Latest news with #Ambition2025
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DÉKUPLE: 2025 FIRST-QUARTER BUSINESS
2025 FIRST-QUARTER BUSINESS_____ Net sales: €58.3m (+ 12.2%) Gross margin: €44.2m (+ 5.8%), with strong trends for digital marketing (+ 17.5%) Paris, 20 May 2025 (5:45pm) - The DÉKUPLE Group, a European leader for data marketing and communication, is reporting its net sales for the first quarter of 2025. Bertrand Laurioz, Chairman and CEO: 'The start of 2025 has confirmed the solidity of our model and the relevance of our strategy. In a still challenging economic environment, DÉKUPLE is continuing to build on its growth, supported by the robust development of Digital Marketing. Our leading position for Generative Artificial Intelligence applied to marketing is opening up various markets and positive prospects for us. First-quarter net sales are up +12.2%, while the gross margin shows an increase of +5.8%. This performance is driven primarily by the sustained development of Digital Marketing, which represents 68.6% of consolidated net sales and achieved +17.5% growth in its gross margin. These robust trends are supported by several key factors: the resilience of our consulting activities, in a market within which clients are adopting a wait-and-see approach, the continued expansion of our solutions and agencies in France and internationally, and the successful integration of new areas of expertise - including Ereferer, an automated netlinking platform, Coup de Poing, an expert BtoB client loyalty agency, and a German communications agency, as well as the Dutch agencies Selmore (creative) and DotControl (digital). This expansion of our BtoB activities enabled us to offset the slowdown in our BtoC activities, which are nevertheless continuing to roll out their investments focused on acquiring recurring clients. This global performance highlights the relevance of our multi-expert model, the quality of our technological assets, and our leadership in Artificial Intelligence, supporting brands with their digital transformation. We are continuing to ramp up our development in Digital Marketing, while expanding our areas of expertise, capitalizing on synergies between our business units, and fully implementing our technological know-how, particularly through the platformization of our services. Supported by a solid financial position, we are continuing to actively monitor developments with a view to capitalizing on new opportunities for growth with strong potential, in France and across Europe. While we are finalizing our Ambition 2025 plan, we are preparing the Horizon 2030 plan, our next roadmap to consolidate our creative and technological leadership within Europe. Building on our multi-entrepreneurial organization and the talents of our 1,100 employees, the Group is looking ahead to 2025 with confidence and ambition'. KEY FIGURES FOR THE QUARTER During the first quarter of 2025, the DÉKUPLE Group generated net sales1 of €58.3m, up + 12.2%. The changes for each business line are as follows: €m Q1 2025 Q1 2024Digital Marketing 40.0 32.2 + 24.1% Magazines 16.4 17.6 - 7.0% Insurance 1.9 2.1 - 9.8% Net sales 58.3 52.0 + 12.2% The Group's gross margin2 is up + 5.8% year-on-year to €44.2m, driven by the robust development of Digital Marketing. The changes for each business line are as follows: €m Q1 2025 Q1 2024Digital Marketing 25.9 22.1 + 17.5% Magazines 16.4 17.6 - 7.0% Insurance 1.9 2.1 - 9.8% Gross margin 44.2 41.8 + 5.8% DIGITAL MARKETING: ROBUST GROWTH TRENDS The Digital Marketing business recorded a gross margin of €25.9m, with + 17.5% growth, including a scope effect3 for €3.7m, linked to the consolidation of the companies acquired over the last 12 months. Like-for-like, the gross margin is up + 0.6%, highlighting the Group's resilience in a deteriorated economic environment. Consulting: The gross margin of Converteo, a key player for data and digital strategy consulting, came to €11.5m, with a limited contraction of - 2.8%. The subsidiary recorded a slowdown in activity at the start of the year, as clients took longer than usual to roll out their projects. Demand began to gradually pick up again during the quarter, returning to levels close to those seen at the end of 2024. With more than 400 consultants, Converteo supports leading brands to meet their challenges relating to data and artificial intelligence. Solutions and Agencies - France: The gross margin is up + 13.3% to €10.2m, with a scope effect for €1.0m, linked to the consolidation of Ereferer, an innovative platform specialized in automated netlinking, acquired in June 2024 through its subsidiary Rocket Marketing, and Coup de Poing, an agency renowned for its BtoB client loyalty solutions, acquired in October 2024. On a like-for-like basis, organic growth represents + 1.9%, supported by the growing success of the Group's innovative technological solutions. Solutions and Agencies - International: The gross margin came to €4.2m, up + 248.1% due to a scope effect for €2.7m, linked to the consolidation of the communications agency acquired in October 2024, in Germany, as well as the creative agency Selmore and the digital agency DotControl, both acquired at the end of December 2024, in the Netherlands. In Spain, the gross margin climbed to €1.3m, up + 38.7%, reflecting a ramping up of operations with certain partners. €m Q1 2024 Q1 2023Consulting - France 11.5 11.9 - 2.8% Solutions and Agencies - France 10.2 9.0 + 13.3% Solutions and Agencies - International4 4.2 1.2 + 248.1% Digital Marketing gross margin 25.9 22.1 + 17.5% MAGAZINES: INVESTMENTS MAINTAINED Against the backdrop of a press market contraction, the Magazine business recorded a gross margin of €16.4m, down - 7.0%, with a gross sales volume5 of €43.9m (- 5.9%). The active open-ended subscription portfolio at 31 March 2025 included 1.805 million subscriptions, down - 5.9% versus the same period the previous year. The Group is maintaining its commercial investments with a targeted selection of the most profitable client segments, adjusted campaigns, and new offers and partnerships. These investments are helping support the recurrence of revenues generated by the portfolio of contracts and further strengthening the Group's positioning alongside press publishers. INSURANCE: SEASONALITY OF SALES The gross margin for DÉKUPLE Assurance, specialized in data marketing-based affinity insurance brokerage, is down - 9.8% to €1.9m. This decrease is linked primarily to an unfavorable seasonality effect, following a lower volume of campaigns than the first quarter of 2024, with certain operations scheduled for the second quarter. Marketing innovation and the ambitious rollout of programs using artificial intelligence, particularly in the health insurance sector, are helping build loyalty within the policyholder portfolio. EXTERNAL GROWTH This morning, the Group announced that it has acquired a majority stake in After, one of Spain's most recognized independent creative agencies. Founded in 2007, After has established itself as a leading player thanks to its integrated model combining strategy, creative, content, production, digital, media, and data. With offices in Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia, the agency employs nearly 100 people and generates annual net sales of over €10 million and a gross margin of more than €5 million. After will retain its identity and management team and will benefit from the support of the DÉKUPLE Group to accelerate its growth. Already present in Spain for over 20 years, DÉKUPLE is further strengthening its footprint in the Iberian market. This integration is fully aligned with the Group's strategy to accelerate its international expansion and enhance its capabilities in creativity and engagement marketing. OUTLOOK Despite an uncertain economic environment, DÉKUPLE is continuing to move forward and on track for profitable growth. Building on its sound financial structure, the Group is continuing to invest in its recurrent activities (Magazines, Insurance), while accelerating its development in Digital Marketing, supported by innovation and targeted acquisitions. DÉKUPLE is continuing to actively monitor developments with a view to capitalizing on new opportunities in France and internationally, helping drive progress with its strategy to be a European leader for data marketing and communication. About DÉKUPLE DÉKUPLE is a European leader for data marketing and communication. Its expert capabilities combining consulting, creativity, data and technology enable it to support brands with the transformation of their marketing to drive their business performance. The Group designs and implements client acquisition, loyalty and relationship management solutions for its partners and clients across all distribution channels. The Group works with more than 500 brands, from major groups to mid-market firms, in Europe and around the world. Founded in 1972, DÉKUPLE recorded net sales of €218m in 2024. Present in Europe, North America and China, the Group employs more than 1,100 people guided by its core values: a conquering spirit, respect and collaboration. DÉKUPLE is listed on the regulated market Euronext Paris – Compartment C. ISIN: FR0000062978 – ContactsDÉKUPLE Investor Relations & Financial Informationtel: +33 (0)1 41 58 72 03 - FINANCE & COMMUNICATIONCyril Combe - tel: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 36 - dekuple@ 1 Net sales (determined in line with the French professional status for subscription sales) only include the amount of remuneration paid by magazine publishers; for subscription sales, net sales therefore correspond to a gross margin, deducting the cost of magazines sold from the amount of sales recorded. For acquisition and management commissions linked to sales of insurance policies, net sales comprise current and future commissions issued, acquired by the accounting reporting date, net of cancellations.2 For the digital marketing business, the gross margin represents the total amount of net sales (total invoices issued: fees, commissions and purchases charged back to clients) less the total amount of costs for external purchases made on behalf of clients. It is equal to net sales for the magazine and insurance business lines.3 The scope effect is calculated (i) by eliminating the net sales of companies acquired during the period or the comparable period and (ii) by eliminating the net sales of companies sold during the period or the comparable period. As a result, the like-for-like business does not take into account this scope effect for the period concerned.4 Including the gross margin of the subsidiaries in Germany, China, Spain and the Netherlands5 Gross sales volume represents the value of subscriptions sold. Attachment DEKUPLE_CP_CAT12025_E_VDEFSign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DÉKUPLE: 2025 FIRST-QUARTER BUSINESS
