Q1 2023 Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc Earnings Call
Speaker 1: So do.
Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the HCL Materials Handling 2023 First Quarters Earnings Call. My name is Glenn. I'll be the moderator for today's call. If you'd like to ask a question during the presentation, you may do so by pressing the style 1 on tab on keypad.
Speaker 2: I will now hand over to your host, Christy Kimento. To begin, Christy, please go ahead.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Good morning everyone and thanks for joining us today. Welcome to our 2023 first quarter earnings call. I'm Christina Kmetko and I'm responsible for investor relations at Hyster Yale. Joining me on today's call are Al Rankin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rajiv Prasad, President and Staff Member.
Speaker 3: our Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.
Speaker 3: Yesterday evening, we published our first quarter 2023 results and followed our 10Q, both of which are available on our website. Today's call is being recorded and webcast. The webcast will be on our website later this afternoon and available for approximately 12 months. Please like the video and subscribe to this channel.
Speaker 3: Our remarks that follow, including answers to your questions, contain forward-looking statements.
Speaker 3: These statements are subject to several risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements made here today. These risks include, among others, matters that we've described in our earnings release issued last night and in our 10Q and other filings with the SEC.
Speaker 3: We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, which may not be updated until our next quarterly earnings conference call, if at all. With the formalities out of the way, I'll turn the call to the Regis.
Speaker 4: Thanks, Christy, and good morning, everyone. I'll start by providing the operational perspective and some color commentary on our market.
Speaker 4: Scott will follow with detailed financial results and outlook, and now we'll close the call with strategic perspective and take us into Q&A.
Speaker 4: We had a very strong first quarter.
Speaker 4: I mentioned on our last quarterly call that we expect it to build on our fourth quarter 2022 momentum.
Speaker 4: and we did. In fact, we did better than we expected in the first quarter. While Scott will cover the financial details, I'll share some highlights from my perspective.
Speaker 4: Revenue and consolidated operating profit increased very significantly over 2022's first quarter results. Our first quarter profits were driven by improving product margins, increasing the number of products, and improving the number of products.
Speaker 4: from more favorable material costs and a strong mix of products and parts. These positive changes more than offset the negative impact from unfavorable currency movements and ongoing supply chain constraints.
Speaker 4: Third-party component shortages and related production impacts remain ahead when, but have moderated compared to prior year. Our first-quarter unit shipments increased more than 5 percent from first quarter 2022, primarily as a result of fewer component shortages. However, our factories...
Speaker 4: experienced multiple production setbacks due to ongoing skilled labor availability issues, particularly in the Americas, coupled with shortages of specific components primarily in Europe .
Speaker 4: These challenges resulted in our plants falling short of the plant production rate increased targets. Looking ahead, we are planning for an improving production cadence in the Americas, but labor challenges could alter those plans. In Europe , specific component supply constraints and to a lesser extent, the
Speaker 4: labor challenges are likely to negatively impact their production rate in the second quarter. As these issues abate, we expect production and shipment rates to increase rapidly. For the fully at 2023, we anticipate very strong production and shipment volumes.
Speaker 4: which we expect to exceed 2022 levels despite the ongoing production challenges. In the first quarter, material and labor costs continued to increase compared to prior year levels, primarily in EMEA, but the rate of increase slowed substantially.
Speaker 4: Forward economic indicators suggest more moderate 2023 cost inflation trends.
Speaker 4: As previously shared, we've implemented multiple price increases over the past two years to offset persistent inflation.
Speaker 4: We've gained ground in the Americas and we expect this moderating cost inflation to help drive increased margins particularly in the EMEA.
Speaker 4: We'll continue to monitor our material and labor costs closely, including the potential impacts from tariffs, and we'll adjust pricing as needed to maintain momentum towards our long-term unit margin goals.
Speaker 4: Shifting to our global market expectations, demand for lift trucks remains strong.
Speaker 4: The latest available data shows that fourth quarter 2022 market volumes were down significantly.
Speaker 4: from the peak levels reached in the first...
Speaker 4: Quarter of 2022.
Speaker 4: Our internal market estimates indicate that the decline seen in the last three 2022 quarters continued in the first quarter of 2023 across all geographic regions. These declines appear to be more moderate than initially anticipated, reflecting more resilient global dem-
Speaker 4: when compared to pre-pandemic standards in all regions except EMEA.
