HON.L Regulatory News (HON)

Honeywell International Inc. - Honeywell Expands Operating Margin

PR Newswire

London, January 31

Honeywell Expands Operating Margin 220 Basis Points, Segment Margin 130 Basis Points And Generates Over $2 Billion Of Cash During The Quarter; Expects 2020 Earnings Per Share Of $8.60 - $9.00

- Fourth Quarter Reported Sales Down 2% Due to Impact of 2018 Spin-Off, Organic Sales Up 2%

- Fourth Quarter Reported Earnings Per Share of $2.16; Adjusted EPS of $2.06, Up 11% Ex-Spins(1)

- Full Year Operating Cash Flow of $6.9 Billion; Adjusted Free Cash Flow(2) of $6.3 Billion, Conversion 105%

- Expect 2020 Earnings Per Share of $8.60 - $9.00, Up 5% - 10% Adjusted(3)

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, Jan. 31, 2020 -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2019, as well as its outlook for 2020.

"We finished 2019 with a strong fourth quarter. Organic sales were up 2% for the quarter and up 5% for the full year, driven by continued strength across Aerospace, growth in Process Solutions, and demand for commercial fire, security and building management products. We also had strong bookings in Intelligrated again, up over 100% in the fourth quarter. Our growth and productivity rigor, in addition to the impact of the 2018 spin-offs, drove 130 basis points of segment margin expansion in the quarter, and 150 basis points for the full year. This resulted in adjusted earnings per share of $2.06 for the quarter, up 11%1, and $8.16 for the year, up 10%4, excluding the impact of the spin-offs," said Darius Adamczyk, chairman and chief executive officer of Honeywell. "We have continued to meet or exceed our guidance and the long-term targets we set forth in 2017, while further strengthening our balance sheet. We generated $6.3 billion of adjusted free cash flow for the year and achieved 105% conversion2. We continue to effectively deploy capital, and in 2019, we repurchased $4.4 billion of Honeywell shares, completed the acquisitions of TruTrak Flight Systems and Rebellion Photonics, made over 10 strategic investments within Honeywell Ventures, and announced our tenth consecutive double-digit dividend increase."

The company also announced its outlook for 2020. Honeywell expects sales of $36.7 billion to $37.8 billion, representing year-over-year organic growth of 0% to 3%; segment margin expansion of 20 to 50 basis points; earnings per share of $8.60 to $9.00, up 5% to 10% adjusted3; operating cash flow of $6.6 billion to $7.1 billion, and free cash flow of $5.7 billion to $6.2 billion. A summary of the company's 2020 guidance can be found in Table 1.

Adamczyk concluded, "2019 was another exciting year for Honeywell, as we continued to build our Honeywell Connected Enterprise business, resulting in double-digit connected software growth, made significant progress within our Honeywell Digital and Integrated Supply Chain transformation initiatives, and launched a brand campaign that highlights some of Honeywell's most exciting innovations. We delivered strong results, and entered 2020 with positive momentum, including a healthy long-cycle backlog that was up 10% year-over-year. I am confident that we will be able to continue to perform for our shareowners, our customers, and our employees in 2020."

Fourth-Quarter Performance

Honeywell sales for the fourth quarter were down 2% on a reported basis and up 2% on an organic basis. The difference between reported and organic sales primarily relates to the spin-off of the former Homes and ADI Global Distribution business (formerly in Honeywell Building Technologies). The fourth-quarter financial results can be found in Tables 2 and 3.

Aerospace sales for the fourth quarter were up 7% on an organic basis driven by continued strength in the Defense and Space business, growth in the air transport commercial aftermarket, and original equipment demand in business aviation. Segment margin expanded 270 basis points to 26.1%, primarily driven by commercial excellence and aftermarket volumes.

Honeywell Building Technologies sales for the fourth quarter were up 3% on an organic basis driven by continued demand in commercial fire and building management products, as well as security growth across the Americas and Europe. Segment margin expanded 170 basis points to 20.3%, primarily driven by the favorable impact following the spin-off of the former Homes and ADI Global Distribution business.