2025 FIRST-QUARTER BUSINESS_____ Net sales: €58.3m (+ 12.2%) Gross margin: €44.2m (+ 5.8%), with strong trends for digital marketing (+ 17.5%) Paris, 20 May 2025 (5:45pm) - The DÉKUPLE Group, a European leader for data marketing and communication, is reporting its net sales for the first quarter of 2025. Bertrand Laurioz, Chairman and CEO: 'The start of 2025 has confirmed the solidity of our model and the relevance of our strategy. In a still challenging economic environment, DÉKUPLE is continuing to build on its growth, supported by the robust development of Digital Marketing. Our leading position for Generative Artificial Intelligence applied to marketing is opening up various markets and positive prospects for us. First-quarter net sales are up +12.2%, while the gross margin shows an increase of +5.8%. This performance is driven primarily by the sustained development of Digital Marketing, which represents 68.6% of consolidated net sales and achieved +17.5% growth in its gross margin. These robust trends are supported by several key factors: the resilience of our consulting activities, in a market within which clients are adopting a wait-and-see approach, the continued expansion of our solutions and agencies in France and internationally, and the successful integration of new areas of expertise - including Ereferer, an automated netlinking platform, Coup de Poing, an expert BtoB client loyalty agency, and a German communications agency, as well as the Dutch agencies Selmore (creative) and DotControl (digital). This expansion of our BtoB activities enabled us to offset the slowdown in our BtoC activities, which are nevertheless continuing to roll out their investments focused on acquiring recurring clients. This global performance highlights the relevance of our multi-expert model, the quality of our technological assets, and our leadership in Artificial Intelligence, supporting brands with their digital transformation. We are continuing to ramp up our development in Digital Marketing, while expanding our areas of expertise, capitalizing on synergies between our business units, and fully implementing our technological know-how, particularly through the platformization of our services. Supported by a solid financial position, we are continuing to actively monitor developments with a view to capitalizing on new opportunities for growth with strong potential, in France and across Europe. While we are finalizing our Ambition 2025 plan, we are preparing the Horizon 2030 plan, our next roadmap to consolidate our creative and technological leadership within Europe. Building on our multi-entrepreneurial organization and the talents of our 1,100 employees, the Group is looking ahead to 2025 with confidence and ambition'. KEY FIGURES FOR THE QUARTER During the first quarter of 2025, the DÉKUPLE Group generated net sales1 of €58.3m, up + 12.2%. The changes for each business line are as follows: €m Q1 2025 Q1 2024Digital Marketing 40.0 32.2 + 24.1% Magazines 16.4 17.6 - 7.0% Insurance 1.9 2.1 - 9.8% Net sales 58.3 52.0 + 12.2% The Group's gross margin2 is up + 5.8% year-on-year to €44.2m, driven by the robust development of Digital Marketing. The changes for each business line are as follows: €m Q1 2025 Q1 2024Digital Marketing 25.9 22.1 + 17.5% Magazines 16.4 17.6 - 7.0% Insurance 1.9 2.1 - 9.8% Gross margin 44.2 41.8 + 5.8% DIGITAL MARKETING: ROBUST GROWTH TRENDS The Digital Marketing business recorded a gross margin of €25.9m, with + 17.5% growth, including a scope effect3 for €3.7m, linked to the consolidation of the companies acquired over the last 12 months. Like-for-like, the gross margin is up + 0.6%, highlighting the Group's resilience in a deteriorated economic environment. Consulting: The gross margin of Converteo, a key player for data and digital strategy consulting, came to €11.5m, with a limited contraction of - 2.8%. The subsidiary recorded a slowdown in activity at the start of the year, as clients took longer than usual to roll out their projects. Demand began to gradually pick up again during the quarter, returning to levels close to those seen at the end of 2024. With more than 400 consultants, Converteo supports leading brands to meet their challenges relating to data and artificial intelligence. Solutions and Agencies - France: The gross margin is up + 13.3% to €10.2m, with a scope effect for €1.0m, linked to the consolidation of Ereferer, an innovative platform specialized in automated netlinking, acquired in June 2024 through its subsidiary Rocket Marketing, and Coup de Poing, an agency renowned for its BtoB client loyalty solutions, acquired in October 2024. On a like-for-like basis, organic growth represents + 1.9%, supported by the growing success of the Group's innovative technological solutions. Solutions and Agencies - International: The gross margin came to €4.2m, up + 248.1% due to a scope effect for €2.7m, linked to the consolidation of the communications agency acquired in October 2024, in Germany, as well as the creative agency Selmore and the digital agency DotControl, both acquired at the end of December 2024, in the Netherlands. In Spain, the gross margin climbed to €1.3m, up + 38.7%, reflecting a ramping up of operations with certain partners. €m Q1 2024 Q1 2023Consulting - France 11.5 11.9 - 2.8% Solutions and Agencies - France 10.2 9.0 + 13.3% Solutions and Agencies - International4 4.2 1.2 + 248.1% Digital Marketing gross margin 25.9 22.1 + 17.5% MAGAZINES: INVESTMENTS MAINTAINED Against the backdrop of a press market contraction, the Magazine business recorded a gross margin of €16.4m, down - 7.0%, with a gross sales volume5 of €43.9m (- 5.9%). The active open-ended subscription portfolio at 31 March 2025 included 1.805 million subscriptions, down - 5.9% versus the same period the previous year. The Group is maintaining its commercial investments with a targeted selection of the most profitable client segments, adjusted campaigns, and new offers and partnerships. These investments are helping support the recurrence of revenues generated by the portfolio of contracts and further strengthening the Group's positioning alongside press publishers. INSURANCE: SEASONALITY OF SALES The gross margin for DÉKUPLE Assurance, specialized in data marketing-based affinity insurance brokerage, is down - 9.8% to €1.9m. This decrease is linked primarily to an unfavorable seasonality effect, following a lower volume of campaigns than the first quarter of 2024, with certain operations scheduled for the second quarter. Marketing innovation and the ambitious rollout of programs using artificial intelligence, particularly in the health insurance sector, are helping build loyalty within the policyholder portfolio. EXTERNAL GROWTH This morning, the Group announced that it has acquired a majority stake in After, one of Spain's most recognized independent creative agencies. Founded in 2007, After has established itself as a leading player thanks to its integrated model combining strategy, creative, content, production, digital, media, and data. With offices in Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia, the agency employs nearly 100 people and generates annual net sales of over €10 million and a gross margin of more than €5 million. After will retain its identity and management team and will benefit from the support of the DÉKUPLE Group to accelerate its growth. Already present in Spain for over 20 years, DÉKUPLE is further strengthening its footprint in the Iberian market. This integration is fully aligned with the Group's strategy to accelerate its international expansion and enhance its capabilities in creativity and engagement marketing. OUTLOOK Despite an uncertain economic environment, DÉKUPLE is continuing to move forward and on track for profitable growth. Building on its sound financial structure, the Group is continuing to invest in its recurrent activities (Magazines, Insurance), while accelerating its development in Digital Marketing, supported by innovation and targeted acquisitions. DÉKUPLE is continuing to actively monitor developments with a view to capitalizing on new opportunities in France and internationally, helping drive progress with its strategy to be a European leader for data marketing and communication. About DÉKUPLE DÉKUPLE is a European leader for data marketing and communication. Its expert capabilities combining consulting, creativity, data and technology enable