US-based OEM, Wabash, has released its Q4 and full-year 2021 results.
For the fourth quarter 2021 net sales were $479.3 million USD as supply chain challenges persisted.
Operating loss was $(18.6) million USD.
On a non-GAAP basis, adjusting for a non-cash impairment of trade names and trademarks, operating income was $9.7 million USD or 2.0 per cent of net sales. Net loss was $(25.3) million USD, or $(0.51) per diluted share. Adjusting for debt transactions costs and non-cash impairment of trade names and trademarks, fourth quarter net income was $3.7 million USD, or $0.07 per share on a non-GAAP basis.
For the full year 2021, revenue totalled $1.8 billion USD with operating income of $33.5 million USD. On a non-GAAP adjusted basis, operating income was $60.0 million USD or 3.3 per cent of sales. Net income was $1.2 million USD or earnings per diluted share of $0.02. On a non-GAAP adjusted basis, net income was $29.1 million USD or earnings per diluted share of $0.56.
Operating EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure that excludes the effects of certain items, for the fourth quarter of 2021 was $22.8 million USD, or 4.8 per cent of net sales, and full year operating EBITDA was $117.0 million USD, or 6.5 per cent of net sales.
Total Company backlog as of 31 December 2021 was approximately $2.5 billion USD as new order activity continued to outpace shipments during the fourth quarter. Backlog rose 31 per cent compared to September 2021 and was 70 per cent above December 2020.
“After two years of accomplishments in our re-organisation, new customer acquisition, and strategic growth as One Wabash, the culmination of our efforts is how we go to market with a powerful brand strategy designed to carry all of our legacy brands into the future,” said Wabash President and CEO, Brent yeagy.
“Last quarter we communicated the modification of our corporate name to Wabash and today we’re excited to follow on to announce the streamlining of our product brand architecture to further leverage the Wabash brand name. Moving to Wabash-branded offerings while retiring legacy product brand names will serve as the external manifestation of our One Wabash structure.”
As for the business’ outlook, Wabash has issued guidance of approx. $2.3 billion USD in sales for the full year ending 31 December 2022.
“As our guidance suggests, we remain optimistic about 2022 as our One Wabash organisation has executed meaningful cost recovery within our order backlog, which grew to another record level during the fourth quarter,” said Yeagy.
“While our financial outlook assumes no improvement in supply chain conditions, other known changes including hiring activity and the initiation of pass-through pricing on commodities ensure a new level of margin stability and EPS certainty for Wabash in 2022.
“Longer-term we remain focused on bringing new products and technologies to market, building out adjacent revenue streams and growing beyond the equipment cycle.”
The OEM shipped 45,365 new trailers, 16,560 new truck bodies and 95 used trailers for the 12 months ended 31 December 2021.
Wabash also confirmed it will no longer go to market as Wabash National or with certain trade or brand names that it acquired over the last 16 years, including Benson, Brenner, Bulk Tank, Supreme, Transcraft and Walker. The company and its industry-leading van trailers, platform trailers, tank trailers, truck bodies, process systems, and parts and services will be rebranded and marketed as Wabash.
“The decision to rebrand the company and our family of brands was a strategic choice that will help the company in its long-term growth strategy,” said Yeagy. “There is a momentous transition happening in transportation, logistics, and distribution as the industry adapts to a compilation of forces. At Wabash, we see a different future reality than our competition, and we’ve chosen to go down a substantially different path to re-shape the industry and pull that future forward for our customers. This rebrand reflects our own transformation and unites our legacy brands as ‛One Wabash’—the visionary leader in transportation, logistics and distribution that is making sweeping changes to prepare our customers for a very different world.”
The rebrand comes after nearly four years of organisational change that includes rallying the organisation around a new purpose of Changing How the World Reaches You™; leveraging the Wabash Management System to scale excellence; reorganising into a customer-centric operating model; and aligning the company’s financial reporting structure with the new organisational design and go-to-market strategy.
In addition to the rebrand, Wabash is also introducing the brand name for its proprietary molded structural composite used in refrigerated transportation: EcoNex Technology. EcoNex Technology, formerly referred to as MSC Technology, is one of the most environmentally conscious materials in the transportation market, designed to advance sustainability throughout the transportation, logistics and distribution industry. This technology has already been recognized in the industry with several awards for advancing sustainability in commercial transportation.