Ducommun Inc (DCO) 2016 Q3 法說會逐字稿

C: Chris Witty;Darrow Associates;IR

C: Tony Reardon;Ducommun Incorporated;Chairman & CEO

C: Doug Groves;Ducommun Incorporated;VP, Treasurer & CFO

P: Edward Marshall;Sidoty & Co.;Analyst

P: Ken Herbert;Canaccord Genuity;Analyst

P: Dan Drawbaugh;FBR & Company;Analyst

P: Mark Jordan;Noble Financial Group;Analyst

P: Mike Crawford;B. Riley & Company;Analyst

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the third-quarter 2016 Ducommun earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this call may be recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Mr. Chris Witty, moderator. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you and welcome to Ducommun's 2016 third-quarter conference call. With me today are Tony Reardon, Chairman, President and CEO, and Doug Groves, Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. I would now like to provide a brief Safe Harbor statement.

This conference call may include forward-looking statements that represent the Company's expectations and beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties and may cause the Company's actual performance to be materially different from the performance indicated or implied by such statements.

All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this conference call are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in this conference call and in the Company's annual report and Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements.

Unless otherwise required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this conference call.

I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Tony Reardon for a review of the operating results. Tony?

Thank you, Chris, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today for our 2016 third-quarter conference call. I will begin by providing an overview of our operations including some market color, after which I will turn the call over to Doug Groves to go through our financial results in detail.

The third-quarter demonstrated our ability to continue on the course charted over the past year in which we streamlined our operations, divested non-core businesses and cleaned up our balance sheet. We achieved 19% gross margins this quarter and earnings of $0.44 per diluted share, a solid performance given the lower revenue versus 2015, which speaks to our improved cost structure, enhanced margin profile and reduced interest expense.

Revenue was lower year-over-year mainly due to the closure of our Houston operations along with the divestiture of our Pittsburgh facility and Miltec. Net of these our core ongoing business was down just slightly this quarter versus 2015 as gains in commercial aerospace were offset by lower military sales.

That being said, we believe that the military shipments timing, along with growth in the commercial aerospace platform, should drive overall revenue expansion in the fourth quarter and 2017. This is underscored by our strong backlog of $566 million at the end of Q3.

We also paid down $10 million of debt this quarter, adding to the $55 million eliminated earlier this year, as we continue to strengthen our balance sheet to bolster our growth profile and provide increased financial flexibility. We expect to reduce debt further in the fourth quarter, as Doug will review in a moment.

Now let me provide some additional color on our end markets, products and programs. I will begin with our commercial aerospace business. We are pleased with the results but see plenty of room for additional growth. Quarterly revenue was $66 million, in line with the second quarter and roughly $4 million above the prior year period.

Sales were solid across all areas of the business with a nice uptick in our Airbus revenue. We did, however, experience some timing delays with regard to shipments for the Boeing 737 and 787 platforms which we now expect will positively increase the fourth quarter's top line.

Our commercial aerospace backlog stood at $280 million at the end of this quarter, not only a record but an increase of more than $40 million over Q2. We expect this backlog can expand further based on our strong position on the Boeing 737 and 787 programs as well as the Airbus A320, A330 and A350 platforms. We remain on track with investments to support higher demand for titanium composites and electronics, particularly on new platforms like the 737 MAX and the A320neo.

In support of this growth strategy we are expanding our Parsons, Kansas facility by approximately 70,000 square feet. The Parsons operation specialize in titanium thermal-forming technology and we expect demand to ramp up dramatically over the coming years given the new applications on platforms with Spirit, Boeing, Airbus and Gulfstream and also driven by our increased content per ship set.

Turning to our military and space sector, revenue fell to $54 million this quarter from $70 million last quarter -- or last year, which reflects the Miltec divestiture as well as budget curtailments and changing platform requirements.

Given our military revenue in Q2 of $51 million we believe that we are at the base run rate for this side of our business, but expect to see sequential improvements next quarter as well as in 2017 reflecting higher sales from new and follow-on program awards this fiscal year. We anticipate stronger shipments of radar racks during the fourth quarter on platforms such as the F-15 and the F-18 along with higher missile system revenue and slightly better helicopter sales.

Our military backlog remains relatively stable at just over $260 million and we continue to target additional applications for our proprietary technologies and remain ready to address any demand changes that may take shape once a new administration takes place. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Doug to go through our financial results in detail.

