"We delivered another quarter of Organic Net Sales and Adjusted Operating EBITDA growth despite the ongoing softness in our end markets, demonstrating the success we've had to-date on improving our business," said Hubertus Muehlhaeuser, Welbilt's President and CEO. "This was our 8th consecutive quarter of year-over-year Adjusted Operating EBITDA margin improvement since the new management team took over in August 2015. We had solid execution of our Simplification and Right-Sizing initiatives, which provided $11.0 million of savings in the quarter. These savings, along with positive pricing, more than offset headwinds from product mix and some material cost inflation. We did put through a price increase late in the quarter to offset the material cost inflation and expect to fully recover these higher costs by the end of the year."

"Organic Net Sales growth was solid again this quarter as all three segments outgrew their respective end markets. In the APAC segment, we continued to benefit from the recovery of large Quick Service Restaurants (`QSR') in the region. In the EMEA segment, we had another quarter of solid growth from Merrychef^® eikon^® e2s high-speed ovens and beverage system sales into large QSR customers. In the Americas segment, we are continuing to generate strong growth in the general market."

"We are increasing our 2017 annual guidance for Organic Net Sales and Adjusted Diluted EPS today. We have increased our Organic Net Sales guidance range by 1 percent as we continue to expect end market conditions to remain good in the general market and to slowly improve in the large QSR and fast-casual markets. We expect our Simplification and Right-Sizing initiatives and the recent price increase to fully offset higher compensation expense and material price inflation and for the full year we will deliver between 70 and 220 basis points of improvement to Adjusted Operating EBITDA margin. With our higher Organic Net Sales guidance and a lower expected tax rate, we have increased our Adjusted Diluted EPS guidance by $0.09 to now be between $0.74 and $0.84 per share," concluded Muehlhaeuser.

Net sales in our Americas segment for the second quarter were $306.1 million, a 1.6 percent increase. Third party net sales were $271.9 million, a 0.7 percent increase (+2.3 percent organic, -1.2 percent divestitures, -0.4 percent foreign currency translation). The Organic Net Sales increase was primarily driven by increased sales of cold-side products, which was partially offset by lower hot-side products and the impact of lost sales from 80/20 product line simplification. Year-to-date, Americas segment net sales were $573.6 million, a 1.6 percent increase over $564.8 million last year. Third party net sales were $509.6 million, a 0.5 percent increase (+1.4 percent organic, -0.7 percent divestitures, -0.2 percent foreign currency translation). Second quarter adjusted operating EBITDA in the Americas segment was $59.1 million compared to $58.3 million in the second quarter of 2016. As a percentage of net sales, adjusted operating EBITDA margin was 19.3 percent in the second quarter versus 19.4 percent in the same period last year. The slight decrease in adjusted operating EBITDA margin was primarily driven by product mix and materials cost inflation, which were mostly offset by savings from our Simplification and Right-Sizing initiatives. Year-to-date, Americas segment adjusted operating EBITDA was $105.9 million compared to $108.1 million in 2016. As a percentage of net sales, adjusted operating EBITDA margin was 18.5 percent in 2017 versus 19.1 percent in the same period last year.

Net sales in our EMEA segment for the second quarter were $76.1 million, a 0.3 percent decrease from $76.3 million in last year's second quarter. Third party net sales were $62.1 million, a 0.2 percent decrease (+6.6 percent organic, -6.8 percent foreign currency translation). The Organic Net Sales increase was driven primarily by stronger cold-side product sales including our beverage systems and higher sales of hot-side products including our new Merrychef^® eikon^® e2s high-speed ovens, partially offset by the impact of lost sales from 80/20 product line simplification. Year-to-date, net sales in our EMEA segment for 2017 were $143.9 million, a 0.7 percent decrease. Third party net sales were $116.0 million, a 1.2 percent decrease (+6.6 percent organic, -7.8 percent foreign currency translation). Second quarter adjusted operating EBITDA in the EMEA segment was $14.8 million compared to $10.8 million in the second quarter of 2016. As a percentage of net sales, adjusted operating EBITDA margin was 19.4 percent in the second quarter versus 14.2 percent in the same period last year. The adjusted operating EBITDA margin increase was primarily driven by higher leverage from improved pricing and savings from our Simplification and Right-Sizing initiatives, partially offset by the impact of foreign currency translation on segment profitability. Year-to-date, adjusted operating EBITDA in the EMEA segment was $27.6 million compared to $18.4 million in 2016. As a percentage of net sales, adjusted operating EBITDA margin was 19.2 percent in 2017 versus 12.7 percent in the same period last year.

