Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call November 17, 2023 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Steven Nicola - CFO

Joseph Bartolacci - President & CEO

Conference Call Participants

Daniel Moore - CJS Securities

Liam Burke - B. Riley Securities

Justin Bergner - Gabelli Funds, LLC

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to Matthews International's Fourth Quarter and Year-End Fiscal 2023 Financial Results Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded.

I will now turn the conference over to Steven Nicola, CFO. Thank you. You may begin.

Steven Nicola

Thank you, Sherry. Good morning. I'm Steve Nicola, Chief Financial Officer of Matthews. And with me on the call this morning is Joe Bartolacci, our company's President and CEO. For your reference in today's call, our earnings release has been posted to the Investors section of our website, www.matw.com, along with the presentation.

Before we start, please note that any forward-looking statements in connection with this discussion are being made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Factors that could cause the company's results to differ from those discussed today are set forth in the company's annual report on Form 10-K and other periodic filings with the SEC. In addition, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial metrics and encourage you to read our disclosures and reconciliation tables carefully as you consider these metrics. In connection with any forward-looking statements and non-GAAP financial information, please read the disclaimer included in today's presentation materials located on our website.

Now I will turn the call over to Joe.

Joseph Bartolacci

Okay. Thank you, Steve. Good morning. 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. Industrial Technologies revenue for the full year increased by over 50% in fiscal '23 from last year's sales of $335 million. 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. We expect further debt reduction in the coming year as we convert our increased working capital results from our growing Industrial Technologies segment to cash.