Pall : Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

Pall Corporation (NYSE:PLL) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended July 31, 2014.

• Sales in the quarter increased 12%; up 10% in local currency
• Orders in the quarter grew 10%; up 8% in local currency
• Diluted EPS in the quarter of $1.08, up 42%; pro forma diluted EPS of $1.11, up 23%

Fourth Quarter and Full Year Continuing Operations Sales and Earnings Overview

Fourth quarter sales were $800 million compared to $717 million last year, an increase of 12%. Sales in local currency (“LC”) were up about 10%, and about 5% excluding acquisitions. Diluted EPS were $1.08 in the quarter, compared to $0.76 last year. Pro forma diluted EPS⁽¹⁾ were $1.11, a 23% increase compared to $0.90 a year earlier, including a benefit of approximately $0.02 from foreign currency translation.

Sales for the full year were $2.8 billion, an increase of 5% compared to last year. Sales were up 6% in LC, and over 3% excluding acquisitions. Diluted EPS were $3.25 for the full year, compared to $2.89 last year. Pro forma diluted EPS⁽¹⁾ were $3.44, a 13% increase compared to $3.04 a year earlier, including a negative impact of approximately $0.05 from foreign currency translation.

Larry Kingsley, Pall Chairman and CEO, said, “The company performed well for the full year and delivered a strong fourth quarter. I’m particularly pleased with the very strong incremental margins and solid free cash flow despite the challenging economic backdrop.”

BioPharmaceuticals: Consumables sales grew 22% compared to last year, on overall market strength and the benefit of acquisitions.

Food and Beverage: Consumables sales grew 8% compared to last year, on strength in all three regions.

Medical: Consumables sales grew 4% compared to last year, on the benefit of OEM sales from a recent acquisition.

Systems: Sales were down 4% compared to last year, on timing of Food & Beverage projects.

Process Technologies: Consumables sales increased 14% compared to last year, on growth in Fuels & Chemicals and Machinery & Equipment, plus benefit from our recent acquisition of Filter Specialists, Inc.

Aerospace: Consumables sales increased 17% compared to last year, largely due to the timing of shipments. Commercial and military were up similarly.

Microelectronics: Consumables sales grew 9% compared to last year, on continued end-market strength and new business wins.

Systems: Sales decreased 22% compared to last year, on reduced capital spend on Fuels & Chemicals and Municipal Water projects as well as timing of Power Generation projects.

Conclusion/Outlook

Kingsley concluded, “In fiscal year 2015, we expect total revenue growth in the mid-to-high single-digits, with pro forma EPS⁽¹⁾ of $3.75 to $3.95, which represents 9% to 15% growth over our solid fiscal 2014 performance. Given the operational improvements we’ve seen, the strong and improving sales execution across our businesses, and our continued focus on fixed cost leverage, I’m highly confident in our ability to deliver double-digit pro forma earnings growth.”

Conference Call

On Thursday, August 28, 2014, at 8:30 am ET, Pall Corporation will host a conference call to review these results. The call can be accessed at www.pall.com/investor. The webcast will be archived for 30 days.

About Pall Corporation

Pall Corporation (NYSE:PLL) is a filtration, separation and purification leader providing solutions to meet the critical fluid management needs of customers across the broad spectrum of life sciences and industry. Pall works with customers to advance health, safety and environmentally responsible technologies. The Company’s engineered products enable process and product innovation and minimize emissions and waste. Pall Corporation is an S&P 500 company serving customers worldwide. Follow us on Twitter @PallCorporation or visit www.pall.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The matters discussed in this press release contain “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Results for fiscal year 2014 are preliminary until our Form 10-K is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or before September 29, 2014. Forward-looking statements are those that address activities, events or developments that the Company or management intends, expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future. All statements regarding future performance, earnings projections, earnings guidance, management’s expectations about its future cash needs, dilution from the disposition or future allocation of capital and effective tax rate, and other future events or developments are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are those that use terms such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “should,” “could,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this and other written and oral reports are based on management’s assumptions and assessments in light of past experience and trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other relevant factors.