Net sales in our APAC segment for the second quarter were $44.9 million, a 4.2 percent increase from $43.1 million in last year's second quarter. Third party net sales were $37.1 million, a 2.5 percent increase (+7.7 percent organic, -3.2 percent divestitures, -2.0 percent foreign currency translation). The Organic Net Sales increase was driven primarily from higher sales of both hot-side and cold-side products. Year-to-date, net sales in our APAC segment for 2017 were $86.6 million, a 5.6 percent increase from $82.0 million last year. Third party net sales were $73.5 million, a 6.2 percent increase (+10.8 percent organic, -2.9 percent divestitures, -1.7 percent foreign currency translation). Second quarter adjusted operating EBITDA in the APAC segment was $6.2 million compared to $5.3 million in the second quarter of 2016. As a percentage of net sales, adjusted operating EBITDA margin was 13.8 percent for the second quarter of 2017 versus 12.3 percent for the same period in the prior year. The adjusted operating EBITDA margin increase was primarily driven by higher leverage from increased volumes and savings from our Simplification and Right-Sizing initiatives, partially offset by less favorable pricing. Year-to-date, adjusted operating EBITDA in the APAC segment was $11.7 million compared to $9.0 million in 2016. As a percentage of net sales, adjusted operating EBITDA margin was 13.5 percent in 2017 versus 11.0 percent for the same period in the prior year.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $51.3 million and Free Cash Flow was $47.9 million in the quarter. Net other assets and other current and long-term liabilities, accounts payable and inventories were all sources of cash in the second quarter of $19.7 million, $0.9 million and $0.4 million, respectively. Accounts receivable was a use of cash in the second quarter of $2.9 million. During the quarter, total debt decreased by $32.0 million as we paid down $22.0 million on our revolving credit facility and $10.0 million on our term loan B. Our ending cash balance was $102.8 million, an increase of $20.2 million during the quarter. The majority of our cash is held by our international subsidiaries.

We are increasing our full-year 2017 guidance ranges for net sales growth. We continue to expect end market conditions to remain good in the general market and to slowly improve in the large QSR and fast-casual markets. We also expect to benefit from 2016's and 2017's new product introductions. We will remain focused on margin improvement through the continued execution of our Simplification and Right-Sizing initiatives. The increase in our net sales growth guidance and the reduced effective tax rate resulted in an increase in our Adjusted Diluted EPS guidance.

• Net sales growth: now between -1.5 and +1.5 percent (organic 0 to +3 percent including a -1 percent impact from 80/20 product line simplification, divestitures -1 percent, foreign currency translation -0.5 percent);
• Adjusted Operating EBITDA margin: between 18.5 and 20 percent;
• Interest expense: near the low end of the range between $85 and $90 million;
• Effective tax rate: now between 22 and 25 percent including discrete items realized year-to-date and based on current tax laws;
• Adjusted Diluted EPS: now between $0.74 and $0.84 per share, based on a forecast of 140.8 million fully diluted shares outstanding;
• Amortization expense: between $30 and $33 million;
• Depreciation expense: between $16 and $19 million;
• Capital expenditures: between $23 and $28 million; and
• Debt reduction: between $100 and $120 million.

Welbilt, Inc. provides the world's top chefs, premier chain operators and growing independents with industry-leading equipment and solutions. Our innovative products and solutions are powered by our deep knowledge, operator insights, and culinary expertise. We offer fully-integrated kitchen systems and our products are backed by KitchenCare® aftermarket parts and service. Headquartered in the Tampa, Florida area, and operating 17 manufacturing facilities throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, the company sells through a global network of over 3,000 distributors and dealers in over 100 countries. The company has approximately 5,500 employees and generated sales of $1.46 billion in 2016. Its portfolio of award-winning brands includes Cleveland™, Convotherm®, Delfield®, fitkitchen^SM, Frymaster®, Garland®, Kolpak®, Lincoln™, Manitowoc® Ice, Merco®, Merrychef® and Multiplex®. For more information, visit www.welbilt.com.

This release includes "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). Any statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act. These statements are based on the current expectations of the management of the company and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements typically containing words such as "intends," "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "estimates," and words of similar import. By their nature, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, world economic factors and the ongoing economic uncertainty; realization of anticipated earnings enhancements, cost savings, strategic options and other synergies and the anticipated timing to realize those enhancements, savings, synergies, and options; availability of raw materials and changes in raw material prices, commodity prices and hedges in place; the ability to generate cash and manage working capital consistent with our stated goals; changes in the interest rate environment and currency fluctuations; the successful development and market acceptance of innovative new products; actions by competitors including competitive pricing; consumer and customer demand for products; and laws and regulations, including changes in laws and regulations and their enforcement around the world. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in the section titled "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and similar disclosures in subsequent periodic and current reports filed with the SEC, which are available on the investor relations page of the Company's website at www.welbilt.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Welbilt undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made.

In this release, the Company refers to various non-GAAP measures. We believe that these measures are helpful to investors in assessing the Company's ongoing performance of its underlying businesses before the impact of special items. In addition, these non-GAAP measures provide a comparison to commonly used financial metrics within the professional investing community which do not include special items.

In addition to analyzing its results on a U.S. GAAP basis, management also reviews its results on an "Adjusted Operating EBITDA" basis. Adjusted Operating EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, other (income) expense, depreciation and amortization plus certain items such as gain or loss from impairment or disposal of assets, restructuring, separation charges and loss on early extinguishment of debt. Management uses Adjusted Operating EBITDA as the basis on which it evaluates its financial performance and makes resource allocation and other operating decisions. Management considers it important that investors review the same operating information that it uses. Adjusted Operating EBITDA reconciles to net earnings presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP as follows:

In this release, the Company refers to Adjusted Net Earnings. We believe this measure is helpful to investors in assessing the company's ongoing performance of its underlying businesses before the impact of certain items such as gain or loss from impairment or disposal of assets, restructuring, separation charges and loss on early extinguishment of debt. Adjusted Net Earnings before certain items reconciles to net earnings presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP as follows:

In this release, the Company refers to third party net sales and Organic Net Sales. Organic Net Sales reflect net sales before the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign currency translation. The impact from foreign currency translation is calculated by translating current period balances at prior period rates. We believe this measure is helpful to investors in assessing the company's ongoing performance of its underlying businesses. Third party net sales and Organic Net Sales reconcile to net sales presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP as follows: