AZZ Inc (AZZ) 2009 Q2 法說會逐字稿

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  • Operator

  • Good morning. My name is Julianne and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the AZZ Incorporated second quarter of fiscal year 2009 financial results conference call.

  • All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. (Operator Instructions).

  • I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Joe Dorame. Please go ahead.

  • Joe Dorame - IR Contact

  • Good morning. Thank you for joining us today to review the financial results for AZZ Incorporated for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 ended August 31, 2008. As Julianne indicated, my name is Joe Dorame. I'm with Lytham Partners and we are the financial relations consulting firm for AZZ Incorporated.

  • With us today on the call representing the Company are Mr. David Dingus, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Dana Perry, Chief Financial Officer. At the conclusion of today's prepared remarks, we will open the call for a Q&A session.

  • Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone this conference call includes statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except for statements of historical fact, this conference call may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are detailed from time to time in documents filed by the Company with the SEC. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in customer demand and response to products and services offered by the Company, including demand by the electrical power generation markets, electrical transmission and distribution markets, the industrial markets and the hot-dip galvanizing markets; prices and raw material costs, including zinc and natural gas, which are used in the hot-dip galvanizing process; changes in the economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, foreign and domestic; customer requested delays of shipments; acquisition opportunities; adequate financing and availability of experienced management employees to implement the Company's growth strategies.

  • The Company can give no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. We undertake no obligation to affirm publicly, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of information, future events or otherwise.

  • With that having been said, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. David Dingus, President and Chief Executive Officer of AZZ. David?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Thank you, Joe, and thanks to each of you for taking the time to join us for the conference call for the second quarter and the first six months of our fiscal year 2009.

  • For the three-month period ended August 31, the Company set a record for revenues, net income, earnings per share and backlog. Now, for the first six months ended August 31, 2008 when compared to the prior year, revenues increased 30%, net income is up 75%, earnings per share increased 72%, and backlog is up 28%. We continue to benefit from strong market conditions, expanded served markets. International opportunities continue to play an important role in our growth potential.

  • Total incoming orders for the quarter were a record-setting $139.1 million, while shipments for the quarter totaled a record-setting $103.3 million, resulting in a book-to-ship ratio of 135% for the second quarter. There were two significant international orders received in the second quarter of fiscal 2009, as forecast, totaling approximately $23 million. This, combined with the booking or the opening backlog of Blenkhorn and Sawle, increased international backlog by more than 200%. Domestic orders remained strong with backlog increasing 19% when compared to the first quarter.

  • Our total backlog was up 28% when compared to last year and 35% when compared to the 2-29-08 backlog. 60% of our backlog is expected to ship in the current fiscal year and of the backlog of $190.8 million, 29% is to be delivered outside of the US.

  • The quotation activity and project opportunities continue at an excellent pace. The timing of release of these orders has and will continue to create quarter-to-quarter lumpy backlog results that may appear to be market corrections rather than timing of orders released. We have and will continue to express to you when we believe it is a timing issue and when it is a change in market conditions. Large international orders are often slower than desired.

  • We still anticipate that we will have the opportunity to secure additional large international orders but the timing is not yet finalized as to whether it will further positively impact the excellent current-year backlog or whether it will be in the beginning of fiscal year 2010. We anticipate that international revenues will continue to represent approximately 25% of our Electrical and Industrial Product shipments.

  • Galvanizing demand remains strong and tonnage of steel processed increased 47% for the second quarter. On a same-store basis, this is up 12%. This increase was partially offset by a 2% decrease in our average selling price during the second quarter. For the first six months, revenues increased 40% in total and 9% on a same-store basis.

  • Operating margins for the electrical and industrial products were strong at 19%, reflecting our ability to continue to price to recover escalating costs. We had a very balanced product mix in the second quarter.