it to support brands with the transformation of their marketing to drive their business performance. The Group designs and implements client acquisition, loyalty and relationship management solutions for its partners and clients across all distribution channels. The Group works with more than 500 brands, from major groups to mid-market firms, in Europe and around the world. Founded in 1972, DÉKUPLE recorded net sales of €218m in 2024. Present in Europe, North America and China, the Group employs more than 1,100 people guided by its core values: a conquering spirit, respect and collaboration. DÉKUPLE is listed on the regulated market Euronext Paris – Compartment C. ISIN: FR0000062978 – ContactsDÉKUPLE Investor Relations & Financial Informationtel: +33 (0)1 41 58 72 03 - FINANCE & COMMUNICATIONCyril Combe - tel: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 36 - dekuple@ 1 Net sales (determined in line with the French professional status for subscription sales) only include the amount of remuneration paid by magazine publishers; for subscription sales, net sales therefore correspond to a gross margin, deducting the cost of magazines sold from the amount of sales recorded. For acquisition and management commissions linked to sales of insurance policies, net sales comprise current and future commissions issued, acquired by the accounting reporting date, net of cancellations.2 For the digital marketing business, the gross margin represents the total amount of net sales (total invoices issued: fees, commissions and purchases charged back to clients) less the total amount of costs for external purchases made on behalf of clients. It is equal to net sales for the magazine and insurance business lines.3 The scope effect is calculated (i) by eliminating the net sales of companies acquired during the period or the comparable period and (ii) by eliminating the net sales of companies sold during the period or the comparable period. As a result, the like-for-like business does not take into account this scope effect for the period concerned.4 Including the gross margin of the subsidiaries in Germany, China, Spain and the Netherlands5 Gross sales volume represents the value of subscriptions sold. Attachment DEKUPLE_CP_CAT12025_E_VDEF
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (BECN) Is Up the Most So Far in 2025
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:BECN) stands against other industrial stocks that are up the most so far in 2025. Industrial stocks are sensitive to the economic cycle. Many of them have already fallen victim to the downturn and have reversed much of their earlier gains from the past few years. However, 2025 is shaping up to be a breakout year for industrial stocks elsewhere. The industrial sector is very broad, and you'll always find winners that outpace expectations and draw the attention of investors who once overlooked these workhorse companies. Manufacturing and industrial firms have doubled down on digital transformation and have poured resources into automation to boost efficiency. This investment is paying off as companies become more agile and better equipped to handle shocks, whether from geopolitical tensions, labor shortages, or shifting customer needs. It's worth looking into the biggest winners so far this year, as they could continue building on the momentum. For this article, I screened the best-performing industrial stocks year-to-date. I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). A construction site with workers wearing hard hats and safety vests, installing roofing materials. Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 53 Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:BECN) is the largest publicly traded distributor of roofing materials and complementary building products in the United States and Canada. The most significant event driving the stock higher in 2025 is QXO's highly publicized acquisition offer, which came at a substantial premium to Beacon's unaffected share price and sparked considerable trading activity and speculation about the company's future. Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:BECN)'s board has advised shareholders to reject the offer, arguing it undervalues the company's growth potential and strategic plans, which have fueled further investor optimism. In addition to the takeover interest, Beacon reported strong first-quarter 2025 results, with revenue up 15% year-over-year, driven by robust demand in both residential and commercial roofing segments and successful execution of its Ambition 2025 growth strategy. The company also completed the acquisition of DM Figley Company, expanding its waterproofing division and opening new branches in key states, which aligns with its market expansion goals. The consensus price target of $121.5 implies 2% downside. Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:BECN) stock is up 22.01% year-to-date. Overall, BECN ranks 9th on our list of industrial stocks that are up the most so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of BECN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BECN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this . READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
QXO to Acquire Beacon Roofing Supply for $11 Billion
GREENWICH, Conn. & HERNDON, Va., March 20, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--QXO, Inc. (NYSE: QXO) and Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (Nasdaq: BECN) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which QXO will acquire Beacon for $124.35 per share in cash. Beacon is a leading distributor of roofing, waterproofing and exterior products, with nearly 600 branches across the U.S. and Canada. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction, which values Beacon at approximately $11 billion, including all its outstanding debt. The transaction is expected to close by the end of April, subject to a majority of Beacon shares tendering in the offer and other customary closing conditions. Beacon's board unanimously recommends that all shareholders tender their shares into the offer. "Acquiring Beacon is a key milestone in our plan to create substantial shareholder value and establish QXO as a leader in the $800 billion building products distribution industry," said Brad Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer of QXO. "We will be applying our proven playbook to a platform ripe to deliver above-market organic growth and significant margin expansion." Stuart Randle, Beacon's chairman, said, "Since QXO made its initial offer last November, we have evaluated strategic alternatives to enhance value for all of our shareholders. Following our Board's comprehensive review, we concluded that this transaction is in the best interests of Beacon and its shareholders given the immediate premium and certainty of value in cash it offers, particularly in an uncertain environment." Julian Francis, president and chief executive officer of Beacon, said, "Since the launch of Ambition 2025 three years ago, we successfully transformed Beacon, delivering superior financial and operational results. We have a highly differentiated business with multiple paths to success, margin expansion and value creation, and thanks to the incredible talent and dedication of our employees, I know Beacon has a bright future ahead. We will now enter a new chapter of growth, true to our mission to help our customers build more." TermsOn January 27, 2025, QXO commenced an all-cash tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Beacon. QXO today announced that it has extended its current tender offer to expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City Time, on March 31, 2025. QXO will amend its current tender offer on or prior to the new expiration date to reflect the terms of the definitive merger agreement with Beacon, including to reflect an offer price of $124.35 per share in cash. Beacon will also amend its recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 in support of such amended tender offer. In connection with the transaction, QXO has withdrawn its nomination of 10 independent director nominees for election at Beacon's 2025 annual meeting of shareholders and Beacon has exempted the tender offer from its previously adopted shareholder rights plan. The acquisition has received antitrust clearance in the U.S. and Canada. QXO has $5 billion of cash and secured financing commitments covering the full purchase price, including debt refinancing and transaction costs. As reported earlier this week, QXO has also entered into purchase agreements with certain institutional investors for an $830 million private placement financing, subject to the completion of the Beacon acquisition. AdvisorsMorgan Stanley is acting as lead financial advisor to QXO. QXO is also being advised by Goldman Sachs, Citi, Centerview, Credit Agricole, Wells Fargo and Mizuho. Paul Weiss is acting as lead legal counsel to QXO, with Wachtell Lipton providing additional legal advice. J.P. Morgan is serving as financial advisor to Beacon and its board, and Lazard is serving as financial advisor to the Beacon board. Sidley Austin and Simpson Thacher are serving as legal advisors to Beacon. About QXOQXO provides technology solutions, primarily to clients in the manufacturing, distribution and service sectors. The company provides consulting and professional services, including specialized programming, training and technical support, and develops proprietary software. As a value-added reseller of business application software, QXO offers solutions for accounting, financial reporting, enterprise resource planning, warehouse management systems, customer relationship management, business intelligence and other applications. QXO plans to become a tech-forward leader in the $800 billion building products distribution industry. The company is targeting tens of billions of dollars of annual revenue in the next decade through accretive acquisitions and organic growth. Visit for more information. About BeaconFounded in 1928, Beacon is a Fortune 500 company specializing in the distribution of roofing and complementary building products, including siding and waterproofing. The company operates over 580 branches throughout all 50 states in the U.S. and 7 provinces in Canada. Beacon serves an extensive base of nearly 110,000 customers, utilizing its vast branch network and service capabilities to provide high-quality products and support throughout the entire project lifecycle. Beacon offers its own private label brand, TRI-BUILT®, and has a proprietary digital account management suite, Beacon PRO+®, which allows customers to manage their businesses online. Visit for more information. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about beliefs, expectations, targets or goals, the expected timing of the closing of the proposed acquisition, the anticipated benefits of the proposed acquisition and expected future financial position and results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on plans, estimates, expectations and/or goals at the time the statements are made, and readers should not place undue reliance on them. In some cases, readers can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "opportunity," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "target," "goal," or "continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terms. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein include, among others: (i) the risk that the proposed acquisition may not be completed on the anticipated terms in a timely manner or at all; (ii) the failure to satisfy any of the conditions to the consummation of the proposed acquisition, including uncertainties as to how many of Beacon's stockholders will tender their shares in the tender offer; (iii) the effect of the pendency of the proposed acquisition on each of QXO's and Beacon's business relationships with employees, customers or suppliers, operating results and business generally; (iv) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance or condition that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement, including circumstances that require Beacon to pay a termination fee; (v) the possibility that the proposed acquisition may be more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events, significant transaction costs or unknown liabilities; (vi) potential litigation and/or regulatory action relating to the proposed acquisition; (vii) the risk that the anticipated benefits of the proposed acquisition may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; (viii) the impact of legislative, regulatory, economic, competitive and technological changes; (ix) QXO's ability to finance the proposed transaction, including the ability to obtain the necessary financing arrangements set forth in the commitment letters received in connection with the proposed acquisition; (x) unknown liabilities and uncertainties regarding general economic, business, competitive, legal, regulatory, tax and geopolitical conditions; and (xi) the risks and uncertainties set forth in QXO's and Beacon's SEC filings, including each company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Forward-looking statements should not be relied on as predictions of future events, and these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. Forward-looking statements herein speak only as of the date each statement is made. QXO and Beacon do not undertake any obligation to update any of these statements in light of new information or future events, except to the extent required by applicable law. Important Additional Information and Where to Find ItThe information herein is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell Beacon securities. QXO and Queen MergerCo, Inc. (the "Purchaser") filed a Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO with the SEC on January 27, 2025, and Beacon filed a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the tender offer with the SEC on February 6, 2025. The parties expect to file amendments to these tender offer materials to reflect the provisions of the merger agreement. Investors and security holders are urged to carefully read these materials as they contain important information that investors and security holders should consider before making any decision regarding tendering their common stock, including the terms and conditions of the tender offer. The Tender Offer Statement, the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement and related materials are filed with the SEC, and investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of these materials and other documents filed by QXO and Beacon with the SEC at the website maintained by the SEC at In addition, these materials will be made available to all investors and security holders of Beacon free of charge from the information agent for the tender offer: Innisfree M&A Incorporated, 501 Madison Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10022, toll-free telephone: +1 (888) 750-5834. No Offer or SolicitationThis press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. View source version on Contacts QXO:Media Joe 203-609-9650Steve Lipin / Lauren OdellGladstone Place Partners212-230-5930Investors Mark 203-321-3889Scott Winter / Jonathan SalzbergerInnisfree M&A Incorporated212-750-5833Beacon: Media Jennifer 571-752-1048Ed Trissel / Andrea RoseJoele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher212-355-4449Investors Binit 972-369-8005Bruce Goldfarb / Pat McHughOkapi Partners LLCinfo@ 888-785-6673212-297-0720 Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
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Q4 2024 Beacon Roofing Supply Inc Earnings Call
Binit Sanghvi; Vice President - Capital Markets and Treasurer; Beacon Roofing Supply Inc Julian Francis; President, Chief Executive Officer, Director; Beacon Roofing Supply Inc Prith Gandhi; Chief Financial Officer; Beacon Roofing Supply Inc Mike Dahl; Analyst; RBC David Manthey; Analyst; Baird Trevor Allinson; Analyst; Wolfe Research Brian Biros; Analyst; Thompson Research Group Garik Shmois; Analyst; Loop Capital Ethan Roberts; Analyst; Stephens David MacGregor; Analyst; Longbow Research Keith Hughes; Analyst; Truist Operator Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Beacon fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call. My name is Chach, and I'll be your coordinate coordinator for today. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded for replay purposes. I would like to now turn the call over to Mr. Binit Sanghvi, Vice President, Capital Markets and Treasurer. Please proceed, Mr. Sanghvi. Binit Sanghvi Thank you, Chach. Good morning, everybody. And as always, we thank you for taking the time to join our call. Today, I'm joined by Julian Francis, our Chief Executive Officer; and Chris Gandhi, Beacon's Chief Financial Officer. Julian and Chris will begin today's call with prepared remarks that we'll follow the slide deck posted to the Investor Relations section of Beacon's that, we will open the call for questions. Before we begin, please reference slide 2 for a couple of brief reminders. First, this call will contain forward-looking statements about the company's plans and objectives and future performance. Forward-looking statements can be identified because they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and use words such as anticipate, estimate, expect, believe, and other words of similar meaning. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. As a result of various important factors, including, but not limited to, those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the company's 2023 Form the forward-looking statements contained in this call are based on information as of today, February 27, 2025. And except as required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements. And finally, this call will contain references to certain non-GAAP measures. The reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures is set forth in today's press release and the appendix to the presentation accompanying this the press release and the presentation are available on our website at Now let's begin with opening remarks from Julian. Julian Francis Thanks, Binit. Good morning, everyone. Let's begin on slide 4. Our team delivered a record fourth quarter as a result of execution on our Ambition 2025 plan. Over the past three years, our strategy has been repeatedly tested whether it be rapid inflation supply chain disruption or contracted destocking, and yet we continue to grow top and bottom would charge again in Q4 when after a record October, November, and December were well below the usual sales trend. The slowdown mostly impacted residential roofing, especially in markets in our North and West regions, yet we still set fourth-quarter records for net sales, adjusted EBITDA, and cash per day were up approximately 3% year over year to $2.4 billion driven by contributions from recently acquired branches. Our gross margin came in at the high end of our guidance. As a result of strong execution, average selling prices rose in the quarter.A concerted effort around operating efficiency, including our bottom quintile branch initiative and cost actions