Thank you, Tony and good day to everybody. Revenue for the third quarter of 2016 was $132.6 million compared to $161.7 million for the third quarter of 2015. The change in revenue year-over-year primarily reflects $18 million of lower sales within the Company's industrial end-use market due to the divestiture of Pittsburgh in January, the closure of our Houston operation last December.

We also saw $15.6 million in lower revenue within the Company's military and space markets mainly due to the divestiture of the Miltec business in March as well as some program schedule slides and budget changes that reduced demand for certain platforms and pushed out deliveries. The impact of such items was partially offset by $4.5 million higher revenue in the Company's commercial aerospace markets reflecting added content on a variety of programs.

Ducommun's backlog rose to $566 million, the highest ever excluding the divested operations. This was driven by a record-setting backlog in our commercial aerospace business of nearly $280 million, clearly pointing to the strength of the market and our position in it.

Moving on to gross profit, our gross margin was 19% in the third quarter versus 12.4% in last year's comparable period. The higher gross margin was primarily due to the lack of a $10 million forward loss reserve charge booked in 2015 related to a regional jet program.

That said, the current year margin improvement also benefited from lower material cost as a percentage of sales which decreased 2.1% year-over-year as a result of the Company's ongoing supply chain initiatives and improved operating performance. SG&A fell in Q3 to $17.2 million from $21.2 million in 2015 and this reflects our divestitures and cost-cutting initiatives as well as a decrease in compensation and benefit cost.

Operating income for the third quarter of 2016 was $8.1 million or 6.1% of revenue compared to an operating loss of $1.2 million in the comparable period last year. The increase in operating income was primarily due to the higher gross profit and lower SG&A previously mentioned.

Interest expense decreased to $1.9 million in the third quarter of 2016 compared to $3.4 million last year, primarily due to lower outstanding debt balances and reduced interest rates as a result of the Company's refinancing in July of 2015.

Our effective income tax expense during the third quarter was $1.2 million or 20% rate compared to a benefit of $6.9 million or 42% in the comparable period last year. The higher tax year-over-year reflects the impact in 2015 of the forward loss reserve charge I mentioned as well as a loss on extinguishment of debt of nearly $12 million related to our refinancing last year. Going forward, the tax rate for the full-year of 2016 is still expected to be approximately 29%.

We reported net income of $5 million or $0.44 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $9.5 million or $0.86 per share in the third quarter of 2015. The increase in net income year-over-year primarily reflects the impact from the forward loss reserve charge and loss on extinguishment of debt previously mentioned as well as lower interest expense.

Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2016 was $14.9 million or 11.2% of revenue compared to $6.6 million or 4.1% of revenue in the comparable period in 2015.

Now let me turn to the segment results. Our Structural Systems segment posted revenue of $60.9 million in the third quarter of 2016 versus $64.2 million last year. The decline was primarily due to $3.4 million in lower military and space sales reflecting program schedule slides and budget changes which impacted scheduled deliveries on certain fixed wing and helicopter platforms.

Structural Systems' operating income for the third quarter was $5.9 million or 9.7% of revenue compared to an operating loss of $6 million last year. The increase in operating income year-over-year primarily reflects 2015's $10 million forward loss reserve charge related to the regional jet program as previously mentioned.

Adjusted EBITDA was $8.9 million for the current quarter or 14.6% of revenue compared to a negative $3.3 million for the comparable quarter in the prior year reflecting the issues already discussed.

Turning to the Electronic Systems segment. Our Electronic Systems segment posted revenue of $71.6 million in the third quarter versus $97.5 million in the prior period. These results reflect an $18 million decrease across our industrial end-use markets due to the divestiture of the Pittsburgh facility in January and closure of the Houston operation last December, as I previously mentioned.

In addition, Electronic Systems saw a $12.2 million year-over-year decline in military and space revenue, reflecting the divestiture of Miltec in March as well as general program, schedule slides and budget changes which reduced deliveries across several platforms. These negative factors were partially offset by a $4.3 million increase in commercial aerospace revenue reflecting added content with existing customers.

