DMC Global Inc (BOOM) 2017 Q4 法說會逐字稿

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  • Operator

  • Greetings, and welcome to the DMC Global 2017 Fourth Quarter Earnings Call.

  • (Operator Instructions)

  • As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

  • I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Geoff High, Vice President of Investor Relations.

  • Thank you.

  • Please begin.

  • Geoff High - VP of IR

  • Hello, and welcome to DMC's Fourth Quarter Conference Call.

  • Presenting today are President and CEO, Kevin Longe; and CFO, Mike Kuta.

  • I'd like to remind everyone that matters discussed during this call may include forward-looking statements that are based on our estimates, projections and assumptions as of today's date and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are disclosed in our filings with the SEC.

  • Our business is subject to certain risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements.

  • DMC assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.

  • A webcast replay of today's call will be available at dmcglobal.com after the call.

  • In addition, a telephone replay will we made available approximately 2 hours after the call.

  • Details for listening to the replay are available in today's news release.

  • And so with that, I'll now turn the call over to Kevin Longe.

  • Kevin?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Thanks, Geoff.

  • And hello, everyone.

  • DMC reported a strong finish to fiscal 2017 with fourth quarter sales and gross margin exceeding our forecast.

  • Fourth quarter sales were $54.5 million, which was up 4% sequentially and 36% versus last year's fourth quarter.

  • The results were driven by another record quarter at DynaEnergetics, our oilfield products business, which reported sales of $37.1 million, up 5% sequentially and 115% versus the comparable quarter last year.

  • During the fourth quarter, DynaEnergetics accelerated production of its intrinsically safe DynaSelect detonators and factory-assembled, performance-assured DynaStage perforating system.

  • The reliability, efficiency and cost benefits of these advanced technologies continued to drive strong demand from operators and service companies in North America's onshore, unconventional oil and gas sector.

  • NobelClad, our explosion welding business, reported fourth quarter sales of $17.4 million, a 3% sequential improvement and a 24% decline versus the 2016 fourth quarter.

  • The year-over-year decline reflects the impact of several orders that were pulled forward into the 2016 fourth quarter as well as continued weakness in global industrial infrastructure spending.

  • Fourth quarter consolidated gross margin was 33%, which was flat sequentially and up from 25% in last year's fourth quarter.

  • Higher average selling prices and a more profitable product mix at DynaEnergetics drove the year-over-year improvement.

  • At the business level, DynaEnergetics gross margin was 38%, while NobleClad's was 22%.

  • We recorded $3.8 million in fourth quarter restructuring charges associated with the consolidation of NobleClad's European manufacturing facilities.

  • Excluding the charges, fourth quarter adjusted operating income was $4.3 million versus an operating loss of $1.9 million in last year's fourth quarter.

  • DynaEnergetics reported operating income of $6.6 million, while NobelClad reported adjusted operating income, which excludes restructuring charges of $777,000.

  • Fourth quarter adjusted net income was $1.3 million or $0.09 per diluted share versus a net loss of $2.2 million or $0.15 per diluted share in the year-ago fourth quarter.

  • This year's fourth quarter included an income tax provision of $1.6 million.

  • $946,000 of the provision was a transition tax related to the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

  • Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was $7.7 million versus $8.6 million in the third quarter and $1.5 million in the 2017 fourth quarter.

  • At the business level, DynaEnergetics reported fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA of $8.3 million, while adjusted EBITDA at NobelClad was $1.5 million.

  • The momentum we carried in the fourth quarter has continued into fiscal 2018.

  • Customer demand continues to grow at DynaEnergetics, which is proceeding on schedule with a significant expansion of its production and assembly capacity.

  • The business opened 2 new DynaStage assembly lines at our manufacturing facility at Mt.

  • Braddock, Pennsylvania.

  • And a new automated detonator line will begin production at our facility in Troisdorf, Germany, next month.

  • This new detonator line will double the production capacity of our DynaSelect and DynaStage initiators and provide important manufacturing redundancy.

  • In Blum, Texas, the foundation is being poured and utilities are in place on 74,000 square feet of additional manufacturing, assembly and administrative space.

  • These facilities will house 2 new highly automated shaped-charge production lines that are expected to be operational in July.

