EX-99.1 2 ex99_1.htm EXHIBIT 99.1

EXHIBIT 99.1

Balchem Corporation Announces Third Quarter 2015 Results

New Hampton, NY, November 3, 2015 – Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ: BCPC)
reported as follows (unaudited) for the period ended September 30, 2015.
($000 Omitted Except for Net Earnings per Share)

For the Three Months Ended September 30,
  
         
   
2015
    
2014
  
   
Unaudited
  
Net sales
  
$
140,128
    
$
160,490
  
Gross margin
    
43,174
      
44,487
  
Operating expenses
    
20,252
      
19,203
  
Earnings from operations
    
22,922
      
25,284
  
Other expense
    
1,733
      
2,075
  
Earnings before income tax expense
    
21,189
      
23,209
  
Income tax expense
    
7,213
      
8,031
  
Net earnings
  
$
13,976
    
$
15,178
  
                 
Diluted net earnings per common share
  
$
0.44
    
$
0.49
  
                 
Shares used in the calculation of diluted net earnings per common share
    
31,718
      
31,246
  

For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
  
         
   
2015
    
2014
  
   
Unaudited
  
Net sales
  
$
419,763
    
$
378,715
  
Gross margin
    
128,171
      
100,037
  
Operating expenses
    
56,437
      
44,889
  
Earnings from operations
    
71,734
      
55,148
  
Other expense
    
5,294
      
3,276
  
Earnings before income tax expense
    
66,440
      
51,872
  
Income tax expense
    
22,377
      
18,068
  
Net earnings
  
$
44,063
    
$
33,804
  
                 
Diluted net earnings per common share
  
$
1.40
    
$
1.09
  
                 
Shares used in the calculation of diluted net earnings per common share
    
31,580
      
31,136
  

52 Sunrise Park Road  •  New Hampton, New York 10958  •  Tel. 845.326.5600  •  Fax 845.326.5742  •  www.balchem.com
 
Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)
2
Third Quarter Results:

· For the quarter ended September 30, 2015, the Company posted revenue results of $140.1 million, a decrease of 12.7% compared to the third quarter of 2014, primarily due to an unfavorable impact of 9.6% related to the significant downturn in the oil & gas market. Positively impacting net sales were approximately 2% and 1% sales increases for the SensoryEffects and Specialty Products segments, respectively. The Animal Nutrition & Health segment realized flat volumes, but a 13% sales decline, substantially all related to international markets.
· U.S. GAAP net earnings for the quarter of $14.0 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, compared to $15.2 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2014, a decrease of 7.9%.
· Non-GAAP1 net earnings for the quarter of $19.4 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, compared to $20.3 million, or $0.65 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2014, a decrease of 4.2%.
· Adjusted EBITDA1 of $35.7 million or 25.5% of sales for the third quarter of 2015, versus $37.0 million or 23.1% of sales in the comparable period of 2014.
· Strong cash flows generated, including cash from operations of $29.0 million for the third quarter of 2015 and $78.9 million year-to-date through September 30, 2015.

Segment Financial Results for the Third Quarter of 2015:

The SensoryEffects segment, inclusive of the former Food, Pharma & Nutrition (“FPN”) segment, which includes food encapsulates, human choline, cereal and customized food, flavor and beverage solutions, generated record quarterly sales of $73.0 million, an increase of $1.2 million over the prior year quarter, and up $5.7 million sequentially from the second quarter 2015. Record quarterly earnings from operations for this segment were $11.6 million, versus $8.7 million in the prior year comparable quarter, an increase of $2.9 million or 32.7%, and were up sequentially $2.5 million or 27.7%. Earnings from operations for the quarter were favorably impacted by the noted increased sales, particularly in powder and cereal systems, an improved product mix, and lower raw material costs.