taken earlier in the year meant we delivered fourth0quarter adjusted EBITDA of $223 million. I'm also pleased with our management of working generated fourth quarter cash flow of nearly $360 million, which enabled us to deploy resources towards our growth initiatives, including greenfield locations and acquisitions. When we launched our Ambition 2025 plan in early 2022, we set out to transform the company and our performance. I can confidently say that we have done what we said we were going to do over the last three years. We have the right team and an operating model to unlock our full please turn to page 5. At our Investor Day in 2022, we laid out targets to drive above-market growth delivered consistent double-digit adjusted EBITDA margins, build a great company and generate superior shareholder returns. In the last year of our plan, we have already achieved many of our goals and those that remain are in our sights. Building a winning culture has been important for us throughout Ambition 2025.A safe and respectful workplace is the foundation for attracting and retaining employees. When labor is a scarce resource, recruiting and retaining a talented workforce becomes a competitive advantage. We value making every day safer and have been working to ensure everyone gets home safely, and I'm proud of our results last analysis showed that in 2023, strains and sprains for new employees was our most frequent injury. In 2024, we were determined to cut these injuries in half, and I'm pleased to report that we exceeded that goal. In addition, our OSHA total case rate, a key safety metric was the best in Beacon's investing in greenfield is a major lever in driving above-market growth and enhances our overall value proposition and customer reach, giving us the opportunity to earn market share. I'm pleased to report that the 17 greenfields in the class of 2022, the most mature of the portfolio, contributed nearly $22 million to EBIT in full year online capability continues to be a clear competitive advantage for Beacon, with sales through our digital platform, increasing customer loyalty, generating larger basket sizes, and enhancing margin by more than 150 basis points when compared to offline the fourth quarter, we grew digital sales approximately 20% year over year, driven by our value-added integrations. Our digital sales as a percentage of total sales reached approximately 16% at the end of the fourth quarter, nearly a 200 basis point improvement year over year, led by sales to our residential customers. We will continue to invest in a differentiated digital offering and to build on our digital private label line of high-quality building products sold under the TRI-BUILT brand delivers professional results for customers and yields between 500 and 2,000 basis points of additional margin versus the alternatives. We have meaningfully invested in our brands to bolster its presence and expand its offerings to better serve our customers including the launch of TRI-BUILT ISO, a professional-grade roof the fourth quarter, we grew total private label sales approximately 7%. Our focus on driving operational excellence is anchored by our bottom quintile branch process, and it continues to generate meaningful results. We added more than $7 million of EBITDA year over year in the fourth is key to ensuring that we offset inflationary pressures and leverage our operating expenses. We've discussed previously the many ways in which we are focusing on driving improvement every day, including leveraging our labor and fleet using technologies such as our routing software, Beacon tract, and executing on our strategic branch optimization. We've also demonstrated the ability to adjust our cost base to changing market conditions as we did it in the third actions are delivering results. And in the fourth quarter, we increased sales per hour worked by approximately 6% year on year, hitting a fourth quarter record. Now let me take a minute to talk about our M&A branches from the class of 2022, the first group under our Ambition 2025 plan are delivering tangible results to the bottom line. The five acquisitions in aggregate delivered double-digit EBITDA margins in 2024. We believe this is indicative of our ability to improve businesses we acquire. And we continue to create shareholder the fourth quarter, we completed the accelerated share repurchase program initiated in the second quarter. The share buyback program demonstrates both our commitment to delivering value to shareholders and our confidence in the Ambition 2025 plan. Prith will give you the details, but let me highlight that since the start of Ambition 2025, we have deployed more than $1.5 billion to share buybacks, 3 times our initial Ambition '25 target, reducing the as-converted share count by more than 23%.In summary, we have built a business that has multiple paths to growth, margin expansion, and value creation in all market conditions. Our Ambition 2025 plan has created an engine to drive our business model and systematically improve performance. Now I'll pass the call over to Prith to provide a deeper focus on our fourth quarter results. Prith Gandhi Thanks, Julian, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide 7. We reached over $2.4 billion in total net sales in the fourth quarter, up 4.5%, driven by the contribution of acquisitions. Adjusting for one additional day in the fourth quarter of this year, net sales increased by nearly 3%. Organic volumes, including those from greenfields, decreased approximately 3% to 4% on a per day basis while overall price contributed 1% to 2%.Acquisitions contributed approximately 5% year over year. As Julian mentioned, we experienced a sharp slowdown in fourth quarter activity particularly in December due to the weather patterns that impacted a significant portion of the give you some context on a per day basis, our typical November sales averaged around 95% of October sales. In 2024, November sales were less than 90% of October sales. Similarly, December sales per day typically average around 75% of October. In 2024, December sales per day were less than 70%.Residential roofing sales were lower by less than 1% on a per day basis. Prices increased by low single digits percent year over year and acquisitions also contributed to partially offset lower organic volumes versus a strong shingle comparable in the prior year our residential volumes were down in the quarter, we estimate using ARMA data that we grew in line with the market for the full year, adjusting for movements in channel stocking. Non-residential sales per day increased by nearly 4% as our team continued to drive growth through the commercial acceleration initiative. Prices declined by low single digits year over year and remain relatively stable on a sequential basis. Organic volumes were nearly in line with a strong fourth quarter in sales per day increased by approximately 10% driven by acquisitions, including 15 new waterproofing branches in the last four quarters, which significantly expanded our specialty waterproofing products prices were stable year-over-year. Turning to slide 8. We'll review gross margin and operating expense. Gross margin was unchanged from the prior year quarter at 25.7% and at the high end of our total, price cost was up around 10 basis points year-over-year as higher selling prices offset increases in product costs. Higher sales through our digital channel and growth in our private label products continued to be accretive to Beacon's gross margin. These favorable contributions were offset by a higher nonresidential sales mix and the dilutive impact of M&A we've conducted in the past year that has yet to be fully operating expense was $434 million, an increase of approximately $25 million compared to the prior year quarter. Adjusted operating expense as a percentage of sales increased to 18%, up 20 basis points year over associated with acquired and greenfield branches contributed approximately $31 million of the total increase in adjusted OpEx. These increases were offset by approximately $6 million of lower operating expenses in our existing business, which included the benefit from our September cost estimate the impact of these actions to yield annualized cost savings of $45 million, approximately $30 million of which will be realized in 2025. Sales per hour worked in our existing branches, a key productivity measure jumped 6% year over year in the fourth quarter, nearly matching its highest level in the last 12 continue to make investments to drive and support above market growth and margin enhancement. These included initiatives related to our sales organization, private label, pricing tools, e-commerce technologies and branch to slide 9. We delivered record operating cash flow in the quarter of $360 million or more than 160% of the $223 million in adjusted EBITDA, driven by disciplined working capital management through close collaboration among our credit supply chain organization and the field team we efficiently manage receivables and inventory. We had $87 million less in inventory compared to the third quarter, contributing to the strong a year-over-year basis, inventory increased by $180 million. As mentioned on our last call, we balanced seasonal conversion with product availability for our customers in the recent storm-impacted regions of the country. Inventory from acquired branches and greenfield load-ins and inflation in our product costs, all contributed to the increase 2024, we generated nearly $420 million of operating cash flow following a record full year 2023 in which we generated $788 million. Over the last two years, we have