  • They also will provide additional DynaStage assembly space as well as room for new administrative offices.

  • We are on pace to commence operations at the facility in the third quarter of this year.

  • Earlier this week, DynaEnergetics announced a favorable ruling by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeals Board regarding a patent infringement action filed against the business by GEODynamics.

  • DynaEnergetics denied it had infringed on the patent and questioned its validity.

  • The appeals board agreed with DynaEnergetics and ruled that the challenged claims are unpatentable.

  • In NobelClad, 2 large orders booked during the fourth quarter increased the order backlog to $37.5 million, which is the strongest backlog reported by the business since the first quarter of 2016.

  • Although capital spending in most of NobleClad's industrial end markets has not shown meaningful improvement, quoting activity has been healthy, and the business is optimistic it will achieve improved bookings during 2018.

  • At DMC, we recently entered into a new $75 million credit facility that will give us important financial flexibility as DynaEnergetics executes its capacity expansion.

  • In addition, our businesses have now gone a record 11 consecutive months without a lost-time accident, which is especially notable given the expansion of our workforce during that time frame.

  • I'm very pleased by the performance of our businesses during 2017 and even more encouraged by our prospects for 2018.

  • DynaEnergetics is transforming the operating model of the perforating industry, and this has resulted in a strong response from the businesses' expanding customer base.

  • NobelClad remains at the forefront of the global explosion welding industry and is pursuing a series of new application opportunities that should strengthen long-term demand.

  • Given the improved fundamentals of both businesses, I am confident DMC is ideally positioned to continue its financial and operational growth during the coming year and beyond.

  • With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike for some additional comments on our fourth quarter financial results and outlook for 2018.

  • Mike?

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • Thanks, Kevin.

  • And good afternoon, everyone.

  • I'll start with a review of our fourth quarter expenses.

  • SG&A was $12.5 million or 23% of sales versus $10.9 million or 27% of sales in the fourth quarter last year.

  • The increase resulted primarily from higher salaries and wages as well as increased outside legal expense associated with ongoing patent litigation.

  • Fourth quarter amortization expense was $1 million or 2% of sales.

  • As Kevin mentioned, in the fourth quarter of 2017, we recorded a provisional U.S. tax liability of $946,000 for the transition tax related to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in late December.

  • The transition tax is on historic foreign earnings that had not been taxed in the U.S. We believe the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will benefit us both with a reduction of the tax rate on U.S. earnings from 35% to 21% and with the move to a territorial system that will enable us to bring back profits earned in foreign jurisdictions with minimal U.S. tax impact.

  • Looking at our balance sheet.

  • We ended 2017 with cash and cash equivalents of $9 million.

  • Net debt was also $9 million, down from $9.3 million at the end of fiscal 2016 and $13.1 million at the end of the third quarter.

  • We generated cash from operating activities of $6.2 million during the fourth quarter, while full year operating cash flow was $6.7 million.

  • With respect to guidance, we expect first quarter sales will be in a range of $59 million to $62 million versus the $39 million we reported in last year's first quarter.

  • DynaEnergetics sales should be in a range of $43 million to $45 million, and we expect NobelClad sales should be in the $16 million to $17 million.

  • First quarter gross margin should be 30% to 31% versus the 27% in last year's first quarter.

  • SG&A is expected to be approximately $12.5 million versus the $11.7 million reported in Q1 last year, while amortization expense is expected to be approximately $800,000.

  • We anticipate adjusted EBITDA of approximately $8.5 million versus the $930,000 reported in last year's first quarter.

  • For the full fiscal year, we expect sales in a range of $255 million to $270 million, up from last year's $192.8 million.

  • We expect sales at DynaEnergetics to be in a range of $180 million to $190 million and NobelClad sales in a range of $75 million to $80 million.

  • Gross margin is expected in a range of 31% to 32% versus the 31% in 2017.

  • Full year SG&A should be in a range of $50 million to $52 million.

  • The anticipated increase versus the $45.7 million reported last year is primarily due to capacity expansion initiatives at DynaEnergetics.

  • Full year amortization expense is expected to decline to $3 million from the $4.1 million in 2017.

  • The decline reflects the full amortization of a portion of DynaEnergetics' intangible asset balance.

