Park Electrochemical Corp. Reports Third Quarter Results

MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Park Electrochemical Corp. PKE reported net sales of $39,678,000 for the third quarter ended December 1, 2013 compared to net sales of $41,265,000 for the third quarter ended November 25, 2012. Park's net sales for the nine months ended December 1, 2013 were $127,613,000 compared to net sales of $133,741,000 for the nine months ended November 25, 2012.

Park reported net earnings of $4,721,000 for the third quarter ended December 1, 2013 compared to net earnings before special items of $5,109,000 for the third quarter of last fiscal year. During the third quarter ended November 25, 2012, the Company recorded pre-tax restructuring charges of $559,000 in connection with the closure of its Nelco Technology (Zhuhai FTZ) Ltd. facility located in the Free Trade Zone in Zhuhai, China and its Park Advanced Composite Materials, Inc. facility located in Waterbury, Connecticut. The Company incurred no additional charges in connection with these closures in the third quarter ended December 1, 2013. Accordingly, net earnings were $4,710,000 for the third quarter ended November 25, 2012.

For the nine-month period ended December 1, 2013, Park reported net earnings before special items of $15,833,000 compared to net earnings before special items of $15,820,000 for last fiscal year's nine-month comparable period. The nine-month period ended December 1, 2013 included a tax benefit of $2,181,000 in connection with a tax refund related to amended federal income tax returns and pre-tax restructuring charges of $319,000 related to the Zhuhai facility closure mentioned above. The nine-month period of the prior fiscal year included pre-tax restructuring charges of $3,095,000 primarily related to the facility closures mentioned above. Accordingly, net earnings were $17,695,000 for the nine-month period ended December 1, 2013 compared to net earnings of $12,889,000 for the nine-month period ended November 25, 2012.

Park reported basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.23 for the third quarter ended December 1, 2013 compared to basic and diluted earnings per share before special items of $0.25 for last year's third quarter. The basic and diluted earnings per share after special items were $0.23 for the third quarter ended November 25, 2012.

Park reported basic and diluted earnings per share before special items of $0.76 for each of the nine-month periods ended December 1, 2013 and November 25, 2012. Basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.85 for the nine months ended December 1, 2013 compared to basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.62 for the prior year's first nine months.

The effective tax rate for the third quarter ended December 1, 2013 was 3.3% compared to 18.2% in the third quarter of last fiscal year. The lower tax rate in the third quarter ended December 1, 2013 was due to higher portions of taxable income in jurisdictions with lower effective income tax rates and tax incentives associated with the Company's operations in Singapore.

The Company will conduct a conference call to discuss its financial results at 11:00 a.m. EST today. Forward-looking and other material information may be discussed in this conference call. The conference call dial-in number is (800) 688-0836 in the United States and Canada and (617) 614-4072 in other countries and the required passcode is 30855831.

For those unable to listen to the call live, a conference call replay will be available from approximately 2:00 p.m. EST today through 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, January 16, 2014. The conference call replay can be accessed by dialing (888) 286-8010 in the United States and Canada and (617) 801-6888 in other countries and entering passcode 37416065 or on the Company's web site at www.parkelectro.com/investor/investor.html.

Any additional material financial or statistical data disclosed in the conference call will also be available at the time of the conference call on the Company's web site at www.parkelectro.com/investor/investor.html.

Park believes that an evaluation of its ongoing operations would be difficult if the disclosure of its financial results were limited to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) financial measures, which include special items, such as tax benefits and restructuring charges. Accordingly, in addition to disclosing its financial results determined in accordance with GAAP, Park discloses non-GAAP operating results that exclude special items in order to assist its shareholders and other readers in assessing the Company's operating performance, since the Company's on-going, normal business operations do not include such special items. The detailed operating information presented below reconciles the non-GAAP operating results before special items to earnings determined in accordance with GAAP. Such non-GAAP financial measures are provided to supplement the results provided in accordance with GAAP.

Park Electrochemical Corp. is a global advanced materials company which develops and manufactures high-technology digital and RF/microwave printed circuit materials principally for the telecommunications and internet infrastructure and high-end computing markets and advanced composite materials, parts and assemblies for the aerospace markets. Park's core capabilities are in the areas of polymer chemistry formulation and coating technology. The Company's manufacturing facilities are located in Singapore, France, Kansas, Arizona and California. The Company also maintains R&D facilities in Arizona, Kansas and Singapore.

Additional corporate information is available on the Company's web site at www.parkelectro.com.

Performance table, including non-GAAP information (in thousands, except per share amounts – unaudited):

				13 Weeks Ended														39 Weeks Ended
				12/1/13					11/25/12				9/1/13					12/1/13					11/25/12
Sales				$	39,678			$	41,265				$	44,497				$	127,613			$	133,741
Net Earnings before Special Items1				$	4,721			$	5,109				$	5,983				$	15,833			$	15,820
Special Items net of Tax				$	-			$	(399	)			$	2,062				$	1,862			$	(2,931	)
Net Earnings				$	4,721			$	4,710				$	8,045				$	17,695			$	12,889
Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share:
Basic Earnings before Special Items1				$	0.23			$	0.25				$	0.29				$	0.76			$	0.76
Special Items				$	-			$	(0.02	)			$	0.10				$	0.09			$	(0.14	)
Basic Earnings per Share				$	0.23			$	0.23				$	0.39				$	0.85			$	0.62
Diluted Earnings before Special Items1				$	0.23			$	0.25				$	0.29				$	0.76			$	0.76
Special Items				$	-			$	(0.02	)			$	0.10				$	0.09			$	(0.14	)
Diluted Earnings per Share				$	0.23			$	0.23				$	0.39				$	0.85			$	0.62
Weighted Average Shares Outstanding:
Basic					20,857				20,801					20,836					20,840				20,799
Diluted					20,917				20,803					20,852					20,871				20,824
1 Refer to "Detailed operating information" below for information regarding Special Items.

