Lindsay Corporation (NYSE:LNN) Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call June 27, 2024 11:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Randy Wood - President & CEO
Brian Ketcham - CFO

Conference Call Participants

Ryan Connors - Northcoast Research
Jon Braatz - Kansas City Capital
Adam Farley - Stifel
Blake Keating - William Blair
Brett Kearney - American Rebirth Opportunity Partners

Operator

Hello, and welcome to the Lindsay Corporation Fiscal Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Randy Wood, President and CEO of Lindsay Corporation. Please go ahead.

Randy Wood

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our fiscal 2024 third quarter earnings call. With me today is Brian Ketcham, our Chief Financial Officer. Our fiscal third quarter was highlighted by steady execution, which resulted in strong operational performance, despite market headwinds that impacted topline revenue. We announced a key project win in irrigation and continue to be pleased with the growth of our Road Zipper sales and lease business in infrastructure. I'm proud of our teams and their execution.

Turning to our key end markets. In North America irrigation, market conditions continue to weigh on farmer sentiment, resulting in overall demand softness. High precipitation levels and wet field conditions across the mid-west contributed to lower year-over-year sales of irrigation equipment and replacement parts in that region while we experienced volume growth in the west and northeast regions. We did see higher-than-expected storm damage activity that hit the Midwest in late April and early May. However, delays in insurance approvals and wet field conditions shifted most of that demand into our fiscal fourth quarter.

In international irrigation, we've continued to see a decline in Brazil due to suppressed commodity prices and limited access to capital, ultimately tempering overall demand in the short term. Tragic flooding in the south has also hindered order activity in that region. We did see strong customer turn-out and quotation activity at recent farm shows and expect to see this year's crop plant in early July, that will set funding levels and finance rates for this coming season.

Brazil and other key South American agriculture markets remain dramatically underpenetrated from mechanized irrigation and the value created by irrigated agriculture will support long-term growth in this region. We are pleased to host a delegation of farmers and government officials from Mato Grosso state in the quarter. They're one of several regions in the country that continue to investigate ways to improve production and efficiency with center pivot irrigation and irrigation technologies like FieldNET.