ATS Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Results

August 8, 2024

CAMBRIDGE, Ontario–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ATS Corporation (TSX and NYSE: ATS) (“ATS” or the “Company”) today reported its financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2024. All references to “$” or “dollars” in this news release are to Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.

First quarter highlights:

Revenues decreased 7.9% year over year to $694.3 million.
Net Income was $35.3 million compared to $47.7 million a year ago.
Basic earnings per share were 36 cents, compared to 50 cents a year ago.
Adjusted EBITDA¹ was $106.0 million compared to $119.2 million a year ago.
Adjusted basic earnings per share¹ were 50 cents compared to 69 cents a year ago.
Order Bookings² were $817 million, 18.4% higher compared to $690 million a year ago.
Order Backlog² was $1,882 million at the end of the quarter.

“Today ATS reported our first quarter results for fiscal 2025, which included the second highest Order Bookings and the largest life sciences Order Backlog in company history,” said Andrew Hider, Chief Executive Officer. “Strengthened by organic and acquisition growth within life sciences, our Order Backlog provides good revenue visibility throughout fiscal 2025.”

Mr. Hider added, “In transportation, we are taking action to align our cost structure to a lower demand environment, with the expectation that Order Bookings in the Electric Vehicle (“EV”) space will be a smaller part of our portfolio going forward. As we drive our strategic focus on expanding our presence in regulated markets such as food and beverage and life sciences, our recent acquisitions, including Avidity, as well as Paxiom, which we recently welcomed to the ATS portfolio, create opportunities for both organic and synergistic growth with accretive margin profiles.”

¹ Non-IFRS measure: see “Notice to Reader: Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures”.

² Supplementary financial measure: see “Notice to Reader: Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures”.

Financial results
(In millions of dollars, except per share and margin data)

	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024		Three Months Ended July 2, 2023		Variance
Revenues	$	694.3	$	753.6	(7.9)%
Net income	$	35.3	$	47.7	(26.0)%
Adjusted earnings from operations¹	$	86.2	$	102.1	(15.6)%
Adjusted earnings from operations margin²		12.4%		13.5%	(113)bps
Adjusted EBITDA¹	$	106.0	$	119.2	(11.1)%
Adjusted EBITDA margin²		15.3%		15.8%	(55)bps
Basic earnings per share	$	0.36	$	0.50	(28.0)%
Adjusted basic earnings per share¹	$	0.50	$	0.69	(27.5)%
Order Bookings³	$	817.0	$	690.0	18.4%


As At		June 30 2024		July 2 2023	Variance
Order Backlog³	$	1,882	$	2,023	(7.0)%
¹ Non-IFRS financial measure – See “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures.”
² Non-IFRS ratio – See “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures”
³ Supplementary financial measure – See “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures”

Recent Acquisitions

On May 15, 2024, the Company announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Paxiom Group (“Paxiom”). With headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Paxiom is a provider of primary, secondary, and end-of-line packaging machines in the food and beverage, cannabis, and pharmaceutical industries. Paxiom provides a vast product line that includes precision weigh filling, bagging, wrapping, labeling, conveyors, case forming, robotic case packing and end of line palletizing equipment that will complement ATS’ packaging and food technology businesses and allow ATS to offer complete packaging and end-of-line solutions. The transaction closed on July 24, 2024, subsequent to the end of the period.

On August 7, 2024, subsequent to the end of the period, the Company announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to purchase all material assets from Heidolph Instruments GmbH & Co. KG and Hans Heidolph GmbH (“Heidolph”), a leading manufacturer of premium lab equipment for the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries, with headquarters in Schwabach, Germany and facilities in the United States, South Korea and China. The transaction is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2024, subject to closing conditions in the agreement.