  • 2018 adjusted EBITDA is expected in a range of $39 million to $43 million, up from 2017 adjusted EBITDA of $23.1 million.

  • We anticipate approximately $1.5 million in additional restructuring expense related to the completion of NobelClad's European consolidation.

  • Full year interest expense is expected in a range of $2 million to $2.25 million.

  • Capital expenditures in 2018 are expected to total approximately $30 million, $25 million of which will relate to the capacity expansion at DynaEnergetics.

  • Our total debt should top out at approximately $40 million later this year and should then begin to decline once the new capacity at DynaEnergetics comes online.

  • As Kevin noted, we recently entered into a $75 million credit agreement, which consists of a $50 million senior secured revolver and a $25 million capital expenditure facility.

  • The revolver replaces our former $35 million revolving facility.

  • After 1 year, the capital expenditure facility converts to a term loan that amortizes at 12.5% per annum over the remaining 4-year term.

  • We intend to use the term loan for DynaEnergetics capacity expansion initiatives.

  • And with that, we are ready to take any questions.

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Jeff (sic) [Gerry] Sweeney with Roth Capital.

  • Gerard J. Sweeney - MD & Senior Research Analyst

  • My first -- I think the real question here is we've always talked about the market opportunity, how big this market could be and how much of the market DMC can be.

  • And we're looking at this guidance for this year and you actually have capacity constraints with -- and then you're adding capacity in the second half.

  • Could you maybe frame out what you're looking for -- I mean, this is looking out to 2019.

  • But looking out, what does this market opportunity present to you guys?

  • I mean, it's got to be quite large, and you must have a cat by the tail at this point?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Well, thank you, for that.

  • I don't quite feel we have the cat by the tail, but we're comfortable with the guidance that we're giving for this year.

  • And our ability to hit that guidance is dependent on our ability to execute and execute well, which I have a lot of confidence in our team.

  • I believe the growth after 2018 is really predicated on how our markets perform.

  • Gerard J. Sweeney - MD & Senior Research Analyst

  • Got it.

  • And -- I mean, as you're looking at customers, I mean, are you -- let's put it this way.

  • If you add this capacity and you double capacity or how -- are you going to be sold out?

  • I mean, can you see what your customers are requesting today versus what you have versus the expansion projects in place?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Right now, our demand or the demand for our intrinsically safe products is exceeding our capacity.

  • And as we bring on capacity, we would expect our revenues to continue to improve as well as our earnings.

  • The -- we're not trying to be all things to all people, Gerry, and we are interested in making sure that we support our customers and help them to be successful in the marketplace and more profitable, which is driving our technology investments.

  • And so I really think that as we go on from here, it's -- we're not trying to corner the market on our initiating systems.

  • We're just trying to serve the customers that value those products and that we can help to perform well for their E&P customers.

  • Gerard J. Sweeney - MD & Senior Research Analyst

  • Sure.

  • I mean, they check a lot of boxes in terms of efficiency, power saving, et cetera, so...

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Yes.

  • And Gerry, we've got good competitors in the industry too, and so I don't want to ever get overconfident in the skills and abilities of our competitors to -- in this marketplace.

  • Gerard J. Sweeney - MD & Senior Research Analyst

  • That was -- that's what the natural follow-up is.

  • Obviously, I think you must be shaking things up a little bit, and clearly people must be taking notice.

  • How strong is your competitive advantage?

  • We've spoken about this in the past in terms of DynaSelect has had with the market [switch] technology, et cetera, at -- everything like that.

  • But as you're looking out into the market, just maybe some commentary on how far ahead of the competition you?

  • Or what's that vote per se?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Okay.

  • Well, I know what we're working on.

  • I don't know what they are working on.

  • And again, I don't want to underestimate.

  • We've got smart competitors that have resources that they can dedicate to this market.

  • We do -- we've been working on our intrinsically safe product line, our detonator product line, for many years.

  • We're in revision #7 or 8 in terms of the product improvements that we've made to that product, and that product is helping us to do some of the other things that we do such as selling our DynaStage systems.

  • And we have know-how and technology around the product itself.

  • We also have know-how and technology around the manufacturing of these specialized detonators, and so we feel fairly comfortable with our competitive position.