Electronic systems posted operating income for the third quarter of $6.6 million or 9.2% of revenue compared to $8.6 million or 8.8% of revenue in the third quarter 2015. The decrease in operating income was primarily due to lower segment revenue even as margins climbed reflecting improved product mix and operating efficiencies. Adjusted EBITDA was $9.8 million for the current quarter or 13.3% of revenue compared to $13.3 million or 13.3% of revenue last year reflecting the issues discussed.

Corporate, general and administrative expenses, CG&A, for the third quarter were $4.4 million or 3.3% of Company revenue compared to $3.7 million or 2.3% of revenue last year. The increase in CG&A expenses were primarily due to higher compensation and benefit costs of approximately $0.6 million.

Turning to liquidity and capital resources, we generated $15.4 million of cash from operations in the third quarter of 2016 compared to a use of cash of $5.5 million in 2015. We remain diligent in effective working capital management and expect our net cash profile going forward to reflect our historical seasonal patterns.

We also paid down an additional $10 million of debt this quarter, as Tony mentioned, and now have reduced our debt by $65 million thus far in 2016. We expect to pay down approximately $10 million more of debt by the end of this year as we continue towards our goal of delevering to a target of 2.25 to 2.5 times debt to EBITDA by the end of 2017.

Capital expenditures were $5.1 million in the quarter and we expect CapEx to be in the approximately $18 million to $22 million range for the full-year as we continue to invest in new programs and prepare for the next generation platforms in 2017, as Tony mentioned.

In closing, the quarter played out much as we expected and benefited from many of the steps taken this past year to streamline our operations and focus our core business while enacting supply chain initiatives in tandem. We believe that future quarters should show higher revenue along with solid bottom-line results and we will continue to pay down debt and strengthen the balance sheet, leaving us in good shape for 2017 and beyond.

I will now turn it back over to Tony for his closing remarks. Tony?

Thank you, Doug. Before turning the call over to questions I wanted to add to Doug's last comments about the future of Ducommun. While I'm obviously pleased with our overall performance this year, particularly be bottom-line results, we definitely see upside going forward. By streamlining our operation and focusing on our core competencies we have brought a real sense of stability to the company.

We have excellent customer relations and, due to our expertise in structural components, titanium assemblies and aerospace electronics we are on some of the best platforms in the industry with years of backlog and build rates set to accelerate starting next year. That's why we are investing in our Parsons, Kansas facility which we expect to provide an excellent return going forward.

On our military side we have cut cost to manage the current low run rates. But given that defense spending can be rather unpredictable, we can rapidly expand production if necessary and our on some of the most enduring programs today, including the Black Hawk helicopter. The bottom line is that our stronger balance sheet, solid backlog and right size operations we have built a company ready for the next phase of growth.

We want to close 2016 on an up note and believe 2017 will continue the momentum that we have achieved. We have got great customers, excellent employees and we look forward to improving returns for our investors. With that, Kristi, we would now like to open it up for questions.

(Operator Instructions). Edward Marshall, Sidoti & Company.

Good afternoon. So I wanted to ask about -- you talked about some push outs, especially in the military. You talked about increased rack sales in the fourth quarter, maybe some military systems.

And I wanted to get a sense from you as to sort of order of magnitude. As the predictability on the military has been a little bit tough, wonder if you can give us any kind of thought process, what kind of level of sales you are looking forward in 4Q from those particular programs coming in?

Sure, Ed. As we look at the fourth quarter and our defense sales, would expect those to sequentially increase $3 million to $4 million off of where we were at in Q3, eventually getting back in the long run to roughly a $60 million range in a couple of quarters. So we have some nice orders in the backlog and seeing quite a bit of activity particularly on the missile-defense front with Raytheon who, as you know, is one of our biggest customers.

Sure. Now the rack and the missiles run through technology, but when you say $3 million to $4 million, do you mean across the entire business but mainly driven by the technology piece of the business, not the structures?

That is correct.

That's Correct.

Okay. I wanted to get a sense too, looking at the margin you guys have done a pretty good job on the individual businesses. I guess for the consolidated results I would have assumed with the divestitures of say Miltec and the industrial business, I would have assumed that we would have been off -- we would have seen more leverage off of last year's run rate, but the average run rate for 3Q?

Can you give me a sense -- was there recharacterizations in there, maybe some one-time things that maybe drove that number up a little bit higher in this particular quarter? And do you expect that kind of subside as we move forward?