  • Operating margins for the Galvanizing Service segment was also very strong with margins of 30%. Margins for the quarter were favorably impacted by the insurance settlement related to a fire at one of our facilities. However, without this gain, the margins were 28% and compare favorably to the 25% in the same period last year.

  • For the first six months, margins are 29% compared to 25% in the prior-year period. Customer demand remains strong, which facilitated minimal price concessions and we benefited from lower zinc costs included in our cost of sales. Whereas zinc cost has decreased, other operating materials and natural gas have increased, requiring us to continue to strive to maintain pricing in order to fully recover these costs.

  • As a company, our accomplishments have continued and we double and redouble our efforts to increase our upside potential by securing more profitable business and continuing to efficiently and effectively execute on that business. The completion of an excellent record-setting quarter and first six months, our positive market outlook, excellent financial strength, strategic acquisitions and a great group of employees results in a very optimistic outlook for our future.

  • We are keenly aware of the challenges brought about by the uncertain economic conditions, the volatility in the cost of raw material and the very competitive nature of our business environment. We do believe that we can successfully navigate through these challenging conditions as we have effectively done so in the past.

  • Now, with that as an overview of our strengths, Dana will now give us a review of the operating results for the second quarter and the first six months of fiscal 2009.

  • Dana Perry - SVP Finance, CFO

  • Thank you, David. I would also like to welcome each of you to our second-quarter conference call. At this time, I will review our unaudited consolidated results for the period ending August 31, 2008.

  • For the second quarter, financial results remain strong. AZZ recorded record revenues for the quarter of $103.2 million as compared to $81.6 million in the prior year, and net income for the quarter increased 39% to $11.3 million as compared to $8.1 million. Diluted earnings per share increased 39% to $0.92 as compared to last year's $0.66.

  • Revenues for the six-month period were $203.2 million, a 29.5% increase as compared to $157 million in the prior-year same period. Net income for the six-month was $21.4 million, an increase of 74.6%, which compared to $12.3 million in the prior year. Diluted earnings per share was $1.74 compared to $1.01.

  • We are extremely pleased with our second-quarter results. Our strong operating performance in most segments of our Company, combined with lower G&A expenses, allowed us to record record-setting results. We continue to [main] strong quotation activity and project opportunities in our Electrical and Industrial segment, achieving a book-to-ship ratio of 135%-to-1 for the quarter and ending the quarter with a record-setting backlog of over $190 million.

  • Blenkhorn and Sawle contributed approximately $13 million to our backlog.

  • In our Galvanizing segment, continued strong demand and good pricing realization has allowed us to achieve record-setting results. Our interest expense of course has increased due to higher levels of debt resulting from our $100 million Note placement on March 31 that was associated with the acquisitions of AAA Galvanizing and B&S in Canada.

  • Our Electrical and Industrial segment generated 51% of our revenues while our Galvanizing Service segment generated 49%. We anticipate that 55% of our revenues for fiscal '09 will be generated from our Electrical and Industrial Products business and 45% will be generated from our Galvanizing segment.

  • At this time, David will give us an overview of the Electrical and Industrial Products segment.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • The industrial demand for our power distribution and motor control centers remains strong. The spending related to energy infrastructure, rebuilds, expansion and upgrades continued. The power distribution centers delivered to the transmission and distribution market continued to increase. Opportunities for metal-clad outdoor switch-gear products is outstanding. Utility distribution substation orders continue to improve and the growth in this market demand is most encouraging.

  • Quotations and orders for our high-voltage transmission bus duct systems were again at excellent levels and reflect strong international demand. We continue to operating at record-setting levels and increased US spending on the grid would provide additional opportunities.

  • The power generation market is encouraging. The announced build schedules of new domestic and international generation plants. Domestic emphasis on renewables continued to positively impact our market and our orders and is anticipated to continue in the future quarters.

  • Our specialty lighting products have seen and should continue to see strong results in orders and shipments. The year-to-date results have been very positively impacted as a result of the continued strength in the oil and gas market. Tubular products to the petroleum market is outstanding and operating at an excellent level and is above prior periods.