Speaker 4: LIFTRACK bookings decreased significantly in the first quarter compared to robust priori levels.
Speaker 4: economic activity in 2023 and a return to more normalized market levels, will remain focused on booking higher margin orders. As the year progresses, we'll work to balance our booking rate and production lead times on a line-by-line basis to maximize profitable growth. With the combination of increasing production and lower bookings, we reduced our backlog by an additional 3% from fourth quarter 2022, but it still remains well above historic levels.
Speaker 4: our continued diligence over booking margins, along with building out
Speaker 4: shipping, building out and shipping older lower margin units has led to higher average unit margins in our remaining backlog. Our efforts are paying off.
Speaker 4: In the first quarter, the average sale price for a backlog unit increased by nearly 34% year over year and about 2% sequentially. We expect these positive margin trends to continue in 2023 and into 2024 as we produce the remaining age backlog units over the next few quarters.
Speaker 4: quarter the average sale price for a backlog unit increased by nearly 34% year-over-year and about 2% sequentially. We expect these positive margin trends to continue in 2023 and into 2024 as we produce the remaining aged backlog units over the next few quarters. While global economic...
Speaker 4: signals a mix regarding the likelihood and depth of a recession, our current backlog of higher margin trucks extends through 2023 production schedules and into 2024. This provides a shock absorber
Speaker 4: if bookings decline more sharply than expected in 2023.
Speaker 4: I'll summarize my comments by saying we expect higher production and shipment rates over the next several quarters, largely due to improving component and labor availability.
Speaker 4: We remain focused on mitigating the impacts of our continuing supply chain and manufacturing challenges.
Speaker 4: Our teams are working closely with our suppliers to obtain what's needed for production when it's needed.
Speaker 4: As our plant production rates increase across 2023, we expect the higher unit price and margin
Speaker 4: built into our backlog to support a continued improvement in our financial results.
Speaker 4: Ongoing discipline over bookings, margins and cost structures will support
Speaker 4: this profitability improvement trend over the longer term.
Speaker 4: We expect our unit backlog and extended lead times to decrease across 2023, but remain above preferred levels.
Speaker 4: While we work towards our desired backlog levels and lead times, we remain focused on profitability and cash generation.
Speaker 4: Before I turn the call over to Scott, I'd like to highlight a significant recent announcement.
Speaker 4: In March, we launched a new brand identity for our Yale business. Our Yale brand has had a solid position in the warehouse segment.
Speaker 4: while our Hyster brand has had a strong position in industrial and port segments.
Speaker 4: This reflects a core marketplace differentiation between the two brands, and one now being enhanced by new technology. As a result, we have rebranded Yale as Yale Liftruck Technologies.
Speaker 4: This new identity and new logo emphasize our focus on solving the toughest labor, safety and productivity challenges in the fast-paced,
Speaker 4: fast-growing warehouse markets. Yale LISPRAC technologies will couple technology integration with a customer-focused philosophy designed specifically to address the customer's application need. I'd like to thank the team that steered this project from concept through the launch and at the...
Speaker 4: through launch at the recent ProMat trade show.
Speaker 4: It was a job well done. Now I'll turn the call over to Scott to update you on our financial results and provide our financial outlook. Scott?
Speaker 5: Thanks, Rajiv. I'll start with high-level comments on our consolidated financial results and then add an additional perspective on our three businesses.
Speaker 5: In the first quarter, we reported consolidated revenues of nearly $1 billion. This was an increase of 21%, or $172 million over the prior year.
Speaker 5: This growth was driven by a 22% increase in lift truck sales, significantly outpacing the 5% shipment growth rate over the same period.
Speaker 5: Compared to the fourth quarter, revenues increased modestly despite lower shipments.
Speaker 5: This increase was largely due to higher prices and added parts volumes. Bookings increased nearly 7% sequentially, topping 22,000 units, but were below the 25,200 units shipped in the first quarter 2023. As a result, our backlog dropped by 13% to 99,200 units at the end of the first quarter 2023.
Speaker 5: This compared to historically high prior year levels.
Speaker 5: versus year end 2022, our backlog decreased by 3%.
Speaker 5: Moving to earnings, the company reported a consolidated operating profit of roughly 43 million dollars for the first quarter. This compares to an operating loss of 18 million dollars in the first quarter 2022. We earned a net income of 26.6 million for the first quarter versus a net loss of 25 million dollars in the prior year.
