Brunswick Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
April 27, 2023

Key Takeaways

  • Record Q1 financials: Brunswick achieved its highest ever first‐quarter results with net sales of over $1.7 billion, adjusted operating earnings of $262 million, and EPS of $2.57.
  • Propulsion strength: The propulsion segment grew 7% year-over-year and delivered a record 20% operating margin, fueled by high-horsepower outboard shipments and expanded manufacturing capacity.
  • Navico challenges: Navico Group sales and earnings declined due to currency headwinds and launch costs, prompting the closure of nine locations and a ~10% workforce reduction in Q1.
  • Boat segment resilience: Boat revenues rose 17% with double-digit adjusted operating margins for the fourth consecutive quarter, despite increased promotional discounting.
  • Strong cash and capital returns: Free cash flow improved 55% year-over-year and Brunswick repurchased $60 million of shares in Q1, raising its full-year repurchase target to over $200 million and increasing the dividend to $1.60.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Brunswick Q1 2023
00:00 / 00:00

There are 13 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Brunswick Corporation's First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Today's meeting will be recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. I would now like to introduce Neha Clark, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Finance, Woodburner Corporation. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. With me on the call this morning are Dave Fowkes, Brunswick's CEO and Ryan Guillem, CFO. Before we begin with our prepared remarks, I would like to remind everyone that during this call, our comments will include for certain forward looking statements about future results. Please keep in mind that our actual results could differ materially from these expectations. For details on these factors to consider, please refer to our recent SEC filings and today's press release.

Speaker 1

All of these documents are available on our website atfrunswick.com. During our presentation, we will be referring to certain non GAAP financial information. Reconciliations of GAAP to non GAAP financial measures are provided in the appendix to this presentation and the reconciliation sections of the unaudited consolidated financial statements accompanying today's results. I will now turn the call over to Dave.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Neha, and good morning, everyone. We started the year strongly, delivering record first quarter net sales of more than $1,700,000,000 and adjusted Operating earnings of $262,000,000 Our business continued to leverage our investments in new products, technology and innovation across the enterprise, high horsepower outboard manufacturing capacity and premium boat manufacturing capacity, while taking significant actions to reduce structural costs in a macroeconomic environment that continues to be challenging. Our Q1 adjusted earnings per share of $2.57 highlights the robustness of our business and the strength of our portfolio. There were notable divisional highlights, including our propulsion business delivering outstanding net sales, adjusted operating earnings and operating margin and our book business delivering double digit adjusted operating margins for the 4th consecutive quarter, despite increased promotion and discounting on certain product lines. Boat field inventory is at an appropriate level in most categories going into the core retail season.

Speaker 2

And we exited the Q1 with 21,500 Global Pipeline Units. Our boats and engine production levels finished above prior year despite some supply chain challenges. We made significant gains in free cash flow, improving 55% versus Q1 2022, largely driven by working capital improvements across the business. In addition, as the overall market and The acquisition sector continued to see valuation pressures. We continue to be aggressive with share repurchases, executing $60,000,000 of repurchases in the quarter.

Speaker 2

Before I move into the segment overview, let me provide a reminder regarding our recently updated segment Reporting. We updated our reportable segments from 3 segments to 4, propulsion, engine parts and accessories, Navico Group and Boat. The previous parts and accessories reportable segment is now split into the engine parts and accessories segment and the Navigo Group segment. The Engine Parts and Accessories segment is inclusive of products comprised of parts and consumables, primarily related to our propulsion systems, such as oils and lubricants, electrical products and bulk parts and systems, together with our 3rd party distribution businesses. The Navico Group segment now represents the organizational integration between the legacy Advanced Systems Group business with 2 key acquisitions that were completed in late 2021, Navico and Relion.

Speaker 2

We determined this was the right time to change our reportable segments given the continued integration of the Navico business and the significant restructuring actions completed in early 2023. We feel the change will provide better visibility into our company and more closely aligned with our internal operating structure. With that background, let me now turn to some of the segment highlights that facilitated a very strong Q1 despite the record prior year comparison. Our propulsion business continues to deliver outstanding results with 7% top line growth versus the Q1 of 2022, driven by increased shipments of high horsepower outboard product to many international customers and OEM partners, enabled by the recent manufacturing capacity expansion. The increased shipments of high horsepower products, combined with reduced production of lower horsepower products, drove strong product mix, which when coupled with operational efficiencies, resulted in record 1st quarter operating earnings and an operating margin of 20%.