generated over $1.2 billion in operating cash flow. Our ability to generate cash underpins our capital allocation approach to balance investments towards organic growth, M&A, and shareholder returns in the form of share repurchases. These include our ability to invest in greenfields and broadly creating acquisitions while maintaining balance sheet, flexibility, and debt leverage returned to our targeted range at 2.8 times with cash and available lines of credit totaling more than $1.1 billion as of December 31. Since the beginning of Ambition 2025, consistent with our commitment to deliver strong shareholder returns, we have chosen to deploy $1.5 billion of capital on the repurchases of equity. Have we chosen instead to reduce debt, Beacon's net debt leverage would be at approximately 1.2 times adjusted EBITDA, well below the low end of our target range of 2 to 3 2024, we invested nearly $127 million of capital expenditure to drive organic growth and to upgrade our fleet and facilities in support of our customers and employees. While Julian covered the share repurchase program, let me provide you with some additional the second quarter of 2024, we executed to $225 million accelerated share repurchase plan that resulted in the retirement of approximately 1.9 million shares or $180 million. The remaining $45 million equity forward contracts settled in the fourth quarter of 2024 and resulted in the repurchase of nearly 500,000 additional retired a total of more than 2.4 million shares in the full year at an average price of less than $93 per share. Net of share issuances for stock-based compensation, we reduced our common shares outstanding to $61.5 million on December 31 versus $63.3 million at the previous year-end as we remain committed to delivering attractive shareholder returns while maintaining a strong balance sheet. With that, I'll turn the call back to Julian for his closing remarks. Julian Francis Thanks, Chris. Please reference page 11 of the slide materials. Before we move to the outlook, I'd like to take a minute to reflect on 2024 results and the progress we have made towards the Ambition 2025 targets we laid out three years 2024, we produced sales growth of more than 7% to nearly $9.8 billion and generated more than $930 million in adjusted EBITDA, eclipsing last year's record levels. This, despite significant headwinds throughout the year, including difficult year-over-year comparisons in Florida, sluggish housing starts, historically low existing home sales and lower commercial new delivered record sales in our national accounts, private label, and digital initiatives, which delivered both enhanced growth and margin. We opened 19 greenfields across 12 states and 2 Canadian provinces, further enhancing our reach to customers. These new branches are ramping up ahead of expectations. And in total, greenfield locations contributed more than $180 million to the top line in 2024. We welcomed 12 new acquisitions, adding 42 branches, new markets, and new acquisition portfolio is performing well. acquired branches contributed more than $400 million to net sales and like our greenfield strategy, expanded our ability to serve our customers across the US and Canada. We trained and developed leadership positions within our sales force, lines of business, and leadership ranks, including the launch of our Commercial Academy and the Roofing industry Center at Clemson University. We demonstrated our commitment to hiring a qualified workforce from diverse backgrounds, which enables us to win in our markets, including the rapidly growing Latino generated a $20 million contribution to adjusted EBITDA from our bottom quintile branch initiative, bringing the three-year total to $78 million surpassing our $75 million Ambition 2025 target a year early. In 2024, we returned $225 million to our shareholders by repurchasing and retiring 2.4 million shares, about 4% of shares there were also missed opportunities. We were late responding to shifting market dynamics that impacted demand. For example, the cut in interest rates did not spur more activity as expected, and we carried too much overhead into Q3 when we took while we generated nearly $420 million in operating cash flow in 2024, the majority of which was in the fourth quarter, this was below our expectations as we did not adjust inventory appropriately until later in the year. Despite these misses, our performance in 2024 has created significant value for our customers and shareholders alike and has positioned us to capitalize on market opportunities in what is expected to be an equally mixed environment in turn to slide 12. Let me talk about our expectations for the market in 2025. Broadly, many of the headwinds I described earlier will persist through the first half. Overall sentiment has weakened in recent weeks, particularly in new construction markets with higher interest rates likely to continue and input costs likely to rise in part due to expected tariffs. There are increasing concerns with contracted labor interest rates and tariffs may have a limited impact on our primary product categories, and we feel confident about our ability to attract and retain our workforce, clearly, all three of these elements create greater uncertainty in our end expect residential reroofing market demand will be down this year, driven by our assumption that storm demand will tick lower after a modestly above trend year in 2024. We expect nonstorm repair and reroof to be higher on demand from the non-discretionary replacement cycle of residential new construction as well as existing home sales are expected to remain sluggish. In commercial roofing, the Architectural Billing Index remains below 50, indicating contraction in new construction activity in the first half of the year. However, repair and reroofing activity is expected to these near-term headwinds, the underlying demand drivers remain strong. under investment in housing, US migration towards areas impacted by severe weather, and regulation and insurance trends that drive increased replacement activity. For the first quarter, we expect total sales per day to be down in the 3% to 5% range compared with the prior year quarter. This is primarily due to the harsh weather we've seen in January and February, which typically results in more demand as the year respect to first quarter gross margin, we expect it to be in line with the prior year quarter. Adjusted operating expenses are expected to increase year-over-year, attributable to the higher expenses related to head count from greenfield and acquired branches, which are mostly offset by cost management in our existing the full year, we expect net sales growth in the mid-single-digit percent range, including contributions from acquisitions previously announced. Regarding gross margin, structural improvements from our initiatives, including the implementation of our pricing model, higher private label and digital sales are expected to be partially offset by the geographic and line of business mix impacts. It is important to note that we expect price cost to be neutral resulting in a full-year gross margin percentage in line with prior also expect to realize benefits from cost actions taken in the third quarter of last year to contribute approximately $30 million. With all that in mind, we expect adjusted EBITDA to range between $950 million and $1.03 cash flow, we expect inventory to follow a normal pattern of seasonality as we build inventory in the first half of the year and convert to cash in the second half. For the full year, we expect to generate strong operating cash flow in the range of $500 million to $600 million. We will also invest in growth and plan to open 15 to 20 new greenfield locations. We will continue to execute on our pipeline of tuck-in acquisitions with disciplined criteria and rigorous focus will remain on delivering results, including enhancing our customer service pricing and daily execution on safety, productivity, and efficiency. We have a durable strategy, a resilient business model, a great team and an attractive industry. Our future is bright and we look forward to helping our customers build before we turn the call over to Q&A, I do want to briefly address our ongoing matter with QXO. Back on January 27, 2025, QXO launched an unsolicited tender offer at $124.25 per share. Our Board after consultation with its independent financial and legal advisers unanimously determined that QXO's offer is not in the best interest of the company and its shareholders because it significantly undervalues the company and our prospects for growth and value creation. Therefore, the Board strongly recommended that shareholders not tender their shares to though, the board remains open to considering all opportunities to maximize shareholder value, and Beacon looks forward to sharing more on its future growth plans and 2028 long-term financial targets at our upcoming Investor Day on March 13, 2025. Please focus your questions on our business and our record fourth quarter and full year results. We will not take any questions related to QXO's tender offer and proxy contest on this call. With that, operator, I'll turn it back to you in the question-and-answer session. Operator (Operator Instructions) Mike Dahl, RBC. Mike Dahl Thanks for taking my question. Look, I think one of the obvious ones is sluggish start to the year, but you're still bridging to a pretty healthy growth for the full year. So can you help us understand more dynamics around quarter-to-date sales, whether you've seen improvement as over the past week or so, weather has gotten a little bit better. And then within