Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Ducommun Reports Q4 Electronic Systems Net Revenue Up 13%

SANTA ANA, CA – Ducommun reported fourth quarter Electronic Systems net revenue was $96.3 million, growth of 12.9% year-over-year.

The increase was primarily due to $9.3 million higher revenue within the military and space end-use markets, partially offset by $1.4 million lower revenue within the commercial aerospace end-use markets.

Electronic Systems’ operating income for the fourth quarter was $9.9 million, or 10.2% of revenue, compared to $7.5 million, or 8.7% of revenue, for the comparable quarter in 2018. The year-over-year increase was due to a favorable product mix and lower restructuring charges of $2.4 million, partially offset by unfavorable manufacturing volume.

Ducommun’s total net revenue for the fourth quarter was $186.9 million, an increase of 13.8% year-over-year. Net income was $8.9 million, compared to $700,000 in the fourth quarter of 2018. Operating income was $15.2 million, or 8.1% of revenue, compared to $6.3 million, or 3.8% of revenue, in the comparable period of the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA was $25.2 million, or 13.5% of revenue, compared to $19.4 million, or 11.8% of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Backlog as of Dec. 31 was $910.2 million, up 5.4% compared to Dec. 31, 2018.

“I am delighted with our strong fourth quarter performance as we close a very important year for the company,” said chairman, president and CEO Stephen G. Oswald. “We once again achieved double-digit increases for the sixth straight quarter, averaging 15%, with over 85% of the gains being organic growth. For 2019, sales reached $721 million, its highest since 2014, as Ducommun continues to gain more and more momentum.

“Ducommun’s fourth quarter revenue rose 14% year-over-year, and the company ended 2019 with an all-time high backlog of $910 million, bolstered by strong orders across numerous key platforms, particularly within our defense business. Equally impressive was the book-to-bill ratio in the quarter of 1.4. We have spent a good amount of time during the past few years improving the performance of our defense operations and business development team and are now seeing the results. The company is also leveraging our structures capabilities in the defense markets, and orders increased sequentially in the second half of the year by more than 45%.”