The Company’s forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ materially from those envisaged by the Company’s forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in the 2013 Form 10-K, and other reports the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including: the impact of disruptions in the supply of raw materials and key components from suppliers, including limited or single source suppliers; the impact of terrorist acts, conflicts and wars or natural disasters; the extent to which special U.S. and foreign government laws and regulations may expose the Company to liability or impair its ability to compete in international markets; the impact of economic, political, social and regulatory instability in emerging markets, and other risks characteristic of doing business in emerging markets; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates; the impact of a significant disruption in, or breach in security of, the Company’s information technology systems, or the failure to implement, manage or integrate new systems, software or technologies successfully; the Company’s ability to successfully complete or integrate acquisitions; the Company’s ability to develop innovative and competitive new products; the impact of global and regional economic conditions and legislative, regulatory and political developments; the Company’s ability to comply with a broad array of regulatory requirements; the loss of one or more members of the Company’s senior management team and its ability to recruit and retain qualified management personnel; changes in the demand for the Company’s products and the maintenance of business relationships with key customers; changes in product mix and product pricing, particularly with respect to systems products and associated hardware and devices for the Company’s consumable filtration products; product defects and unanticipated use or inadequate disclosure with respect to the Company’s products; the Company’s ability to deliver its backlog on time; increases in manufacturing and operating costs and/or the Company’s ability to achieve the savings anticipated from its structural cost improvement initiatives; the impact of environmental, health and safety laws and regulations and violations; the Company’s ability to enforce patents or protect proprietary products and manufacturing techniques; costs and outcomes of pending or future litigation and the availability of insurance or indemnification rights; changes in the Company’s effective tax rate; the Company’s ability to compete effectively in domestic and global markets; and the effect of the restrictive covenants in the Company’s debt facilities. Factors or events that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of them. The Company makes these statements as of the date of this disclosure and undertakes no obligation to update them, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Management uses certain non-GAAP measurements to assess the Company’s current and future financial performance. The non-GAAP measurements do not replace the presentation of the Company’s GAAP financial results. These measurements provide supplemental information to assist management in analyzing the Company’s financial position and results of operations. The Company has chosen to provide this information to facilitate meaningful comparisons of past, present and future operating results and as a means to emphasize the results of ongoing operations.

Pro forma earnings measures exclude the items described below as they are deemed to be non-recurring in nature and/or not considered by management to be indicative of underlying operating performance. The pro forma tax effects disclosed were calculated using applicable entity-specific tax rates.

(a) Cost of sales in the quarter and year ended July 31, 2014 includes purchase accounting adjustments of $5,304 ($3,420 after pro forma tax effect of $1,884) and $7,469 ($4,839 after pro forma tax effect of $2,630), respectively related to the step up of acquired inventory.

(b) ROTC in the quarter and year ended July 31, 2014 of $10,244 ($8,978 after pro forma tax effect of $1,266) and $40,154 ($35,033 after pro forma tax effect of $5,121), respectively primarily includes severance costs related to the Company's structural cost improvement initiative. The year ended July 31, 2014 also includes an increase to environmental reserves.

ROTC in the quarter and year ended July 31, 2013 of $18,685 ($15,496 after pro forma tax effect of $3,189) and $40,182 ($31,741 after pro forma tax effect of $8,441), respectively primarily includes severance costs related to the Company's structural cost improvement initiative, certain employment contract obligations and an adjustment to environmental reserves.

(c) Provision for income taxes in the quarter ended July 31, 2014 includes a benefit of $6,437 related to the resolution of a foreign tax audit. Provision for income taxes in the year ended July 31, 2014 includes a net benefit of $15,527 related to the resolution of foreign tax audits, partly offset by additional tax costs related to the Blood divestiture.

Provision for income taxes in the year ended July 31, 2013 includes a net benefit of $10,193 related to the resolution of a U.S. tax audit partially offset by the tax cost of repatriation of foreign earnings.

(d) Interest expense, net, in the quarter and year ended July 31, 2014 includes the reversal of accrued interest of $3,042 ($2,580 after pro forma tax effect of $462) and $4,520 ($3,718 after pro forma tax effect of $802), respectively related to the resolution of foreign tax audits as described in (c) above.

Interest expense, net, in the year ended July 31, 2013 includes the reversal of accrued interest of $6,704 ($4,268 after pro forma tax effect of $2,436) related to the resolution of a U.S. tax audit as described in (c) above.