Nordson Corp (NDSN) 2016 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Nordson Corporation webcast for first-quarter full-year 2016 conference call.

(Operator instructions)

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Mr. Jim Jaye, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Sir, you may begin.

Thank you, Chenise. This is Jim Jaye, Senior Director of Investor Relations and Communications. I'm here with Mike Hilton, our President and CEO; and Greg Thaxton, our Senior Vice President and CFO.

We welcome you to our conference call today, Tuesday, February 23, We welcome you to our conference call today, Tuesday, February 23, 2016 to report on Nordson's FY16 first-quarter results and our FY16 second-quarter outlook.

Our conference call is being broadcast live on our webpage at nordson.com/investors and will be available there for 14 days. There will be a telephone replay of our conference call available until March 1, 2016, which can be accessed by calling 404-537-3406. You will need to reference ID number 44-144-362.

During this conference call, forward-looking statements may be made regarding our future performance based on Nordson's current expectations. These statements may involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, as discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that could cause actual results to differ.

After our remarks, we will have a question-and-answer session. Now I would turn the call over to Mike Hilton for an overview of our FY16 first-quarter results and a bit about our second-quarter outlook. Mike, please go ahead.

Thank you, Jim. And good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining Nordson's first-quarter conference call. Despite a challenging macro economic environment, we're pleased to report very strong organic growth compared to the prior year across all product lines in our largest segment, Adhesive Dispensing. We also delivered positive organic growth in our Industrial Coating segment.

We did see softness in the Advanced Technology segment during the quarter against a very challenging prior-year comparison. As a reminder, Advanced Technology organic volume increased 29% in the first quarter of FY15 compared to FY14. However, we are encouraged by recent order rates, which are up high single digits in this segment for most of the 12 weeks compared to the prior year.

Including the first year effective acquisitions, total Company sales volume was up 4% in the quarter compared to prior year. Unfavorable currency translation continues to be a headwind in the quarter, offsetting the volume growth by about 5% compared to prior year. Operating margin in the quarter was 14%, or 17% on a normalized basis, excluding the approximate effects of unfavorable currency translations compared to prior year.

Reported diluted earnings per share in the quarter exceeded the level of the prior year's first quarter, as one-time discrete tax benefits more than offset the negative impact of one-time charges. Unfavorable currency translation, as compared to the prior year, reduced reporting earnings per share by approximately $0.14. We also continued our balanced approach to capital deployment during the quarter, distributing $46 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.

Our second-quarter 2016 forecast reflects our current backlog, which is up 10% compared to the end of the first quarter last year and our current 12-week order rate, which are up 1% over the same 12 weeks a year ago on a currency neutral basis. The current run rate is likely stronger than the 1% as this period is impacted by the timing of Chinese New Year.

We expect to deliver solid revenue growth in the second quarter over the prior year, including positive organic growth and a lower currency translation headwind based on the current exchange rate environment. At the same time, we remain cautious given the continued uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment. We are continuing to focus on the initiatives we have previously discussed that will improve normalized operating margin.

I'll speak more about our outlook and current business trends in a few moments but first, I'll turn the call over to Greg Thaxton, our Chief Financial Officer, to provide more detailed commentary on the current results and our second-quarter guidance. Greg?

Thank you and good morning to everyone. Regarding first-quarter results, sales were $372 million, a decrease of less than 2% from the prior year's first quarter. This change in sales included a 4% increase in volume from the prior year's quarter, comprised of a slight improvement in organic volume and more than 3% increase related to the first-year effective acquisitions. Volume improvement was offset by a 5% decrease related to the unfavorable effects of currency translation as compared to the prior-year's first quarter.

Looking at sales performance for the quarter by segment, Adhesive Dispensing segment sales volume increased 12% as compared to the prior-year first quarter, inclusive of 11% organic growth and 1% growth from the first year effect of the WAFO acquisition. Unfavorable currency translation, as compared to the prior year, reduced sales by 7%. The 11% organic growth is an outstanding level in the current macroeconomic environment and reflects the resilience of the consumer non-durable end markets served by this segment.

