SPRINGFIELD, Mass., March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC), a leader in firearm manufacturing and design, today announced financial results for the fiscal 2013 third quarter ended January 31, 2013.

Third Quarter Fiscal 2013 Financial Highlights

• Net sales from continuing operations for the third quarter were $136.2 million, up 38.8% from the third quarter last year.  The company continued to increase its production capacity during the third quarter and has operated its plant at essentially full capacity for the last four quarters. Despite these capacity increases, the company was unable to meet the ongoing demand across all of its firearm product lines.
• Gross profit for the third quarter was $50.1 million, or 36.8% of net sales, compared with gross profit of $30.0 million, or 30.6% of net sales, for the comparable quarter last year.  Gross profit improved as a result of increased sales volume, leveraging of fixed costs, and a favorable product mix.
• Operating expenses for the third quarter were $22.1 million, or 16.2% of net sales, compared with operating expenses of $19.7 million, or 20.1% of net sales, for the third quarter last year.  The increase in operating expenses was primarily related to higher general and administrative costs associated with the ongoing implementation of the company's new ERP system and incentive compensation. The decline in operating expenses as a percentage of net sales was primarily driven by increased sales volume and controlled spending in sales and marketing.
• Operating income from continuing operations for the third quarter was $28.0 million, or 20.6% percent of net sales, compared with operating income from continuing operations of $10.3 million, or 10.5% percent of net sales, for the comparable quarter last year.
• Income from continuing operations for the third quarter was $17.5 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, more than triple the net income from continuing operations of $5.4 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, for the third quarter last year.
• Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAS from continuing operations for the third quarter increased to $33.3 million compared with $14.8 million for the third quarter last year. Fiscal year-to-date non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAS was $101.5 million compared with $37.2 million for the comparable prior year period.
• Operating cash flow of $33.0 million and net capital spending of $12.6 million for the third quarter resulted in free cash flow of $20.4 million.
• During the third quarter of fiscal 2013, the company's Board of Directors approved a program to repurchase up to $35.0 million of Smith & Wesson's common stock, subject to certain conditions, in the open market or privately negotiated transactions on or prior to June 30, 2013. The company repurchased 2.1 million shares of its common stock for $20.0 million through this program during the third quarter of fiscal 2013 utilizing cash on hand.

James Debney, Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Our success in the third quarter was highlighted by significant year-over-year improvements in net sales, margin expansion, and bottom line profitability as we successfully executed our growth strategy, which is underpinned with a focus on firearms.  Performance gains were driven by continued robust consumer demand for firearms as well as increased sales of our M&P® polymer pistols and modern sporting rifles. Based on incremental improvements in expanding our production capacity, which will be further deployed in the fourth quarter, we are increasing our financial guidance for the full fiscal year 2013."

Jeffrey D. Buchanan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, stated, "The strength of our balance sheet continues to provide us enhanced flexibility to invest in our core firearm business and fuel our growth initiatives. At the end of the quarter, we had no borrowings under our credit facility and a cash balance of $62.0 million.  Robust free cash flow also allowed us to return value to our stockholders by buying back shares of our common stock in the fiscal third quarter for a total of $20.0 million."

Financial Outlook for Continuing Operations

The company expects net sales from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 to be between $165.0 million and $170.0 million, which would represent year-over-year growth from continuing operations of 29.0% at the midpoint. The company anticipates GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of between $0.38 and $0.40 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.

The company is raising its full year fiscal 2013 financial guidance.  The company currently anticipates net sales from continuing operations for fiscal 2013 of between $575.0 million and $580.0 million, which would represent year-over-year growth from continuing operations of approximately 40.0% at the midpoint. The company anticipates fiscal 2013 GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of between $1.17 and $1.19, income from continuing operations of between $78.0 million and $79.5 million, and non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAS from continuing operations of between $148.4 million and $150.7 million.