Comparative balance sheets (in thousands):

				12/1/13				3/3/2013
Assets				(unaudited)
Current Assets
Cash and Marketable Securities				$	291,260			$	275,216
Accounts Receivable, Net					22,852				25,878
Inventories					14,633				12,918
Other Current Assets					6,421				6,662
Total Current Assets					335,166				320,674
Fixed Assets, Net					30,154				32,187
Other Assets					16,823				16,797
Total Assets				$	382,143			$	369,658
Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity
Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable				$	6,224			$	6,485
Accrued Liabilities					6,679				6,016
Income Taxes Payable					2,691				4,177
Total Current Liabilities					15,594				16,678
Long-Term Debt					52,000				52,000
Deferred Income Taxes					761				812
Other Liabilities					246				246
Total Liabilities					68,601				69,736
Shareholders' Equity					313,542				299,922
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity				$	382,143			$	369,658
Equity per Share				$	15.02			$	14.40

Detailed operating information (in thousands – unaudited):

			13 Weeks Ended December 1, 2013																13 Weeks Ended November 25, 2012																	13 Weeks Ended September 1, 2013
			GAAP					Specials Items				Before Special Items							GAAP					Specials Items					Before Special Items							GAAP						Specials Items					Before Special Items
Net Sales			$	39,678								$	39,678						$	41,265									$	41,265						$	44,497										$	44,497
Cost of Sales				28,640									28,640							28,725										28,725							30,876											30,876
%				72.2	%								72.2	%						69.6	%									69.6	%						69.4	%										69.4	%
Gross Profit				11,038									11,038							12,540										12,540							13,621											13,621
%				27.8	%								27.8	%						30.4	%									30.4	%						30.6	%										30.6	%
Selling, General & Administrative
Expenses				6,106									6,106							6,365										6,365							6,041											6,041
%				15.4	%								15.4	%						15.4	%									15.4	%						13.6	%										13.6	%
Restructuring Charge				-				-					-							559				(559	)					-							119					(119	)					-
%				0.0	%								0.0	%						1.4	%									0.0	%						0.3	%										0.0	%
Earnings from Operations				4,932				-					4,932							5,616				559						6,175							7,461					119						7,580
%				12.4	%								12.4	%						13.6	%									15.0	%						16.8	%										17.0	%
Interest Income				139									139							143				-						143							77											77
%				0.4	%								0.4	%						0.3	%									0.3	%						0.2	%										0.2	%
Interest Expense				187									187							-										-							185											185
%				0.5	%								0.5	%						0.0	%									0.0	%						0.4	%										0.4	%
Net Interest (Expense) Income				(48	)								(48	)						143										143							(108	)										(108	)
%				-0.1	%								-0.1	%						0.3	%									0.3	%						-0.2	%										-0.2	%
Earnings before Income Taxes				4,884				-					4,884							5,759				559						6,318							7,353					119						7,472
%				12.3	%								12.3	%						14.0	%									15.3	%						16.5	%										16.8	%
Income Tax Provision				163				-					163							1,049				160						1,209							(692	)				2,181						1,489
Effective Tax Rate				3.3	%								3.3	%						18.2	%									19.1	%						-9.4	%										19.9	%
Net Earnings				4,721				-					4,721							4,710				399						5,109							8,045					(2,062	)					5,983
%				11.9	%								11.9	%						11.4	%									12.4	%						18.1	%										13.4	%

Detailed operating information (in thousands – unaudited), continued:

			39 Weeks Ended December 1, 2013																	39 Weeks Ended November 25, 2012
			GAAP					Specials Items					Before Special Items							GAAP					Specials Items					Before Special Items
Net Sales			$	127,613									$	127,613						$	133,741									$	133,741
Cost of Sales				89,963										89,963							95,026										95,026
%				70.5	%									70.5	%						71.1	%									71.1	%
Gross Profit				37,650										37,650							38,715										38,715
%				29.5	%									29.5	%						28.9	%									28.9	%
Selling, General & Administrative
Expenses				18,703										18,703							20,012										20,012
%				14.7	%									14.7	%						15.0	%									15.0	%
Restructuring Charge				319				(319	)					-							3,095				(3,095	)					-
%				0.2	%									0.0	%						2.3	%									0.0	%
Earnings from Operations				18,628				319						18,947							15,608				3,095						18,703
%				14.6	%									14.8	%						11.7	%									14.0	%
Interest Income				284										284							520										520
%				0.2	%									0.2	%						0.4	%									0.4	%
Interest Expense				543										543							-										-
%				0.4	%									0.4	%						0.0	%									0.0	%
Net Interest (Expense) Income				(259	)									(259	)						520										520
%				-0.2	%									-0.2	%						0.4	%									0.4	%
Earnings before Income Taxes				18,369				319						18,688							16,128				3,095						19,223
%				14.4	%									14.6	%						12.1	%									14.4	%
Income Tax Provision				674				2,181						2,855							3,239				164						3,403
Effective Tax Rate				3.7	%									15.3	%						20.1	%									17.7	%
Net Earnings				17,695				(1,862	)					15,833							12,889				2,931						15,820
%				13.9	%									12.4	%						9.6	%									11.8	%