Speaker 5: On a per share basis, first quarter 2023 earnings were $1.55 versus an earnings loss of $1.48 in the prior year. On a per share basis, first quarter 2023 earnings were $1.55 versus an earnings loss of $1.48
Speaker 5: Now let's take a deeper look at the financial results by business.
Speaker 5: Lyft truck generated an operating profit of $47.8 million in the first quarter on sales of nearly $980 million. This better than expected performance resulted in a 5% operating profit margin.
Speaker 5: This compared to an operating loss of $10.7 million in the prior year. The substantial improvement was largely due to price increases that exceeded material and freight inflation in the quarter. This positive first quarter price to cost ratio helps to offset accumulated net inflation from 2020 and 2021.
Speaker 5: Improved sales mix, higher parts volumes, and increased fleet revenues also help drive the favorable comparison.
Speaker 5: Lyft truck's first quarter operating profit improved despite $5 million of unfavorable foreign currency effects and higher employee related costs.
Speaker 5: The lift truck business remains vigilant over its cost, holding year-over-year cost increases to 12% while revenues increase by almost 22%.
Speaker 5: As Rajiv mentioned, despite a steady clearing of lower-priced backlog units over the past several quarters, our first quarter production included a large number of units booked prior to the 2021 and 2022 price increases.
Speaker 5: These units acted as a drag on our first quarter margin expansion. We expect production of these lower margin units to decline significantly in the coming quarters as we work through the remaining aged backlog units. Turning to Balzoni, the business reported an operating profit of $4.4 million in the first quarter.
Speaker 5: more than double the prior year's profit. This significant improvement was driven by price increased benefits combined with higher sales volumes and lower material, freight, and manufacturing costs. For Nuvera, the first quarter 2023's operating loss increased by $2 million year over year to approximately $10 million.
Speaker 5: elevated product development costs, including those for the larger 125-kilowatt engine, and higher employee-related costs accounted for the increased loss.
Speaker 5: As you can see, we've had a strong start to 2023. As we look ahead, we expect our robust backlog to support increased year-over-year revenues in a substantial operating profit for the full year. This aligns with the commentary from our last earnings call, and Rajeev offered support for this outlook earlier.
In summary, we expect fewer component shortages and increased manufacturing efficiencies leading to higher lift truck and attachment production and shipments, lower material and freight inflation rates, and the ongoing benefits from our cost savings programs and pricing discipline.
to counter any additional inflation. Finally, our strategic programs, which Al will touch on in a moment, should further enhance margins as they mature.
As Rajeev pointed out, our first quarter 2023 operating profit increased by more than we anticipated.
As a result, we expect second quarter operating profit to decrease from the first quarter, but remain significantly above fourth quarter 2022 levels.
The expected sequential decline is partly due to an anticipated mix shift toward lower margin sales channels.
Looking across 2023, we expect second half operating profit to be comparable to the first half of the year.
Moving to Bolzoni, we anticipate moderating supply chain challenges in 2023 and increased pricing to offset any additional input cost inflation.
As a result, Balzoni's margins should improve and the business will likely generate significantly higher operating profits in 2023 compared to 2022.
Finally, Nuvera continues to ramp up product demonstrations and bookings.
Sales are expected to increase in the second half of 2023 due to booked orders from current customers.
Anticipated sales growth benefits are likely to be offset by higher costs.
As a result, 2023's full year operating loss should be in line with 2022's level.
Taking a longer-term view, these product demonstrations provide real-world testing opportunities and lay the foundation for future technology adoption and improved financial returns.
Before I hand the call over to Al, I'll cover a few balance sheet items.
As of March 31st, the company had net debt of $496 million, including $65 million of cash.
This compared to net debt of $494 million, including $59 million of cash at the end of 2022.
We finished the first quarter with available borrowing capacity of approximately $186 million, slightly above year-end 2022 levels.
Financial leverage measured by debt to total capital reduced by 400 basis points versus the fourth quarter mainly due to our robust first quarter profitability.
I'll conclude my comments with a few thoughts on working capital, where we remain focused on improving inventory efficiency as our production rates increase.
Last quarter I discussed our efforts to use on-hand inventory to build trucks.