The Animal Nutrition & Health2 (“ANH”) segment volumes were flat year over year and up 1% sequentially, while sales of $39.9 million decreased 12.8% or $5.9 million compared to the prior year comparable quarter, or a 7.9% decrease when adjusting for foreign currency, and decreased $1.7 million sequentially from the second quarter 2015.  While global monogastric species volumes were relatively strong, our ruminant species volumes fell far short of expectations primarily due to significantly lower export sales as a result of very challenging global dairy market dynamics combined with the ongoing strength of the dollar and increased global competition.  Lower average selling prices of monogastric products, driven by lower raw material costs, also negatively impacted sales. Earnings from operations for the ANH segment decreased 19.1% to $5.6 million as compared to $7.0 million in the prior year comparable quarter, an impact of the aforementioned lower sales and an unfavorable product mix, partially offset by cost decreases of key petrochemical raw materials.

The Specialty Products segment generated record third quarter sales of $13.8 million, which was a 1.2% improvement over the comparable prior year quarter, and was primarily due to increased sales volumes of ethylene oxide products for medical device sterilization. Third quarter earnings from operations for this segment remained strong at $6.0 million.
 
Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)
3
The Industrial Products2 segment sales declined $15.8 million or 54.2% from the prior year comparable quarter primarily due to significantly reduced volumes sold of choline and choline derivatives for industrial applications, notably for natural gas fracking in North America.  Additionally, average selling prices were lower as a result of pressures related to the well-publicized recent industry activity downturn and operators desire to curb hydrocarbon production costs. Earnings from operations for the Industrial Products segment were $1.1 million, a reduction of $3.7 million or 76.5% compared with the prior year comparable quarter, and was primarily a reflection of the reduced volume and the aforementioned lower average selling prices.

Consolidated gross margin for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 decreased 3.0% to $43.2 million, as compared to $44.5 million for the prior year comparable period. For the three months ended September 30, 2015, gross margin as a percentage of sales was 30.8% compared to 27.7% in the prior year comparative period. The improvement was primarily due to favorable product mix and lower raw material costs, which were partially offset by the impact of previously noted lower volumes. Operating (Selling, Research & Development, General & Administrative) expenses were $20.3 million for the third quarter, higher than the prior year comparable quarter of $19.2 million, but included $1.5 million of one-time equity compensation expense associated with the retirement from the Company of the former CEO and current Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dino A. Rossi. Excluding non-cash operating expenses associated with amortization of intangible assets of $6.4 million and the aforementioned one-time equity compensation expense, operating expenses were $12.4 million, or 8.8% of sales.

Interest expense was $1.6 million in the third quarter of 2015, all of which related to the debt financing of the SensoryEffects acquisition. Our effective tax rate for the three months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014 was 34.0% and 34.6%, respectively. This decrease in the effective tax rate was primarily attributable to a change in the apportionment relating to state income taxes, and a change in the income proportion towards jurisdictions with lower tax rates.

The Company continues to build a solid financial structure. YTD 2015 cash flow provided by operating activities was $78.9 million, and diligent working capital controls continue to contribute strongly to the business performance. The $127.1 million of net working capital on September 30, 2015 included a cash balance of $81.6 million, which reflects scheduled principal payments on long-term debt of $8.8 million and capital expenditures of $12.9 million in the third quarter of 2015. The Company continues to invest in projects across all facilities to improve capabilities and operating efficiencies.

Ted Harris, CEO and President of Balchem said, “Our solid third quarter earnings once again highlight the strength of our business model, particularly in light of the significant headwinds we are facing in several of our business segments.  The modest sales growth, and significant bottom line growth, we delivered in SensoryEffects is encouraging and highlights the value created from the integration of the acquisition.  The record sales and strong earnings delivered by Specialty Products shows the continued strength of this business segment.  Our Animal Nutrition and Health segment is being challenged in the short term by the strong dollar and unfavorable global dairy economics, but we remain confident in the future prospects of this segment given the efficacy and innovation of our nutritional solutions coupled with the longer term macro trends within the industry.  And while our Industrial Products sales were modestly up sequentially, we believe recent activity in the North American oil and gas industry will result in challenging market conditions that extend into 2016.  Our cash generation for the quarter was once again very strong, continuing to strengthen our balance sheet and the financial position of our company.”
 
Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)
4
Ted Harris went on to add, “Moving forward, we will continue to drive strategic growth initiatives, particularly in SensoryEffects and Animal, Nutrition and Health, through both organic investments in new manufacturing capabilities and new product development, as well as acquisitions. At the same time, we will also aggressively manage supply chain costs and selling, general and administrative spend.” 