  • However, there are other ways for accomplishing the same end result.

  • They are not as safe or as effective or reliable as the technology that we have, but there is -- we do have competition on it.

  • Gerard J. Sweeney - MD & Senior Research Analyst

  • Got it.

  • No.

  • And I don't want to underestimate the competition.

  • That's certainly for sure.

  • So I hate -- I know you don't want to get too much into this, but you did put some pricing across all DynaEnergetics products, 5% to 8%, back in January.

  • Just curious is this a function of recapturing some price concessions from years past?

  • And with this recent price raise, are you back to where you would you like to be?

  • Or is there opportunity?

  • And is this, the price increase, does that offset any of your own costs?

  • Or was this just an opportunity to gain price and margin, et cetera?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Well, the -- we have had some cost increases in this market.

  • We'll have more going forward.

  • And obviously, we want to stay neutral with those price increases and if possible strengthen our margins.

  • To date, we've been recovering margins from the downturn.

  • The -- and there's a supply-and-demand aspect to the ability to raise prices.

  • But more importantly, it depends on our ability to create products that help our customers to perform better and to be more profitable.

  • And that ultimately is determining the value that we get for our products.

  • And we have a number of improvements that we intend to keep introducing as this year progresses and as well as into next year.

  • And our ability to stay out in front of the technologies can determine our pricing power.

  • Gerard J. Sweeney - MD & Senior Research Analyst

  • Got it.

  • And this is a question about the Blum facility, the expansion.

  • Expected to be, I guess, opening in I think you said July.

  • I think there's a natural ramp-up progress or progression that it doesn't go from 0 to full capacity day 1. So what would a natural progression of that launch or opening, how would that sort of progress through the year from, we'll say, from start to fuller capacity?

  • And I'm assuming that is just additive revenue for the second half of the year.

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • And it's baked into our guidance.

  • But throughout the year, our capability will increase.

  • It's -- these capital programs take time.

  • We actually were forward with this in 2017 where we started placing orders for equipment and working on the design of our production lines and our building.

  • We've had machining equipment already delivered in a couple of our facilities.

  • We have the detonator line, which is a critical and high-technology line, being delivered in Germany sometime this month.

  • It'll be up and running in April.

  • We have 2 new buildings under construction in Blum, Texas, one which will house the assembly space for our DynaStage factory-assembled, performance-assured perforating systems.

  • It also will include more machining capacity.

  • We've got the machine tools on order.

  • We expect those to be delivered beginning in May and through June, July, August.

  • We've got bunkers in -- a bunker under construction, shaped-charge -- 2 shaped-charge lines and buildings.

  • The 2 shaped-charged lines are ordered.

  • The building is under construction.

  • We expect this to be complete in the third quarter, and we'll start to see the capacity start ramping in the third quarter and carried on through the balance of the year.

  • Obviously, we wish it was onboard right now, but we also felt that we ordered and started this process at the right time given how the industry was unfolding and evolving in a positive way.

  • Gerard J. Sweeney - MD & Senior Research Analyst

  • Yes, sure.

  • The growth has been exceptional so, I mean, can't complain about that.

  • Just one more then I'll jump back in line.

  • Your competitor that likes to challenge the patent aspect on the shaped charges, are they going to -- with this last defeat onwards, I know they have several lawsuits out there.

  • Any sign of them giving up?

  • And what has been the -- what's the legal, like, cost run rate?

  • I think it's been upward -- almost close to $1 million, if my memory serves correct.

  • And is that in SG&A guidance and et cetera for the rest of this year?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • In 2017, we spent approximately $4 million on legal fees, the majority of which was related to defending these patents or the patent challenges.

  • The -- our competitor is a smart competitor, and they're determined people.

  • We respect them.

  • And it's -- we've been fortunate to date on the rulings, but we don't -- we've got a couple of other actions that are taking place.

  • And we're not letting our guard down on that nor getting overly confident that winning the 4 to date issues doesn't necessarily will mean we'll win on the next couple.

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • And I'd say -- this is Mike, Gerry, I'd say that in the 2018 guidance we've got a similar level of spend as we did in 2017, just noting that it's difficult to predict the legal expenses.

