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Text: This is Michael Haack.
One, related to the Board's decision to remain a combined company and the other to the reinstatement of our quarterly cash dividend.
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I'll begin today with some perspectives on the quarter, the fiscal year and our outlook.
Our latest results represent a culmination of a decade of sustained topline growth for the company.
While our bottom line has grown by more than 20 fold.
In every respect, fiscal 2021 was an extraordinary year for Eagle Materials.
Our resilient business model and our team's commitment to Eagle's vision and strategic priorities have enabled us to achieve record financial results, integrate the largest acquisition in the company's history, operate all facilities safely during COVID, and quickly rebound from a historic winter storm.
These results would not be possible without the extraordinary talented and dedicated employees of Eagle Materials.
We have long emphasized the favorable cash flow characteristics of Eagle Materials, and this was never more clearly illustrated then during this year.
And in fact, we were able to repay the entire $665 million purchase price of the Kosmos acquisition during the fiscal year, providing us with significant balance sheet firepower and financial flexibility going forward.
A few additional strategic items that I would like to highlight are around our completion of the expansion of our vertically integrated paper mill and some portfolio shaping.
The paper mill expansion added 20% additional capacity, allowing Eagle to set a monthly production record for Wallboard paper in March.
The expansion will also provide cost and value benefits that we expect to realize longer-term.
The business portfolio shaping involve the divestiture of Eagle's profit business and other non-core assets in Northern California.
We found buyers where alternative ownership value exceeded operating value for us.
With regards to operations.
I'm especially pleased with our safety performance in this disruptive pandemic year.
Progress on our relentless focus on safety was confirmed by our leading and lagging safety indicators.
Our safety culture has never been stronger with leading indicators of safety observations increasing by 114%, resulting in all of Eagle's businesses outperforming industry metrics yet again, and this gap is widening.
Another important topic that we are very excited about is our progress on our environmental and social agenda.
We will post an updated environmental and social disclosure report to our website this quarter and it will give a more comprehensive and granular expression of our ESG agenda and to our progress, both of which were a source of pride for us.
ESG is well integrated into our strategic planning and investment decision-making process at Eagle.
Let me now turn to some specifics around our demand outlook and why we believe the underlying demand fundamentals in our markets will continue to be strong -- see strong volume and pricing strength like we saw during the second half of our fiscal year.
Residential construction and repair and remodeling are very closely related and are important demand drivers for Eagle Materials.
These two items drive approximately 80% of the demand for Gypsum Wallboard and about 30% of the demand for cement.
In this regard, the outlook for housing starts, especially single-family starts, which are particularly important for Wallboard demand is strong.
We have been under building against underlying demand in the U.S. for over a decade.
This under building has led to a record shortage of homes, at the same time that household formations are expanding.
As long as mortgage interest rates stay in the lower quartile by historic standards, this demand growth should be largely sustainable through the mid-term.
Now turning to cement.
Approximately half of cement demand is from investments in infrastructure.
Implementation will further challenge U.S. cement supply in many parts of the U.S., which is already straining to meet current demand.
It is also important to remember that the lion's share of funding for infrastructure comes from states, not the federal government.
There was quite a bit of concern about state budgets being impacted by the pandemic, but as we shared in our prior earnings calls, our analysis of sources of state funding suggested the impact would likely not as be as great as some feared, especially in the U.S. heartland states in which we operate.
In fact, remarkably, state and local tax revenue grew by 1.8% in 2020.
This is largely because state and local personal income tax receipts rose 3.4% and state and local property tax receipts were up 3.9%.
On top of the tax revenues, states were provided federal grants as part of President Biden's American rescue plan.
Finally, non-residential demand is the smallest demand driver for Eagle.
We have seen strong demand in distribution centers, warehousing and data centers, but overall this area has been less certain.
As America continues to reopen after COVID, we expect this demand driver to continue to strengthen.
The point of this is that the demand picture is robust for both of our businesses.
The factors driving the strength should be sustainable at least through the mid-term.
Moving from the demand side to the supply side, we have been talking from some years about the diminishing supply of synthetic gypsum in the eastern half of the U.S.
This is due to less burning of coal as power plants change fuel sources from coal to natural gas and from outright closure of coal-fired power plants.
With a diminishing supply of synthetic gypsum, existing synthetic Wallboard plants will be limited in their ability to fully utilize current capacity, increase current capacity or build new capacity.
Conversely, almost all of the Eagle's plants have many decades of raw material supply, which are primarily own natural gypsum deposits.