1See “Non-GAAP Financial Information” for a reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures.

2Beginning in fiscal year 2015, we realigned certain reporting segments and now report on four segments. The Company's Specialty Products and SensoryEffects business segments remain unchanged, while the Animal Nutrition & Health segment has been broken out into two separate reporting segments: Animal Nutrition & Health and Industrial Products. The Company expects that the new reporting segment structure will provide investors greater visibility and clarity into the financial performance of its businesses, and alignment between business strategies and operating results.

Quarterly Conference Call
A quarterly conference call will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2015, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) to review Third Quarter 2015 results. Ted Harris, President & Chief Executive Officer, and Bill Backus, Chief Financial Officer, will host the call. We invite you to listen to the conference by calling toll-free 1-877-407-8289 (local dial-in 1-201-689-8341), five minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the conference call. The conference call will be available for digital replay two hours after the conclusion of the call through end of day Tuesday, November 17, 2015. To access the replay of the conference call, dial 1-877-660-6853 (local dial-in 1-201-612-7415), and use conference ID #13623616.
 
Segment Information
Balchem Corporation reports four business segments: Specialty Products; SensoryEffects (formerly Food, Pharma & Nutrition); Animal Nutrition & Health; and Industrial Products. Through Specialty Products, Balchem provides specialty-packaged chemicals for use in healthcare and other industries. The SensoryEffects segment provides customized food and beverage ingredient systems and proprietary microencapsulation solutions to a variety of applications in the human food, pharmaceutical and nutrition marketplaces. The Animal Nutrition & Health segment manufactures and supplies products to numerous animal health markets.  The Industrial Products segment manufactures and supplies certain derivative products into industrial applications.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect Balchem’s expectation or belief concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Balchem can give no assurance that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements will prove correct and various factors could cause results to differ materially from Balchem’s expectations, including risks and factors identified in Balchem’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. Forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the above cautionary statement. Balchem assumes no duty to update its outlook or other forward-looking statements as of any future date.

Contact:  Suzanne Hart, Balchem Corporation
Telephone: 845-326-5600
 
Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)
5
Selected Financial Data
($ in 000’s)

Business Segment Net Sales:
   
Three Months Ended
September 30,
    
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
  
   
2015
    
2014
    
2015
    
2014
  
SensoryEffects
  
$
72,978
    
$
71,821
    
$
207,965
    
$
133,170
  
Animal Nutrition & Health
    
39,947
      
45,805
      
124,295
      
129,879
  
Specialty Products
    
13,818
      
13,652
      
41,202
      
40,086
  
Industrial Products
    
13,385
      
29,212
      
46,301
      
75,580
  
Total
  
$
140,128
    
$
160,490
    
$
419,763
    
$
378,715
  

Business Segment Earnings Before Income Taxes:
   
Three Months Ended
September 30,
    
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
  
   
2015
    
2014
    
2015
    
2014
  
SensoryEffects
  
$
11,604
    
$
8,743
    
$
28,397
    
$
14,218
  
Animal Nutrition & Health
    
5,625
      
6,953
      
21,603
      
16,622
  
Specialty Products
    
6,031
      
5,306
      
17,825
      
15,576
  
Industrial Products
    
1,124
      
4,776
      
5,371
      
12,074
  
Transaction and integration costs
    
-
      
(494
)
    
-
      
(3,342
)
Unallocated equity compensation
    
(1,462
)
    
-
      
(1,462
)
    
-
  
Interest and other expense
    
(1,733
)
    
(2,075
)
    
(5,294
)
    
