAAP measures are calculated by excluding items that we believe to be infrequent or not indicative of our underlying operating performance, as well as certain non-cash expenses. We define Adjusted EBITDA as income from continuing operations before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, as adjusted to eliminate the impact of restructuring charges, acquisition related expenses and adjustments, non-cash stock-based compensation expenses, and other gains and losses not reflective of our ongoing operations.

We present the non-GAAP measure Adjusted EBITDA because we consider it to be an important supplemental measure of our performance. The presentation of Adjusted EBITDA enables investors to better understand our operations by removing items that we believe are not representative of our continuing operations and may distort our longer-term operating trends. We believe this measure to be useful to improve the comparability of our results from period to period and with our competitors, as well as to show ongoing results from operations distinct from items that are infrequent or not indicative of our continuing operating performance. We believe that presenting this non-GAAP measure is useful to investors because it permits investors to view performance using the same tools that management uses to budget, make operating and strategic decisions, and evaluate our historical performance. We believe that the presentation of this non-GAAP measure, when considered together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures and the reconciliations to that measure, provides investors with additional understanding of the factors and trends affecting our business than could be obtained in the absence of this disclosure.

Our management uses Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate the performance of and allocate resources to our segments. Adjusted EBITDA is also used, along with other financial and non-financial measures, for purposes of determining annual incentive compensation for our management team and long-term incentive compensation for certain members of our management team.

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SOURCE The Shyft Group, Inc.