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| With that said, we did see performance setting over the second half of fiscal 2023, and are also beginning to see the impact of cost reduction actions implemented recently as margins and adjusted EBITDA improved in all of the regions in which we operate |
| Industrial Technologies revenue for the full year increased by over 50% in fiscal '23 from last year's sales of $335 million |
| We've got enough different kinds of businesses in our portfolio today, but we clearly can license or produce and sell the chip to alternative uses and give us a great opportunity long term to monetize what we think is a very, very unique solution |
| Again, this quarter, we are very pleased with our results as the company has reported higher consolidated sales, while all of our business segments reported higher adjusted EBITDA |
| Our Industrial Technologies business again reported solid revenue growth in the fourth quarter, driven by the strong and ongoing interest in our Energy Solutions business |
| This growth enabled the segment to exceed the $500 million revenue target we set for the year |
| Despite lower sales, adjusted EBITDA for the segment increased for the current quarter, primarily reflecting improvements in the ability to pass along cost increases and the benefits from the segment's recent cost reduction actions |
| Our Memorialization business also performed well for the full year with stable revenues despite a continued decline in debt |
| Our sharp focus on improving productivity in the business, coupled with improved price realization led to an 8% increase in adjusted EBITDA for the full year |
| At SGK, as expected, cost reduction actions resulted in higher adjusted EBITDA for the quarter and improved margins despite market conditions in Europe that still continue to be challenging |
| Based on the strength of our operating results, we exceeded our target, reduced our net leverage ratio and also lowered our total debt outstanding as of year-end |
| As I look forward, I think the key to this story as it relates to Memorialization is we've picked up some share, we've picked up some pricing, and we've improved our productivity |
| But we are in the midst of landing 1 to 2 more decent sized incineration project here in the U.K., which should be -- add nicely to the performance for the overall group starting here, I would say, second half of our fiscal '24 |
| Impressive results despite the sense of uncertainty hovering around the global markets fueled by geopolitical events and the interest rate concerns |
| We are poised to drive continued growth in sales and adjusted EBITDA from fiscal 2024, buoyed by the long-term opportunities being created by several of our businesses with special mention to our Industrial Technologies segment |
| On a constant currency basis compared to prior year, our sales increased 8% and our EBITDA increased 9%, a strong performance in a challenging environment |
| Let's begin with Industrial Technologies, which had strong growth in fiscal 2023, primarily through higher sales in our energy storage solutions business included in the year-over-year improvement are also benefits gained from the acquisitions of OLBRICH and R+S Automotive that provided expanded capacity to execute and meet our growing demand for energy solutions |
| Where we stand from a timing standpoint, it's right on where we've kind of said the end of this fiscal year -- end of the calendar year, early next year, months are not things that we can control completely, but we're extremely bullish on this |
| As you can see from our strong fourth quarter results, those initiatives have begun and we expect significant improvement in the operating results of these businesses in the coming year |
| I would not say it was a strong quarter, but what was very positive for us in the fourth quarter was the mix of, what I would call, mix of revenue that was reported |
| In conclusion, we look forward to delivering another good year in 2024 as we continue the transformation of our Industrial Technologies segment into a more significant contributor to our overall results |
| We met our targets for the year, and we are well positioned for a solid start in fiscal '24 with good backlogs that -- in that business in particular |
| And as you know, software has better margins in some of the hardware that we sell associated with that |
| We believe it can drive us to another year of growth in sales and adjusted EBITDA |
| 2D codes are expected to replace barcodes and certain applications due to their ability, delivered greater track and trace information and we believe our product is perfectly positioned to meet this demand |
| Continued growth of our cremation products business in addition to market share gains, productivity improvements, acquisitions and pricing initiatives all contributed to the success |
| The Engineering business reported higher sales for the current quarter compared to a year ago, primarily reflecting continued growth in our energy storage solutions business |
| As we previously indicated, these acquisitions were not expected to contribute to adjusted EBITDA immediately, but the results are expected to improve with our integration actions |
| The increase primarily resulted from improved pricing and benefits from operational cost savings initiatives |
| I mean, from a margin standpoint, it been pushing up into the $100 million, Dan, because they're bringing pretty good margins |
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| And sales for the SGK Brand Solutions segment were $11.5 million lower than a year ago |
| markets, including a decline in retail base sales and the impact of several site closures |
| This segment continues to be impacted by challenging market environment in Europe and unfavorable currency rate changes |
| The decrease primarily reflected lower sales in the segment's European and U.S |
| We had some early challenges that we set over in the U.K., principally on some of these incineration works |
| We -- as we said throughout the last 3 to 6 months, we've seen a slowing, and it's not just us, it's also others |
| It's more the question of timing of delivery and hitting the milestones that will allow us to reduce that while there being ready for the equipment is the critical issue |
| The prior year loss on a GAAP basis reflected a goodwill impairment charge related to the SGK Brand Solutions segment |
| On a GAAP basis, the company's net income was $17.7 million or $0.56 per share for the current quarter compared to a loss of $81 million or $2.63 per share for the same quarter last year |
| Changes in currency rates had an unfavorable impact of $235,000 on adjusted EBITDA compared to a year ago |
| But finalization of orders are going to be -- are cautious right now, and I think that's economically sensitive today |
| As you may recall, we have identified an opportunity to displace incumbent continuous inkjet technology, which has proven to be too complex, environmentally challenged and costly |
| So I wouldn't be as much concerned about the margins |
| We still have about 50% of the $200 million in energy orders announced this past January that we expect to fulfill during 2024 as customer delays have pushed out deliveries |
| As these businesses continue to scale up, and account for a greater portion of our consolidated sales, it becomes more difficult to project timing of our growth, particularly on a quarterly basis |
| These increases were partially offset by the impact of lower casket and memorial sales volumes and increased labor costs |
| We are also initiating a more significant cost reduction effort in Europe which has been the most -- the merely challenged region for SGK |
| Joseph Bartolacci The business did fine |
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