Organic growth was strong in every product line; on a geographic basis, we generated strong volume growth in Europe, Asia Pacific and the United States. Sales volume in the Advanced Technology segment decreased 8% from the prior year first quarter, inclusive of a 15% decrease in organic volume offset by a 7% increase related to the first-year effect of the Liquidyn and MatriX acquisitions. Sales were also negatively impacted by approximately 3% related to the unfavorable currency translation as compared to the prior-year's first quarter.

As Mike noted, current quarter results in this segment are challenged in comparison to the prior-year first quarter where we delivered organic growth of 29%. The result for last year's first quarter do not follow the typical seasonality of this segment, where volume builds as the year progresses. Organic volume growth during the current quarter in our surface treatment and medical fluid management product lines was offset by declines in other product lines, largely related to electronics end markets. These markets have historically driven solid organic growth for Nordson and recent order rates and project activity in this space are encouraging.

We are also pleased by the performance of the Liquidyn and MatriX acquisitions in this segment, both of which are meeting our expectations. Organic sales volume in the Industrial Coatings segment increased 2% compared to the first quarter a year ago, offset by a 5% decrease related to unfavorable currency translation. Organic growth in the quarter was driven by demand for our liquid painting, container coating, and UV curing product lines. Regional demand was strong in Asia Pacific, the Americas and Japan.

Gross margin for the total Company in the first quarter was 53%, inclusive of a negative currency impact of more than 1 percentage point as compared to the prior year. As part of the margin enhancement initiative we have previously described, we incurred one-time charges during the first quarter of approximately $1 million, mostly related to the Adhesive Dispensing and Advanced Technology segments. We also incurred approximately $1.5 million of short-term purchase accounting charges in the quarter within the Advanced Technology segment related to the step-up and value of acquired inventory.

Operating profit in the quarter, including these one-time charges, was $52 million and operating margin was 14%. As Mike previously noted, operating margin, excluding one-time charges and the negative impact of currency translation as compared to the prior year, was 17%.

Looking at operating performance on a segment basis, Adhesive Dispensing delivered operating margin of 25% in the first quarter, inclusive of approximately $600,000 in charges related to restructuring and short-term purchase accounting charges for acquired inventory. Adhesive segment operating margin was 27% in the quarter, excluding these one-time charges and the estimated effect of currency translation as compared to the prior year.

Within the Advanced Technology segment, reported operating margin was 7% in the first quarter, inclusive of approximately $500,000 related to restructuring charges and $1.5 million related to short-term purchase accounting charges for acquired inventory. Normalized operating margin within this segment, to exclude these one-time charges, was 8%.

Operating margin in the current quarter reflects product mix and negative leverage on lower volume, mainly related to electronics end markets. Advanced Technology segment -- excuse me, operating margin was 9% in the first quarter, excluding these one-time charges and the estimated effect of currency translation as compared to the prior year. We do expect to leverage sales volume growth to generate significant improvement on operating margin in this segment as the year progresses which is typical performance for this segment.

The Industrial Coatings segment delivered operating margin of 8% in the first quarter. This level of operating margin reflects seasonably lower first quarter volume, typical of this segment. Excluding the approximate effects of negative currency translation compared to the prior year, segment operating margin was 10% in the quarter.

For the Company, net income for the quarter was $41 million. GAAP diluted earnings-per-share were $0.72, 4% higher than last year's first quarter. Excluding one-time items, normalized diluted earnings per share were $0.61. We've included an earnings per share reconciliation schedule in our press release to reconcile between a GAAP earnings and normalized earnings per share.

Additionally, unfavorable currency translation, as compared to the prior year, reduced first-quarter earnings per share by approximately $0.14. The first quarter's EBITDA was $70 million and cash flow from operations was $49 million.

Free cash flow before dividends was $38 million, reflecting cash conversion of 91% of net income. We have included a table with our press release, reconciling net income to free cash flow before dividends. During the quarter, we continued our approach of returning capital shareholders by distributing approximately $14 million in dividends and investing $32 million for the repurchase of shares.

From a balance sheet perspective, we remain liquid with net debt to EBITDA at 2.87 times trailing 12-month EBITDA as of the end of the first quarter. We do have additional capacity available as we are currently borrowing well below our most restrictive debt covenants and our strong free cash flow provides additional capacity.