Ed, let me repeat your question to be sure I understand it. So are you talking about the segment margins or the overall margins?

The corporate expense line that runs through the businesses, I would have assumed that it would have come off especially with the divestitures and less business in there. But it is running at the average from the four quarters of last year at the annual run rate. So, I'm just trying to get a sense as to why that didn't come off even though you divested a few businesses and the cost structure from the corporate should have declined just a tad.

So what rolls into that CG&A line, Ed, is a lot of what it sounds like, corporate expenses. So these are public company costs that don't necessarily scale in direct relation to some of those businesses that were divested of.

So we have been in the sort of $3.5 million to $4 million run rate for that and there is a little variability but wouldn't expect a ton of that. Obviously though it doesn't increase with the top-line growth either because they are semi-fixed. So we will get more leverage through the P&L as the volume picks up.

To your point around [in 4 4], was there anything one time in nature in the particular quarter that might have ran through the corporate line?

Not in the third quarter.

Or just timing of recognition?

Right, exactly.

You talked about the investment in Parsons with the titanium business and I had I guess two questions on that. One, I guess it looks like Boeing has kind of talked about going away from titanium a little bit in some of the business programs. First, have you heard that? Secondly, what is the capital requirements necessary for the investment of the square footage increase and the length of any particular contracts that you are building to?

Okay, first of all, let me address -- I guess there are three questions. So Boeing is looking I think long-term at trying to reduce the use of some titanium. And in some cases we are working with them on those applications, but not to the extent of the manufacturing type that we do. So actually we have seen an uptick on that side of [the coin].

And I think the second question was the capital. We don't differentiate the capital that we spend in one particular facility, but we have upticked our capital this year by about $5 million on an annual run rate for between 2015 and 2016. And then we are predicting that 2017 will be the same.

So we will be on a run rate -- annual run rate around $18 million to $22 million in capital. And that pickup there, some of that -- or a majority of that this year would be going to the Parsons facility. Does that answer --?

Yes, it does. And are you building out for a particular award or contracts or backlog that you already have? Or is it a build it they will come type scenario?

No, we don't have the build it and they will come type scenario. So this is long-range contracts that we have been awarded on a number of platforms; 737 MAX, A320 is all driving that growth and we have solid projections going forward.

Okay. Are you on life of the program or are you three-five-year kind of awards?

You hope you're on the life of the program but you are on a multi-year contract, yes -- different contract lengths in both cases but we think we are pretty solid going forward.

Thanks, guys.

Ken Herbert, Canaccord.

Good afternoon, Tony and Doug. Just wanted to first ask about the free cash flow. I mean a good third quarter; obviously last year wasn't a good indicator. But I think you mentioned, either one of you in your prepared remarks, that you expect the similar seasonality this year and typically you generate really nice cash flow, a very high percentage of the full-year number in the fourth quarter.

So fair to assume that that is going to continue and probably put you on pace for maybe a better cash flow year than you have seen over the last few years as a percent of sales or net income? Or is there anything one time perhaps you saw in the third quarter or that you might see in the fourth quarter around the cash flows?

I don't think -- there is no one time in the third quarter and we do expect the seasonality again in the fourth quarter. So we are looking for a stronger fourth quarter and that is our general pace. If you just looked at the cash flow through the year you would see we were down to flat in the first quarter and then picked up a little bit in the second quarter and then solid third and fourth. So we expect the fourth quarter to be very strong.

And as you head into 2017, I know it is early, but do you see anything in particular, either positive or negative, that might impact free cash flow into 2017?

The only change that is different than in the past is going to be our uptick in capital. So we would expect the capital to be at the same run rate as this year, maybe just slightly higher in 2017, but that is the only other change. But other than that the cash flow ought to be on par.

Okay, okay. That is great. And you called out as well the 2% -- 2.1% savings from the supply chain. I think it's the first time I have seen you particularly call that out. Is that a bigger number you saw this quarter than in prior quarters?

I know supply chain has been an area you've been looking at from a cost standpoint for a while. And is this something we should see start to accelerate moving forward? Or maybe just to put that number in context would be great.

Actually we have had this number in our MD&A the last couple of quarters and we continue to work that and we see there is still some room to go on that. But I think the further we get into it obviously the harder the compare gets, because once you get the savings out to continue at the same rate gets a little bit tougher as you go into the second year of it, which next year will be the second -- really full-year for us. So we've still got a little more ways to go, but we think we will continue to see some nice material savings is part of that effort.