the full year guide, help us break down, you gave us the acquisition contribution, but how are you thinking about organic price and volume across your segments? Thanks. Julian Francis Thanks, Mike. I'll take the first part and just general trends. Prith can give you some of the financial details as well. January was tough. I think I love the statistic that there was snow in all 50 has been extremely cold up until the last week or so. We were down, I think, low teens in January. And February was tracking towards that up until the last few days. In the last few days, we've seen sort of demand levels where we would expect to be in early March, mid-March, which is a good we said, the harsh weathers, generally create demand. And whether in general, only creates demand or moves it around. It doesn't take it away. So that's important for everyone to realize. So we do think that, that's fundamentally what's going to play quarter is going to be tough. Weather-related, we're seeing improvements coming in. And as we said, typically, tough weather creates demand for us, particularly when it impacts states that don't usually see this type of weather around the that's what we're seeing so far. And we've got a lot of confidence in our business where we're driving to obviously, the cost actions we took last year in the third quarter to get our staffing levels to where they should be going to carry over into this year. So we feel very good about our prospects for top and bottom-line growth. Prith Gandhi Yeah. Just a couple of things to add, Mike. On Q1, in particular, when you kind of break it down, in terms of March, we're expecting sales per day kind of flat to last year. And remember, we're -- we did 12 acquisitions last year, most of which were done after March. So we've got some favorable structural benefits in terms of why we have confidence around terms of the full year, let me start with sales in terms of our guide for kind of mid-single digits. We're expecting a total market, this is across all lines of business to be flat to slightly higher. The M&A carryover is about 2%. The price carryover from the shingle price increases last year, that's about 1%. And then we have above-market growth, including greenfields and sales in the low single-digit percent terms of the EBITDA bridge, you start with the $930 million, as Julian said, we took cost actions in September. We expect to generate about $30 million of savings from those actions in 2025. The M&A carryover is in the order of $10 then we do expect to get operational leverage, especially in the existing business despite adding new greenfields and so forth. So that's kind of how we get to the mid-point of our guidance. And in terms of the upside, we've said that we expect residential volumes to decline this year because we go back to the 10-year storm average. If we actually revert to what we saw over the last couple of years, that would get us towards the high end of our guidance. Mike Dahl Very helpful, thank you. Operator David Manthey, Baird. David Manthey Thank you. Good morning, everyone. First, just as we build up the top line, what number of new greenfield additions are you budgeting for 2025? And then for -- on the price front, I think you said price/cost is neutral. You get a 1% carryover from 2024 pricing. But does your 2025 guidance include any price increases across any of your categories, res, non-res, complementary? Julian Francis Yes. I think in our prepared remarks, we mentioned sort of 15 to 20 greenfield locations. We'll toggle that based on what we see in market conditions and availability of rental units for lease. So that would be a greenfield target for this year, somewhere in that range.I think that we've got a residential price increase that has been announced for April. So we do have that factored in Obviously, it's difficult to predict exactly what's going to happen with projected tariffs and how that will impact the overall macro. And our pricing strategy, but we've got one residential increase so far that's announced that is sort of baked in the price/cost neutral. David Manthey Got it. Thanks, Julian. Operator Trevor Allinson, Wolfe Research. Trevor Allinson Yes. A quick question on SG&A clearly been a focus for you guys here over the last few quarters. You talked about managing that back to 17% over time. You've got the restructuring in place here. But just looking at your guide, it looks like maybe you're expecting to be a bit above the 17% number in what do you need to see happen to get back to 17%? Do you just need to digest some of this M&A and greenfield you've done? Or are there other levers you need to pull there? Julian Francis Yeah. I'll touch on this Trevor, and then I'll let Prith give some of the details as well. So fundamentally, your thesis is right. We've got to digest some of the acquisitions that we've done. Obviously, we're going to continue to invest in new greenfields. We believe that we'll continue to add capacity with the -- that will continue to invest in value-creating projects that we as greenfields mature from the earlier classes, which none of them have really gotten there yet, we'll start to see that come down. And I think that if you sort of peel away all of those things, we've got an underlying very good story about where we sit today. But Prith will have some more detail. Prith Gandhi So yeah, Trevor, in terms of just how we're thinking about the OpEx in the coming year, we're expecting to have about $60 million of additional expense from acquisitions and greenfields. And so that means we'll actually have some leverage within the existing business. over the coming 12 months. And then we're continuing to drive productivity and other operational excellence initiatives that we think will enable us to get for further progress in this area. Trevor Allinson Understood. Thank you for all the color and good luck moving forward. Julian Francis Thanks. Operator Brian Biros, Thompson Research Group. Brian Biros Hey, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. Could you expand a little bit more on the non-res demand between new and R&R. I think last quarter, you maybe started to see R&R demand picking up a little bit. So that seems to be continuing based on your that maybe a slow and steady improvement? Or maybe that's kind of accelerating throughout the year? Just any more color on kind of how those 2 are expected to perform through the year would be helpful. Julian Francis Yeah, absolutely. Happy to do that, Brian. So you've almost got to rewind sort of back to the supply chain disruptions that we saw in sort of '21, '22 and a little bit into '23 with all the contracted destocking, you'll remember. Because of all those supply chain disruptions, the market prioritized new construction because that was -- there's just so much more money tied up in the market prioritize new construction. And because there was a lot of supply chain disruption, product availability was very tight. It ended up pushing the repair and replace cycle out a little bit. Obviously, it never goes away. So what we saw last year as the contracted destocking worked its way through the supply problems diminished for the most part. We saw sort of a remixing away from the new construction, a lot of which had gotten done. And more towards the repair and replace other thing we started to see last year was a little bit of the trend that we mentioned in the prepared remarks. The Architectural Billing Index being below 50 indicates a contraction in the new construction cycle as well. So there's a little bit of a muted demand there. I think -- there's a lot of steel that goes into commercial construction. So the impact there of potential tariffs coming in having a muting effect on new construction is likely to continue, we believe. So that's sort of where we see regards to your question about are we seeing a more bullish sentiment around repair and replace, we think there's a little bit of catch-up. I wouldn't say it's more bullish. I think it's more of a mix that new commercial is down a little bit and the repair and replace cycle of commercial is sort of steady. It just has to get a capital project for most of these building owners. So they just kind of work through it on their own time frame. So I wouldn't say it's more bullish on that. It's just steady and the mix towards that because new construction is down. Prith Gandhi Yeah. Just one thing to add to what Julian said. I think we've also been really focused on gaining share and accelerating our commercial efforts. And those are -- we target certain growth markets. We targeted 19 in 2024, and we delivered above-market growth in those we're focused on that in 2025 with 25 new markets. And so that's another thing that's maybe different in our business. We're very deliberately focused on gaining share and growing above the market in this area. Operator Garik Shmois, Loop Capital. Garik Shmois Thank you. Just want to get some clarification on residential pricing. I appreciate the expectation of being price cost neutral this year but just wanted to bridge that with the prepared remarks. I think you talked about a point of carryover pricing from last years being in your I was hoping you could expand on whether or not you're expecting traction on the April price increase? If so, how much of that is in the guidance? And would there be anything unusual on realizing the April price increase just kind of given some of the choppy end markets right now relative to the lag from when you realize resi? Prith Gandhi Yeah, thanks for the question. And in terms of kind of what we assume in our forecast for the April price