  • Operator

  • Our next question comes from the line of Edward Marshall with Sidoti & Company.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • Listen, I wanted to ask -- I wanted to start with the capacity expansion, the $25 million at DynaEnergetics.

  • What does that do to your capacity?

  • Kind of talk about maybe the timing and maybe -- if you include even the revenues associated with it, I'd appreciate it.

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • The -- well, we're not giving guidance yet in terms of the revenues for '19, but we do feel that with this capacity in place that we won't be capacity driven.

  • We'll be market driven after completion of these projects.

  • They -- we're -- we've grown quite a bit compared to the prior year.

  • We expect to grow a fair amount this year.

  • Just to put it in perspective, adding this detonator line will more than double our capacity in detonators, which has been one of the bottlenecks, along with shaped-charge production.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • So I mean, is it -- can we look at it as a function of maybe volume that you produced this year?

  • And talk about the volume that you might assume if the market has the demand there that you'd be able -- or at least what you'd be able to produce?

  • Just trying to get a perspective of what it really means for -- what $25 million is actually buying.

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Well, we're doubling our detonator capacity, and we're -- in Texas, we're tripling our shaped-charge capacity.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • And what does that do to gun systems?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • They've really follow those components.

  • The other variable, detonating cord, which we do not have any capacity constraints on, or hardware -- guns, which are not necessarily an issue either.

  • We've got a supply base for guns.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • So are you saying that if you had to double capacity for detonators and -- I think you said triple capacity for shaped charges that you'd be able to at least double your gun systems that you sent in the fourth -- you sold in the fourth quarter?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Yes.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • Okay.

  • And I'm curious.

  • With the $25 million, I guess the term loan, you talked about the amortization of about 12.5%.

  • Does that run through interest expense?

  • Or does that run as a function of D&A?

  • And I'm curious if there are other -- if there's penalties for paying that down early.

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • Yes.

  • This is Mike.

  • It does run through interest expense, so it's an adjustment to EBITDA.

  • And there's no prepayment penalty on the term loan that's going to be used to fund the CapEx expansion.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • And am I correct in thinking that's about 12.5% interest rate?

  • Is that the way it was -- it is explained?

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • The amortization is 12.5% per year, but the interest rate follows our underlying revolver, which is LIBOR plus a spread.

  • So currently, we're paying about -- in the roughly 4% range for interest expense.

  • And that's both the revolver for working capital as well as the term loan for the CapEx.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • Got it.

  • Okay, okay.

  • So it wasn't [interest] expense.

  • When I look at -- when I think about this capacity coming online, obviously, you're capacity constrained right now.

  • I want to know what you think about what that does to pricing in the business.

  • I mean, obviously, you'd like to hold it, but I know that there's a function of kind of, "Hey,we're short on demand.

  • You want the product, you got to pay for it." How do you think about that as you kind of move into 2019?

  • More importantly, I guess, how would your customers think about it?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Well, I don't think we're trying to take advantage of a shortage of supply.

  • Our customers that we're trying to support are very important to us, and we're trying to price our products in a way that they can depend upon.

  • And as this capacity comes onstream, we're going to go from being capacity constrained to having the ability to supply.

  • And so we're charting kind of a fair and smooth course through that and really pricing based on the value that our products create for our customers.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • Okay.

  • Are you just -- maybe I can ask a different way.

  • You're looking at -- I'm looking at the last 2 quarterly gross margin around 33%.

  • As we look at the guide for Q1, it steps down about 200 basis points in the guide.

  • I'm curious what's the function behind the step-down in gross margin?

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • The step-down in the first quarter is just soft or weak margins in NobelClad.

  • It's a combination of the lower sales levels of $16 to $17 million.

  • There's part -- and most of it though is product mix because we're shipping a portion of the large $7.4 million order that we announced in last quarter.

  • A portion of that is shipping in the first quarter, a big portion of that.

  • So it carries lower margins.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • Got it.

  • So there was some favorable pricing on that $7.4 million order?

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • It's just a matter of the materials involved, and it's just a little bit of a lower margin order than our average order, if you will.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • Got it.

  • You mentioned materials, I guess it's a good segue to the next question.

  • What do the tariffs mean to Dynamic Materials or DMC Global?

  • I understand you're kind of a global business, so maybe you could put that in perspective.