We are largely insulated from the direct effects of this diminishing synthetic gypsum trend, while our plants are also in a position to indirectly benefit from the supply demand dynamics that this trend creates.
In this way, it is notable that the Gypsum Wallboard industry is increasingly looking more and more like the cement industry.
With respect to our cement business, there are significant regulatory and capital barriers to the U.S. cement capacity expansion, whether it be at existing facilities or through the construction of new ones.
In face of the increasing demand and with industry capacity now nearing full utilization, clinker capacity in the number of cement kilns has not only not expanded since 2010, but clinker capacity in the number of cement kilns has actually been reduced in the U.S.
This trend is why imported cement will increasingly be required, but is increasingly expensive with rising Baltic freight index rates.
Imported cement also carries a much larger carbon footprint than locally produced cement because of the ocean freight and logistics required to get it to the point of views.
Eagle is well positioned in the heartland of the U.S., away from the seaboards, and here too the company will be affected largely indirectly in a positive way by these trends.
In short, favorable demand outlooks, constrained U.S. manufacturing supply capability and a limited practical substitutes for both businesses add up to a very bright future for Eagle Materials.
With this backdrop, I would be remiss if I did not spend a little time on our pricing initiatives.
With regards to Wallboard, subsequent to the quarter, we implemented a price increase effective in April and have announced a further price increase for June.
For cement, we have implemented a price increase in April across our network and announced a second price increase in Texas for mid-summer.
We are continuing to see growing demand in our other markets and we'll update you on future calls on any further price increases we implement later in the year.
And I'm here because I would like to share some perspectives around this decision.
Much has transpired since the separation announcement that has caused the Board to reevaluate the separations merits.
First, the size and financial strength of the combined company with its diversified asset base geographic diversity and robust balance sheet have provided great comfort stability and value to our shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers during an unprecedented and uncertain time.
Second, given the continued consolidation of the industries in which we participate and the company's rigorous examination of a number of strategic alternatives since the announcement of the proposed separation, it has become clear that a combined company with greater financial scale and flexibility will be better positioned to pursue key strategic growth options and enhance shareholder value.
Third, since the announcement of the proposed separation, the company has streamlined its business portfolio, including the divestiture of its Oil and Gas Proppants business and other non-core assets.
There is no question that the company is exceedingly well positioned and is performing as well as at any time in it's history.
Both major business segments continue to post industry-leading metrics on just about every measure.
As a shareholder, I cannot be more pleased with the position of the company.
While the Board will continue to evaluate the merits of a separation on a periodic basis as we have in the past, it is concluded in consultation with external advisors that the combined company is in the best position to create long-term shareholder value.
This is -- this was an important decision for Eagle and for the Board, and one that was very carefully considered.
A second decision that the Board has made relates to our quarterly cash dividend.
This decision is important one in the context of our capital allocation priorities, which I might add, remain unchanged.
We have three capital allocation priorities.
The first to growth investments that meet our strict financial returns criteria and which falls squarely within our strategic focus boundaries.
The second investment priority is organic improvement investments.
These are investments to maintain our facilities in like new condition, strengthen the low-cost producer positions, and to ensure the long-term sustainability of our operations.
The third priority is the return of cash to shareholders.
And this has been primarily through share repurchases.
In fact, over the past three years we have invested just over $625 million in share repurchases and dividends.
This compares with nearly $700 million in growth acquisitions and $300 million inorganic improvement investments over that same time period.
Currently, over 7 million shares remain under the current repurchase authorization.
Now let me turn to the quarterly cash dividend decision.
Pandemic uncertainties urged an abundance of caution broadly around capital allocation at Eagle until we could regain confidence around the sustainability of the recovery.
As part of that cautiousness, we suspended our quarterly cash dividends.
Our confidence in the sustainability of the recovery is now high, while our cash position is very healthy.
As such, I would like to announce that we are reinstating our quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share on our common stock.
The dividend will be payable on July 16, 2021 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 18, 2021.
This amount represents a 150% increase over the quarterly dividends that had been paid preceding the suspension.
We're very pleased to be able to make this decision on behalf of our shareholders.
The reinstatement of the dividend reflects Eagle's strong operational and financial performance, our confidence about the resilience of the business and our commitment to reward shareholders.
Our strong balance sheet, combined with the robust cash flow outlook allows us to pay this dividend, while very importantly, preserving the financial flexibility to continue to grow and improve Eagle and create long-term shareholder value.