I'll now move on to comments regarding our outlook for the second quarter of FY16. As we typically do, we provided our most recent order data, both on a segment and geographic basis with our press release. These orders are for the latest 12 weeks as compared to the same 12 weeks of the prior year on a currency neutral basis and with acquisitions included in both years.

For the 12 weeks ending February 14, 2016, order rates are up 1% as compared to the same 12 weeks in the prior year. As we've noted in the past, order growth rates can fluctuate from week to week. And for most of the last several weeks, 12-week order rates, on a currency neutral basis, have been positive compared to the prior year such that our backlog, excluding acquisitions, is up 8% over the prior year.

And as Mike noted, there is likely some negative impact due to the timing of Chinese New Year in the most recent order rates. Within the Adhesive Dispensing segment, the latest 12-week orders are down 1% as compared to the same period in the prior year. Positive order rates in packaging and nonwoven product lines are offset by softness in other product lines.

Geographically, orders were strong in Japan, Europe and the Americas. Again, timing does have an effect on order rates and for most of this fiscal year, 12-week order rates in the Adhesive segment have been up mid-to-high single digits over the same periods a year ago.

In the Advanced Technology segment, order rates for the latest 12 weeks are up 8% as compared to the prior year. These order rates reflect a strong return in demand for automated dispensing systems related to electronic end markets, with continued strength in our medical fluid management product lines. Order rates were strong in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas while the US and Japan were essentially flat.

Within the Industrial Coatings segment, the latest 12-week order rates are down 5%. Growth in cold material dispensing systems for automotive applications and UV curing products was offset by softness in other product lines.

Positive order growth in Asia Pacific, the Americas and Europe was offset by softness in other regions. Comparisons in this segment are challenging where order rates were up 39% a year ago at this time; however, project activity remains robust.

Backlog at a January 31, 2016 was approximately $247 million, an increase of 10% compared to the prior year and inclusive of 8% organic growth and 2% growth due to acquisitions. Backlog amounts are calculated at January 31, 2016 exchange rates.

Let me now turn to the outlook for the second quarter of FY16. We are forecasting sales to increase in the range of 2% to 6% as compared to the second quarter a year ago. This range is inclusive of an increase in organic volume of 1% to 5%, 2% growth from the first year effective acquisitions and a negative currency impact of a 1% based on current exchange rates.

At the midpoint of our sales forecast, we expect second-quarter gross margin to be approximately 55% and operating margin to be approximately 19%. This outlook includes one-time charges of approximately $1.3 million, excluding these one-time charges, normalized operating margin is estimated to be 20%.

Unfavorable currency rates, as compared to the prior year, are estimated to impact gross margin and operating margin by about 1 percentage point. We're estimating second-quarter interest expense of about $6 million and an effective tax rate of approximately 30%, resulting in second quarter forecasted GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.85 to $0.95, inclusive of a $0.02 per share charge related to non-recurring charges.

In addition to the second-quarter outlook, the following updates on FY16 full-year basis may be helpful for modeling purposes. For our effective tax rate, we're forecasting the full-year rate to be about 30%, based on current tax law and excluding discrete items. For capital spending in 2016, we're forecasting normal maintenance capital spending to be approximately $50 million.

In addition, we do expect to incur additional non-recurring charges associated with our margin enhancement initiatives, primarily associated with integration activities within the Adhesive segment. As we indicated last quarter, the size and timing of these non-recurring charges in FY16 is difficult to estimate precisely, though we expect these charges to be well below the amount incurred in FY15.

In summary, Nordson delivered slightly positive organic growth in the current quarter in a challenging macroeconomic environment and against a robust period of organic growth a year ago. Reported earnings per share exceeded the level of the prior year's first quarter and normalized earnings per share exceeded the high end of our normalized guidance.

Looking ahead, our current quarter backlog and recent order rates have been solid, leading us to forecast solid revenue growth over the prior-year second quarter including 3% organic growth at the midpoint of guidance. And we expect to leverage the sales increase to drive improved -- improvement in earnings per share as compared to the same period a year ago, despite a tough macroeconomic environment and currency headwinds.