  • The Blenkhorn and Sawle assimilation is progressing. We continue to believe that there are opportunities to jointly quote with US operations on projects, solidify our position in the Canadian utility market and seek pull-through opportunities for other AZZ products. Revenues for the first full year of operation should approximate $20 million and is anticipated to be accretive in the first fiscal year. Current-year fiscal revenues are estimated to approximate $12 million.

  • Dana will now cover the operating results of our Electrical and Industrial Products segment.

  • Dana Perry - SVP Finance, CFO

  • In this segment of our business, we recorded revenues for the quarter of $52 million as compared to our prior-year results of $45.1 million. The acquisition of B&S added $1.2 million to our revenues for the quarter. Our increased revenues were generated as a result of the continuation of improved market demand, primarily from our high-voltage transmission, power generation and utility distribution, as well as energy infrastructure markets.

  • Operating income was $10 million, as compared to $7.9 million in prior year, as a result of favorable market conditions. Operating margins were 18.9% for the quarter, compared to 17.6% in the prior year. We continue to emphasize our booking of business at specific targeted margin levels and pursuing price increases to recover increased cost of material. Our challenge continues to be to expand our markets while maintaining our strong operating performances.

  • At this time, David will give us an overview of the Galvanizing segment.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • With overall demand remaining very strong, we have been able to minimize the impact the decreased cost of zinc has had on pricing. The average cost of zinc in our kettles approximates the current cost of zinc at the end of a quarter.

  • Our strategy to provide a premium level of service and quality to our customers will continue and we will resist downward pricing pressures. Revenue dollars will potentially be impacted in future periods if market pricing is required to be adjusted as a result of reduced demand. Approximately 50% of our volume is reflective of the GDP, while 50% is related to the infrastructure buildout of electrical generation and transmission, telecommunications, oil and gas production, refining and delivery, and the overall petrochemical market.

  • We continue to operate in very favorable market conditions and are maximizing market share growth without sacrificing price. Our facilities have seen limited damage from the recent Gulf storms but have been impacted more by power outages than extensive physical damage. Fortunately, our employees are safe and many have been able to return to work. Due to the physical damage from the storm being less than was incurred in Katrina and Rita, we do not anticipate any significant increase in our business opportunities associated with the rebuild of the Gulf Coast infrastructure.

  • We are pleased with the integration of AAA into our network of plants. Their performance for the first few months is consistent with what we had anticipated. There does remain concern over the impact economic conditions and the impact cost of steel and how this may impact our customers and their demand for our services. This issue, combined with the seasonal winter impact on our North Central US facilities, may result in lower fourth-quarter demand and operating results for this segment.

  • Dana will now cover a review of the statistics for this segment and our key balance sheet items.

  • Dana Perry - SVP Finance, CFO

  • Revenues in this segment of our business for the quarter were a record-setting $51.3 million, an increase of 40.7% compared to $36.5 million recorded in our second quarter in fiscal 2008. Our second quarter was favorably impacted by the acquisition of AAA Galvanizing, which represented $12.4 million in revenues, or 34% of our 41% increase. Increased volumes of steel shipped as compared with the same quarter last year, as well as our favorable product mix, helped us maintain our strong pricing levels for the quarter.

  • Operating income increased 67.7% to $15.5 million compared to $9.2 million in prior year. Our quarterly results were favorably impacted due to an increased settlement associated with a fire at one of our facilities. This resulted in a pre-tax gain of $1.3 million and is included in our operating income. This year's increased operating income resulted from higher volumes, primarily from the acquisition of AAA, lower cost of zinc and improved operating margins. Operating margins increased to 30.2% compared to 25.3% in the prior year.

  • Excluding the proceeds from the insurance settlement, margins for this quarter would have been 28%. As David indicated earlier, a slowing in the industrial sector, the general economy or the increased cost of steel could have an adverse impact on future revenues and earnings.

