26 Nov 19. ST Engineering sets up Israel subsidiary. Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) has established a wholly owned subsidiary in Israel, the company announced on 21 November.
Called ST Engineering (Israel) Smart Cities, the subsidiary will support the growing smart city business in Israel, including autonomous vehicle and robotics. Smart City projects are a significant area of interest for ST Engineering, with more than 500 smart city projects across 70 cities in its track record. The group’s work in this area focuses on helping transform cities through its suite of smart mobility, smart security and smart environment solutions. (Source: Shephard)
26 Nov 19. Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the stock of 901D Holdings, LLC (901D) for $132m in cash. 901D, a private company, is a leading designer and manufacturer of mission-critical integrated electronic systems, subsystems and ruggedized shipboard enclosure solutions supporting every major U.S. Navy shipbuilding program. The acquired business will operate within Curtiss-Wright’s Defense segment. 901D is expected to be accretive to Curtiss-Wright’s 2020 adjusted diluted earnings per share, excluding first year purchase accounting costs, and produce a free cash flow conversion rate in excess of 100%.
“The acquisition of 901D increases our footprint on critical U.S. Navy shipbuilding programs, as well as the breadth of our instrumentation and controls systems technologies,” said David C. Adams, Chairman and CEO of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. “The combination of 901D’s proven track record and Curtiss-Wright’s state-of-the-art electronic systems and software capabilities will allow us to provide shipboard solutions on both nuclear and non-nuclear powered vessels, and ensures that we are well-positioned to benefit from the continued expansion of our U.S. naval fleet. Further, this transaction reinforces our long-term financial objectives including increased sales growth, margin expansion and strong free cash flow generation.”
Founded in 1999, 901D’s solutions are utilized in mission-critical applications in the world’s harshest environments by protecting servers, weapons systems and other hardware aboard all major U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, submarines and surface ships. 901D is a critical supplier of ruggedized enclosure solutions from specification through certification and also provides proven design configurations to match customers’ exact form, fit and function requirements.
901D employs approximately 85 people and is expected to generate sales of approximately $48m in fiscal 2019, principally to the naval defense market. The acquisition is expected to close in December 2019, subject to the receipt of regulatory approval and other closing conditions.
26 Nov 19. Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT and TASE: ESLT) (the “Company”), the international high technology company, reported today its consolidated results for the quarter ended September 30, 2019.
Backlog of orders at $9.8bn; Revenues at $1,10m;
Non-GAAP net income of $59m; GAAP net income of $72m; Non-GAAP net EPS of $1.33; GAAP net EPS of $1.63
The Company is providing US-GAAP results as well as additional non-GAAP financial data, which are intended to provide investors a more comprehensive understanding of the Company’s business results and trends. Unless otherwise stated, all financial data presented is GAAP financial data.
Management Comment:
Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis, President and CEO of Elbit Systems, commented: “We are pleased with the strong growth in our revenues, especially in North America, a strategic region for us, where sales in the quarter increased to 30% of our total revenue. Over the past year we completed a number of important acquisitions that broadened our product portfolio and increased our penetration into strategic markets. The integration of recent acquisitions is progressing as expected, and we continue to explore additional opportunities to extract revenue and cost synergies. Elbit Systems has a successful track record of value creation through both organic and acquisitive growth, and we intend to continue pursuing this strategy for the foreseeable future.”
Third quarter 2019 results:
Revenues in the third quarter of 2019 were $1,101.2m, as compared to $895.2m in the third quarter of 2018. The strong growth was driven mainly by the consolidation of IMI.
Non-GAAP (*) gross profit amounted to $290.0m (26.3% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2019, as compared to $260.7m (29.1% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2018. GAAP gross profit in the third quarter of 2019 was $286.2m (26.0% of revenues), as compared to $255.9m (28.6% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2018.
Research and development expenses, net were $79.5m (7.2% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2019, as compared to $69.6m (7.8% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2018.
Marketing and selling expenses, net were $75.5m (6.9% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2019, as compared to $69.4m (7.8% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2018.
General and administrative expenses, net were $57.5m (5.2% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2019, as compared to $37.8m (4.2% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2018.
Other operating income, net in the third quarter of 2019 was 28.0m. This was the result of a capital gain related to a sale and lease back of buildings by a subsidiary in Israel.
Non-GAAP(*) operating income was $80.7m (7.3% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2019, as compared to $85.7m (9.6% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2018. GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2019 was $101.7m (9.2% of revenues), as compared to $79.1m (8.8% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2018.
Financial expenses, net were $18.5m in the third quarter of 2019, as compared to $8.1m in the third quarter of 2018. Financial expenses, net in the third quarter of 2019 include exchange rate differences of approximately $6.6m related to the recognition of lease liabilities denominated in foreign currencies (mainly in New Israeli Shekels) as a result of the adoption of ASC 842, Leases, effective January 1, 2019.
Other expenses, net were $2.8m in the third quarter of 2019, mainly due to the non-service cost components of pension plans, in accordance with ASU 2017-07.
Taxes on income were $7.6m (effective tax rate of 9.5%) in the third quarter of 2019, as compared to $8.9m (effective tax rate of 12.6%) in the third quarter of 2018. The effective tax rate is affected by the mix of the tax rates in the various jurisdictions in which the Company’s entities generate taxable income and other income and expenses that are not a part of the taxable income.
Equity in net losses of affiliated companies and partnerships was $0.5m in the third quarter of 2019, as compared to equity in net earnings of $2.7m in the third quarter of 2018.
Net income attributable to non-controlling interests was $0.3m in the third quarter of 2019, as compared to $0.7m in the third quarter of 2018.