With that, I'll turn the call back over to you, Mike.

Thank you, Greg. Before taking your questions, I'd like to provide some additional comments on our recent performance and outlook. First, I want to thank our global team for their ongoing efforts. They continue to serve our customers at an extremely high level and are committed to continuous improvement.

As Greg mentioned, given our backlog and order rates, we expect organic volume growth to be approximately 3% compared to the prior year at the midpoint of our second-quarter guidance. This is a strong level given the continued softness in the global macroeconomic environment and reflects the solutions we bring to the diverse end markets we serve.

We are particularly pleased with the ongoing strength we're seeing in the Adhesive Dispensing segment and the return of demand we are starting to see within Advanced Technology electronics end markets. We expect to leverage this increased volume to deliver our normalized operating margins and our earnings per share that exceed the level of the same period a year ago.

I'm also pleased to report that we're making solid progress on our margin enhancement initiatives. During the quarter, we continue to execute on integration and footprint optimization activities within the Adhesive Dispensing segment. We also took action within the Advanced Technology segment to drive efficiency within our electronic systems product lines.

We plan to continue executing on activities across the Company that will enable us to meet our goal of 200 basis points improvement to the normalized operating margin by the end of 2017. Overall, the trajectory of the global economy remains uncertain for the year. At the same time, we remain well-positioned to capture growth opportunities when and where they occur.

We remain focused on continuous improvement and our strong ongoing cash generation provided the ability to fund multiple priorities that will benefit our shareholders over the long term.

At this point, let me turn over the call to you for questions.

(Operator Instructions)

Our first question comes from the line Liam Burke with Wunderlich.

Yes. Thank you. Good morning, Mike. Good morning, Greg.

Morning, Liam.

Mike, the margin improvement in Adhesive Systems, could you give us a little color on the product mix there? Just directionally, how the polymer business performed?

Yes. This is a solid quarter for the polymer business. I'd say if you look at the margin improvement overall, I would say something like a one-third of that is probably related to the initiatives that we've talked about taking.

The other two-thirds a split between the volume growth that we've seen and normalized continuous improvement activities. So it was really solid quarter for both the traditional core Adhesive s as well as the polymer business from a sales perspective.

Okay. And on the electronics side, you're seeing the bounce there. How about on the mobile side. Is there any life on that side?

Yes. What I would say is in this quarter, we haven't seen that tick up. What we have seen is some activity in the semiconductor side on Advanced Technology, particularly, affecting our Dispense businesses. And we have started see a step-up in our tiered products in Asia where we have some penetration into the mobile customer base, primarily, the Chinese mobile customer base that's more than onesies and twosies.

I would say the normal seasonal pick-up we've seen in this business, we'd expect to see more in Q2 and going into Q3. That said, there are a lot of projects that we're working on right now, which is typical at this time, where we go through a qualifying effort and then the order placement tends to occur later in Q2 into Q3. I'd say that activity level is high, which is particularly encouraging across the Dispense segment.

Great. Thank you, Mike.

Our next question comes from the line of Charlie Brady with SunTrust.

Good morning, guys.

Good morning, Charlie.

Please talk on the Adhesive Dispensing. You commented on some of the margin there. But I wondered, can you just give us what the aftermarket percentage was on that? And was there any mix impact? That's a pretty strong margin performance out of that segment this quarter despite the higher volumes.

Yes. I would say, Greg, just to look it up because I don't remember offhand what the mix is on the parts and systems. I don't think that's a big issue in the quarter. I would say, really, every product line was up nicely. Whether it was the packaging, the nonwovens, the product assembly, the four product lines within the polymer area, were all up nicely in the quarter. So that was a certainly -- very encouraging there. So, I don't think there's a significant mix effect. Greg --

No, there's not. In fact within the Adhesive segment, the percentage of parts sales is actually just a slightly lower than what it was in the first quarter last year. So it's not driven by a mix shift between systems and parts.

Okay. And then just, Mike, on your commentary on the 12-week order rates in Adhesive Dispensing, that -- you're down 1% for the whole 12 weeks but you're saying for the majority of that 12 weeks, is up mid-to-high single digits? Is that correct? Can you just put some color around that? Was it just -- you start off the year down significantly and just kind of snap back? Or what's driving that?