  • At this time, I will cover some of our key cash flow and balance sheet items on a comparative basis. For the six-month period, cash provided by operations was $12.5 million compared to $15 million in the prior year. Our working capital needs have increased to $102 million at the end of our second quarter as compared to $60 million at the end of February, due to our increased business levels.

  • Our receivable days and inventory turns remain good. Outstanding accounts receivable days outstanding were 50 days at the end of the second quarter as compared to 49 days at our year end. Year-to-date capital improvements were made in the amount of $9.4 million, of which $3 million was associated with a fire at one of our galvanizing facilities.

  • Depreciation and amortization for the first six months was $6.9 million. Our total outstanding bank debt remains at $100 million.

  • At this time, I will turn the conference call over to David for closing comments and then we will open to our question-and-answer session.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • We are extremely pleased with the results of our second quarter and the first six months of fiscal 2009. The aggressive steps we've taken in seeking out marketing opportunities, improving our distribution channels, maintaining or improving our operating margins are reflected in our improved operating results, setting another record in quarterly sales and earnings.

  • AZZ is pleased to have made the most recent Forbes magazine list of 100 fastest-growing companies. AZZ's overall rank, based on a three-year average annual growth rate, was number 28. Individual rankings were 25th in earnings per share, 79th in revenue growth and 8th in total return to our shareholders. It also noted that we have achieved 21 consecutive years of profitability.

  • Our products and services are well positioned to continue to expand and benefit from the strong infrastructure rebuild and replacement market, which includes the upgrade to the aging distribution substations, the transmission grid, the much-needed expansionatory spending in the petrochemical market and the replacement of power generation facilities, all enhancing our growth potential.

  • While we anticipate that current market demand will continue, the timing of the projects and the release of orders will always have an impact on the quarterly recognition of bookings, backlog, revenues and earnings and will result in quarter-to-quarter fluctuations which may be greater than true changes in market demand or our competitive position and successes.

  • Based upon the evaluation of information currently available to management, we are pleased to project another increase in our revenue and earnings guidance for fiscal 2009. We are now projecting that FY '09 revenues will be between $420 million and $430 million and earnings per share to be between $3.25 and $3.35.

  • We continue to build upon the success we've been able to achieve and continually strive to enhance the performance of the Company. Our estimates assume that we will not have any significant delays in the delivery of our electrical and industrial products or that there will not be a significant change in galvanizing demand, pricing or any further adverse weather conditions prior to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.

  • Again, thank you for your participation today. At this time, we will open it up for any questions you might have.

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions). John Franzreb, Sidoti & Company.

  • John Franzreb - Analyst

  • Good morning David and Dana. First question, regarding those two international contracts -- could you, A, provide a little bit of color behind the contracts, what products you're shipping and where you are shipping them to?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Yes. The two of them that totaled about $23 million, John, they were made up of a large contract into Canada and a large contract into Saudi Arabia.

  • John Franzreb - Analyst

  • And to what end markets? Are these both --?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • They are high-voltage bus duct systems, transmission.

  • John Franzreb - Analyst

  • Okay. And did I hear you correctly? You said there's two other potential ones but the timing of that is kind of uncertain at this point. Did I hear you correctly there, David?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • I said there's additional ones, John, but I don't know the timing well enough to say whether they will favorably impact this year or we will see them again in the first part of next year.

  • John Franzreb - Analyst

  • Okay. I guess I've got to ask this question. With the tightening of credit standards, does that impact your business in any way? Do you have any sense of the potential impact on your demand profile with tightening credit?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Direct demand on AZZ would be limited to how it would impact projects that are three to four years out. John, what we are hopeful for is that this current crunch is beyond. In other words, the projects we're working on right now I'm hoping are already funded. It would be some of those that are on the drawing board that may have issues related to this credit crunch. It's too early to tell but we believe that would be a two-year out impact.