  • But also, you consumed a lot of those materials onshore and you ship overseas as well, so maybe kind of talk about how you think about tariffs and what that might mean to the business?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Yes.

  • What's most important, and I'll discuss NobelClad first, is that our fabricator customers are profitable.

  • And we do have some concern that the fabricator customers their cost of materials are going up.

  • They're also competing with fabricators for the types of projects that we work on, on a global basis.

  • And so we're concerned that it's going to lessen their competitiveness competing against other fabricators that come from outside of the country.

  • So that's a concern.

  • Steel prices, aluminum prices will go up, and -- which means the cost of our raw materials are going to go up.

  • And we pass those costs on.

  • We're fortunate to have a very strong facility in Germany, and we have the opportunity to supply from different locations.

  • So we also have to look at how that market and that economy responds to these tariffs, and that is yet to be determined.

  • But I could see some potential dislocation of work from here to other facilities that we have depending on their competitiveness.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • And did you want to touch on DynaEnergetics?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • DynaEnergetics is consumable.

  • We've -- the steel that goes into their perforating guns we'll probably see increases on, and those increases will be passed on in terms of the cost of our products.

  • And so ultimately, it has an impact on the competitiveness of -- not the competitiveness, excuse me, but the profitability of our customers, E&P customers that are using, not just our products but everybody's products.

  • I don't think it changes our competitive position as much as it changes the cost of perforating equipment going into the well.

  • Edward James Marshall - Research Analyst

  • Got it.

  • And then my final question for me is you had another multitax quarter.

  • I'm sure you're looking to put that behind you just as much as we are.

  • But can you try to talk about what U.S. tax reform means to DMC?

  • And how you expect your maybe effective tax rate is that probably easier to discuss for 2018 and beyond?

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • Yes, Ed.

  • 2018 will still be challenging for the next couple of quarters to calculate a meaningful rate because we're still in loss positions in certain jurisdictions where we can't record the associated benefits.

  • And then in other profitable jurisdictions, we're recording tax expense.

  • So still going to be wavy here in 2018.

  • But overall, the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is beneficial for us in -- from a medium- to longer-term perspective.

  • Our effective tax rate globally should be sub-30%.

  • Probably in that 28% range is the way to think about it.

  • Operator

  • Our next question comes from the line of Samir Patel with Askedden (sic) [Askeladden] Capital.

  • Samir Patel - Founder & Portfolio Manager

  • E

  • So I guess to start off, kind of going back to Gerry's questions and some of the other analysts' questions and then trying to approach it from a different way.

  • You guys have kind of talked about trying to get a 20% share of the market that is suitable for the high-end premium products that you provide.

  • Talk about all these capacity expansions and all that, can you look at -- the guidance for DynaEnergetics for 2018, what component of that is U.S.?

  • And then what market share of the U.S. market does that represent to kind of help us get a better understanding of what it looks like in the out -years?

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • Yes.

  • Samir, in our forecast, DynaEnergetics, the Americas is becoming an increasingly large share of the global sales, and so ballpark 80% for North America in terms of total sales for 2018.

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • And as far as the market share or market size is concerned, you've got an estimate of our revenues.

  • We're expecting the market to continue to grow nicely this year.

  • Our share is really capped by our capacity.

  • And right now, it's kind of a moving target on how fast the market goes -- grows.

  • And I prefer not to get into share because it varies by different product lines that we have.

  • And our share is really driven by our intrinsically safe detonating systems, our initiating systems in which we don't necessarily have a direct competitor.

  • Samir Patel - Founder & Portfolio Manager

  • Sure.

  • Okay.

  • Transitioning from the top line to the margin side.

  • Obviously, you guys are expecting pretty good revenue growth next year.

  • I was actually a little surprised that you're not expecting higher EBITDA margins.

  • Your litigious friends at GEODynamics got acquired by Oil States, and so there is some interesting information there.

  • And it looks like their margins in the GEODynamics segment are about 23%, 25% is what they're expecting, which is fairly similar or maybe even a little bit higher than what it looks like you're expecting out of DynaEnergetics.

  • So I'm curious.

  • Is there any -- in this year's guidance, is there any impact from ramping up these new facilities that maybe won't be as efficient kind of day 1?

