NEWS
| For: | From: |
Ladish Co., Inc. | Libby Communications |
| 5481 South Packard Avenue | 95 Pin Pack Road |
| Cudahy, WI 53110-8902 | Ridgefield, CT 06877 |
| Contact: Wayne E. Larsen | Contact: William J. Libby |
| 414-747-2935 | 203-431-8480 |
| 414-747-2890 Fax | 203-431-6132 Fax |
Cudahy, WI—Ladish Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: LDSH) (www.ladishco.com) today reported 2005 net income was $13.7 million on sales of $266.8 million. During the fourth quarter of 2005 the Company had income of $0.22 per share in comparison to a $0.09 income per share in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Ladish will host a conference call on Friday, February 17, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. EST to discuss the Company’s performance for 2005. The telephone number to call to participate in the conference call is (800) 946-0708.
| For the Three Months Ended December 31, | For the Twelve Months Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands, except earnings per share) | 2005 | 2004 | 2005 | 2004 | ||||||||||
| Net sales | $ | 70,382 | $ | 53,636 | $ | 266,841 | $ | 208,707 | ||||||
| Cost of goods | 61,807 | 47,908 | 230,807 | 190,652 | ||||||||||
| Gross profit | 8,575 | 5,728 | 36,034 | 18,055 | ||||||||||
| SG&A | 3,206 | 3,623 | 12,187 | 10,300 | ||||||||||
| Operating income | 5,369 | 2,105 | 23,847 | 7,755 | ||||||||||
| Interest expense & other | 601 | 452 | 2,008 | 2,031 | ||||||||||
| Pretax income | 4,768 | 1,653 | 21,839 | 5,724 | ||||||||||
| Income tax provision | 1,617 | 468 | 8,124 | 1,970 | ||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 3,151 | $ | 1,185 | $ | 13,715 | $ | 3,754 | ||||||
| Basic earnings per share | $ | 0.23 | $ | 0.09 | $ | 1.00 | $ | 0.28 | ||||||
| Basic weighted average | ||||||||||||||
| shares outstanding | 13,949,392 | 13,605,843 | 13,781,586 | 13,285,582 | ||||||||||
| Diluted earnings per share | $ | 0.22 | $ | 0.09 | $ | 0.98 | $ | 0.28 | ||||||
| Diluted weighted average | ||||||||||||||
| shares outstanding | 14,072,920 | 13,746,876 | 13,931,539 | 13,387,911 | ||||||||||
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| December 31, | ||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands) | 2005 | 2004 | ||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 14,494 | $ | 2,744 | ||||
| Accounts receivable, net | 51,497 | 41,729 | ||||||
| Inventory | 78,151 | 51,810 | ||||||
| Net PP&E | 99,425 | 84,500 | ||||||
| Other | 52,462 | 42,604 | ||||||
| Total Assets | $ | 296,029 | $ | 223,387 | ||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 41,665 | $ | 24,231 | ||||
| Accrued liabilities | 10,213 | 7,597 | ||||||
| Senior bank debt | 27,000 | -- | ||||||
| Senior notes | 18,000 | 24,000 | ||||||
| Pensions | 46,203 | 7,366 | ||||||
| Postretirement benefits | 35,479 | 37,769 | ||||||
| Stockholders’ equity | 117,469 | 122,424 | ||||||
| Total Liabilities and Equity | $ | 296,029 | $ | 223,387 | ||||
“2005 was a milestone year for Ladish. It was gratifying that we could celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary in a year that featured sustained profitability, record-breaking order activity and sales backlog, and a strategic foreign acquisition,” says Kerry L. Woody, Ladish’s President and CEO. “Ladish’s $266.8 million of sales in 2005 represented a 28% increase over 2004. Correspondingly, 2005 net income of $13.7 million reflected a 265% improvement over the prior year,” noted Mr. Woody. “The sales growth we experienced in 2005 is attributed to the expanding international aerospace market along with a robust demand from our industrial customers.”
$70.4 million of sales in the final quarter is another high for Ladish. The growth in sales in the fourth quarter is partially due to the timing of the purchase of ZKM. With a November 17th closing, Ladish recognized approximately $6.2 million of ZKM’s sales in the fourth quarter. Fourth quarter net income in 2005 was negatively impacted by higher energy costs. Effective October 1, 2005, the Company elected to adopt Financial Accounting Standard 123R, the new accounting standard for stock options. This action eliminated any further charges or credits to SG&A under the prior standard FIN 44 related to Ladish’s fully vested but unexercised stock options.
“We are optimistic about the opportunities available to Ladish in 2006. With a contract backlog of over $450 million, Ladish has the ability to continue to improve its performance through the incremental sales growth. During fiscal 2006 Ladish will begin the process of moving ZKM toward the aerospace arena. We also expect to capitalize on the skills and capacity growth provided by the acquisition of Valley Machining,” observed Mr. Woody. “With the known and projected growth in the aerospace markets served by Ladish and our participation in key programs such as the Rolls-Royce Trent family of engines and GE’s engine programs, we are excited about Ladish’s prospects for both the near and long term.”
Ladish Co., Inc. is a leading producer of highly engineered, technically advanced components for the jet engine, aerospace and general industrial markets. Ladish is headquartered in Cudahy, Wisconsin with operations in Wisconsin, Oregon, Connecticut and Poland. Ladish common stock trades on Nasdaq under the symbol LDSH.
This release includes forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in them. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, unanticipated slowdowns in the company’s major markets, the impact of competition, the effectiveness of operational changes expected to increase efficiency and productivity, worldwide economic and political conditions and the effect of foreign currency fluctuations.
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