  • John Franzreb - Analyst

  • Okay, great. That helps. One last question -- volume in the Galvanizing was up 12% year-over-year. A, was that all organic? B, if it wasn't, what is the driver of the organic portion of that? Is there any kind of geographic concentration in the organic volume growth? Can you walk us through those numbers?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Yes. The organic growth is being driven the most by electrical generation, transmission and petrochem, all infrastructure related, John. And it is reflected and the same thing is driving some of our electrical -- is the buildout of power generation plants that were in our area, the transmission grid work that is going on. But the heaviest would've been the strong spending in the petrochem market.

  • John Franzreb - Analyst

  • Okay, so that would mean most of the work is Gulf Coast work?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Yes, it does.

  • John Franzreb - Analyst

  • Okay. Thank you very much, David.

  • Operator

  • Ned Borland, Next Generation Equity Research.

  • Ned Borland - Analyst

  • Good morning, guys. Good quarter. In the release, there was a discussion of a timing issue on some orders that slipped into the third quarter. Can you break that out for us?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Ned, essentially, with the improvement we have had in the Electrical and Industrial business, actually that has lifted the whole utilization levels of our industry. Some of our key suppliers have had some issues adjusting to that, which has then come downstream to us and has delayed some of our orders from the second into the third. That, combined with some of the issues of late releases of orders from customers as a result of engineering backlog, had caused about $5 million of volume to shift from the second quarter to the third quarter.

  • Ned Borland - Analyst

  • Okay, so it is fair to assume that you will get a $5 million improvement in sales next year -- or I'm sorry next quarter?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • If they have improved their deliveries as promised, Ned. We believe that is the case and yes, we do believe that there is always a chance that we could hit another bubble, but we believe the worst of it is over with.

  • Ned Borland - Analyst

  • Okay, fair enough. Then on the capacity front, the $190 million backlog, are you guys kind of getting tight on the capacity front now or are you thinking about maybe expanding your capacity at some point?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Well, we believe that the opportunities are well within our reaction time of expansion if required, but overall we would be at about that 74%, 75% level. Some of the opportunities say we may have to consider some expansion 18 months out, but I do still believe it is within our reaction time, Ned.

  • Ned Borland - Analyst

  • Okay. Then finally on the hurricane front, you remarked about Galvanizing that you're probably not going to see the level of business that you saw in the wake of Katrina. But I was wondering, on the Electrical and Industrial Products side, is there some I guess maybe quick-turn business or some kind of refurbishment action that would happen for you there?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • There is always that potential. To date, we have not seen any significant requests for that, Ned. But great areas are still without power, so we could still hear from them. But what we have seen now has not been that significant.

  • Ned Borland - Analyst

  • Okay, fair enough. Thank you.

  • Operator

  • Fred Buonocore, CJS Securities.

  • Fred Buonocore - Analyst

  • Good morning. Great quarter. Just along the hurricane line, just to make sure that I am clear, it sounds like you had some minimal damage to your galvanizing facilities there on the Texas Gulf Coast but fortunately your employees are safe. Just wanted to be clear. You had disruption to some business due to electrical power outages. Are you still experiencing disruptions even as of today?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • We had three facilities that were impacted by power outages. One was the Houston galvanizing; one was Beaumont galvanizing; the other was our lighting company in Houston. The two galvanizing operations have restored full power and are back to full operation, about 70% to 80% of operational level. Our lighting company still does not have power back to it. We are hopeful that we will have it on Monday.

  • So we did have three facilities. We are operating with back-up generation at the lighting company, able to ship some product, but not able to produce additional product. But on the galvanizing side, the Houston galvanizing was the first to come back up; Beaumont came back up this week; and hopefully the lighting will come back up next week.

  • So as we say, the physical damage to our facilities was very limited, but we lost more production and more disruption as a result of power outages.

