Company Announcements

Operational execution drives third quarter earnings above expectations

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2024-- Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ: LFUS), a diversified, industrial technology manufacturing company empowering a sustainable, connected, and safer world, today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 28, 2024:

• Net sales of $567 million were down 7% versus the prior year period and organically
• GAAP diluted EPS was $2.32 and adjusted diluted EPS was $2.71
• Cash flow from operations was $80 million and free cash flow was $65 million

“In the third quarter, our global teams delivered strong execution and drove sales and earnings above our expectations,” said Dave Heinzmann, Littelfuse President and Chief Executive Officer. “While we see soft end market conditions extending into the fourth quarter, we remain focused on driving operational excellence while serving our global customer base and delivering meaningful new business wins. Our proven growth strategy, diversification efforts and strong technology capabilities position us to deliver top tier long-term stakeholder value.”

Fourth Quarter of 2024*

Based on current market conditions, for the fourth quarter the company expects,

• Net sales in the range of $510 - $540 million, adjusted diluted EPS in the range of $1.90 - $2.10 and an adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 14%

*Littelfuse provides guidance on a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis. GAAP items excluded from guidance may include the after-tax impact of items including acquisition and integration costs, restructuring, impairment and other charges, certain purchase accounting adjustments, non-operating foreign exchange adjustments and significant and unusual items. These items are uncertain, depend on various factors, and could be material to results computed in accordance with GAAP. Littelfuse is not able to forecast the excluded items in order to provide the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure without unreasonable efforts.

Dividend and Share Repurchase Authorization

• The company will pay a cash dividend on its common stock of $0.70 per share on December 5, 2024, to shareholders of record as of November 21, 2024

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Littelfuse will host a conference call on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. Central Time to discuss the results. The call will be broadcast and available for replay at Littelfuse.com. A slide presentation is available in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at Littelfuse.com.

About Littelfuse

Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ: LFUS) is a diversified, industrial technology manufacturing company empowering a sustainable, connected, and safer world. Across more than 20 countries, and with approximately 16,000 global associates, we partner with customers to design and deliver innovative, reliable solutions. Serving over 100,000 end customers, our products are found in a variety of industrial, transportation and electronics end markets – everywhere, every day. Learn more at Littelfuse.com.

“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are intended to constitute "forward-looking statements" entitled to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Such statements are based on Littelfuse, Inc.’s (“Littelfuse” or the “Company”) current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties, include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to general economic conditions; product demand and market acceptance; the impact of competitive products and pricing; product quality problems or product recalls; capacity and supply difficulties or constraints; coal mining exposures reserves; cybersecurity matters; failure of an indemnification for environmental liability; exchange rate fluctuations; commodity and other raw material price fluctuations; the effect of Littelfuse accounting policies; labor disputes; restructuring costs in excess of expectations; pension plan asset returns less than assumed; integration of acquisitions; uncertainties related to political or regulatory changes; and other risks which may be detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and outcomes may differ materially from those indicated or implied in the forward-looking statements. This release should be read in conjunction with information provided in the financial statements appearing in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2023.

Further discussion of the risk factors of the company can be found under the caption "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2023, and in other filings and submissions with the SEC, each of which are available free of charge on the company’s investor relations website at investor.littelfuse.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof. The company does not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the availability of new information.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The information included in this press release includes the non-GAAP financial measures of organic net sales (decline) growth, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted income taxes, adjusted effective tax rate, free cash flow, net debt, consolidated EBITDA, and consolidated net leverage ratio (as defined in the credit agreement). Many of these non-GAAP financial measures exclude the effect of certain expenses and income not related directly to the underlying performance of our fundamental business operations. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is set forth in the attached schedules. The company believes that organic net sales (decline) growth, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted income taxes, and adjusted effective tax rate provide useful information to investors regarding its operational performance because they enhance an investor’s overall understanding of our core financial performance and facilitate comparisons to historical results of operations, by excluding items that are not related directly to the underlying performance of our fundamental business operations or were not part of our business operations during a comparable period. The company believes that free cash flow is a useful measure of its ability to generate cash. The company believes that net debt, consolidated EBITDA, and consolidated net leverage ratio are useful measures of its credit position. The company believes that all of these non-GAAP financial measures are commonly used by financial analysts and others in the industries in which we operate, and thus further provide useful information to investors. Management additionally uses these measures when assessing the performance of the business and for business planning purposes. Note that our definitions of these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from those terms as defined or used by other companies.

LFUS-F

* Our Credit Agreement and Private Placement Note with maturities ranging from 2024 to 2032, contain financial ratio covenants providing that if, as of the last day of each fiscal quarter, the Consolidated Net Leverage ratio at such time for the then most recently concluded period of four consecutive fiscal quarters of the Company exceeds 3.50:1.00, an Event of Default (as defined in the Credit Agreement and Private Placement Senior Notes) is triggered.

The Credit Agreement and Private Placement Senior Notes were amended in Q2 2022 and now allow for the addition of acquisition and integration costs up to 15% of Consolidated EBITDA and the netting of up to $400M of Available Cash (Cash held by US Subsidiaries).

(1) Represents Consolidated EBITDA as defined in our Credit Agreement and Private Placement Senior Notes and is calculated using the most recently concluded period of four consecutive quarters.

Note: Total will not always foot due to rounding.

(a) reflected in selling, general and administrative expenses ("SG&A").
(b) reflected in restructuring, impairment and other charges.
(c) 2024 amount reflected a gain of $0.5 million ($1.5 million year-to-date) recorded for the sale of a land use right within the Electronics segment and a gain of $1.0 million for the sale of two buildings within the Transportation segment.
(d) 2024 year-to-date also included a reversal of $0.5 million for an asset retirement obligation charge related the disposal of a business in 2019 and $0.2 million increase in coal mining reserves. 2023 amount included $0.2 million gain from the sale of a building within the Electronics segment.
(e) reflected the tax impact associated with the non-GAAP adjustments.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241029085384/en/

David Kelley
224-727-2535
dkelley@littelfuse.com

Source: Littelfuse, Inc.