As a result, our raw material and component parts inventory decreased by more than 9% in the first quarter compared with year-end 2022 levels.
Despite that improvement, total inventories increased by 7% over the same time period, mainly due to increased finished goods inventory.
This was a result of elevated production levels late in the quarter, leading to a high number of completed trucks left in shipping.
Lastly, the assumptions underpinning our outlook, particularly production rates, are not
are highly sensitive to events that impact global supply chains. We're focusing on the things that we can control and we're prepared to manage the things that we can't control.
Keep you updated as 2023 unfolds. Now, I'll turn the call over to Al to give his strategic perspective.
As you heard from Rajeev and Scott, we had a strong start to the year.
and we're making progress operationally and financially. Our first quarter earnings reflect the improving profit quality of our robust backlog and we continue to have solid bookings despite softening market conditions.
Looking forward, we're nearing completion of the build-out of lower price, lower margin backlog units held over from prior periods. We expect continued margin expansion, particularly in EMEA, as we move through our backlog and we expect a substantial 2023 profitability.
However, I would add a word of caution. Weather year started strong and we've maintained our positive full year outlook. There continue to be uncertainties in some areas.
Those include particularly fragile EMEA supply chains, the potential for more stubborn cost inflation than expected, especially for labor and the possibility of cost increases for some critical components.
Overall, we're proceeding carefully for the remainder of 2023 and are thinking about our profitability expectations in that context.
Scott mentioned our liquidity situation.
And I'd like to add my perspective on that as well. We're laser focused on increasing our cash flows and maintaining adequate liquidity with ongoing action plans to improve future results.
Our efforts to reduce inventory and generate cash are progressing, albeit at a slower pace than we'd like.
However, they are expected to show substantial progress in the second half of this year as production rates increase.
Inventory levels do remain elevated due to manufacturing inefficiencies caused by component shortages largely in prior periods.
We're making significant efforts to maximize the use of on-hand inventory, coupled with purchasing materials at rates below our expected production rates.
Results from these actions are evident in the declining material in the component inventory that Scott mentioned.
However, as noted earlier, overall inventory levels are still up due to temporarily elevated finished goods inventory.
We've got very capable people from around the world focused on how to make the most units in the shortest amount of time while maximizing the use of on-hand materials. We're collaborating with our suppliers to minimize disruptions and ensure an efficient and consistent flow of materials.
Supply constraints continue to be an issue periodically, but we expect continued improvement as 2023 progresses. We're also working closely with our dealer partners to balance order delivery timing with their customers' delivery needs. It's a complex global challenge, but our teams are focused on it.
2023 capital expenditures compared to the significantly restrained 2022 levels, but these projected spending increases are necessary to adequately maintain our facilities and fund growth through our product development programs. Our planned spending is more heavily weighted toward the second half of the year.
This was clearly evident in the fourth quarter since outlays were 5% of the anticipated full year spent. We'll continue to monitor our financial and cash progress and increase capital funds accordingly.
However, we do continue to expect a significant increase in cash flow before financing activities in 2023 compared to 2022.
Executing our core strategies remains a key focus area. We're continuing to invest for long-term profitable growth over time. We're seeing solid progress toward our 7% operating profit margin goals at both the Lyft truck and the ballzoning businesses.
as we return to more normalized operating conditions.
We expect this to continue in 2023 as we execute the projects underlying our core strategies.
IsterYale's strategies remain generally as we have described them in the past, but I want to provide a few key updates for each business.
The lift truck business's primary strategic focus continues to be on launching its new modular and scalable products globally, as well as projects geared toward
truck electrification and implementing advanced technology capabilities.
We're transforming our sales process around an industry-focused approach that better meets our customers' needs and we continue to work to enhance our independent dealer capabilities.
We continue to make progress on these programs, which include the Yale rebranding effort, as you mentioned earlier.
Our initial set of modular scalable lift trucks were introduced in the EMEA and America's markets in 2022, and we expect to introduce them to the J-PIC markets in mid-2023.
The hydrogen fuel cell powered container handler, which uses Nuvera fuel cell engines, now being tested in the Port of Los Angeles, continues to perform well. The Lyft truck business is also developing an electrified fuel cell reach stacker, which is expected to be delivered to the Port of Valencia, Spain.
in the first half of 2023 for testing. And the lift truck business in Nuvera are working jointly with a large German customer to provide two Heister electric container handling vehicles.