First quarter summary

Fiscal 2025 first quarter revenues were 7.9% or $59.3 million lower than in the corresponding period a year ago. This performance primarily reflected the year-over-year decrease in organic revenue (excluding contributions from acquired companies and foreign exchange translation) of $95.4 million or 12.7%, partially offset by increased revenues earned by acquired companies of $29.9 million, which included $26.1 million from Avidity Science, LLC (“Avidity”). Revenues generated from construction contracts decreased 22.4% or $113.8 million due to lower Order Backlog entering the period. Revenues from services increased 20.3% or $28.9 million due to organic revenue growth in addition to revenues earned by acquired companies of $8.7 million. Revenues from the sale of goods increased 25.0% or $25.6 million primarily due revenues earned by acquired companies of $20.9 million, primarily from Avidity, in addition to organic revenue growth.

By market, revenues generated in life sciences increased $43.4 million or 15.2% year over year. This was primarily due to contributions from acquisitions totalling $29.7 million and organic revenue growth on higher Order Backlog entering the quarter. Revenues in transportation decreased $74.1 million or 33.9%, due to lower Order Backlog entering the quarter. Revenues generated in food & beverage decreased $33.8 million or 25.9% due to timing of program execution. Revenues generated in consumer products increased $4.2 million or 5.0% due to timing of program execution. Revenues in energy increased $1.0 million or 2.8% due to higher Order Backlog entering the quarter.

Net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 was $35.3 million (36 cents per share basic), compared to $47.7 million (50 cents per share basic) for the first quarter of fiscal 2024. The decrease primarily reflected lower revenues and higher selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses, partially offset by increased margins and lower stock-based compensation expenses. Adjusted basic earnings per share were 50 cents compared to 69 cents in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 (see “Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to IFRS Measures”).

Depreciation and amortization expense was $37.4 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, compared to $35.7 million a year ago.

EBITDA was $105.0 million (15.1% EBITDA margin) in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to $114.7 million (15.2% EBITDA margin) in the first quarter of fiscal 2024. EBITDA for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 included $1.3 million of incremental costs related to acquisition activity, $1.0 million of acquisition-related fair value adjustments to acquired inventories, and a $1.3 million recovery of stock-based compensation expenses due to revaluation. EBITDA for the corresponding period in the prior year included $0.1 million of incremental costs related to acquisition activity, and $4.4 million of stock-based compensation revaluation expenses. Excluding these costs, adjusted EBITDA was $106.0 million (15.3% adjusted EBITDA margin), compared to $119.2 million (15.8% adjusted EBITDA margin) for the corresponding period in the prior year. Lower adjusted EBITDA reflected lower revenues and increased SG&A expenses, partially offset by increased margins. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are non-IFRS financial measure – see “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures.”

Order Backlog Continuity
(In millions of dollars)

	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024			Three Months Ended July 2, 2023
Opening Order Backlog	$	1,793		$	2,153
Revenues		(694	)		(754	)
Order Bookings		817			690
Order Backlog adjustments¹		(34	)		(66	)
Total	$	1,882		$	2,023
¹ Order Backlog adjustments include foreign exchange adjustments, scope changes and cancellations.

Order Bookings

First quarter fiscal 2025 Order Bookings were $817 million, an 18.4% year-over-year increase, reflecting 13.1% of organic Order Bookings growth, in addition to 4.2% growth from acquired companies. Order Bookings from acquired companies totalled $28.9 million. By market, Order Bookings in life sciences increased compared to the prior-year period primarily due to organic growth, along with $28.6 million of contributions from acquired companies, including $24.2 million from Avidity. Order Bookings in transportation decreased compared to the prior-year period, reflecting a more measured approach to Electric Vehicle (“EV”) investment by transportation customers as they respond to dynamics in their markets, resulting in lower Order Bookings relative to the prior period. Order Bookings in food & beverage and energy decreased while Order Bookings in consumer products increased primarily due to the timing of customer projects.

Trailing twelve month book-to-bill ratio at June 30, 2024 was 1.02:1. Book-to-bill ratio, Order Bookings and organic Order Bookings growth are supplementary financial measures – see “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures.”

Backlog

At June 30, 2024, Order Backlog was $1,882 million, 7.0% lower than at July 2, 2023 primarily on account of lower Order Backlog within the transportation market which included several large Order Bookings a year ago.

