DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Dover (NYSE: DOV), a diversified global manufacturer, announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2020, Dover generated revenue of $1.7 billion, a decline of 4% (-3% organic) compared to the first quarter of the prior year. GAAP net earnings of $176 million increased 67%, and GAAP diluted EPS of $1.21 was up 68%. On an adjusted basis, net earnings of $203 million grew 11%, and adjusted diluted EPS of $1.39 was up 12% versus the comparable quarter of the prior year.
A full reconciliation between GAAP and adjusted measures and definitions of non-GAAP and other performance measures are included as an exhibit herein.
Management Commentary:
Dover’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Richard J. Tobin, said, “Our first quarter results are entirely attributable to the perseverance of Dover’s employees as they diligently continued to serve our customers in this challenging environment, which unfortunately deteriorated progressively through the quarter. We anticipate that the challenge will not be over soon, but we will gather the collective strength of our resilient business portfolio, sound financial position, and the resolve of our entire Dover team to continue to serve both our internal and external partners.
“As we expected, Q1 top-line was weaker year-over-year given a challenging comparable period, which was exacerbated by the pandemic-related challenges, particularly in China and Italy, and increasingly difficult trading conditions in the capital goods and textiles sectors of the global economy. Bookings were flat year-over-year in the quarter yielding an increased backlog compared to the same time last year, providing some support ahead of what we expect to be a difficult second quarter. Despite our lower revenue in the quarter, we increased segment margins and grew absolute net earnings as a result of carryover benefits from our productivity initiatives and prudent debt refinancing undertaken in late 2019. This has been augmented by additional cost actions carried out as the quarter progressed.
“In the first quarter we started facing headwinds associated with the outbreak of COVID-19, which led to operational interruptions and increased business uncertainty. Our foremost focus has been on the health and safety of our employees and partners, as well as on supporting the many important societal functions through our portfolio of businesses, such as retail fueling, food retail, food packaging, biopharma, municipal waste removal and many others. We remained largely operational in the US and most of Europe through Q1, although our facilities were down in China, Italy, India and Malaysia for several weeks during the quarter.
“We are approaching the uncertainty and challenges in the second quarter and the rest of 2020 with resolve and from a position of strength given our strong balance sheet and operational execution momentum, and we are taking additional steps to manage through these times. Where appropriate, our businesses are reducing production capacity to prevailing demand conditions and we have taken steps across the portfolio and at the corporate center to reduce our controllable costs. We are keenly focused on working capital management as demonstrated by our first quarter cash flow results and have initiated a capital spending plan review that has resulted in a materially lower full year capital expense forecast, without deferring strategic ongoing initiatives. Additionally, in the spirit of prudent liquidity management, we have drawn a $500M portion of our revolver facility considering the current commercial paper market conditions, even though we have no long-term debt maturities until 2025.
“We are confident in Dover’s ability to navigate the challenging environment with a sense of responsibility to our teams, customers, partners and shareholders. Dover has a long and tested history of cash flow generation and we are further stepping up our capital management discipline without changing our strategic allocation priorities.”
2020 Guidance Update:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting negative impact to the global demand environment we are unable to forecast with certainty the effect on Dover’s financial and operational results, which could be material, and as such, Dover’s previously communicated guidance for full year 2020 revenue growth and adjusted EPS has been suspended. Our objective is to reinstate guidance for the remainder of the year with our Q2 2020 earnings announcement.
Conference Call Information:
Dover will host a webcast and conference call to discuss its first quarter 2020 results and outlook for 2020 at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time (9:00 A.M. Central Time) on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. The webcast can be accessed on the Dover website at dovercorporation.com. The conference call will also be made available for replay on the website. Additional information on Dover’s first quarter results and its operating segments can be found on the Company’s website.
About Dover:
Dover is a diversified global manufacturer and solutions provider with annual revenue of approximately $7 billion. We deliver innovative equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services through five operating segments: Engineered Products, Fueling Solutions, Imaging & Identification, Pumps & Process Solutions and Refrigeration & Food Equipment. Dover combines global scale with operational agility to lead the markets we serve. Recognized for our entrepreneurial approach for over 60 years, our team of approximately 24,000 employees takes an ownership mindset, collaborating with customers to redefine what's possible. Headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, Dover trades on the New York Stock Exchange under "DOV."
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. All statements in this document other than statements of historical fact are statements that are, or could be deemed, “forward-looking” statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous important risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, the impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and on our customers, suppliers, employees, operations, business, liquidity and cash flows, other general economic conditions and conditions in the particular markets in which we operate, changes in customer demand and capital spending, competitive factors and pricing pressures, our ability to develop and launch new products in a cost-effective manner, our ability to realize synergies from newly acquired businesses, and our ability to derive expected benefits from restructuring, productivity initiatives, liquidity enhancing actions, and other cost reduction actions. For details on the risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein, we refer you to the documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. These documents are available from the Securities and Exchange Commission, and on our website, dovercorporation.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.