These vehicles include the first ever empty container handler powered by Nuvera fuel cell technology and the first Hyster terminal tractor in Europe . The terminal tractor is expected to be delivered to that customer for testing in mid-2023.
Our big truck group is also exploring options for other electrified projects within the European Union. Beyond the lift truck business, Balzoni continues to work on streamlining and strengthening its operations as a single integrated operating entity.
Balzoni is also focused on increasing its revenues in the Americas while enhancing its ability to serve key attachment industries and customers in all global markets. In conjunction with this, Balzoni is working to expand its broad industry sales, marketing, product support capabilities.
Nuvera continues to focus on placing a 45-kilowatt and 60-kilowatt fuel cell engines in niche heavy-duty vehicle applications where battery-only products do not provide an adequate solution.
These applications are expected to provide near-term fuel cell adoption potential.
Nuvera is also focusing on developing a heavy duty 125 kilowatt engine which is capable of operating in more power demanding applications.
In 2022, Nuvera announced several projects with third parties who are testing or planning to test Nuvera engines in heavy-duty applications.
Additionally, Nuvera is ready to launch two new products, a 360 kilowatt and a 470 kilowatt fuel cell power generator.
which offer a modular zero-emission power solution for commercial and industrial stationary applications.
Finally, Nuvera is shifting its sales and marketing efforts to emphasize a more solution-based approach. In summary,
Our first quarter results extended the momentum we generated in the fourth quarter of 2022. We expect the remainder of 2023 to continue this progress, but we have more work to do on our key strategic programs to achieve our longer term goals.
In summary, we believe we have in place the right business structure with the right core strategies to achieve our strategic and financial goals over time.
We'll now turn to any questions you may have.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star followed by 1 on the headphone keypad now.
When preparing to check, ask your question. Please ensure your phone is muted locally.
We have our first question, comes from Steve Verasani from Citadel. Steve, your line is now open.
Good morning everyone appreciate all the detail on the call. This is a very, very strong quarter.
supply chain constraints easing and theoretically quarterly volumes pick up and your margin should be better per unit.
What's the reason, and I understand caution, but what's the reason this wouldn't be the least profitable quarter of the year, given that you have at least nine months of backlog still sitting there at least?
Well, I think the one major item we called out in the release particularly was a shift to lower margin channels. We have certain kinds of, we have some very different customer bases. We…
large customers and we have dealers and others and We have to be thoughtful about the mix that's generated some of those larger customers have large volumes, but somewhat lower margins and so that's a factor in our thinking here, but
Generally speaking, we're very optimistic about our ability to increase volume over the course of the year. You have to recognize, of course, that the third quarter is always a seasonally weak quarter. Thank you so much for your attention.
Generally speaking, we're very optimistic about our ability to increase volume over the course of the year. You have to recognize, of course, that the third quarter is always a seasonally weak quarter. And our
I think that we just see a perspective on the full year, as I indicated, where we want to be careful and thoughtful. And I would also add that there are some
projects that we need to undertake that have been deferred. And so we'll be thinking very carefully about some of those investments in our strategic programs as we move forward over the rest of the year. So it isn't kind of a mechanical equation that just gets generated from the volumes and others.
to build a fairly rich mix.
both from a channel point of view, but also geographically. And I think that's going to moderate a little bit more to our normal situation in the second quarter. So that's why we've kind of given this guidance. Now again, that's our plan.
What we're actually executing again is this external factor of the component we can get. So I would add, however, that there is one area that is moving in our favor for sure. And that is that in EMEA, that is Europe broadly defined.
execute again is this external factor of the components we can get. I would add, however, that there is one area that is moving in our favor for sure, and that is that in EMEA, that is Europe broadly defined.
We have had a lot of margin backlog units that we produced in the first quarter. And that will be, I think we indicated that in the earnings release. And so we expect to see a positive trajectory in our margin structure in Europe .
So there are a lot of factors that come to bear on the equation that you're describing, but overall we think it's a very solid story going forward.
that come to bear on the equation that you're describing. But overall, we think it's a very solid story going forward. Yeah. Great. Appreciate that.
the color. Obviously it makes sense that backlog's coming down, you're picking up volume and the economic conditions are what they are. I guess the question, the concern would be, and it looks like we can see it in the numbers, it looks like the backlog has remained very sticky, right? That would be the risk, right, if people had to start canceling older orders. You're not seeing that yet, correct?
that
Our bookings have been more robust than we were expecting a quarter ago. So our backlog has come down somewhat less.