Speaker 2

Our Engine Parts and Accessories business had a solid quarter, but as anticipated experienced sales and earnings declines versus the record Q1 of 2022, although up 35% versus the Q1 of 2019. U. S. Product sales were ahead of Q1 2022, while our 3rd party distribution businesses were down versus 2022 as dealers and retailers right sized inventories. As foreseen, Navico Group had a challenging start to the quarter with lower sales into the retail channel and to RB OEMs and unfavorable currency leading to top line declines early in the quarter with notable improvements in March.

Speaker 2

Operating earnings declined versus prior year as lower sales coupled with higher material inflation and temporary margin pressures related to a new product launch were partially offset by the positive impact of major integration and restructuring actions and cost reduction measures. Navigot Group announced the closure of 9 locations and completed headcount reduction actions begun in Q3 2022, which impacted approximately 10% of the Navigo Group workforce. Finally, our Boat business posted robust top line growth enabled by broad based gains across categories. Both segments delivered strong earnings growth with double digit adjusted operating margins for the 4th consecutive quarter despite higher discounts. Finally, Freedom Boat Club had strong same store membership sales in the quarter and also benefited from acquisitions completed in Q2 2022.

Speaker 2

Freedom's growth trajectory continues with more than 380 locations and nearly 55,000 membership agreements covering 8,007,000 members network wise, all while generating exceptionally strong to energy sales across our marine portfolio. Looking at external factors, Cost inflation and interest rate increases have moderated, but will remain a challenge for buyers of value product. With both loan rates recently stabilizing between 8% to 9% versus 5% to 6% immediately pre COVID. Our supply chain environment has broadly significantly improved. However, an industry wide supply of part recall impacted at a large number of our therm drive fiberglass units in production and in dealer inventory in the quarter.

Speaker 2

It was partially remedied in the quarter and we expect it to be fully remedied in the early part of the second quarter, but it may impact SSI through Q2. As we wrap the bulk of our boat shows, results were better than expected with Sea Ray and Boston Whaler in particular reporting strong sales and lead generation. Mercury continued to have record share of edges displayed on boats at the shows and in many cases, such as the recent Palm Beach International Boat Show had more than 60% share. We believe these shows are a good signal of consumer interest, particularly in premium products. Our internal voter sentiment surveys suggest both participation and purchase consideration are above prior year with Google search trends slightly down.

Speaker 2

Additionally, Freedom Boat Club is experiencing higher trips per member versus prior year. Discounting is present primarily on value models, but still below pre COVID levels in most cases. While the percentage of boats being financed to point of sale versus all cash transactions is lower than in 2022 and has returned to levels similar to 2019. From a dealer standpoint, inventory levels are healthy and very current ahead of the season. Dealers are considering the higher dollar value of inventory in addition to the number of units in many cases.

Speaker 2

However, orders remain on track with no signs of material wholesale cancellations. Dealer sentiment reflects macro concerns, but remains cautiously optimistic as we move into the peak season. And are very optimistic as we move into the peak season. Shifting to a global view of revenue. Overall, we delivered 3% sales growth on a constant currency basis excluding acquisitions, led by gains in our propulsion in both segments.

Speaker 2

Our 2 largest regions, the U. S. And Europe grew sales in the Q1 versus the prior year quarter by 5% and 2%, respectively. And rest of world experienced significant growth driven primarily by increased sales of high horsepower outboard engines in those markets. Moving now to U.

Speaker 2

S. Retail performance, our internal new boat unit retail data reflected sequential improvement throughout the quarter with declines in January February shifting to growth of 4% versus prior year in the month of March. For the quarter, our internal new boat retail unit sales finished slightly better than expectations, declining 10% versus the Q1 of 2022. Overall, premium segments continue to perform well, while value fiberglass models experienced some pressure. Our aluminum brands had particularly strong internal retail performance as our planned promotions and marketing help drive early season retail activity.