Outlook

The life sciences funnel remains strong, with a focus on strategic submarkets of pharmaceuticals, radiopharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Management continues to see opportunities with both new and existing customers, including those who produce auto-injectors and wearable devices for diabetes and obesity treatments, contact lenses and pre-filled syringes, automated pharmacy solutions, as well as opportunities to provide life science solutions that leverage integrated capabilities from across ATS. In transportation, the funnel consists of smaller opportunities relative to the size of the Order Bookings received throughout fiscal years 2023 and 2024 as industry participants are moderating new capacity investment to match end market demand and reduce platform costs. Funnel activity in food & beverage remains strong. The Company continues to benefit from strong brand recognition within the global tomato processing, other soft fruits processing and vegetable processing industries, and there is continued interest in automated solutions within the food & beverage market more broadly. Funnel activity in consumer products is stable; inflationary pressures continue to have an effect on discretionary spending by consumers, which may impact timing of some customer investments. Funnel activity in energy remains strong and includes longer-term opportunities in the nuclear industry. The Company is focused on clean energy applications including solutions for the refurbishment of nuclear power plants, early participation in the small modular reactor market, and grid battery storage.

Funnel growth in markets where environmental, social and governance requirements are an increasing focus for customers — including grid battery storage and nuclear, as well as consumer goods packaging — provide ATS with opportunities to use its capabilities to respond to customer sustainability standards and goals, including global and regional requirements to reduce carbon emissions. Customers seeking to de-risk or enhance the resiliency of their supply chains, address a shortage of skilled workers or combat higher labour costs also provide future opportunities for ATS to pursue. Management believes that the underlying trends driving customer demand for ATS solutions including rising labour costs, labour shortages, production onshoring or reshoring and the need for scalable, high-quality, energy-efficient production remain favourable.

Order Backlog of $1,882 million is expected to help mitigate some of the impact of quarterly variability in Order Bookings on revenues in the short term. The Company’s Order Backlog includes several large enterprise programs that have longer periods of performance and therefore longer revenue recognition cycles. In the second quarter of fiscal 2025, management expects the conversion of Order Backlog to revenues to be in the 33% to 36% range. This estimate is calculated each quarter based on management’s assessment of project schedules across all customer contracts, expectations for faster-turn product and services revenues, expected delivery timing of third-party equipment and operational capacity. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, management reported that approximately $150 million of Order Backlog with one of the Company’s EV customers remained delayed. There is uncertainty as to if or when this portion of the program will restart. In light of reduced EV investment by automakers, and the uncertainty this creates in transportation funnel activity as well as the conversion of Order Backlog to revenues, management expects that transportation will be a smaller portion of ATS’ overall business going forward. As a result, the Company is working to reduce its cost structure to reflect these expectations (see “Reorganization Activity”). In the short-term, management expects pressure on transportation revenues to negatively impact margins.

Supplier lead times have improved in most key categories; however, prolonged cost increases, price and lead-time volatility have and may continue to disrupt the timing and progress of the Company’s margin expansion efforts and affect revenue recognition. Over time, sustaining management’s margin target assumes that the Company will successfully implement its margin expansion initiatives, and that such initiatives will result in improvements to its adjusted earnings from operations margin that offset these shorter-term pressures (see “Forward-Looking Statements” for a description of the risks underlying the achievement of the margin target in future periods).

The timing of customer decisions on larger opportunities is expected to cause variability in Order Bookings from quarter to quarter. Revenues in a given period are dependent on a combination of the volume of outstanding projects the Company is contracted to perform, the size and duration of those projects, and the timing of project activities including design, assembly, testing, and installation. Given the specialized nature of the Company’s offerings, the size and scope of projects vary based on customer needs. The Company seeks to achieve revenue growth organically and by identifying strategic acquisition opportunities that provide access to attractive end-markets and new products and technologies and deliver hurdle-rate returns. After-sales revenues and reoccurring revenues, which ATS defines as revenues from ancillary products and services associated with equipment sales, and revenues from customers who purchase non-customized ATS product at regular intervals, are expected to provide some balance to customers’ capital expenditure cycles.