In addition, we probably shipped some number fewer trucks, particularly those that were left in shipping that we described, than we might have anticipated for the first quarter. So those are all factors that come to bear in the equation as well.
And how's pricing? It looks like.
overall backlog ASP is up sequentially it was down a little bit but it looks like you had at least one big order in the Americas. I think pricing is steady you know I think you can see sequentially we went up a little bit but I think I think I think we're in
Where we want to be from a pricing point of view. I would also add that some of our prices went up more rapidly than perhaps some of our competitors who are located in different geographies.
And now those supply chain prices are costs.
Now, those supply chain prices are costs are beginning to moderate.
And we feel that that puts us in a good position.
to As our backlogs come back to our target levels
to really be highly competitive in the marketplace and return to the kinds of market share positions that we had earlier.
We have clearly been careful about the orders that we're taking because we can't satisfy our customers' demands and needs if the backlogs, you know, it's already tough where the backlogs are now. And if we push them out further, that's not going to be a good, that's not going to be well received by our customers.
But at the same time, we don't want it to erode too fast. And we want to get through any period of market weakness.
And I think an important point is that our backlogs now are extending in a number of lines well into 2024. Second quarter, even third quarter of 2024 in certain situations. So,
By that time, if there's weakness in the marketplace and a significant downturn, particularly in North America, we think the backlog gives us the time to weather that and then be in a stronger position. So we're kind of taking all those factors into account as we book new units and continue through the year. That's gonna be one of the only strategies we can plan and as soon as the Esp MMR sighs, will get once again used in a ventilator system the
Great, very helpful. If I could just squeeze one more in in terms of, Al, I know you provided useful detail on cash flow. Clearly, and Scott, you mentioned the issue with inventory this quarter. Going forward, it's not hard even with higher cap backs to model cash conversion around 100% and significant cash flow. Am I crazy thinking that? And then would the cash be used to repay debt?
Scott, why don't you take a crack at that? Yeah, sure. Yeah, Steve, I think generally speaking you're heading in the right direction. We do see inventory coming down, maybe not as fast as we like, so might want to temper that expectation just a little bit.
In the second part of that question, what would we do with excess free cash flow? I think first priority would be debt reduction. We've noted a fairly high debt balance that we'd like to reduce and Rajeev also mentioned about funding growth initiatives for the future to make sure, you know, we can get to those margins and maintain them with new products. I think those are the two priorities.
and we maintain a pretty consistent shareholder return policy in there as well. I think the other thing I'd add is that, and we made this point in the earnings release and in our common comments, is that our
of manufacturing component inventory, raw materials and components, did come down in the first quarter. That's very significant because that's the area where we really have to get the inventory.
that is on hand in line with what we need in order to produce on a consistent rate day in and day out.
hand in line with what we need in order to produce on a consistent rate day in and day out.
We had an uptick in some areas of finished goods inventory, but those trucks are not finished goods inventory of the type that is not sold and sitting there ready to be sold. Those are all trucks that have been sold.
are waiting for either shipment and installation and then the the billing of those trucks.
or some other sort of mechanical process that delays the actual conversion cycle of those into cash. Some customers have longer
payment terms than other customers, that's a factor. But generally speaking, the area where we really want to ensure that there's consistent progress in inventory is in the component parts and the others. The others will work themselves out.
I think and there's and the risk profile is extremely low on those because they're in terms of excess they're not problems they're just waiting to be
Turned into K.
turned into cash. Appreciate it everyone. Thanks.
Thanks, Steve. Thank you, Steve. We have our next question. It comes from Chip Moore from EF Hilton. Chip, your noise now open.
Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. Wanted to ask about the 7% operating profit goal for the lift truck business. You hit 5% this quarter, so obviously it looks a lot closer than it did at this time last year.
just giving your commentary on built-in demand and visibility, and as well as the rollout of the strategic initiatives underway. Is there a way to think about maybe a potential timeline on that goal, and sticking this when you get there?
year that we're going to progress significantly toward our
7% level, but as I indicated earlier, we have to be careful with that because we do have some deferred expenditures that we need to make. One of the complications in the short term about
achieving 7% is that the way to some degree the way we're doing that
is by having somewhat lower gross profits than our targets.
compensated for by lower
compensated for by lower operating expense than our targets.
