Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ: BCPC) reported today first quarter net sales of $232.5 million for 2023, compared to net sales of $228.9 million in the prior year quarter. First quarter net earnings were $22.7 million for 2023, compared to net earnings of $28.9 million for the first quarter 2022, with adjusted net earnings of $30.6 million, compared to $33.4 million in the prior year quarter. First quarter adjusted EBITDA was $56.1 million, compared to $53.6 million in the prior year quarter.
Ted Harris, Chairman, President, and CEO of Balchem said, “We delivered solid first quarter financial performance with sales and adjusted EBITDA growth both compared to prior year’s very strong results, and sequentially compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The markets continue to be challenging with a high degree of uncertainty around the broader economic outlook, but Balchem’s resilience and strong market positions enabled us to continue to deliver solid financial results within this difficult economic backdrop.”
Mr. Harris added, “I am also very pleased with our progress around our environmental, social, and governance efforts as detailed in our Sustainability Report. Sustainability is at the heart of our company’s higher purpose of making the world a healthier place and we continue to make good progress towards our goals, while acting as strong stewards of all of our stakeholders.”
First Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights:
- Record first quarter net sales were $232.5 million, an increase of $3.7 million, or 1.6%, compared to the prior year.
- Record first quarter adjusted EBITDA was $56.1 million, an increase of $2.5 million, or 4.8%, from the prior year.
- GAAP net earnings were $22.7 million, a decrease of $6.2 million, or 21.5% from the prior year. These net earnings resulted in GAAP earnings per share of $0.70.
- Adjusted net earnings were $30.6 million, a decrease of $2.8 million or 8.3% from the prior year. These adjusted net earnings resulted in adjusted earnings per share of $0.94.
- The effective tax rate of 22.0% was 111 basis points lower than the prior year tax rate of 23.1%.
- Cash flows from operations were $34.8 million for the first quarter 2023, an increase of 396.2% from the prior year, with quarterly free cash flow of $25.2 million.
Recent Highlights:
- On April 26, we released our 2022 Sustainability Report, which captures the Company’s continued commitment to managing our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. Our sustainability initiatives are embedded in our business strategies and our Sustainability Report captures the progress made towards not only our 2030 goals around greenhouse gas emissions and water usage reduction by 25%, but also our continued commitment toward advancing diversity, inclusion, and belonging at Balchem.
Quarterly Conference Call
A quarterly conference call will be held on Friday, April 28, 2023, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) to review first quarter 2023 results. Ted Harris, Chairman, President and CEO and Martin Bengtsson, CFO will host the call. We invite you to listen to the conference by calling toll-free 1-877-407-8289 (local dial-in 1-201-689-8341), five minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the conference call. The conference call will be available for replay two hours after the conclusion of the call through end of day Friday, May 12, 2023. To access the replay of the conference call, dial 1-877-660-6853 (local dial-in 1-201-612-7415), and use conference ID #13737969.