In the short term, the Company also expects non-cash working capital to remain elevated as large enterprise programs progress through milestones. Management anticipates that working capital improvements will start to materialize in the second half of the fiscal year as milestones are achieved on larger programs in Order Backlog. Not withstanding the foregoing, given the size and timing of milestone payments for certain large EV programs in Order Backlog, the Company could still see its non-cash working capital remain elevated until these milestone payments are received. Over the long-term, the Company expects to continue investing in non-cash working capital to support growth, with fluctuations expected on a quarter-over-quarter basis. The Company’s long-term goal is to maintain its investment in non-cash working capital as a percentage of annualized revenues below 15%. The Company expects that continued cash flows from operations, together with cash and cash equivalents on hand and credit available under operating and long-term credit facilities will be sufficient to fund its requirements for investments in non-cash working capital and capital assets, and to fund strategic investment plans including some potential acquisitions. Acquisitions could result in additional debt or equity financing requirements for the Company. Non-cash working capital as a percentage of revenues is a non-IFRS ratio – see “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures.”

The Company continues to make progress in line with its plans to integrate acquired companies, and expects to realize cost and revenue synergies consistent with announced integration plans.

Reorganization Activity

The North American EV market is experiencing a slowdown in sales growth, and this has given rise to reduced investment, program cancellations, deferrals, and production volume reductions by various automakers. In response to the resulting lower demand for the Company’s solutions in this space, the Company intends to reduce the cost structure of its transportation-related businesses. This is expected to include reallocation of resources to other parts of the business, along with workforce reductions. These actions are expected to commence in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, with an estimated cost of between $15 million and $20 million.

Quarterly Conference Call

ATS will host a conference call and webcast at 8:30 a.m. eastern on Thursday, August 8, 2024 to discuss its quarterly results. The listen-only webcast can be accessed live at www.atsautomation.com. The conference call can be accessed live by dialing (888) 660-6652 or (646) 960-0554 five minutes prior. A replay of the conference will be available on the ATS website following the call. Alternatively, a telephone recording of the call will be available for one week (until midnight August 15, 2024) by dialing (800) 770-2030 and using the access code 8782510.

About ATS

ATS Corporation is an industry-leading automation solutions provider to many of the world’s most successful companies. ATS uses its extensive knowledge base and global capabilities in custom automation, repeat automation, automation products and value-added solutions including pre-automation and after-sales services, to address the sophisticated manufacturing automation systems and service needs of multinational customers in markets such as life sciences, transportation, food & beverage, consumer products, and energy. Founded in 1978, ATS employs over 7,000 people at more than 65 manufacturing facilities and over 85 offices in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia and Oceania. The Company’s common shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) and the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol ATS. Visit the Company’s website at www.atsautomation.com.

Consolidated Revenues
(In millions of dollars)

Revenues by type	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024		Three Months Ended July 2, 2023
Revenues from construction contracts	$	395.0	$	508.8
Services rendered		171.2		142.3
Sale of goods		128.1		102.5
Total revenues	$	694.3	$	753.6

Revenues by market	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024		Three Months Ended July 2, 2023
Life Sciences	$	328.4	$	285.0
Transportation		144.4		218.5
Food & Beverage		96.8		130.6
Consumer Products		87.8		83.6
Energy		36.9		35.9
Total revenues	$	694.3	$	753.6

Consolidated Operating Results
(In millions of dollars)

	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024			Three Months Ended July 2, 2023
Earnings from operations	$	67.6		$	79.0
Amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets		17.6			18.6
Acquisition-related transaction costs		1.3			0.1
Acquisition-related inventory fair value charges		1.0			—
Mark to market portion of stock-based compensation		(1.3	)		4.4
Adjusted earnings from operations¹	$	86.2		$	102.1
¹ Non-IFRS Financial Measure, See “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures”