No. I'd say there's a couple things. I'd say, if you look at this year versus last year, we do have the Lunar New Year hitting in this order week period. For that week, we essentially registered no orders. So you have a bit of a swing associated with that. It doesn't mean there aren't orders; we just didn't have any recorded.

I'd say secondly, our core Adhesive s continue to remain up mid-single digits. The Polymer business was off a little bit but it's really more lumpiness on products. If you look at that business over the last couple of quarters, it was up 9%. It was up 20%-plus in this quarter; it's just timing more than anything else there. So there's a Chinese New Year effect. Not sure how big that is and then there's some project timing effect and solid core Adhesive performance.

All right. One more and I'll hop back in the queue. Just on M&A pipeline, can you just give us a sense of how that's looking these days and multiples on that as well? Thanks.

Okay. I would say this year is looking a bit like last year, where we have nice pipeline but likely to be smaller tuck-in kind of opportunities. The medical area is one where there could be some larger opportunities but at this point in time, it looks like smaller tuck-ins is what we're talking about for this year as well. We can probably go to the next question now.

Our next question comes from the line of Christopher Glynn with Oppenheimer.

Okay, thanks. Good morning. So we've had a multiple quarter period of some negative mix, I would call it, at ATS and you've started to -- I think you've mentioned hints in the past, it may be a little more directly talking about stronger trends building for the dispense systems at ATS which do help mix.

Just wanted to revisit the question on if there's been some primary fundamental resets on sustainable mix at ATS? And then clarify the comment on expectations for margin improvement for the segment? Does that, in fact, refer to the full year or relative to the start to the current year?

Okay. Yes. So just a couple of comments. Last year, we had a more modest year from a dispense standpoint in the electronics systems side of that business. And we had a really strong year as it related to our surface treatment or technology business. That's had a significant effect on mix. Both good businesses and product lines but a significant effect on mix.

The surface treatment business is continuing to remain solid. The dispense business is starting to pick up. In this quarter, we've seen some of the Advanced Packaging on the semi side, translate into nice orders with some of the new dispense technology that we have out there that works well at the wafer level.

We also saw our tier two products coming out of China and going into some of the Chinese suppliers that are largely on the mobile side pick up. And then I'd say from a project standpoint, this is the time of the year where we see a lot of project activity from a qualifying standpoint. We do see a lot of dispense projects across the full spectrum. Some that fall into our AP business and a lot that fall into the electronics systems business.

We haven't really seen the impact of the orders yet there is what I was trying to suggest. I think at the earlier comment was suggesting that as the year builds, as the volume grows, we will see significant margin improvement and if you look back historically, last year may be a little bit of an anomaly.

But if you look back the last three or four years, we've typically seen a more modest first quarter and then margins in the 20% for the full year assuming these projects that we're working on translates into revenue, we would expect the same kind of improvement in overall annual performance.

Okay. So the margin improvement comment characterizes both normal seasonality, just for the record, but also is a comment on expectation for full year versus the prior year?

Yes. Again, the caveat of those projects translate into revenue and last year, some of them didn't go ahead. But I'd say, we've got a broad range of products this year and we're encouraged by what we see at this point.

Okay. And then the 8% core backlog build, that's a pretty sweet number. You often make comments just cautioning that 12 week, any 12-week period can have short-term influences and in this case, the short-term influence might suggest the 8% was an understated. But at any rate, could you make that leap and tie that 8% to what -- in your wisdom, what your sense of the real trend of your business efforts are out there in the marketplace?

Well, certainly that 8% is a good start. The most recent order rates are down to closer to the sort of 1% level, although we provided the caveat around the Lunar New Year having some impact there. What I would say is, and Greg alluded to this, everything that's going into the consumer and non-durable space looks pretty good at this point in time and pretty resilient in the face of a macro environment that's clearly uncertain and trending to a level that we suggested last quarter in the low 2% for the year.

I would say in the larger project range, the things that would affect, say, product assembly, some of our coatings, business, we see good activity but that's the area where, if anything got pushed, it might be in that area as people question capital spending going forward. And we're seeing some of that activity like that in China leading to some softer numbers in the short term.

