Aptar Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR), a global leader in drug delivery, consumer product dispensing and active material science solutions, today reported third quarter results for 2021.

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Third Quarter 2021 Summary

• Reported sales grew 9%, primarily driven by double-digit core sales growth in Beauty + Home and Food + Beverage from a combination of price increases and volume growth
• Core sales (excluding currency effects) increased 8%
• Pharma sales declined slightly compared to the prior year
• Reported earnings per share totaled $0.70 and included restructuring charges ($0.12), an unrealized loss on an equity investment ($0.10) resulting from the mark-to-market position of our investment in PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (purification recycling technology) and acquisition costs ($0.02)
• Adjusted earnings per share, excluding restructuring charges, the loss on the equity investment and acquisition costs, totaled $0.94
• Reported net income totaled $47 million
• Adjusted EBITDA totaled $154 million
• Acquisition Updates:
  • Completed the acquisition of 80% of Weihai Hengyu Medical Products, adding elastomeric and plastic component manufacturing capabilities in China for injectable drug delivery
  • Completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Voluntis, a provider of digital therapeutic solutions

Third Quarter Results

For the quarter ended September 30, 2021, reported sales increased 9% to $825 million compared to $759 million in the prior year. Core sales, excluding the impact from changes in currency exchange rates, increased 8%.

Stephan B. Tanda, President and CEO, said, “Growth during the quarter continued to be driven by our Beauty + Home and Food + Beverage segments as our beauty business continued to recover and our food business benefited from continued cooking at home trends. Our Pharma segment benefited from growth in demand for components for injected medicines and consumer health care solutions, but this was offset by lower demand for prescription allergy and asthma devices, and lower active material custom tooling sales compared to the prior year.”

In the Pharma segment, the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases during the year prolonged the drawing down of inventories by customers in sectors such as allergic rhinitis, cough and cold and certain pulmonary categories. This resulted in a decline in sales to the prescription drug market which reduced the Pharma segment’s profit margin compared to the prior year.

The Beauty + Home segment generated strong sales growth on a rebound in demand in the beauty market and price adjustments. Demand for personal care product solutions was mixed, with increases in demand for hair care and body care dispensing systems and lower demand for personal cleansing and sanitizer dispensing systems.

The Food + Beverage segment reported double-digit core sales growth. This was primarily driven by price adjustments and increased demand for food dispensing closures for sauces and condiments, as consumers continued to cook at home, and we saw a partial recovery of sales of closures for bottled water and on-the-go functional drinks. Beauty + Home and Food + Beverage margins were impacted by rising input costs compared to the prior year.

Aptar reported third quarter earnings per share of $0.70 compared to $0.95 during the same period a year ago. Third quarter adjusted earnings per share, excluding restructuring charges, acquisitions costs and the unrealized loss on an equity investment, were $0.94 compared to $1.01 in the prior year, including comparable exchange rates.

Year-to-Date Results

For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, reported sales increased 11% to $2.41 billion compared to $2.18 billion in the prior year. Core sales, excluding the impacts from changes in currency exchange rates and acquisitions, increased 6%.

Tanda commented on the year-to-date results, “Broad-based demand for our innovative solutions drove core sales growth in each of our end markets, with the exception of the prescription drug market, which has been impacted by lower demand for devices for allergy and asthma treatments given the late summer resurgence of COVID-19 because of the Delta variant. Price adjustments to offset increased input costs and positive currency effects also contributed to strong top line growth of 11%. Core sales increased 6% driven by growth in our Beauty + Home and Food + Beverage segments. I am very proud of our global workforce and their resiliency in delivering on our promises to our customers across the many markets we serve, despite the variability and uncertainty of demand and more recently, rising inflation and supply chain challenges.”

For the nine months year-to-date, Aptar’s reported earnings per share were $2.75, an increase of 14%, compared to $2.42 reported a year ago. Current year adjusted earnings per share, excluding restructuring charges, acquisitions costs and the net gain on an equity investment, were $2.94 and increased 4% from prior year adjusted earnings per share, including comparable exchange rates, of $2.84. Free cash flow for the first nine months was impacted by higher capital expenditures and changes in working capital.

Outlook

For the fourth quarter, core sales growth is expected in each business segment. Earnings growth is expected to be tempered due to the business mix in the Pharma segment, sequential foreign currency translation headwinds, rising inflation and supply chain disruptions including labor shortages.

Tanda stated, “Inflation continues to escalate, and the pace of recovery is more uneven than previously expected due to the surge of the COVID-19 Delta variant during the summer months and supply chain disruptions. However, we anticipate further, gradual progress in the beauty market and continued good sales momentum in elastomer components and active material solutions. Last year we posted a particularly strong fourth quarter for prescription drug delivery devices and food and beverage closures, so we will have more difficult comparisons for those markets.”