Conference Call and Webcast

The company will host a conference call and webcast today, March 5, 2013, to discuss its third quarter fiscal 2013 financial and operational results. Speakers on the conference call will include James Debney, President and CEO, and Jeffrey D. Buchanan, Executive Vice President and CFO. The conference call may include forward-looking statements. The conference call and webcast will begin at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Pacific Time). Those interested in listening to the call via telephone may call directly at (866) 804-6928 and reference conference code 35129271. No RSVP is necessary.  The conference call audio webcast can also be accessed live and for replay on the company's website at www.smith-wesson.com, under the Investor Relations section. The company will maintain an audio replay of this conference call on its website for a period of time after the call. No other audio replay will be available. 

Reconciliation of U.S. GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In this press release, certain non-GAAP financial measures, including "Adjusted EBITDAS" and "free cash flow" are presented.  From time-to-time, the company considers and uses Adjusted EBITDAS and free cash flow as supplemental measures of operating performance in order to provide the reader with an improved understanding of underlying performance trends. Adjusted EBITDAS excludes the effects of interest expense, income taxes, depreciation of tangible fixed assets, amortization of intangible assets, stock-based compensation expense, plant consolidation costs, DOJ and SEC investigation costs, and certain other transactions.  See the attached "Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Adjusted EBITDAS" for a detailed explanation of the amounts excluded from and included in net income to arrive at Adjusted EBITDAS for the three-month and nine-month periods ended January 31, 2013 and January 31, 2012 and the attached "Reconciliation of Estimated GAAP Income from Continuing Operations to Estimated Adjusted EBITDAS" for a full detailed explanation of the amounts excluded from and included in income from continuing operations to arrive at estimated Adjusted EBITDAS for full year fiscal 2013.  Free cash flow is defined as cash flow provided by operating activities less capital expenditures, which include purchases of property, equipment, and software.

Adjusted or non-GAAP financial measures provide investors and the company with supplemental measures of operating performance and trends that facilitate comparisons between periods before, during, and after certain items that would not otherwise be apparent on a GAAP basis. Adjusted financial measures are not, and should not be viewed as, a substitute for GAAP results. The company's definition of these adjusted financial measures may differ from similarly named measures used by others.

About Smith & Wesson

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC) is a U.S.-based leader in firearm manufacturing and design, delivering a broad portfolio of quality firearms, related products, and training to the global military, law enforcement, and consumer markets. The company's brands include Smith & Wesson®, M&P® and Thompson/Center Arms™. Smith & Wesson facilities are located in Massachusetts and Maine. For more information on Smith & Wesson, call (800) 331-0852 or log on to www.smith-wesson.com.

Safe Harbor Statement                    

Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under federal securities laws, and we intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor created thereby.  Such forward-looking statements include our outlook for fiscal 2013 full year net sales from continuing operations; the outcome of the ongoing implementation of our new ERP system; potential future repurchases of our common stock under our stock repurchase program; our belief regarding robust consumer demand for firearms; our belief that our expanded production capacity will be further deployed in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013; increasing our full year fiscal 2013 financial guidance; our belief regarding our enhanced flexibility to invest in our core firearm business and fuel our growth initiatives; our outlook for net sales from continuing operations, year-over-year growth from continuing operations, and GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 and the full 2013 fiscal year; and our outlook for income from continuing operations and non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAS from continuing operations for the full 2013 fiscal year, including the amounts excluded from and included in net income to arrive at Adjusted EBITDAS for our guidance for full year fiscal 2013.  We caution that these statements are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such forward-looking statements.  Such factors include the demand for our products; the costs and ultimate conclusion of certain legal matters, including the DOJ and SEC matters; the state of the U.S. economy; general economic conditions, and consumer spending patterns; the potential for increased regulation of firearms and firearm-related products; speculation surrounding fears of terrorism and crime; our growth opportunities; our anticipated growth; our ability to increase demand for our products in various markets, including consumer, law enforcement, and military channels, domestically and internationally; the position of our hunting products in the consumer discretionary marketplace and distribution channel; our penetration rates in new and existing markets; our strategies; our ability to introduce new products; the success of new products; our ability to expand our markets; the potential for cancellation of orders from our backlog; and other risks detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the SEC, including our Form 10-K Report for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2012.

Contact: Liz Sharp, VP Investor Relations
Smith & Wesson Holding Corp.
(413) 747-3304
lsharp@smith-wesson.com

SOURCE Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation