News Details

First Quarter 2023 Highlights

• Total Revenues of $642 million, +5% y/y
• Organic Growth of +7% y/y
• GAAP EPS of $1.45, +49% y/y
• Adjusted EPS of $1.68, +28% y/y
• Updated full year guidance and raised 2023 Revenues and Adjusted EPS
• Completed acquisition of Berthold Sichert GmbH (“Sichert”) for $98 million
• Executed $50 million of share repurchases during the quarter
• New $300 million share repurchase authorization

“Once again, Belden delivered another strong quarter of continued revenue growth with expanding margins. By focusing on customer success and business outcomes, our team continues to transform Belden into a leading network and data solutions provider,” said Ashish Chand, President and CEO of Belden Inc. “We remain focused on growing our solutions offerings – both through organic growth opportunities and our disciplined acquisition strategy. Therefore, we are pleased to report the acquisition of Sichert, which further expands our fiber portfolio in key growth markets. Additionally, consistent with our capital allocation priorities, we invested $50 million in share repurchases during the quarter, and the board of directors approved an additional $300 million authorization for future share repurchases.”

First Quarter 2023

Revenues for the quarter totaled $642 million, increasing $32 million, or 5%, compared to $610 million in the year-ago period. Organic year-over-year growth for the quarter was 7%, with Industrial Automation Solutions at 9% and Enterprise Solutions at 3%. Net income was $63 million, compared to $44 million in the year-ago period. Net income as a percentage of revenue was 9.8%, compared to 7.2% in the year-ago period. EPS totaled $1.45 for the quarter, compared to $0.97 in the year-ago period.

Adjusted EBITDA was $111 million, increasing $12 million, or 12%, compared to $99 million in the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 17.4%, up 110 bps, compared to 16.3% in the year-ago period. Adjusted EPS was $1.68, increasing 28% compared to $1.31 in the year-ago period. Adjusted results are non-GAAP measures, and a non-GAAP reconciliation table is provided as an appendix to this release.

Acquisition of Berthold Sichert GmbH

In April of 2023, Belden acquired Berthold Sichert GmbH for approximately $98 million. Based in Berlin Germany, Sichert designs and manufactures a portfolio of polycarbonate street cabinets utilized in outside plant passive optical networks (“PON”) and 5G networks.

“Sichert is a great addition to the Belden team. It operates in well-established markets, with proven technologies and deep customer relationships. As we look to improve our solution capabilities, Sichert further strengthens our fiber portfolio and expands our offerings in key growth markets,” said Dr. Chand.

$300 Million Share Repurchase Authorization

On April 24, 2023, the Board of Directors authorized an additional $300 million share repurchase program incremental to the remaining authorization of $15 million. The repurchases may occur in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions at times and prices considered appropriate, in accordance with applicable securities laws and other restrictions. This share repurchase authorization does not have an expiration date.

Outlook

“The first quarter of 2023 was solid for Belden in the midst of uncertain macro conditions. Our business is benefiting from long-term secular trends that have lengthy investment cycles. Investments in automation, reshoring, increased connectivity, increasing bandwidth usage, and network upgrades all bode well for Belden to produce sustainable earnings growth,” said Dr. Chand. “We are confident in our ability to execute our strategy and generate sustainable, long-term shareholder value. Given our solid first-quarter performance and recent capital deployments and acquisition, I am pleased to share that we are increasing our full-year revenue and Adjusted EPS outlook and reaffirming our organic revenue growth targets. Belden continues to execute and is making excellent progress towards achieving at least $8.00 of Adjusted EPS by 2025.”

The table below provides updated guidance for the full year 2023, as well as newly issued guidance for the second quarter of 2023.

Earnings Conference Call

Management will host a conference call today at 8:30 am ET to discuss results. The listen-only audio of the conference call will be broadcast live via the Internet at https://investor.belden.com. The dial-in number for participants is 888-224-1121 with confirmation code 6100414. A replay of this conference call will remain accessible in the investor relations section of the Company’s website for a limited time.

Net Income, Earnings per Share (EPS), Net Leverage, and Organic Growth

All references to net income and EPS within this earnings release refer to income from continuing operations and income from continuing operations per diluted share attributable to Belden stockholders, respectively. Net leverage is calculated as (A) total debt less cash and cash equivalents divided by (B) the sum of trailing twelve months Adjusted EBITDA plus trailing twelve months stock-based compensation expense. Organic growth is calculated as the change in revenues excluding the impacts of changes in currency exchange rates and copper prices, as well as acquisitions and divestitures.