(3,276
)
Total
  
$
21,189
    
$
23,209
    
$
66,440
    
$
51,872
  

Selected Balance Sheet Items
  
September 30,
    
December 31,
  
   
2015
    
2014
  
Cash and Cash Equivalents
  
$
81,556
    
$
50,287
  
Accounts Receivable, net
    
64,220
      
71,982
  
Inventories
    
50,697
      
49,623
  
Other Current Assets
    
7,657
      
9,410
  
Total Current Assets
    
204,130
      
181,302
  
                 
Property, Plant & Equipment, net
    
149,169
      
131,588
  
Goodwill
    
383,906
      
383,906
  
Intangible Assets With Finite Lives, net
    
141,216
      
160,394
  
Other Assets
    
4,173
      
4,341
  
Total Assets
  
$
882,594
    
$
861,531
  
                 
Current Liabilities
  
$
42,051
    
$
60,522
  
Current Portion of Long Term-Debt
    
35,000
      
35,000
  
Long-Term Debt
    
271,250
      
297,500
  
Deferred Income Taxes
    
70,631
      
70,661
  
Long-Term Obligations
    
6,345
      
5,950
  
Total Liabilities
    
425,277
      
469,633
  
                 
Stockholders' Equity
    
457,317
      
391,898
  
                 
Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
  
$
882,594
    
$
861,531
  
 
Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)
6
Balchem Corporation
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Dollars in thousands)
(unaudited)
 
   
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
  
   
2015
    
2014
  
     
Cash flows from operating activities:
    
Net Earnings
  
$
44,063
    
$
33,804
  
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operating activities:
                
Depreciation and amortization
    
29,816
      
20,190
  
Stock compensation expense
    
5,656
      
3,449
  
Other adjustments
    
277
      
(3,325
)
Changes in assets and liabilities
    
(962
)
    
(4,877
)
Net cash provided by operating activities
    
78,850
      
49,241
  
                 
Cash flow from investing activities:
                
Cash paid in acquisition, net of cash acquired
    
-
      
(491,057
)
Capital expenditures and intangible assets acquired
    
(28,810
)
    
(6,025
)
Net cash used in investing activities
    
(28,810
)
    
(497,082
)
                 
Cash flows from financing activities
                
Proceeds from long-term and revolving debt
    
-
      
400,000
  
Principal payments on long-term and revolving debt
    
(26,250
)
    
(134,300
)
Cash paid for financing costs
    
-
      
(2,593
)
Proceeds from stock options exercised
    
11,901
      
6,608
  
Excess tax benefits from stock compensation
    
6,688
      
3,626
  
Dividends paid
    
(9,251
)
    
(7,856
)
Other
    
(1,131
)
    
(356
)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
    
(18,043
)
    
265,129
  
                 
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash
    
(728
)
    
(631
)
                 
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
    
31,269
      
(183,343
)
                 
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period
    
50,287
      
208,747
  
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period
  
$
81,556
    
$
25,404
  
 
Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)
7
Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to disclosing financial results in accordance with United States (U.S.) generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), this earnings release contains non-GAAP financial measures that we believe are helpful in understanding and comparing our past financial performance and our future results. The non-GAAP financial measures disclosed by the company exclude certain business combination accounting adjustments and certain other items related to acquisitions. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, and the financial results calculated in accordance with GAAP and reconciliations from these results should be carefully evaluated. Management believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information about the Company's core operating results and thus are appropriate to enhance the overall understanding of the Company's past financial performance and its prospects for the future. The non-GAAP financial measures in this press release include non-GAAP consolidated operating income, non-GAAP consolidated net income and the related per diluted share amounts, non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA and Free cash flow. Non-GAAP financial measure adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, and acquisition-related expenses.

Set forth below are reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.
 
Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)
8
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures to GAAP
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
(unaudited)
 
    
Three Months Ended
September 30,
    
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
  
   
2015
    
2014
    
2015
    
2014
  
                 
Reconciliation of non-GAAP gross margin
                
                 
GAAP gross margin
  
$
43,174
    
$
44,487
    
$
128,171
    
$
100,037
  
Inventory Valuation adjustment (1)
    
-
      
-
      
-
      
4,735
  
Amortization of intangible assets (2)
    
185
      
187
      
557
      
332
  
Non-GAAP gross margin
  
$
43,359
    
$
44,674
    
$
128,728
    
$
105,104
  
                                 
Reconciliation of non-GAAP earnings from operations
                                
                                 
GAAP earnings from operations
    
22,922
      
25,284
      
71,734
      
55,148
  
Inventory valuation adjustment (1)
    
-
      
-
      
-
      
4,735
  
Amortization of intangible assets (2)
    
6,615
      
6,966
      
19,848
      
12,507
  
Transaction and integration costs (3)
    
-
      
494
      
-
      
3,342
  
Unallocated equity compensation (4)
    
