FLIR Systems announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2017.
FLIR Systems announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2017. Commenting on these results, Jim Cannon, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are pleased with our fourth quarter results, particularly the revenue growth and double-digit adjusted earnings growth. We reached our highest quarterly adjusted operating margin since 2012, finishing a year that saw record levels of revenue and adjusted earnings per share. This was accomplished during a year of transition that included an operational realignment, changes to the management team, and portfolio rationalization that resulted in the divestment of our Lorex security business. I am proud of our employees and how they have delivered in 2017.”
Mr. Cannon continued, “We have positive momentum as we enter 2018. We are committed to accomplishing our task of exceeding shareholders’ expectations with integrity as we fuel, feed, and focus our businesses, instill a culture of continuous business improvement through the deployment of The FLIR Method, and generate cash for accretive high-return investments.”
Fourth quarter 2017
Fourth quarter 2017 revenue was $494.8 million, up 4% over fourth quarter 2016 revenue of $474.7 million. Organic revenue growth was 2% with prior year acquisitions contributing approximately 2% of revenue growth in the quarter.
GAAP earnings results
GAAP operating income in the fourth quarter declined 16% to $77.2 million, compared to $92.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. GAAP operating income in the current quarter was negatively impacted by a $23.6 million non-cash loss on net assets held for sale related to the Lorex retail and small and medium-sized business (SMB) portion of the Security segment. GAAP operating margin decreased to 15.6%, compared with 19.4% in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Fourth quarter 2017 GAAP net loss was $50.3 million, or ($0.36) per diluted share, compared with GAAP net earnings of $61.5 million, or $0.45 per diluted share in the fourth quarter a year ago. GAAP net earnings were negatively impacted by the non-cash loss on the net assets held for sale as well as $92.7 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, of discrete tax items associated with the enactment of U.S. tax reform.
Cash provided by operations was $98.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to $97.1 million in the fourth quarter of the prior year.
Non-GAAP earnings results
Adjusted operating income was $111.7 million in the fourth quarter, which was 8% higher than adjusted operating income of $103.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. Adjusted operating margin increased 90 basis points to 22.6%, compared with 21.7% in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Adjusted net earnings in the fourth quarter were $81.8 million, or $0.58 per diluted share, which was 12% higher than adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.52 in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Segment results
Revenue from the Surveillance segment was $151.0 million, a decline of 5% from the fourth quarter results of last year. The Instruments segment contributed $102.6 million of revenue during the fourth quarter, up 7% over the prior year. The Security segment recorded revenue of $71.0 million in the fourth quarter, down 3% from the prior year. FLIR’s OEM & Emerging Markets segment had $87.7 million of revenue, an increase of 15% over the prior year, which was driven by the addition of the Integrated Imaging Solutions line of business near the end of the fourth quarter of 2016. Revenue from the Maritime segment was $43.8 million, which was 14% higher than the fourth quarter of 2016. The Detection segment contributed $38.7 million of revenue, an increase of 18% over the prior year, and was driven by timing of DR-SKO program shipments.
Full year 2017
For the full year, revenue was $1,800.4 million, up 8% compared to $1,662.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. Organic revenue growth was 2% with prior year acquisitions contributing approximately 6% of revenue growth in 2017.
GAAP earnings results
GAAP operating income for 2017 was $290.0 million, compared to $295.7 million in 2016, with 2017 being negatively impacted by the non-cash loss on net assets held for sale. GAAP operating margin was 16.1% in 2017, compared with 17.8% in 2016.
2017 GAAP net earnings were $107.2 million, or $0.77 per diluted share, which compares to 2016 GAAP net earnings of $166.6 million, or $1.20 per diluted share. GAAP earnings in the current year were negatively impacted by the non-cash loss on net assets held for sale and $58.4 million higher discrete tax items compared to the prior year.
Cash provided by operations during 2017 was $308.3 million, compared to $319.8 million in the prior year.
Non-GAAP earnings results
Adjusted operating income for 2017 was $363.5 million, 12% higher than 2016 adjusted operating income of $324.6 million. Adjusted operating margin increased 70 basis points to 20.2% in 2017, compared with 19.5% in 2016.
Adjusted net income in 2017 was $262.6 million, or $1.88 per diluted share, which increased 12% over 2016 adjusted net income of $233.8 million, or $1.69 per diluted share.
Segment Results
Full year 2017 revenue from the Surveillance segment was $545.8 million, an increase of 2% over last year. The Instruments segment contributed $357.8 million of revenue during 2017, up 6% over 2016. The Security segment recorded revenue of $231.5 million in 2017, down 4% from the prior year. FLIR’s OEM & Emerging Markets segment had $347.2 million of revenue, an increase of 42% over the prior year, which was driven by the addition of the Integrated Imaging Solutions line of business acquired late in the fourth quarter of 2016. Revenue from the Maritime segment was $189.7 million in 2017, which was 2% higher than the prior year. The Detection segment contributed $128.5 million of revenue, an increase of 4% over the prior year.
FLIR's backlog of firm orders for delivery within the next twelve months was approximately $652 million as of December 31, 2017, an increase of $60 million, or 10%, over the prior year.
Revenue and earnings outlook for 2018
FLIR estimates revenue in 2018 to be in the range of $1.73 billion to $1.76 billion and adjusted earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $2.05 to $2.10. This represents 4% to 6% organic revenue growth and 9% to 12% growth in adjusted earnings per diluted share over 2017, excluding the results of the divested portion of the Security segment which was announced and closed on February 6, 2018, which contributed $140 million of revenue and was break-even in operating profit in 2017. Adjusted earnings per share assumes an effective tax rate of 21.5% and a diluted share count of approximately 142 million shares.
Dividend declaration
FLIR’s Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share on FLIR common stock, an increase of 7% over the previous quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share. The Board of Directors has declared the dividend payable on March 9, 2018, to shareholders of record as of close of business on February 23, 2018.