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| Statement |
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| This was partly offset by higher year-over-year sales with big box customers and improved performance in our commercial business |
| Based on our revenue outlook and restructuring actions, we believe full year adjusted EBITDA will be positive |
| In regards to our outlook, based on our significant restructuring initiatives underway, our leaner operations and our focus on profitability, we have entered 2024 on a much stronger footing as compared to a year ago |
| In addition to that, we believe that during the year as our profitability will increase and be more significant, we will also benefit from that and not only from the improvements in working capital |
| We more than delivered on this front as our working capital management and meaningful savings stemming from our global restructuring actions generated positive operating cash flow in four consecutive quarters, totaling $66.5 million |
| Finally, based on all the improvements and actions that we are taking, we expect 2024 to be another full year of positive cash flow from operations |
| We believe actions taken during 2023 have set this foundation for an optimized production footprint, better utilization of resources and improved cost structure and realigned workforce, allowing us to capture greater efficiencies and opportunities |
| We believe that these factors will allow us to enhance our brand, better compete, grow market share and get back to profitability |
| We saw some positive signs in the commercial channel and also in the big box |
| So all in all, we believe that we will continue to maintain our leading position in the market |
| We believe we have the right global strategy in place to improve our results and drive value to all our stakeholders |
| Caesarstone balance sheet remains solid |
| The Caesarstone brand is well known in Australia, and our products have earned tremendous success in the region over the years |
| In the North America, we expect to begin seeing more favorable year-over-year comparisons as we move into the second quarter of the year |
| And the reaction from the government is positive |
| What we are seeing is a very positive sign for the products that we introduced |
| So all in all, we believe that we will still generate positive cash flow, of course, and we will, of course, have free cash flow after that |
| We have implemented a new strategic plan and initiated significant restructuring actions, which allowed us to accomplish our primary financial objective of generating positive cash flow from operations |
| During the fourth quarter, we generated another quarter of positive cash flow from operations of $13.2 million |
| And we are -- and as we said, we are preparing a collection that will meet the regulations, and it will be ready by the end of Q2, by middle of the year and expect to maintain our leading position in that market |
| In 2023, you got a big benefit from working capital, obviously, reducing inventory |
| So as I said, we definitely got some positive response in the last few weeks |
| These factors were partially offset by lower sea freight expenses and the benefits of our improved production footprint as we transitioned production to our global network of third-party manufacturing partners |
| We will remain focused on improving our bottom line as we move through the year and believe the significant actions we have taken to restructure and stabilize the business have set the foundation to do so |
| And as I said, we still have some room for improvement during 2024 also on the back of closing the Richmond Hill manufacturing activity |
| In 2023, we were able to navigate through challenging macroeconomic, regional geopolitical and regulatory dynamics occurring in our key markets |
| The unfavorable impact of the underutilized capacity at our plants was partially offset by the benefits of higher ASP, lower shipping costs and improved production footprint as we transition the significant portion of production to our network of third-party manufacturing partners throughout the year |
| In turn, we are prudently allocating resources to areas that we believe will allow us to capture profitable growth |
| And based on the things that we analyze and read, we expect to see a gradual improvement also in the macroeconomics as we progress during the year |
| We diverted resources to areas that we believe will allow us to capture profitable growth, all while achieving our goal to further improve our net cash position |
| Statement |
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| In the U.S., sales were down 21.1% mainly tied to softer residential end markets, particularly through third-party distributors |
| In Israel sales were challenged in the fourth quarter, mainly as a result of the war on terror, which has significantly reduced activity in the region |
| On a constant currency basis, sales were down 17%, mainly due to lower volume, driven by challenging market conditions across our global footprint |
| Sales for the full year were down 18.2% |
| We expect adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter to be negative to breakeven, given the expected timing of spend on sales, marketing and related expenses and as the savings that are coming from Richmond Hill plant will become more significant in the second half of the year |
| In Israel, revenues are likely to remain depressed due to the war on terror, but we expect those pressures to ease as we move through 2024 |
| So in North America, we saw down volumes, mainly on the back of the macroeconomic -- the soft macroeconomic, the higher inflation rate, and it impacted mainly the residential channel |
| Australia sales were off by approximately 8.1% on a constant currency basis, reflecting slower market conditions |
| The decrease was primarily driven by softer global market conditions particularly in North American renovation and remodel channels, mainly as a result of higher interest rates, which has impacted residential spending |
| Canada sales were lower by 13.8% on a constant currency basis, experiencing similar market dynamics as the U.S |
| The year-over-year decrease in margin mainly reflected the impact of lower revenues, unfavorable product mix, higher slow-moving inventory provisions and the increased manufacturing unit cost driven by lower fixed cost absorption due to the lower capacity utilization |
| On a constant currency basis, sales were down 19.6% |
| Our full year 2023 adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $9.4 million compared to a gain of $51.9 million last year, with the year-over-year change primarily reflecting the lower gross margin and operating loss |
| And I say that in context -- after July 1, 20% of your business is going to be under severe pressure |
| So first of all, as we mentioned, Q1 is -- we expect Q1 to be our lowest quarter in terms of revenues |
| This was mainly related to lower capacity utilization as we undertook significant restructuring actions within the business during 2023 |
| The decrease primarily reflects the operating loss and lower gross margin |
| The difference in adjusted gross margin mainly reflects lower revenues and increased manufacturing unit costs due to lower fixed cost absorption |
| In addition, our sales were impacted by the competitive landscape for our products |
| The higher percentage mainly resulted from the lower revenues |
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