Non-GAAP(*) net income attributable to the Company’s shareholders in the third quarter of 2019 was $58.7m (5.3% of revenues), as compared to $67.3m (7.5% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2018. GAAP net income attributable to the Company’s shareholders in the third quarter of 2019 was $72.1m (6.5% of revenues), as compared to $64.1m (7.2% of revenues) in the third quarter of 2018.
Non-GAAP(*) diluted net earnings per share attributable to the Company’s shareholders were $1.33 for the third quarter of 2019, as compared to $1.57 for the third quarter of 2018. GAAP diluted earnings per share in the third quarter of 2019 were $1.63, as compared to $1.50 for the third quarter of 2018.
The Company’s backlog of orders as of September 30, 2019 totaled $9,796m, as compared to $8,108m as of September 30, 2018. Approximately 62% of the current backlog is attributable to orders from outside Israel. Approximately 46% of the current backlog is scheduled to be performed during the fourth quarter of 2019 and during 2020.
25 Nov 19. KKR to Acquire Novaria Group from Rosewood Private Investments and Tailwind Advisors. All Employees to Become Owners in Company. KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Novaria Group, a leading manufacturer of specialty aerospace hardware, from Rosewood Private Investments and Tailwind Advisors. The transaction, the financial details of which were not disclosed, is being funded through KKR’s Americas XII Fund.
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Novaria Group is a premier independent supplier of complex, highly engineered components and specialty processes for the aerospace and defense industry. Founded in 2011 by CEO Bryan Perkins, Novaria Group aims to improve the aerospace supply chain with an emphasis on better technology, processes and infrastructure. Today, the company serves more than 500 customers.
“Our team has been in search of a differentiated platform in the commercial aerospace sector and are thrilled to have found our partner in Bryan Perkins and his team at Novaria Group,” said Josh Weisenbeck, KKR Member and senior leader on KKR’s Industrials investment team. “We look forward to working together to scale the company and build an aerospace engineered parts supplier that is uniquely focused on excellence in quality and customer service.”
“Since our founding, Novaria Group has always prided itself on being a customer-focused supplier of aerospace parts. Importantly, KKR shares this vision of improving the aerospace supply chain through delivering value to our customers and, through their innovative employee ownership and engagement model, extending the shareholder value we will create through this business strategy to our employees,” said Bryan Perkins, Novaria Group CEO.
Since 2011, KKR’s Industrials team has focused on employee engagement as a key driver in building stronger businesses. The strategy’s cornerstone has been to allow all employees to take part in the benefits of ownership by granting them the opportunity to participate in the equity return alongside KKR. Beyond sharing ownership, KKR also supports employee engagement by investing in training across multiple functional areas and by partnering with the workforce to give back to the community.
“We are extremely excited to support Novaria Group on the next leg of its journey. Similar to what we have done at KKR’s other industrials portfolio companies in the U.S., we plan to implement a broad-based employee ownership and engagement model at Novaria Group to recognize the employees and ultimately position the company to better serve its customers,” said Pete Stavros, KKR Member and Co-Head of Americas Private Equity.
“We’ve enjoyed working with the Novaria management team over the past five years. Since our initial investment in Novaria, we have supported numerous additional acquisitions and substantial organic growth. We are thrilled that Bryan and his team have found a new equity partner to take Novaria to even greater achievement,” said G.T. Barden, Rosewood Private Investments.
This transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close by 1Q 2020. Fully committed financing has been led by lead arrangers KKR Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets LLC. KKR was advised in the transaction by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Deloitte and AeroDynamic Advisory. Novaria Group was advised in the transaction by Lazard, Riveron, and Foley & Lardner LLP.
About Novaria Group
Novaria Group is a cohesive family of precision aerospace & defense component companies, a sum made greater by the value of its parts, that consistently delivers optimum performance and sustainable growth. With deep industry knowledge, demonstrated integrity and an abiding regard for human capital, Novaria Group provides its business units unmatched access to unique innovations and best practices. Investing and strategically operating in defined segments of the precision component sector, Novaria Group deploys its significant leadership experience to improve the operational and business capabilities and capital resources of small to mid-market commercial aerospace manufacturing firms. Since our founding in 2011, we have been building a new kind of precision aerospace & defense components supplier, developing robust business processes and long-standing customer relationships, while making organizational and operational improvements designed to sustain and expand our business.
For more information about Novaria Group, visit www.novariagroup.com. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
23 Nov 19. TT Electronics to acquire power supply biz. UK-based advanced electronics components and systems manufacturer seeks to support growth in aerospace, defense. TT Electronics, a global provider of engineered electronics for performance critical applications, has agreed to acquire a US based business that designs and manufactures power electronics for defense and aerospace markets, enhancing TT’s ability to engineer complete power converters.
TT has agreed to acquire Excelitas Technologies Corp.’s, Covina, California-based business that designs and manufactures power supplies for defence and aerospace markets from Excelitas, for $17.7m.
Power electronics for aerospace and defence
The acquisition enhances TT’s US presence in power electronics for aerospace and defence, providing access to growth programmes with sole-source positions. The acquisition will add a number of blue-chip US defence primes. TT is committed to investing in the business to further improve the business’ growth prospects and engineering capability.
The acquisition is subject to approvals from the US authorities and is expected to complete in Q1 2020, at which point the business will be integrated into TT.
“This acquisition will help us move up the value chain and add the ability to engineer entire power convertors to our core power electronic capabilities in aerospace and defence.,” says Richard Tyson, CEO, TT Electronics commented. (Source: Google/https://www.ept.ca/)