Superior Group of Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGC) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call May 7, 2024 5:00 PM ET

Company Participants

Michael Benstock – Chief Executive Officer
Mike Koempel – Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Jim Sidoti – Sidoti & Company
Kevin Steinke – Barrington Research
David Marsh – Singular Research

Operator

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Superior Group of Companies First Quarter 2024 Conference Call. With us today are Michael Benstock, Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Koempel, Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

This call may contain forward-looking statements regarding the company's plans, initiatives and strategies and the anticipated financial performance of the company, including but not limited to sales and profitability. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations, projections, estimates and assumptions. Words such as expect, believe, anticipate, think, outlook, hope and variations of such words and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties are further disclosed in the company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Shareholders, potential investors and others readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements made herein and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The company does not undertake to update the forward-looking statements contained herein, except as required by law.

And now, I'll turn the call over to Mr. Michael Benstock. Please go ahead.

Michael Benstock

Thank you, operator, and welcome everyone to our Q1 call. I'll begin with our first quarter highlights, including our revenue and profitability growth and our improving financial position. I'll then walk us through each of our three business segments discussing the recent improvement in market conditions and our strategies to maintain our momentum throughout 2024. I'll then hand the call over to Mike for additional detail on quarterly results and our more favorable outlook for 2024. At the end of the call, we'll be happy to take your questions.

We had a strong start to 2024 with year-over-year improvements across the entire business. For the first quarter, we generated consolidated revenues of $139 million, reflecting a 6% year-over-year increase.

Our EBITDA climbed 40% over the prior year quarter to $9.6 million. We generated $0.24 of diluted EPS, up sharply from $0.06 a year ago. On top of the improved operating results, we enhanced our financial position by generating solid operating cash flow that enabled us to further reduce our net debt and improve our net leverage ratio. This enhanced financial flexibility, ensures we can continue to make prudent investments to further grow our business organically, while also capitalizing on any market dislocations that could produce attractive M&A opportunities.