Speaker 2

Note that the preliminary first quarter SSI main powerboat data released earlier this week reflected a roughly 20 percent decline from 2022, a gap versus our internal data, which may close as industry reporting becomes more complete in the coming months. Outboard engine industry data was favorable with U. S. Industry registrations finishing up 12% for the month of March versus prior year and down just 2% for the Q1 versus Q1 2022. Mercury performance continues to reflect gains in high horsepower with over 600 points of retail share gain in the 150 horsepower engines and above categories during the last 5 years.

Speaker 2

Turning to pipelines, U. S. Unit inventory is generally well balanced as we enter the core retail selling season and remains thousands of units below pre COVID level. As expected, the pipeline of aluminum product has replenished to a normalized level. Value fiberglass inventory is also restarted, while premium fiberglass inventory remains more lean for some product lines.

Speaker 2

Our brands have done an excellent job getting our many exciting new products to our dealers ahead of the prime 2023 selling season, generating very positive momentum coming out of the early season boat shows. We also have appropriate programs, events and discounts in place going into the primary selling season and we'll continue to monitor and respond as needed through the coming months. I'll now turn the call over to Ryan to provide additional comments on our financial performance and outlook.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Dave, and good morning, everyone. The present delivered an excellent start to 2023 with record sales and EPS for any Q1 in our history. When compared to prior year, Q1 net sales were up 3% and adjusted EPS of $2.57 increased by 2%. As anticipated, adjusted operating earnings and margins were down year over year, but both results exceeded our expectations for the quarter. Sales growth resulted from steady demand, new product performance and pricing implemented in previous quarters, partially offset by unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Speaker 3

The steady earnings and margin performance benefited from the net sales growth and prudent cost containment efforts offset by elevated input costs versus Q1 of 2022 and spending on growth initiatives. Lastly, although we are always in a net cash usage position coming out of the Q1 as we prepare for the primary selling season, our free cash flow improved by $135,000,000,000 from Q1 2022, primarily due to less working capital usage. Now we'll look at each reporting segment, starting with our Propulsion business, which delivered yet another quarter of outstanding top line earnings and operating margin performance. Revenue increased 7% versus the Q1 of 2022 as higher sales driven by continued increased sales of high horsepower output product, which more than offset planned reductions in smaller horsepower and sterndrive value. Operating margins were up 2 30 basis points and operating earnings up 21%, each enabled by the increased sales and manufacturing efficiencies.

Speaker 3

Note that segment margins and earnings also included a benefit associated with the timing of capitalized inventory variances. This benefit will reverse in the 2nd quarter and have no net impact on the expected 4 year results. Our Engine Parts and Accessories business delivered a steady quarter, with sales down 13% versus 2022, but up 35% over the Q1 of 2019. Sales in our U. S.

Speaker 3

Products business increased by 1%, but were offset by softness in international markets and in our 3rd party distribution business. Dealer and retail inventory levels are appropriate to start the season and contrary to early season 2021 2022 where dealers were scrambling to take all the inventory they could get due to supply chain concerns, normal restocking patterns have returned and we anticipate normal seasonality in this business. Earnings and margins were down in the quarter as anticipated with 2 additional drivers in addition to the sales declines. 1st, year over year material inflation created a challenging comparison to Q1 2022 as this business saw most of its input cost increases in the Q2 of 2022, leaving the Q1 of 2022 in a much better cost position. 2nd, we continue to transition our primary distribution hub from Father Lack, Wisconsin to our new state of the art facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, resulting Our Navico Group performance was similar to Engine P and A with sales down 11% in the quarter.

Speaker 3

Sales to marine OEM customers were flat off of historic Q1 2022 with aftermarket channels down low teens percent due to the same restocking dynamics I mentioned on

Speaker 2

the last slide.