  • Fred Buonocore - Analyst

  • Got it. In that case, are you able to typically shift production to a different facility? I realize that geographic proximity is key to that business, but was this a case where you would be able to do some of the work at a different facility and then ship it from there, or that is not really possible?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Well, yes, we can, but the issue was all of our customers were without power also. But as they come back, yes, if we have an overload position, yes we still have that option. But unfortunately our customers were without power also.

  • Fred Buonocore - Analyst

  • Understood. And so to your best estimation, with these disruptions, I'm assuming that is factored into your guidance at this point.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Yes it is. It is fully factored in.

  • Fred Buonocore - Analyst

  • Great. Then just in terms of the component pricing as that impacts your electrical products business, what have you been seeing lately on component pricing?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • I assume we are talking about like copper and steel and so forth?

  • Fred Buonocore - Analyst

  • Right.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • We see a little bit of easing on the copper and some of the -- of course, we are seeing the easing on the cost of zinc and everything else.

  • The unknown that is still out there is -- what is going to be the longer-term impact of steel? Some of the forecasts that you read are quite frightening. We had a very modest month of change but compared to a year ago, it is quite staggering. The forecast that we see and some of the quotes we see are of concern. So I would say our largest concern and our largest level of unpredictability is the cost of steel.

  • Fred Buonocore - Analyst

  • Understood. Then finally, just from a macro standpoint, are there any of your end markets on either side of your business where you are starting to see softness in orders or accelerating weakness in orders and that is just kind of being overrun or compensated for by such strong demand in petrochem and generation, transmission, distribution?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • On a macro basis, that is correct. Now, of course, with 20 facilities on the galvanizing side, there are pockets where you do see the easing of the GDP adversely impacting us or slowing the rate of growth that we have been having. But we have not had a real adverse impact yet.

  • But our customers in certain segments, or certain locations, are expressing some concern to us, but overall we are very fortunate how much is being driven by the infrastructure.

  • Fred Buonocore - Analyst

  • Very good. Thank you very much.

  • Operator

  • Brent Thielman, D.A. Davidson.

  • Brent Thielman - Analyst

  • Good morning and congratulations. Just curious on the galvanizing side, between AAA and sort of the rest of your business. Are you seeing any difference in pressures on pricing for those two businesses, or for the two separate businesses?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Are you talking about our traditional galvanizing versus AAA?

  • Brent Thielman - Analyst

  • That is right.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • No, no, we have been fortunate. Yes, you are seeing pressures but we are resisting at the same level in both. So we're trying to assimilate them into our philosophy of doing business; they are doing a great job at that. They are really coming on board.

  • But there is one facility that we have that did have a larger customer who was in the automotive industry, so that area is a little bit. But in general, I would say that it is not greater there than that is here.

  • Brent Thielman - Analyst

  • Okay, okay. Then I guess just certainly a great quarter in terms of margins in the Electrical and Industrial Products business. Is there anything else abnormal that sort of contributed to that? Any project earnouts or anything of that nature in the quarter?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • No. We talked in the first quarter about our Electrical and Industrial markets were a little bit below our guidance. In the second quarter, they were a little bit above our guidance, but we are comfortable with that 17% that we're now projecting for the full year for there. We are comfortable with the 26.5% that we are protecting for Galvanizing for the full year. So we did not have any surprises.

  • Brent Thielman - Analyst

  • Okay. Thanks a lot guys and congratulations again.