1,462
      
-
      
1,462
      
-
  
Non-GAAP earnings from operations
    
30,999
      
32,744
      
93,044
      
75,732
  
                                 
Reconciliation of non-GAAP net earnings
                                
                                 
GAAP net earnings
    
13,976
      
15,178
      
44,063
      
33,804
  
Inventory valuation adjustment (1)
    
-
      
-
      
-
      
4,735
  
Amortization of intangible assets (2)
    
6,759
      
7,159
      
20,306
      
12,803
  
Transaction and integration costs (3)
    
-
      
494
      
-
      
3,342
  
Unallocated equity compensation (4)
    
1,462
      
-
      
1,462
      
-
  
Income tax adjustment (5)
    
(2,791
)
    
(2,581
)
    
(7,331
)
    
(7,170
)
Non-GAAP net earnings
  
$
19,406
    
$
20,250
    
$
58,500
    
$
47,514
  
                                 
Non-GAAP net earnings per common share – diluted
  
$
0.61
    
$
0.65
    
$
1.85
    
$
1.53
  

1 Inventory valuation adjustment: Business combination accounting principles require us to measure acquired inventory at fair value. The fair value of inventory reflects the acquired company’s cost of manufacturing plus a portion of the expected profit margin. The non-GAAP adjustment to our cost of sales excludes the expected profit margin component that is recorded under business combination accounting principles. We believe the adjustment is useful to investors as an additional means to reflect cost of sales and gross margin trends of our business.

2 Amortization of intangible assets: Amortization of intangible assets consists of amortization of customer relationships, trademarks and trade names, developed technology, regulatory registration costs, patents and trade secrets, and other intangibles
 
Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)
9
acquired primarily in connection with business combinations. We record expense relating to the amortization of these intangibles in our GAAP financial statements. Amortization expenses for our intangible assets are inconsistent in amount and are significantly impacted by the timing and valuation of an acquisition. Consequently, our non-GAAP adjustments exclude these expenses to facilitate an evaluation of our current operating performance and comparisons to our past operating performance.

3 Transaction and integration costs: Transaction and integration costs related to acquisitions are expensed in our GAAP financial statements. Management excludes these items for the purposes of calculating Adjusted EBITDA and other non-GAAP financial measures. We believe that excluding these items from our non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors because these are items associated with each transaction, and are inconsistent in amount and frequency causing comparison of current and historical financial results to be difficult.

4 Unallocated equity compensation: Unallocated equity compensation is one-time equity compensation expense related to the retirement from the Company of the former CEO and current Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dino A. Rossi.  As this is a one-time expense, our non-GAAP adjustments exclude this expense to facilitate an evaluation of our current operating performance and comparisons to our past operating performance.

5 Income tax adjustment: For purposes of calculating non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, we adjust the provision for (benefit from) income taxes to tax effect the non-GAAP adjustments described above as they have a significant impact on our income tax (benefit) provision.

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of Net Income calculated using amounts determined in accordance with GAAP to EBITDA and to Adjusted EBITDA for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014.

   
Three Months
Ended
September 30,
    
Nine Months
Ended
September 30,
  
   
2015
    
2014
    
2015
    
2014
  
Net income - as reported
  
$
13,976
    
$
15,178
    
$
44,063
    
$
33,804
  
Add back:
                                
Provision for income taxes
    
7,213
      
8,031
      
22,377
      
18,068
  
Other expense
    
1,733
      
2,075
      
5,294
      
3,276
  
Depreciation and amortization
    
9,777
      
10,135
      
29,358
      
19,896
  
EBITDA
    
32,699
      
35,419
      
101,092
      
75,044
  
Add back certain items:
                                
Non-cash compensation expense related to equity awards
    
2,970
      
1,102
      
5,656
      
3,131
  
Transaction and integration costs
    
-
      
494
      
-
      
3,342
  
Inventory fair value
    
-
      
-
      
-
      
4,735
  
Adjusted EBITDA
  
$
35,669
    
$
37,015
    
$
106,748
    
$
86,252
  
 
Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)
10
EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. Management believes the presentation of this measure provides useful information to investors to more effectively evaluate the year-over-year results of operations of the Company.