Speaker 3

Unfavorable FX impacts and a sharp reduction in sales to RV Manufacturers due to the Q1 production shutdowns also contributed to the lower sales in the quarter. Note that point of sale retail remains solid across the retail channel with strength driven by new products, including the HCS Pro, which was launched in February and has already proven to be extremely well received in the market. Navigo Group earnings and margins were also negatively impacted by material inflation versus Q1 of 2022. Temporary margin pressures related to a new product launch and unfavorable FX impacts, but were helped by reductions in operating expenses as planned restructuring actions take hold as Dave discussed earlier.

Speaker 2

We thought it would be

Speaker 3

helpful to provide some additional information on the various factors impacting our Engine P and A and Navco Group businesses. As anticipated, the Q1 was challenging due to historically strong comparisons to 2022, but we believe the remainder of the year remains materially on track as initially planned in January. This chart shows the Q1 earnings factors I discussed on the 2 previous slides and also shows our thoughts on how we believe these factors will impact segment earnings for the remainder of the year. We believe retail and dealer stocking patterns will continue to be the most significant factor impacting earnings, but also believe that stocking patterns should improve through the boating season and into the off season and holiday season. Inflation and currency impact should moderate throughout the remainder of the year as the Q1 had the toughest year over year comparison.

Speaker 3

The impact of the distribution center transition is only an engine P and A factor and should only impact 1 more quarter, While the impact of the RV manufacturing, which is only a high single digit percent of sales for these businesses, is expected to improve during the remainder of the year as RV production has already restarted. There are many moving pieces in these segments, but as voting participation continues to be healthy, we believe these transient earnings factors and will ultimately be resolved showing the resiliency of the earnings power of these segments. Our Boat segment had another fantastic quarter, delivering strong top line and earnings growth together with double digit adjusted Operating margins for the 4th straight quarter. The Boat segment reported a 17% increase in net sales and a 27 percent increase in adjusted operating earnings in the quarter. Segment operating earnings and margin growth were enabled by the increased sales together with positive product mix and from the substantial completion of production ramp up activities in our new Boston Whaler facility, partially offset by continued cost inflation and higher discounting levels versus the Q1 of 2022, although discounting levels do remain lower than historical norms.

Speaker 3

Freedom Boat Club, which is included in business acceleration, and contributed approximately 6% of the boat segment's revenue during the quarter as it benefited from acquisitions completed in the first half twenty twenty two, which will be substantially lapped beginning next quarter. Our 2023 outlook remains materially unchanged. While our Q1 performance provides a healthy start to the year, We are going to continue to be prudent with spending and cost actions in future quarters without sacrificing investments needed to drive our strategic plan. And we remain optimistic on our ability to continue delivering historically strong financial results for our shareholders despite a turbulent macroeconomic climate. As a result, we are reiterating our anticipated full year revenue and adjusted EPS guide, as well as holding our operating margin and for OpEx guidance.

Speaker 3

We're off to a good start with free cash flow generation. And while we have not changed the full year guidance, We expect to see continued positive movement through the primary retail season. Finally, we anticipate a solid second quarter with revenue flat to slightly above Q2 of 2022 and adjusted EPS between $2.60 $2.70 Our full year segment outlook remains mostly unchanged as well, with small adjustments to reflect Q1 performance and market conditions, along with providing updated guidance for our new engine P and A and Navico Group segments. For propulsion, we have raised the bottom end of the guided margin range, reflecting continuing operating strength at Mercury. We have also raised the bottom of the boat segment's revenue guidance as relatively steady retail performance thus far in 2023 should support continued wholesale balance throughout the remainder of the year.

Speaker 3

The new guidance for our Engine P and A and Navico Group segments looks similar to the former aggregated P and A segment guidance to start the year. In Engine P and A, we anticipate flat to slightly down revenue versus prior year, primarily anticipating softness in our 3rd party distribution business with operating margins plus or minus 30 basis points for the prior year. In Navico Group, we anticipate flat to slightly increased sales versus 2022 and despite a challenging start in the Q1, believe full year operating margins will also be similar to prior year. Lastly, we have a small handful of full year assumptions that we have updated. 1st, given our strong cash Performance and Continued Market and Brunswick share price dislocation, we are increasing our repurchase target to exceed $200,000,000 of repurchases for the full year.

