Kimball Electronics Reports 12% Revenue Growth for Q1 FY2018

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Kimball Electronics Inc., a global electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider of high-quality, durable electronic products, has announced financial results for its first quarter ended September 30, 2017. Consolidated net sales increased by 12% to $253 million compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2017, the seventh consecutive quarterly sales record. Net income, meanwhile, was $8.5 million.

"Double-digit growth in three of our four end market verticals helped us set a new quarterly sales record for the seventh consecutive quarter and kept us on a course to achieve our long-time stated goal of $1 billion in annual sales in fiscal year 2018," says Donald D. Charron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "While our margins improved sequentially from the fourth quarter of the prior fiscal year, we are still below our new operating income goal of 4.5%. We are focused on yield and throughput improvements on recently launched new programs and further progress on the ramp-up in Romania to help us make sequential, incremental improvement and achieve our new goal."

First Quarter Fiscal Year 2018 Overview

• Operating activities used cash flow of $0.2 million during the quarter, which compares to cash flow provided by operating activities of $14.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017.
• Cash conversion days (CCD) for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 were 59 days, which increased from 58 days in the same quarter last year. CCD is calculated as the sum of days sales outstanding plus production days supply on hand less accounts payable days.
• Investments in capital expenditures were $6.1 million during the quarter.
• $3.3 million was returned to Share Owners during the quarter in the form of common stock repurchases.
• Cash and cash equivalents were $38.3 million and borrowings outstanding on credit facilities were $14.0 million at September 30, 2017.
• Return on invested capital (ROIC) was 9.0% for the first quarter of fiscal year 2018, which compares to 9.6% for the prior year first quarter.