Badger Meter Inc (BMI) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript

Badger Meter Inc (BMI) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Badger Meter fourth quarter 2019 earnings conference call.. On the call with me today are Ken Bockhorst, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer and Bob Wrocklage, Chief Financial Officer.. Please note that on today's call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial metrics.. We finished out the year with solid fourth quarter results including an 8% increase in municipal water sales year-over-year, higher operating profit margins, and record free cash flow.. Recapping the full year, our top line saw some unevenness largely from the mid-year innovation pause associated with new product introductions and the sizable Middle East project revenues in the prior year that did not repeat.. We delivered very strong margins, both at the gross and operating profit levels and tremendous cash flow improvement with 155% free cash flow conversion of net earnings for the full year.. Slide 4 gives you a snapshot of the financial results for the quarter compared to adjusted results in the prior year.. In the quarter, mechanical meters sales were particularly strong as we ramped the Columbia, South Carolina smart meter award announced earlier in the year.. SEA expenses in the fourth quarter were $24.8 million, approximately