increase, we're kind of assuming the similar type of realization as last year and the year before, which were -- it's a small basis point inventory profit. But overall, as we said, price neutral over the full year. Julian Francis Yes. I think the number is about a 1% incremental ASP for the full year and the April increase helps us get there. But obviously, we've sort of said price/cost neutral. I could say, Garik, the impact of the costs this year are a little opaque right now because of sort of where we sit both in the mentioned choppy markets. That's certainly what we see. But again, the absolute level of demand is really good. So there's still a reasonably strong underlying demand for all the products. And as we mentioned, the potential for upside remains. which is -- new construction remains below trend. Existing home construction is well below trend. We expect sports storms to revert and tick down even with that in all our guide, we remain pretty confident about what the future holds for us. And we're cautiously optimistic about the year. But overall demand levels in both residential and commercial construction markets and our waterproofing business are pretty solid. Garik Shmois Got it. Thank you. Operator Trey Grooms, Stephens. Ethan Roberts Hey, good morning, everyone. This is Ethan on for Trey. So I wanted to touch a little on the cost front. Maybe could you walk us through what you're seeing within the various cost buckets, and your assumptions for 2025. And then given that price increase announced for early April and the timing there, how should we think about price cost trending through the year? Thanks. Julian Francis Well, I'll touch on the price/cost for the year. We said that it would be neutral for the full year. I mean, typically, obviously, we liquidate inventory prior to the price increase. So we get a little bit of margin expansion that narrows over the years. So that's all factored we don't break out individual cost buckets. So we -- we're focused on driving efficiency, driving productivity. Prith, I don't know if you've got anything to sort of add to that. But we certainly believe that we will grow EBITDA margin this adjusted EBITDA margin will grow, and that's -- we're very focused on driving it through productivity given the price cost will be about neutral, that sort of all flow through in efficiency and realizing the benefits of improving previously acquired branches, maturing of our greenfield branches, and then driving productivity in the branches that we already have, including our Foton quintile branch those are the big areas that we focus on for driving improved bottom line. And like I said, we do believe that we will grow our adjusted EBITDA margin this year. Ethan Roberts Thank you. Operator David McGregor, Longbow Research. David MacGregor Yes. Good morning and thanks for taking my questions. Julian, with 15 to 20 new locations in 1995, how much of those would fall into OTC markets versus non-OTC configurations. And then also just with the growth in the number of branches, both acquired in greenfields, where are you right now in capacity utilization on your RDCs and distribution infrastructure and talk maybe if you could about the need to invest there at some point and how soon that point arises. Julian Francis Yeah. So in 2025, the vast majority of those branches will probably go into our OTC markets in some way, shape or form. It's difficult to see right now. I mean we've had cases where you negotiate a lease, markets change a little bit, we delay it, things like that. But the vast majority of our business is now inside one of our OTC so as we continue to expand on the benefits, we think we get from networking our branches together, the competitive advantage we think it gives us in big markets, we'll continue to deploy that strategy. And our greenfields will primarily be focused on that, but we also do think there are underserved markets. And as I've said before, frequently when we add a location, all of the markets -- all of the branches inside that OTC get a little bit better because our service proposition to our customers improves across our entire network. I'm trying to think what else add in terms of -- Prith Gandhi Maybe one thing is -- I think one of the things is we're going to be doing a lot more in the waterproofing space. remember, we've just built this great platform over the last two years, and they're really in their infancy of applying the A25 playbook. And so we're going to make some investments in greenfields in big areas for them where we currently have gaps. And so that should be very good in terms of growth for that business. Julian Francis Yes. And just going back to the fundamental strategy around greenfields and your question about capacity, we look at very carefully at where we are and how we add to ensure that we've got a great service proposition. We think that there is -- this industry is a very high service proposition industry. I mean it's -- we never go back to the same address in the same 20-year driving up people's driveways in its dogs and cats and people were putting -- people are on route. It's a dangerous job. So the service levels required are really high. So having the capacity to serve at a very high level is really meaningful and value-creating for our customer base and their customer base as well. It's a really important role that we play in making these we worry less about the overall capacity than it is about the service level. The total capacity is less of a limit on us than it is really just our ability to create great service for our customers. Operator Keith Hughes, Truist. Keith Hughes Thank you. You talked a lot about the first quarter and the weather. I think a lot of that was directed at residential singles. If you could just talk about first quarter of complementary products, some of that indoor outdoor, how that's trending so far in the quarter? Julian Francis Yeah, sure. On the complementary product side, I mean you're going to see the same sort of trends, Keith. Ultimately, really cold weather. Snow -- these things impact all of the exterior products in the same way. I mean I know Prith will have some details on it. But generally speaking, they're probably broadly in line with our overall we do have is a lot of acquisitions in that space because of the waterproofing. So that's having an impact year-over-year as well. Prith Gandhi Yes. So generally, Keith, I think in terms of volume, it's pretty similar across all three lines of business. It's kind of high single digits type decline. But back to what Julian said, we've done a lot of acquisitions, and those help us in terms of kind of mid-single-digit type growth in the quarter. And so that's kind of how we get our guidance for the color that we provided for Q1. Julian Francis But fundamentally, Keith, the weather impact on all the exterior products is same all the way. Operator (Operator Instructions) Philip Ng, Jefferies. Hey, good morning. This is Maggie on Phil. I wanted to touch on the bottom quintile branch initiatives. Julien, I think you said that was a $7 million benefit in 4Q. Maybe remind us what that was for the full this is an ongoing multiyear initiative. Probably a lot of the low-hanging fruit has been accomplished right now. So maybe if you could just talk about how you think about that opportunity in 2025 and going forward. Julian Francis Yeah, absolutely. So it was $7 million in the quarter. It was $20 million for the full year. And since we kicked off Ambition 2025, we've generated $78 million in three years versus the $75 million four-year target. So we're really, really pleased with what we've seen a disciplined process. And obviously, the way we structured it is that it's a bottom quintile process. We will always have 20% of the branches at the bottom of the pile, and we work to ensure that they're like you said, the low-hanging fruit that we had early on in my tenure, has certainly gone away. But you can see we keep generating and keep finding ways to generate improvements in those branches. We provide focus, we provide resources, we provide guidance on where to look for these opportunities. So while it's not -- we'll never be done. But it's -- like you said, the low-hanging fruit is there.I'll give you some indication, the bottom quintile branch profitability three years ago was about 3% EBITDA margins to get in. Today, it's nearly double digit. It's closer to double digit to get into that branch. It's sort of 7% to 8%, and it's been growing every year. So we continue to see great opportunity. We're also narrowing that band as well. And it's been just been a great process for us, and we're excited about it, and we'll continue to keep working it. They'll always be that bottom 20%. Operator That concludes the questions. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Francis for his closing comments. Julian Francis Thank you. I just want to say thank you to all of you for your support of Beacon listening in on our earnings call. I'm incredibly proud of the team weathering this storm. And the challenge which we've faced with market conditions over the last certainly been a lot of headwinds, but we're excited about the business. We're excited about where we're positioned. We're excited about producing another record year for Beacon. And we believe that 2025 is the start of another record year, and we will continue to deliver results for our employees, our customers, and our shareholders. With that, we look forward to seeing you all on March 13 in New York City. Thanks very much. Operator This concludes today's call. 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