Third Quarter Financial Highlights
Third quarter 2022 performance relative to third quarter 2021
● | Sales of $488 million increased 7% on a reported basis and 12% organically, primarily due to double-digit organic growth in the Americas. Sales from acquisitions totaled approximately $2 million and were more than offset by unfavorable foreign exchange movements, which reduced sales by $21 million. |
● | Operating margin increased 230 basis points on a reported basis and 240 basis points on an adjusted basis, largely due to price, productivity and cost savings, which more than offset inflation and incremental investments. |
Regional Performance
Americas
| o | Sales of $350 million increased 13% on both a reported and an organic basis. Sales from acquisitions totaled approximately $2 million and were partially offset by unfavorable foreign exchange of approximately $1 million. The growth was primarily driven by price across the majority of our product families. |
| o | Operating margin increased 370 basis points on a GAAP basis and 380 basis points on an adjusted basis, as benefits from price realization and productivity more than offset inflation and incremental investments. |
Europe
| o | Sales of $113 million decreased 9% on a reported basis and increased 6% on an organic basis, with growth across all platforms, primarily driven by price. Unfavorable foreign exchange totaled 15%. Sales growth in the quarter was negatively impacted by approximately 2% due to our decision to exit all direct sales into Russia, effective April 1, 2022. |
| o | Operating margin decreased 350 basis points on a GAAP basis and 320 basis points on an adjusted basis, as benefits from increased price and productivity were more than offset by significantly higher inflation, volume deleverage and investments. |
Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (“APMEA”)
| o | Sales of $25 million increased 14% on a reported basis and 22% on an organic basis, primarily driven by demand in China, New Zealand and Australia. Unfavorable foreign exchange totaled 8%. |
| o | Operating margin decreased 260 basis points on a GAAP and adjusted basis. GAAP and adjusted margins both benefited from increased price and productivity, which were more than offset by inflation and reduced affiliate volume. |
Cash Flow and Capital Allocation
● | For the first nine months of 2022, operating cash flow was $86 million and net capital expenditures were $19 million, resulting in free cash flow of $67 million. In the comparable period last year, operating cash flow was $135 million and net capital expenditures were $15 million, resulting in free cash flow of $120 million. The year-over-year cash from operations and free cash flow decrease was primarily due to incremental cash outflows to fund our proactive decision to increase inventory as well as increased payments related to restructuring, employee and customer incentives. We expect improvement in operating cash flow and in free cash flow through the fourth quarter of 2022 due to normal seasonality. |
● | The Company repurchased approximately 29,000 shares of Class A common stock at a cost of $4 million during the third quarter. For the first nine months of 2022, the Company repurchased approximately 463,000 shares at a cost of approximately $65 million. |
For a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP items and a statement regarding the usefulness of these measures to investors and management in evaluating our operating performance, please see the tables attached to this press release.
Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will hold a live webcast of its conference call to discuss third quarter 2022 results on Thursday, November 3, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. EDT. This press release and the live webcast can be accessed by visiting the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.wattswater.com. Following the webcast, the call recording will be available at the same address until November 3, 2023.
Watts Water Technologies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a world leader in the manufacture of innovative products to control the efficiency, safety, and quality of water within residential, commercial, and institutional applications. Watts’ expertise in a wide variety of water technologies enables us to be a comprehensive supplier to the water industry.
This Press Release includes “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to expected full-year 2022 results, our ability to manage challenging macro-economic conditions, and improvements in operating cash flow and free cash flow throughout 2022. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about future events. You should not rely on forward-looking statements because our actual results may differ materially from those predicted as a