But I would say when we look then to project lists and funded project lists, that also looks encouraging across most businesses. In the quarter, we said, the midpoint looks like 3% even with the backlog at 8% based on the most recent order rates.

Again, I think we're encouraged on the non-durable space. We're cautious on the durable space just because it's just not that clear at the moment. But activity level is not falling off.

Great. Makes sense. I will let it go. Thanks.

Okay.

And our next question is from the line of Allison Poliniak with Wells Fargo.

Good morning. Just talking a little bit on the cadence of orders. I know, obviously, Chinese New Year has impacted the back half of that but was there any notable change in your businesses relative to when we hit that January 1 switch, that capital was freeing up a little bit from your customers?

I would say no significant change. Typically, for those customers that are on an annual capital budget, most things get approved by the end of January and we start to see them lit and come through in the February and beyond the timeframe.

So through the quarter, I'd say it played out fairly typically as what we'd expect. So nothing unusual there. We'd expect the bigger projects to be lit in the third quarter -- or in the second quarter then into the third quarter.

Great. Perfect. Just then going back to your commentary on acquisitions. Any -- I know you mentioned medical tuck-ins and maybe some larger ones there. Any change to the multiples in this environment? Have you noticed this pull in a little bit? Just given the uncertainty?

I would say not yet. (laughter) We'd like to see that but we -- I'd say not yet.

Okay. We'll wait for that then. Thank you.

Okay.

Our next question comes from the line of Walter Liptak with Seaport Global.

Thanks. Good morning, guys.

Good morning, Walter.

I want to ask about your US orders. Down 6%, that wouldn't be impacted, I don't think, by timing for anything except for maybe some concern over the macro and a slowing international. So I wondered if you could talk a little bit about the US orders, the stock market, or concern about the economy being negative or anything related to the strong dollar and that impacting your export sales.

No. I would say most of it would fall in the category of project timing year over year. Last year, in this period of time, overall US orders were up 12%. And particularly, in our coatings business, we had a very, very strong orders in the auto platform business.

And so that year -- that's sort of a year-over-year effect that's having some impact. And we think it's more project timing than anything else. No, it's not an international or currency-related impact. It's more project timing.

Okay. And in a similar way, just be more specific about the Adhesive in North America. It sounds great, the mid-single-digit growth outlook for Adhesives. I wondered if you could talk specifically about Adhesives in North America and the pipeline of orders and activity or pipeline of business out there?

Yes. I would say in general, packaging and nonwovens, which tend to be the nondurable piece, are pretty solid. I would say on the product assembly side, it's a little weaker at the moment. Again, they tend to be more higher dollar, more capital related. We expect some of that from a seasonal standpoint. And we do see good activity but if anything would get pushed, it would be things like the product assembly area and then a number of the coatings-related activities. And maybe some of the bigger polymer projects.

So that's the ones that while we're not hearing that at the moment, that's probably where the risk would be and right now, it looks more like a normal quarter on the product assembly with the timing. But, that's the one area that's been a little bit softer within the quarter.

Okay. Great. Okay. Thank you.

And our next question is from the line of Kevin Maczka with BB&T Capital Markets.

Thanks, good morning.

Good morning, Kevin.

Mike, we've talked for some time now about these tiered products in the China mobile. I'm wondering if you can give an update there on the traction you're seeing there, the size of business that is -- that is for you now? What kind of growth rates you're seeing, margins, that kind of thing?

Yes. So I would say it's move -- it's just to starting to move from the handful of unit orders to orders that are more in the range, 20, 30, 40, units at a time. It's starting to get some traction. These are mid-tier products so they would have -- they would be fully automated but not necessarily as sophisticated as our high-end products when you think about vision system and dual dispensing and things like that.

They are coming out of China largely. We have a Suzhou facility so we have nice margins on this business. Not as good as our fully featured products but good margins in the business. I would say, though in general, the Chinese manufacturers are still pretty low on the curve from an automation perspective.

They still do a lot manually and we think in the long run, that's a nice upside for us. It's not driving that part of the segment at the moment but we have gone from putting units in, demonstrating them, selling a handful of units to real orders. And so that's encouraging.