Performance Materials and Technologies sales for the fourth quarter were up 3% on an organic basis driven by continued strength in Process Solutions, particularly in projects, services, and smart energy, and strength in equipment and petrochemical catalysts in UOP. This was partially offset by declines in Advanced Materials, which was impacted by continued illegal imports of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) into Europe and demand softness in specialty products. Segment margin contracted 80 basis points to 22.5%, primarily driven by unfavorable mix, partially offset by productivity, net of inflation.

Safety and Productivity Solutions sales for the fourth quarter were down 11% on an organic basis driven by the impact of major systems project timing in Intelligrated, lower sales volumes in productivity products, and lower demand for personal protective equipment in the Safety business, which more than offset continued demand for gas sensing products. Intelligrated orders were robust for the second consecutive quarter, up over 100% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, resulting in a backlog increase of over 30% exiting the year. Segment margin contracted 330 basis points to 12.7%, primarily driven by lower sales volumes in productivity products and mix of sales.

Conference Call Details

Honeywell will discuss its fourth quarter and full-year results as well as its 2020 outlook during an investor conference call today starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. To participate on the conference call, please dial (866) 548-4713 (domestic) or (323) 794-2093 (international) approximately ten minutes before the 8:30 a.m. EST start. Please mention to the operator that you are dialing in for Honeywell's fourth quarter 2019 earnings and 2020 outlook call or provide the conference code HON2020. The live webcast of the investor call as well as related presentation materials will be available through the Investor Relations section of the company's website (www.honeywell.com/investor). Investors can hear a replay of the conference call from approximately 12:30 p.m. EST, January 31, until 12:30 p.m. EST, February 7, by dialing (888) 203-1112 (domestic) or (719) 457-0820 (international). The access code is 7318539.

TABLE 1: FULL-YEAR 2020 GUIDANCE

TABLE 2: SUMMARY OF HONEYWELL FINANCIAL RESULTS

TABLE 3: SUMMARY OF SEGMENT FINANCIAL RESULTS

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

This release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that we or our management intends, expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. The forward-looking statements included in this release are also subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental, and technological factors affecting our operations, markets, products, services and prices. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ from those envisaged by such forward-looking statements. We identify the principal risks and uncertainties that affect our performance in our Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This release contains financial measures presented on a non-GAAP basis. Honeywell's non-GAAP financial measures used in this release are as follows: segment profit, on an overall Honeywell basis, a measure by which we assess operating performance, which we define as operating income adjusted for certain items as presented in the Appendix; segment margin, on an overall Honeywell basis, which we define as segment profit divided by sales and which we adjust to exclude sales and segment profit contribution from Resideo and Garrett in 2018, if and as noted in the release; organic sales growth, which we define as sales growth less the impacts from foreign currency translation, and acquisitions and divestitures for the first 12 months following transaction date; adjusted free cash flow, which we define as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures and which we adjust to exclude the impact of separation costs related to the spin-offs of Resideo and Garrett, if and as noted in the release; adjusted free cash flow conversion, which we define as adjusted free cash flow divided by net income attributable to Honeywell, excluding pension mark-to-market, separation costs related to the spin-offs, and adjustments to the 4Q17 U.S. tax legislation charge, if and as noted in the release; adjusted free cash flow conversion, ex-pension, which we define as adjusted free cash flow conversion, excluding pension ongoing income, if and as noted in the release; and adjusted earnings per share, which we adjust to exclude pension mark-to-market expenses, as well as for other components, such as separation costs related to the spin-offs, adjustments to the 4Q17 U.S. tax legislation charge, and after-tax segment profit contribution from Resideo and Garrett in the periods noted in the release, net of spin reimbursement impacts assuming both indemnification and reimbursement agreements were effective in such periods, if and as noted in the release. The respective tax rates applied when adjusting earnings per share for these items are identified in the release or in the reconciliations presented in the Appendix. Management believes that, when considered together with reported amounts, these measures are useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in the analysis of ongoing operating trends. These metrics should be considered in addition to, and not as replacements for, the most comparable GAAP measure. Refer to the Appendix attached to this release for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.