Flex Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2019 Results

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Flex has announced results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2019.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2019 Highlights: 

• Net Sales: $6.2 billion, year over year revenue down 3 percent
• GAAP Loss Before Income Taxes: $36 million
• Adjusted Operating Income: $204 million
• GAAP Net Loss: $64 million
• Adjusted Net Income: $141 million
• GAAP Net Loss Per Share: $0.12
• Adjusted EPS: $0.27

Fiscal Year 2019 Results of Operations:

• Net Sales: $26.3 billion, year over year revenue up 3 percent
• Communications and Enterprise Compute: year over year revenue growth of 8 percent
• Industrial and Emerging Industries: year over year revenue growth of 4 percent
• High Reliability Solutions: year over year revenue growth of 1 percent
• Consumer Technologies Group: year over year flat
• GAAP Income Before Income Taxes: $182 million
• Adjusted Operating Income: $872 million
• GAAP Net Income: $93 million
• Adjusted Net Income: $603 million
• GAAP EPS: $0.18
• Adjusted EPS: $1.14

“During the quarter, we expanded adjusted operating margins on slightly lower revenues, improved the quality of our sales mix, generated free cash flow, and continued to streamline our investment portfolio,” said Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex. “We achieved adjusted EPS within our target range. These results reflect our unrelenting commitment to customers and our intense focus on disciplined execution within our core businesses.”

Advaithi continued, “During fiscal 2019, Flex grew revenue $865 million or 3% to $26.3 billion, increased adjusted operating income dollars by $86 million or 11% to $872 million, expanded adjusted operating margin to 3.3% from 3.1%, and had a 4.6% increase in adjusted EPS to $1.14 from $1.09.”

“For fiscal 2020, we will be focused on driving disciplined sustainable execution around customer performance, growth and margins, along with managing our product mix and returning to historical free cash flow levels,” said Advaithi. 

Balance Sheet and Other Financial Highlights

Flex ended the quarter with approximately $1.7 billion of cash on hand and total debt of approximately $3.1 billion.

Cash flow from operations was negative $642 million for the three-month period ended March 31, 2019, primarily due to cash collections of $888 million for certain receivables sold under our ABS programs reported as investing activities. Adjusted cash flow from operations and free cash flow were $246 million and $120 million, respectively, for the three-month period ended March 31, 2019.

The Company remains committed to return over 50% of annual free cash flow to its shareholders, as it repurchased ordinary shares for approximately $65 million and $189 million during the three-month and twelve-month periods ended March 31, 2019.

First Quarter Fiscal 2020 Guidance

• Revenue $6.1 billion to $6.5 billion
• GAAP Income Before Income Taxes $110 million to $130 million
• Adjusted Operating Income $195 million to $225 million
• GAAP EPS $0.18 to $0.22 which includes stock-based compensation expense and intangible amortization
• Adjusted EPS $0.25 to $0.29 

Looking Ahead

The Company is not providing detailed fiscal 2020 guidance, but is comfortable with the fiscal 2020 consensus adjusted EPS range that spans from $1.20 to $1.30, and currently sits at $1.25. When adjusting for stock-based compensation expenses and intangible amortization, the Company’s GAAP EPS would be $0.28 below adjusted EPS. 

About Flex

Flex Ltd. is the Sketch-to-Scale solutions provider that designs and builds intelligent products globally. With approximately 200,000 employees across 30 countries, Flex provides innovative design, engineering, manufacturing, real-time supply chain insight and logistics services to companies of all sizes across industries and markets. For more information, visit flex.com.