With that, now let me pass the baton over to Craig for the regular business of the earnings call with the discussion about the financials.
Fiscal Year 2021 revenue was a record $1.6 billion, up 16% from the prior year.
The increase was driven by contribution from the acquired Kosmos Cement business and increased cement and Wallboard sales volume and pricing.
The Kosmos Cement business contributed approximately $176 million of revenue during the year.
Revenue for the fourth quarter was up 12% to $343 million, reflecting a very strong end to our fiscal year.
Annual diluted earnings per share increased 46% to $7.99, reflecting the contribution from the Kosmos Cement business, improvement in the organic businesses, and a gain of approximately $0.98 per share on the sale of our Northern California businesses during the first quarter.
The fourth quarter earnings per share comparison was affected by the CARES Act, which generated a $37 million or $0.76 per share benefit in the prior year period.
This year's fourth quarter financial results were affected by the disruption of winter storm, Irene.
Prior to and during the storm, we brought down operations at all our Oklahoma and Texas facilities.
This was done in a controlled manner to ensure the safety and security of our employees, communities and assets.
I commend our manufacturing teams for their focus as these facilities ultimately lost utilities, including electricity and natural gas.
Fortunately, we avoided significant damage to our critical equipment and our operations were fully restored by late February.
The total financial impact from the winter storm was approximately $12 million during the fourth quarter.
Most of the impact resulted from higher variable costs, namely higher energy.
However, we also had negative fixed cost absorption, freeze related to repairs and restart costs.
On the flip side, we were able to curtail other operations and sell a portion of our natural gas commitments to offset these higher costs.
These offsets were included in other non-operating income.
Turning now to segment performance.
Let's look at Heavy Materials results for the year highlighted on the next slide.
This next slide shows the results in our Heavy Materials sector, which includes our Cement and Concrete and Aggregates segments.
Annual revenue in the sector increased 19%, driven primarily by the acquired Kosmos Cement business and higher cement sales volume and pricing.
This was partially offset by the divested Concrete and Aggregates business results in the prior year.
Operating earnings increased 27%, again reflecting the acquired business and increased sales volume and pricing.
And margins improved 140 basis points to 23%.
As I mentioned earlier, our Cement and Concrete operations in Oklahoma and Texas were negatively affected by winter storm, Irene.
The impact of this sector was approximately $6 million and mostly reflects higher energy costs.
As Michael mentioned previously, we recently implemented cement price increases across our entire cement network.
The price increases range from $6 to $8 per ton and were effective in most markets in early April.
Moving to the Light Materials sector in the next slide.
Annual revenue in our Light Materials sector increased 5%, reflecting improved Wallboard sales volumes and prices.
Annual operating earnings increased 2% to $193 million, reflecting higher net sales prices, partially offset by higher input prices, namely recycled fiber costs and the impact of starting up the paper mill after the expansion project.
As with the Cement business, our Wallboard plant and paper mill in Oklahoma experienced production curtailments and significant spikes in energy during the February winter storm.
The biggest impact was at our paper mill, which was fully curtailed for the week, and during the shutdown process experienced escalating energy costs.
Again, as Michael highlighted, subsequent to the quarter, we implemented a Wallboard price increase in early April and announced another price increase last week for early June.
Looking now at our cash flow, which remained strong.
During fiscal 2021, operating cash flow increased 61% to $643 million, reflecting earnings growth, disciplined working capital management and the receipt of our IRS refund.
Meanwhile, capital spending declined to $54 million.
The increase in our cash balance combined with debt reduction enabled us to repay the entire Kosmos Cement purchase price during fiscal 2020.
in fiscal 2022, we expect capital spending to increase to a range of $95 million to $105 million as we restart several projects that were delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And finally, a look at our capital structure.
During the year, we prioritized debt reduction as a primary use of cash, providing us significant financial flexibility in light of pandemic-related uncertainties and potential opportunities.
At March 31, 2021, our net debt to cap ratio was 36%, down from 60% at the end of the prior year, and our net debt to EBITDA leverage ratio was 1.3 times.
We ended the year with $264 million of cash on hand and total liquidity at the end of the quarter was approximately $1 billion, and we have no near-term debt maturities.
We'll now move to the question-and-answer session.

user
q4 revenue $343 million versus refinitiv ibes estimate of $333.6 million.
decision to remain a combined company.
decided not to pursue proposed separation of eagle materials.
average net cement sales price for quarter increased 2% to $112.77 per ton.

assistant