That's been a constraint we've had in place during the COVID period. But many of those expenditures will need to be made up and
eventually in due course.
And as we've described...
The adjusted standard margins of our products are improving and will improve over the rest of the year. But we also and from our vantage point as we think about target economics, we need to continue to move up the volume production scale.
And as we go into 2024 and even into 2025, have the ability with our suppliers to produce at higher levels and to keep the bookings coming line by line in a way that will support that. And I think that's a challenge as we look forward to the future.
And I think as you think about the 7%, you should think about it a little bit in those terms. But we do see progress and I think the key is that the pieces of the equation are coming into line, but we do need to enhance the throughput volume.
as we can bring our supply base along and continue to book trucks. You wanna add anything to that, Rajiv? Sure, Chip. I mean, I think the second part of your question was how do you make it sticky? And that's where our strategic initiatives come into play. As Al said, we're a little bit, you know, we prioritize the critical ones through the pandemic period, but there are some key ones.
that are critical to enabling us to make that 7% sticky. And those will be executed over the next three years or so. So I think a combination of the things that Al talked about and the implementation of these projects are key to...
sustaining that 7%. Yeah, that's very helpful Alan, we appreciate it. I think if I could ask one on electrification more than fuel cell adoption, more so I guess customer centric, what you're seeing out there, how those conversations have evolved.
It feels like commercialization is getting much closer for some of those legacy internal combustion products, but just curious what you're seeing from the customer side.
It feels like commercialization is getting much closer for some of those legacy internal combustion products. Just curious what you're seeing from the customer side.
Sure, you know we are seeing a high level of interest, especially in the segment that Al talked about, these heavy duty applications where really battery by itself isn't going to be able to fulfill the application needs.
A good example of that is port equipment, but there are others such as transit buses, you know, transit stations are very important, and the siblings and all those are still in the Beaufort area
of power generation and especially backup power generation. And we're also starting to see more traction in marine and locomotive. And the various engage with customers globally in those segments.
We feel those segments are going to be the early movers. I think we've laid out, we've got vehicles going into test programs with critical customers.
And the ones that are running right now have had very positive feedback. So we're excited about
the results that we're getting, as well as the growing amount of interest from customers that Nuvera is seeing. Yeah, let me just emphasize that last point of that, because...
I think New Vera is first getting a lot more visibility of its capabilities through these demonstrations through its outreach efforts to...
I think Nuvera is first getting a lot more visibility of its capabilities through these demonstrations through its outreach efforts to potential customers.
And I would say from my perspective
And I would say from my perspective that.
which is a significant enhancement over what we've seen in the past. And I guess inquiry isn't quite the right word, it goes beyond that. It's actual discussions.
of potential applications, the development of demos, a whole variety of things, but...
as we see things internally, we're just seeing not just the effort that the Nuvira people are making, but it's now going well beyond that and the traction from those efforts is starting to show up in a much more regular basis.
I think as we said, we feel that we have follow-on bookings coming, that they're gaining momentum, and we are very hopeful that that momentum will just increase.
as we go through the course of this year and begin to establish a solid base, particularly in these industries or applications that just can't get the job done with batteries only. They have to have a fuel cell in order to be electrified as a practical matter. Great. That's very helpful. OK.
Well, our next question comes from Brad Kearney from Kebbele & Co. Brad, your line is now open.
Hi guys, good morning, thanks for taking my question.
And I noticed you also called out opportunities to expand Nuevaera's presence in Amaya and China, just kind of what applications that is. Is that the China bus market opportunity or specific applications you're seeing there? Sure. So in terms of the traction Nuevaera's getting on stationary power, it's really coming from, the initial inquiries really came from data centers. A number of data center operators would like to shift away from ICE engine as their backup to some sort of a zero emission solution.
and we think this is a good way to do it. The other area that we're getting interest is, interestingly enough, for charging electric vehicles. So these are both static and mobile chargers that can be used in fleet application where you have electric fleet.
this is a good way to do it. The other area that we're getting interest is, interestingly enough, for charging electric vehicles. So these are both static and mobile chargers that can be used in fleet application where you have electric fleets, because
If electricity supply is a limit for fast charging, then the way to support that is have this in a stationary power that's used to charge electric vehicles.
