The Shyft Group Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2022 Results

• Reports Q4 sales of $302 million, growth of 9% versus prior year; Achieved record full year sales of $1.0 billion
• Remain on target for Blue Arc Electric Vehicle (EV) production in the second half of 2023
• Introduce 2023 outlook with sales of $1.0 to $1.2 billion; Adjusted EBITDA of $70 to $100 million, up 20% year-over-year at the midpoint
  

NOVI, Mich., Feb. 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 fourth quarter and full-year ending December 31, 2022.

Fourth Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights¹        
For the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the fourth quarter of 2021:

• Sales of $302.0 million, an increase of $24.7 million, or 8.9%, from $277.3 million
• Income from continuing operations of $17.8 million, or $0.50 per share, compared to $20.5 million, or $0.56 per share
• Adjusted EBITDA of $30.7 million, or 10.2% of sales, an increase of $4.1 million, from $26.6 million, or 9.6% of sales; Results include $7.6 million of EV development costs versus $4.0 million in the prior year
• Adjusted net income of $20.5 million, or $0.58 per share, compared to adjusted net income of $20.2 million, or $0.56 per share in the fourth quarter of 2021
• Consolidated backlog of $832.7 million as of December 31, 2022, down $130.9 million, or 13.6%, compared to $963.6 million as of December 31, 2021
  

Full-Year 2022 Financial Highlights¹
For the full-year 2022 compared to the full-year 2021:

• Sales of $1.0 billion, an increase of $35.4 million, or 3.6%, from $991.8 million
• Income from continuing operations of $36.6 million, or $1.03 per share, compared to $70.0 million, or $1.91 per share; The current year reflects an effective income tax rate of 16.8%
• Adjusted EBITDA of $70.8 million, or 6.9% of sales, a decrease of $37.3 million, from $108.1 million, or 10.9% of sales; Results include $26.9 million of EV development costs versus $6.4 million in the prior year
• Adjusted net income of $44.5 million, or $1.25 per share, compared to adjusted net income of $75.0 million, or $2.08 per share in 2021  
• Net leverage ratio of 0.93x times adjusted EBITDA as of December 31, 2022
  

“I am proud of the Shyft Group team’s ability to execute and close out the year strong, with solid growth in sales and adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter. We overcame dynamic challenges in our supply chain and inflationary pressures, remaining nimble and responsive to the needs of our customers while taking advantage of opportunities to invest in future growth,” said Daryl Adams, President and CEO.

Fourth Quarter 2022 Business Segment Financial Highlights

Fleet Vehicles and Services (FVS)

• Sales were $212.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, up 16.6% or $30.3 million year over year
• Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2022 increased 5.6% to $27.7 million, or 13.0% of sales, compared to $26.2 million, or 14.4% of sales, a year ago
• Segment backlog was $736.7 million as of December 31, 2022, down 14.3% compared to $859.4 million as of December 31, 2021
  

Specialty Vehicles (SV)

• Sales were $93.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, a decrease of $1.5 million, or 1.5%, from $94.7 million a year ago
• Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $15.9 million, or 17.1% of sales, an increase of $5.6 million, or 55.2%, from $10.3 million, or 10.8% of sales, a year ago
• Segment backlog was $96.0 million as of December 31, 2022, down 7.8% compared to $104.1 million as of December 31, 2021
  

2023 Financial Outlook
“We are focused on delivering improved profitability in 2023. Current uncertainty surrounding broader macroeconomic conditions has led us to take a cautious approach to our outlook,” said Jon Douyard, Chief Financial Officer. “Our balance sheet strength and ample liquidity provide financial flexibility to fund operations and growth investments.”

Guidance for full-year 2023, notwithstanding further changes in the operating environment, is as follows:

• Sales to be in the range of $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion
• Adjusted EBITDA of $70 to $100 million
• Net income of $28 to $50 million, with an income tax rate of approximately 25%
• Earnings per share of $0.77 to $1.38
• Adjusted earnings per share of $0.97 to $1.59
• Capital expenditures of approximately $35 million
• Free cash flow conversion ratio as a percent of net income greater than 100%
  

Adams concluded, “Our Blue Arc EV timeline remains on track with vehicle production planned for the second half of the year. We are differentiating the Shyft Group by investing in transformative initiatives that will deliver meaningful long-term growth and value for our customers and shareholders.”

Conference Call and Webcast Information

The Shyft Group will host a conference call at 10 a.m. ET today to discuss these results and current business trends. The conference call and webcast will be available via:

Webcast: www.the shyftgroup.com/webcasts
Conference Call: 1-844-868-8845 (domestic) or 412-317-6591 (international); passcode: 10174805

For more information about Shyft, 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 Blue Arc™ EV Solutions, Utilimaster®, Royal Truck Body™, DuraMag® and Magnum®, Strobes-R-Us™, Spartan RV Chassis™, Red Diamond™ Aftermarket Solutions, and Builtmore Contract Manufacturing™. 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 4,200 employees and contractors across campuses, and operates facilities in Michigan, Indiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, California, Arizona, Texas, and Saltillo, Mexico. The Company reported sales of $1.0 billion in 2022. Learn more about The Shyft Group at TheShyftGroup.com.

This release contains information, including our sales and earnings guidance, all other information provided with respect to our outlook for 2023 and future periods, and other statements concerning our business, strategic position, financial projections, financial strength, future plans, objectives, and the performance of our products and operations that may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We intend the forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements in those sections. Generally, we have identified such forward-looking statements by using words such as “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “potential,” “future,” “may,” “will,” “should,” and similar expressions or by using future dates in connection with any discussion of, among other things, the construction or operation of new or existing facilities, operating performance, trends, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future, statements relating to volume changes, share of sales and earnings per share changes, anticipated cost savings, potential capital and operational cash improvements, anticipated disruptions to our operations and industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in supply and demand conditions and prices for our products, trade duties and other aspects of trade policy, statements regarding our future strategies, products and innovations, and statements expressing general views about future operating results. However, the absence of these words or similar expressions does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but instead represent only the Company’s beliefs regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company’s control. It is possible that the Company’s actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. Management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the time made. However, caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements because such statements speak only as of the date when made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In addition, forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s historical experience and our present expectations or projections. In addition, forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s historical experience and our present expectations or projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the risks and uncertainties described in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and those described from time to time in our future reports filed 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
Randy Wilson
Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury
[email protected]
248.727.3755

The Shyft Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries
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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.

The Shyft Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries
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*Total amounts may not add due to rounding.

¹Results reflected are for Continuing Operations; The Company divested its Emergency Response Vehicles (ERV) business effective February 1, 2020. Accordingly, the financial results of ERV have been classified as discontinued operations for all periods presented. Unless otherwise noted, financial results presented are based on continuing operations.