And what we are really seeing, Ken, is we are starting to see it flow through at the bottom line. So we have achieved the savings on the purchase side and we are starting to see it come through on the margins.

And is that primarily from consolidation of the supply chain or does it reflect pricing or anything in particular that you would point to?

It is all the above. So I think we have talked in the past, especially on the electronics side, that we have reduced the number of distributors from 180 down to about eight and we are working with our suppliers -- as a result of that we were able to reduce cost and then extend some terms.

So, I think we are working that side of the fence real hard and we have been successful as well on the machining side. So the supply chain has been a very important initiative for us in the last year and a half and we are starting to see the fruits of that now.

Okay, okay. That is helpful. And then just finally, continued strong growth in the commercial aerospace backlogs and obviously you're starting to see this on the top line. You called out a number of programs. Are there any particular programs that you would point to that are maybe a bigger swing factor there? I know you've specifically talked about some win both with Airbus and on the 737, but anything in particular you would point to from a program standpoint as maybe a bigger factor in the backlog growth within commercial aero?

I think it has been all of the above. So we picked up solid orders on the Boeing 737 program as well as on Airbus. So none of them really stand out higher than the other, but I think it has been pretty solid growth both sides.

Okay. And just one final question on that. Is this growth you are seeing, is it maybe doing work to -- that Boeing or your customer typically would have done in house? Are you taking share from another supplier? Or does it represent perhaps second sourcing on any of these work scopes?

That is an interesting question. So in some cases it is taking work share from the OEM that they have been doing. In other cases it is new applications on the newer generation aircraft and in some cases it is second sourcing.

Okay, so all of the above. And I guess part of it too is leveraging obviously your titanium capacity?

That is correct.

Okay, great. Thank you very much.

Christopher Van Horn, FBR & Company.

This is Dan Drawbaugh on the line for Chris. Just wanted to get your sense of -- from a margin perspective. When you look at the backlog, is there anything in there that gives you confidence to say that we are tracking at about this 9%-plus level in structures, maybe that could go higher over the medium-term?

Yes, I mean we have said that the Structures business gets back to 9%, 10% and we are seeing nice uptick in the backlog in structures specifically with all the commercial aerospace work. So as we get more volume through those structures/plants we could see some margin expansion in structures as these programs really come to fruition.

But we've still got a little ways to go because a lot of this is new work on new platforms, which we have got a learning curve to overcome. So it is not going to be anything immediate, but over the longer-term the short answer is yes.

Understood, thank you. Then on sort of on the industrial side, do you have any sense of where that will be shaking out in terms of a quarterly run rate? I guess it was down a little bit sequentially this quarter if I've got the number right. I think in your presentation you say that is sort of a flat growth rate looking ahead.

Yes, so I would say that where we are right at the end of the third quarter is close to the run rate. And if you look at our backlog, it is a smaller percentage of the total backlog than what it historically has been. We did have a small business that we did exit in Tulsa at the end of Q2, so that is not in the Q3 numbers but it wasn't a lot and will clearly be reflected in the Q3 run rate now.

Okay, great. Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and step back in queue. Thanks for the help, guys.

Mark Jordan, Noble Financial.

Good afternoon, gentlemen. A question on potential debt reduction in 2017. Given the continuation of high level of CapEx, if you look at just the core business, I come out with a free cash flow generation excluding changes in working capital in the range of $22 million to $24 million, which is well below say the $10 million per quarter debt reduction you have been doing recently.

Should we think of next year that debt reduction should be more in the realm of $20 million to $30 million versus the $10 million per quarter run rate you are currently operating at?

Yeah, no, I think that is the right characterization. I mean we would look at somewhere around $7.5 million a quarter in debt reduction given where we have been. I mean there were quarters, as you know, in the past where we got up to $10 million. And so, we continue to balance the investment in the Company which is our number one priority along with debt reduction as another primary use of our cash.

Okay. Looking in -- again, should we assume a continuation of that trend line tax rate into 2017 of that 29%?

Yes, we are still looking at a 29% for the full-year and into next year. This year in the third quarter we had a slightly better tax rate due to some reserves that got adjusted, but we are still looking at 29% for the full year and into next year.