Aptar expects earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2021, excluding any restructuring expenses, acquisition costs and changes in the fair value of equity investments, to be in the range of $0.88 to $0.96 and this guidance is based on an effective tax rate range of 28% to 30%.

Tanda continued, “As we navigate the current environment, we remain focused on cost containment and we are continuing to increase prices to offset rising input costs. Our global procurement team is doing a tremendous job of navigating the tenuous energy markets and supply chains to secure the necessary materials, supplies and equipment we need. At the same time, I’m confident the completion of our recent acquisitions and the growth investments we are making such as increasing our capacity to produce elastomer components for injected medicines and active material science solutions, will support our future growth and drive continued value creation.”

Capital Allocation

As previously announced, Aptar’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.38 per share. The payment date is November 17, 2021, to stockholders of record as of October 27, 2021.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company repurchased approximately 220,000 shares of common stock for $28.4 million, leaving $250 million authorized for common stock repurchases at the end of the third quarter. Aptar may repurchase shares through the open market, privately negotiated transactions or other programs, subject to market conditions.

Open Conference Call

There will be a conference call held on Friday, October 29, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. Central Time to discuss the Company’s third quarter results for 2021. The call will last approximately one hour. Interested parties are invited to listen to a live webcast by visiting the Investor Relations page at www.aptar.com. Replay of the conference call can also be accessed for a limited time on the Investor Relations page of the website.

About Aptar

Aptar is a global leader in the design and manufacturing of a broad range of drug delivery, consumer product dispensing and active material science solutions. Aptar’s innovative solutions and services serve a variety of end markets including pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, home, food and beverage. Using insights, proprietary design, engineering and science to create dispensing, dosing and protective technologies for many of the world’s leading brands, Aptar in turn makes a meaningful difference in the lives, looks, health and homes of millions of patients and consumers around the world. Aptar is headquartered in Crystal Lake, Illinois and has 13,000 dedicated employees in 20 countries. For more information, visit www.aptar.com.

Presentation of Non-GAAP Information

This press release refers to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including current year adjusted earnings per share and adjusted EBITDA, which exclude the impact of business transformation charges (restructuring initiatives), acquisition-related costs, certain purchase accounting adjustments related to acquisitions and investments and net investment gains and losses related to observable market price changes on equity securities. Core sales and adjusted earnings per share also neutralize the impact of foreign currency translation effects when comparing current results to the prior year. Non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures provided by other companies. Aptar’s management believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to our investors because they allow for a better period over period comparison of operating results by removing the impact of items that, in management’s view, do not reflect Aptar’s core operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures also provide investors with certain information used by Aptar’s management when making financial and operational decisions. Free cash flow is calculated as cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. We use free cash flow to measure cash flow generated by operations that is available for dividends, share repurchases, acquisitions and debt repayment. We believe that it is meaningful to investors in evaluating our financial performance and measuring our ability to generate cash internally to fund our initiatives. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP financial results but should be read in conjunction with the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of income and other information presented herein. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is included in the accompanying tables. Our outlook is provided on a non-GAAP basis because certain reconciling items are dependent on future events that either cannot be controlled, such as exchange rates and changes in the fair value of equity investments, or reliably predicted because they are not part of the Company's routine activities, such as restructuring and acquisition costs.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including certain statements set forth under the “Outlook” section of this press release. Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “future,” “potential” and other similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would” and “could” are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are based on our beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to us. Accordingly, our actual results or other events may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements due to known or unknown risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment including, but not limited to: pandemics, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our global supply chain and our global customers and operations; our ability to preserve organizational culture and maintain employee productivity in the work-from-home environment caused by the current pandemic; the successful integration of acquisitions and the achievement of the expected benefits of acquisitions and investments; our ability to build out acquired business and integrate the product/service offering of the acquired entities into our existing product/service portfolio; the impact of tax reform legislation including changes in tax rates and other tax-related events or transactions that could impact our effective tax rate; economic conditions worldwide including inflationary (and potential deflationary) conditions or economic downturn or uncertainty in regions we rely on for growth as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise; fluctuations in the cost of materials, components, transportation cost as a result of supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, and other input costs (particularly resin, metal, anodization costs, and energy costs); political conditions worldwide; significant fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; changes in customer and/or consumer spending levels; financial conditions of customers and suppliers; consolidations within our customer or supplier bases; the availability of direct labor workers and the increase in direct labor costs; our ability to successfully implement facility expansions and new facility projects; our ability to increase prices, contain costs and improve productivity; changes in capital availability or cost, including interest rate fluctuations; volatility of global credit markets; cybersecurity threats that could impact our networks and reporting systems; fiscal and monetary policies and other regulations; direct or indirect consequences of acts of war or terrorism; and work stoppages due to labor disputes. For additional information on these and other risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Qs. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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