	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024			Three Months Ended July 2, 2023
Earnings from operations	$	67.6		$	79.0
Depreciation and amortization		37.4			35.7
EBITDA¹	$	105.0		$	114.7
Acquisition-related transaction costs		1.3			0.1
Acquisition-related inventory fair value charges		1.0			—
Mark to market portion of stock-based compensation		(1.3	)		4.4
Adjusted EBITDA¹	$	106.0		$	119.2
¹ Non-IFRS Financial Measure, See “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures”

Order Backlog by Market
(In millions of dollars)

As at	June 30, 2024		July 2, 2023
Life Sciences	$	990	$	783
Transportation		417		834
Food & Beverage		216		188
Consumer Products		150		134
Energy		109		84
Total	$	1,882	$	2,023

Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to IFRS Measures

(In millions of dollars, except per share data)

The following table reconciles adjusted EBITDA and EBITDA to the most directly comparable IFRS measure (net income):

	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024			Three Months Ended July 2, 2023
Adjusted EBITDA	$	106.0		$	119.2
Less: acquisition-related transaction costs		1.3			0.1
Less: acquisition-related inventory fair value charges		1.0			—
Less: mark to market portion of stock-based compensation		(1.3	)		4.4
EBITDA	$	105.0		$	114.7
Less: depreciation and amortization expense		37.4			35.7
Earnings from operations	$	67.6		$	79.0
Less: net finance costs		19.5			16.9
Less: provision for income taxes		12.8			14.4
Net income	$	35.3		$	47.7

The following table reconciles adjusted earnings from operations, adjusted net income, and adjusted basic earnings per share to the most directly comparable IFRS measures (net income and basic earnings per share):

	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024															Three Months Ended July 2, 2023
	Earnings from operations			Finance costs			Provision for income taxes			Net income			Basic EPS			Earnings from operations		Finance costs			Provision for income taxes			Net income			Basic EPS
Reported (IFRS)	$	67.6		$	(19.5	)	$	(12.8	)	$	35.3		$	0.36		$	79.0	$	(16.9	)	$	(14.4	)	$	47.7		$	0.50
Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles		17.6			—			—			17.6			0.18			18.6		—			—			18.6			0.20
Acquisition-related inventory fair value charges		1.0			—			—			1.0			0.01			—		—			—			—			—
Acquisition-related transaction costs		1.3			—			—			1.3			0.01			0.1		—			—			0.1			—
Mark to market portion of stock-based compensation		(1.3	)		—			—			(1.3	)		(0.01	)		4.4		—			—			4.4			0.05
Tax effect adjustments¹		—			—			(4.7	)		(4.7	)		(0.05	)		—		—			(5.8	)		(5.8	)		(0.06	)
Adjusted (non-IFRS)	$	86.2								$	49.2		$	0.50		$	102.1							$	65.0		$	0.69
¹ Adjustments to provision for income taxes relate to the income tax effects of adjustment items that are excluded for the purposes of calculating non-IFRS based adjusted net income.

The following table reconciles organic revenue to the most directly comparable IFRS measure (revenue):

	Three Months Ended June 30, 2024		Three Months Ended July 2, 2023
Organic revenue	$	658.2	$	704.7
Revenues of acquired companies		29.9		15.3
Impact of foreign exchange rate changes		6.2		33.6
Total revenue	$	694.3	$	753.6
Organic revenue growth		(12.7)%

The following table reconciles non-cash working capital as a percentage of revenues to the most directly comparable IFRS measures:

As at	June 30 2024			March 31 2024
Accounts receivable	$	568.2		$	471.3
Income tax receivable		13.3			13.4
Contract assets		726.4			704.7
Inventories		304.7			295.9
Deposits, prepaids and other assets		105.2			98.2
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		(587.4	)		(604.5	)
Income tax payable		(39.5	)		(44.7	)
Contract liabilities		(365.4	)		(312.2	)
Provisions		(29.8	)		(36.0	)
Non-cash working capital	$	695.7		$	586.1
Trailing six-month revenues annualized	$	2,971.5		$	3,087.0
Working capital %		23.4	%		19.0	%