Last year you obviously took a charge against a regional jet program you were working on. I assume that should be coming to fruition relatively soon. Will you be retaining that business at better margins or is it going away?

The business is going away. It will be the end of next year.

Okay, all right, that is it for me. Thank you.

(Operator Instructions). Mike Crawford, B. Riley & Company.

Thank you. You mentioned some timing delays related to 737 and 787 shipments in Q3 and also said that that might positively impact Q4. So what essentially happened there?

Well, it is two things. The 737 is essentially flat, has been flat for the year. So we had some initial deliveries that were scheduled for right at the end of the third quarter that pushed into the following week. And then on the 787 we should see an uptick on a couple of applications that we were in development on. So I think that those programs will pick the sales up for us.

Okay. And then 737 production is slated to increase I think from 42 to 47 units a month next year. Is that something that you expect to happen in Q1?

It is staggered and I think that -- excuse me, Mike. I think that what we see -- it all depends on where the application is that we have and we have multiple applications on there, so some come in early and then some are delayed. So through the year I think you will see that ramp up.

And then of the increased $18 million to $20 million CapEx for the year, how much of that is related to the Parsons expansion?

It is about a third of that that came in this year. If you look at our normal run rate in CapEx, we have historically been $14 million to $15 million. So when we look at that incremental difference it is largely this investment that we are making in the Parsons facility.

Okay. And then given that you seem to be on your planned capital structure deleverage path down below 2.5X leverage by the end of 2017, does that mean that you already turn up the process to start looking on bolt-on acquisitions? Or is that something that really -- that you would wait another year before you started to do that?

I think two things, Mike. First of all, we haven't started any official process until we get ourselves well below the 3 level, but we are always mindful and in the market looking. So the process is always ongoing.

Thank you.

Edward Marshall, Sidoti.

Curious, where is your revenue in titanium today and where was it a year ago as a (technical difficulty) of total sales I guess?

We don't really disclose that, Ed. So not sure that it would be appropriate to do that.

Okay, I thought you gave the number before. Maybe you can kind of talk about from the profitability of that segment, say versus maybe core aluminum stretch-forming -- how do I look at that from a perspective from a margin profile?

When you look across the Structures business I think that the titanium has a slightly higher margin profile, but it is generally in line with the rest of the business.

Got it. And if you can increase -- and I forget, did you give a percentage of the increase in your square footage? I know you said 70,000 square feet, but did you talk about what that does to your capacity?

The facility right now is about 120,000 square feet, so we are going to go to close to 190,000 square feet.

Okay. And so when you can add -- and it sounds like you are putting in about $10 million of investment there in what's arguably your strongest margin business. As a follow-up to I guess the question that was just asked, I mean what can you acquire that would give you that type of return to the business overall with that little of investment?

Well, I don't know that we have run that analysis, Ed, but there are businesses out there that generate returns that you would look at that would be complementary to our business. But right now our focus is on investing in the growth activities that we have and driving the strategy that we have in place for growth. So you will see our investments going there first before we go outside to look at acquisitions.

I want to make sure I hear what you're saying. You're saying that you have plenty of growth opportunities inside that that is more relevant for your capital than outside the business?

That is 100% correct.

Great, that is what I want to hear. Finally, when I looked at the payables in the particular quarter it seems like it ran a little bit high, and maybe it has done so for a quarter or two. And I know they ran a little bit lower before that so maybe it's a rebound. But is there anything I should think about with that? It just seems like it ran a little bit high in the particular quarter, I think it is around $60 million or so?

Yes, no, I mean it is really just another tenet of our supply chain initiative. Besides getting better pricing we got better terms with a lot of our suppliers. So again we are starting to see that really bleed through now on the balance sheet. And we are looking at our DPO now getting north of 55 towards 60 days which is higher than it historically had been but is directly linked back to that supply chain initiative we've been talking about.

Are you trying to put it in line with say your receivables, is that kind of how you are thinking about it?

Yes, exactly.

Okay, great. Good, good. Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it.

That concludes our Q&A session for today. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Tony Reardon for any further remarks.

Thank you. I just want to thank everybody for joining our call today and we look forward to talking to you in the fourth quarter. Thank you very much. Bye now.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This does conclude today's program and you may all disconnect. Everyone have a good day.