And when you talk about units, what's a typical ballpark dollar value for a unit like this? And does it capture still the same type of margin that your higher end, more bells and whistles, units do?

I would say the answer to the first one is, it's probably 50% to two-thirds of the pricing of the high end units. And the margins wouldn't be quite as high but they're probably within 10 points of the kind of margins we see in the high-end unites. High-end units have a lot more features. So they might be dual dispense systems with laser vision systems and so forth. So they would be -- different margins but good margins, nonetheless.

Yes. Makes sense. And then this snapback, if you will, in the electronics demand. How much of that is coming from Company-specific things you're doing like this in the way of introducing new products and getting traction with them versus some of your markets just snapping back. I know you mentioned the semiconductor area but how much of this is market versus things you're doing?

I would say it's a mix. The comment on the semi side is really a function of some new technology going in to different customers that are on the wafer side of things. So leading-edge customers on the wafer side so that's really a combination of new product technology and a new application there which is encouraging.

We'd like to see that grow. We have introduced a whole new line of dispense technology that's getting some traction. But we are -- and I'd say, we haven't yet seen the big uptick that we would expect seasonally, which as I said earlier, would come later in the quarter. So we are seeing some improvements in the underlying customer base but it's probably more linked to new products and technologies that we're offering than anything else.

Got it. And if I could just ask one more high level on the Adhesives orders. So when we see those order growth rates in the 6% to 12% all year last year go to negative 1% in Q1, there was a Chinese New Year in there last year at some point, too, where you probably had a week without orders.

Your message is not that there some new macro challenge and things have slowed but more an issue of timing and the outlook there is still as encouraging as it was last quarter. Is that a fair way to characterize it?

Yes. I'd say it's encouraging and as I commented on the traditional Adhesive businesses, the non-durables are solid. The area where we have a little bit more concern is on the product assembly which is more investment-related but that's been solid today.

But we have some concerns, a little bit more concern going forward. But, this is a period where that's typically what you would see.

And on the polymer side, we've come off two really strong quarters from order entry. It's a little bit off right now but it looks more like project timing than anything else-based on the activity level. So I'd say we are encouraged. We're not trying to get too far ahead of ourselves here though, just given the general level of uncertainty in the macro environment.

Okay. Thank you.

And our next question comes from the line of Matt McConnell with RBC Capital Markets.

Thank you. Good morning.

Hi Matt.

I want to follow up on the comments earlier. I know polymers is doing pretty well. Could you give us a sense of where the margins are now relative to the segment average? And maybe what's been accomplished on the restructuring there? And what's left to do maybe over the remainder of the year?

I would say, in general, we are still in the early phases of the improvement activity in the polymer side of things. The margins aren't where we'd like to see them but just to give you a sense of things that we've accomplished so far. We have shut down and exited our Belgian facility in Europe and consolidated that.

We have -- got out of two small product lines related to that, one plating and one in the rolls business in the US that were not making money for us. So we've exited those businesses. We have pulled together a plan to consolidate our German facilities from two to one. That requires expanding the one facility so that's going to play into 2017.

In the US, in our dies business, we have three facilities. We will go down at least one and that should play out over the next year. And then there's some other activities that we have underway that we'll talk more about later in the year that continue the improvement plan in that business. But, I would say we are on track with our expectations there.

We're doing everything we can to pull in the time horizon but when you look at consolidating facilities and expand one, the timing to make that happen stretches out more than everybody would like but we're going as fast as we can in that regard. So, I'd say we are on track.

The margins aren't where we'd like to see them yet. We haven't really seen the big volume drivers come back yet even though we've had some nice volume growth and that's something that we expect to see probably more in 2017, 2018 time frame. But, we're on a good path.

Matt, this is Greg. I'd add that as part of our overall initiative to drive our margin improvement at 200 basis points, certainly, this product line is a part of that improvement.

Okay. Great. All right, thanks. That's a helpful update. Appreciate it.

And at this time, I'm showing no further questions. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Jim Jaye for any further remarks.

Thank you, Chenise. And thank you everyone for joining us on the call today. I'm available this week for follow-up questions. So thank you again for your ongoing interest in Nordson. Have a good day.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.