  • And then how do you see that margin playing out over time?

  • Is it going to be stable?

  • Or do you expect to continue to gain a few points of margin in the energetics side?

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • Yes, Samir.

  • This is Mike again.

  • So DynaEnergetics, their EBITDA margins are probably going to be -- we anticipate in the 23% to 25% range, so I think that lines up pretty well.

  • When you look at DMC consolidated in our guidance, it's probably closer to 15% with the addition of NobelClad in the corporate structure.

  • Samir Patel - Founder & Portfolio Manager

  • Okay, got it.

  • And does that -- I mean, with Dyna, again kind of going back to the pricing and the other questions, I mean, do you feel like you're at sort of the margins you want to be at?

  • Or do you feel that as you continue to grow the business there's opportunities for margin expansion?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • We're not quite at the margins that we'd like to see.

  • We expect to see some growth in margin, which we'll get through both volume and efficiency as the business continues to grow.

  • There are some pricing opportunity or I should say cost opportunity, margin improvement with some of the new products that we'll be introducing as the year unfolds.

  • Samir Patel - Founder & Portfolio Manager

  • All right.

  • And then kind of looking past 2018.

  • I mean, obviously you guys are spending a lot of money on capacity expansion.

  • But after that, you should be generating fairly significant free cash flow.

  • Other than paying down that term loan, what are your -- what has your focus become at that point in terms of strategically financially allocating that?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Yes.

  • We -- one of our objectives is to have a very strong balance sheet.

  • We're going to pay down the term loan as well as try to fund our working capital growth out of our earnings and start using our cash like we have been using it, which is to invest in new product and new technologies and new capabilities.

  • And those could take a number of different avenues as we look forward.

  • Samir Patel - Founder & Portfolio Manager

  • Okay.

  • And is that still kind of oilfield related?

  • Or do you consider adding maybe another leg to the stool at some point?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Right now, we have our hands full serving our oilfield customers, and that's what we're most focused on serving today.

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from the line of Jim McIlree with Chardan Capital.

  • James Patrick McIlree - Senior Research Analyst of Industrial and Consumer Technology

  • I'd like to figure out or I'd like to understand better the -- how the capacity expansions are going to impact the revenues for the year.

  • So you've got -- in Q1, you have the benefit from the expansions that took place in Q4.

  • And then the next big bump-up in revenues would come in Q3.

  • Is that right?

  • And then you have another bump in Q4?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Yes.

  • We would see -- Mike, do you want to go ahead on how that's...

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • Yes.

  • I mean, in our forecast, we're looking at, for DynaEnergetics in particular, about $45 million, $55 million in terms of our revenue spread, first half versus second half.

  • James Patrick McIlree - Senior Research Analyst of Industrial and Consumer Technology

  • Okay.

  • And so you exit the year at $50 million to $55 million per quarter revenue from DynaEnergetics.

  • Is my math right on that?

  • Michael L. Kuta - CFO

  • I think we're -- that's certainly possible, maybe a little bit lower than that.

  • James Patrick McIlree - Senior Research Analyst of Industrial and Consumer Technology

  • Okay.

  • I'm not trying to get -- to pin you down to an exact number.

  • I'm just trying to get a trajectory of how it plays out for the year.

  • Okay.

  • That's fair enough.

  • And so I think you've said a couple of times that once these announced capacity expansions are complete is that you have ample capacity going forward.

  • So you'll -- you're not going to be capacity constrained at that point, and the growth will just be whatever market share you can obtain.

  • Am I understanding that correctly?

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Correct.

  • And our competitors are not sitting still.

  • So -- and we feel that we have a unique product that creates value for our customers, but we expect strong competition going forward.

  • Operator

  • We have no further questions in queue at this time.

  • I'd like to hand the floor back over to Mr. Longe for closing remarks.

  • Kevin T. Longe - CEO, President and Executive Director

  • Thank you, everybody, for joining us today.

  • And I would like to take just a second to note the 11 months of no lost-time accidents by all of our employees, which we're very proud of, and like to thank them for their efforts so far this year and going into -- in the balance of 2018.

  • Thank you.

  • Operator

  • Thank you.

  • This concludes today's teleconference.

  • You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.