  • Operator

  • J.D. Padgett, The Boston Company.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Hi, nice results. One question just on the hurricane topic -- so is it fair to think, if you did not have the hurricane, obviously revenues would be higher as those plants weren't impacted and the guidance probably would have gone up more?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • No. I think the opportunity we get will probably offset the missed days of production.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • The opportunity, what, in just some of the rebuild effort?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Yes. In other words, our involvement in the rebuild of the damage that was done -- we believe it will pretty much offset the lost days of production.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay. I guess, as we look at the November quarter, maybe some of that revenue has to then just slip out because of those facilities being down.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • No. If we -- okay, we lost production days because of the hurricane. We have some incremental business because of the hurricane. We believe those are equal.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • So, if we had not had the hurricane, I believe it would be almost identical to where it's -- the result of having the hurricane.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • So even in a November quarter where the month of September was probably largely lost because of power and evacuation and all that stuff, you make it up in October and November I guess?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Right. We only lost five days of production at one plant and five days in another, so out of 20 plants and the total operating, it is not that big a number.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay. It is only five days?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Five days, two different locations, yes.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay. It doesn't sound like they are even yet operating at full production though and we are, what, 15 or I guess 10 days after?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Right, but again, it is at about 80% level. We still believe we have got it factored into our guidance.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay. Another question on SG&A -- it looked like it stepped up pretty good sequentially. Anything behind that?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • It is just a reflection of the higher earnings, so higher profit sharing to all of our employees.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay. The insurance gain, I know in the script, you talked about that being $1.3 million. But then if I look at the P&L, it looks like it was $1.148 million.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • All right. If you notice, in the press release, that the word insurance is not indented at the same level. It should read the insurance claim net of all other. So there was an offset in that, so that 1, 1 -- I think it is 1.148 that you're looking at there is -- if we didn't have that alignment there, it would read net of other of about $200,000 going the other direction.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Sorry about that.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • That's okay. That explains that. Then the E&I operating margin, you kind of answered this a little bit, that you thought maybe an average of the first two quarters here is kind of what we would see through the rest of the year.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Yes.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • That is I think somewhat higher than kind of what your long-term targets have been prior.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • That is correct.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay. What accounts for that?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • I think just a little more price realization, I think our constant emphasis on that. I think we're just realizing about a 1% more price realization than probably the last time that we did a presentation.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay. The strong quarter this last quarter wasn't necessarily due to a bunch of turnaround or anything? It was just good pricing and good execution?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • There was some quick-turn jobs in there but not an abnormal level. It had the amount that we would normally see in a quarter. So, I think it was execution and a great product mix across it. I think there is probably 1% percent more of price realization in the quarter than we had previously seen.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay, and tax rate going forward, what should we be thinking there? It was, what, 37.7% in this quarter.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • About 37% to 37.5% will be correct.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • For the year?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Yes.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Is that for the year overall or for the next couple quarters?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • The year overall, the total year. The blended rate for the year should be right at 37%.

  • J.D. Padgett - Analyst

  • Okay, good. That's all I got. Thank you.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Thank you.

  • Operator

  • Noah Steinberg, Intrepid Capital.

  • Noah Steinberg - Analyst

  • Nice quarter. Just a quick question -- I may have missed this earlier, but David, I'm just wondering if you can give us some commentary about the month of September in terms of order activity, since it seems like many people are worried about a big slowdown in industrial businesses right now.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • We do not comment on months within a quarter. We only comment on the total quarter activity, and so I don't -- I really don't want to get into a discussion on the month of September.

  • Noah Steinberg - Analyst

  • Okay. Of these two bigger contracts, how much of those contracts are going to be recognized this year versus next year?

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Most of it is next year. There is some there, the Saudi Arabia, that will be this year; but most of the Canadian one would be next year. So, I apologize for not having that number, but I would say probably two-thirds next year and one-third this year.

  • Noah Steinberg - Analyst

  • Okay. So it gives you some nice visibility into next year as well.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Yes.

  • Noah Steinberg - Analyst

  • Okay. Great, thanks again.

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions). There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. David Dingus for any closing remarks.

  • David Dingus - President, CEO

  • Again, we appreciate your participation today and look forward to speaking to you again at the end of the next quarter, and again appreciate your support and consistency during this difficult time. All right, thank you, have a great day.

  • Operator

  • Thank you for participating in today's conference call. You may now disconnect.