It's a few cells really being used as chargers for electric vehicles. So those two are big ones. Now in terms of China and Europe , where the interest is, Europe I would say is widespread interest because you can imagine with the Ukraine, Russia.
conflict, there's real focus in Europe on ensuring that they have
alternative energy solutions for the medium to long term. And there's projects.
to explore application of fuel cells almost in each of the primary segments.
and Nuvera is engaged in a number of those projects. In China, it's predominantly buses and trucks.
Let me add one comment on the electric – the generators.
Let me add one comment on the generators.
If you think about an application in a vehicle, especially vehicles that are internal combustion engine, it is a complex and long process.
to redesign the drivetrain to an electric drivetrain system.
and then to test the fuel cell vehicles and applications as we're doing in Los Angeles and Valencia and other places in Europe .
The cycle time on a generator is a lot lower.
That's a product that doesn't have to get integrated with a drivetrain. Rajeev mentioned the applications that seem most prevalent. But I think there's a backdrop of real interest in hydrogen.
but also a realism that, you know, we'd like to do it quickly, but we can't in many applications. It takes time and it's hard work and there's a lot of other technology than just the fuel cell involved. The generator is a little different and if you're a company that wants to demonstrate that they're making progress on being green...
and to begin to compare costs and drive costs down and hydrogen generation and fuel cells. If you're located in the right place with good hydrogens, adequate hydrogen supply, you can make a commitment, particularly...
Rajeev mentioned the data center backup. You know, these are big companies that are in that business and they want to be seen as green many times. So I think...
That's perhaps an important and useful distinction because obviously from our point of view, we are searching for applications that we think have nearer term potential. And that's one reason why we're focusing on these heavy duty applications that we went through because the batteries alone just won't get them done.
If you look at the automobile industry on the other side, from our vantage point, that's kind of way down the track in terms of adoption, because batteries alone can do that job. There are a lot of other factors that come into the batteries in terms of how they're recharged and so on and so forth.
I think that that gives you perhaps a little bit broader perspective on our efforts to find the nearest term significant volume opportunities in the marketplace that we can. Yes, that's very helpful. And then I just had one follow up more broadly on China. I believe it.
in that region of the world.
Well, I think it's a very small part of that market.
And our focus in that market is going to evolve into larger trucks that are electrified. So that's where the team is focused to help the heavy industries in China transition over to electrified lift truck solutions.
I think the other factor that lies behind Roji's comments is that a very large portion of the existing large China market...
factor that lies behind Roji's comments is that a very large portion of the existing large China market is really
a very, very low cost, low performance vehicle. It's not an area where we think we can be competitive in the long term. It's not a focus of our,
cost, low performance vehicle. It's not an area where we think we can be competitive in the long term. It's not a focus of our...
efforts, we want to add more value for the customer's application and productivity.
We want to be there as the Chinese market matures for sure. But there are large portions of it where...
Frankly, we don't think a lot of money is being made on those vehicles by anybody. Yeah, I mean we want to stay really focused on our brand promises, which is to really understand the customer's application and give them an optimal solution.
But most customers in China are not ready for that. They just want a truck At lowest possible cost but now we're starting to see these heavy industries such as paper steel lumber Automotive who are now increasingly focused on productivity emission So, you know, those are the customers that we're
starting to heavily interact with. And keep in mind too that that Bolzoni is very much involved in the Chinese market. Bolzoni has two plants in China.
and they are able to offer their attachments. And I think we hope increasingly in conjunction with our vehicles over time so that we're in a good position to provide customer solutions. I mean, that's the ultimate customer solution is not just a forklift truck, but a forklift truck.
they're currently at.
Excellent, that's very helpful. Thank you so much.
Excellent. That's very helpful. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Thank you, Brad. We have no more further questions on the line.
Okay, with that we'll conclude our Q&A session and we'll close with a few final reminders. A brief play of our call will be available online later this morning. We'll also post a transcript on the Investor Relations website when it becomes available and if you have any questions please reach out to me. You can reach me at the phone number on the press release. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I'll turn the call back to Glenn to conclude the call.
Thank you. If you have missed any part of this call or would like to hear again, our recording will be ready shortly. Thank you for joining today's call. Have a lovely day.