Speaker 3

Accordingly, our average diluted shares outstanding should be slightly lower for the year at 71,000,000 shares. Finally, you would have seen that we increased our annual dividend in February to $1.60 per share, the 11th year of dividend increases, reflecting the stability of our operations, portfolio makeup and overall financial performance. Please see the appendices to this presentation for additional information on other P and L and balance sheet assumptions for the year. I will now pass the call back over to Dave for concluding remarks.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Ryan. Before we close out, I wanted to share an update on some recent awards and recognition for our company, brands, products and people. We were delighted to be named by Newsweek to its 2023 list of America's Most Trustworthy Companies, but we ranked in the top 20 companies within the manufacturing and industrial equipment category. We were also again named by Ford's as one of America's best large employers, ranking 2nd in the Engineering and Manufacturing category. In addition, we've won a record number of product and innovation awards in the Q1 and look forward to winning many more during the balance of the year.

Speaker 2

On the subject of sustainability, 12 of our facilities have now owned 0 waste to landfill designation with more planned this year. And combined, they diverted with £9,000,000 of waste from landfills in 2022. Our MSCI ESG rating This improved from BBB to A, a reflection of our dedication to conducting our business sustainably. And we were recognized by Sustainalytics as a top rated company for ESG, both in the region and industry. These and many more developments in sustainability will be documented in our 2022 Sustainability Report, which is scheduled to be released shortly.

Speaker 2

Turning now to innovation, a key to our future and one of my favorite topics to highlight, We had an outstanding start to the year across our businesses. Earlier this year, we launched the Mercury Avatar Electric Outboard family and recently the first group of Avator 7.5e electric outboards shipped to global customers. This award winning product, the first of a large family of electric products, has been met with an outstanding reception from customers and supports our commitment to being the industry leader in both internal combustion products and electric propulsion. The recently launched Mercury V10 outboard engines had a strong presence in the key boat shows during the quarter and have seen very strong demand. We also launched the exciting new Mercury racing version of the engine, the 400R at the Miami International Boat Show.

Speaker 2

Expect more exciting product news from Mercury in Q2. In addition to the Fathom 2 e POWER system, Our Navigo Group launched its new state of the art fish finder, the Lowrance HDS Pro and demand in the initial weeks since launch has been very strong. We also debut the next generation Sea Ray SLX-two eighty with new Sea Ray design DNA. Powered by Mercury Engines and with Navco Group Electronics, it's another great example of cross divisional synergies and technology, benefiting Brunswick and our customers and consumers. Building on the success of its award winning M Series boats, Bayliner unveiled the all new elements M19 at the Miami International Boat Show.

Speaker 2

The M19 is an outstanding boat, which delivers on the versatility this series is known for, with a focus on expanding VOTA participation through its intuitive design, with ease of maintenance and affordable price point. Freedom Boat Club continues to advance its presence globally with the recent expansion into Australia. Three additional locations were recently announced, providing direct access to waterways north of Sydney. As we begin the process of expansion in the Asia in the region, replicating the successful model in North America and Europe. Thank you for joining the call.

Speaker 2

That concludes our prepared remarks. We'll now open the line for questions.

Operator

Due to the interest of time, we ask that you limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. One moment please while we poll for questions. Our first question comes from the line of John Hsu with BNP Paribas. Please proceed.

Speaker 4

Hi, guys. Thanks for the questions. Maybe to start, can you talk about the strength in the engine retail and why it's outperforming maybe Powerboat retail by so much? Is it really the repower business that's starting to take off? Or what's going on there?

Speaker 4

And how are inventory levels from an engine perspective.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thank you for the question. Yes, there was a couple of things that impact Kind of the difference, if you like, between outboard retail and boat retail. Certainly, you mentioned some of them there. We have We've been able to service some of the aftermarket channels, certainly the dealer channel, some more.

Speaker 2

We have very strong demand for high horsepower in And that has been lean in the aftermarket channel. International, as you saw also Was strong. We're getting more boats with multi engines, so that is part of the difference as well. And you also saw that sterndrive product is down for the quarter. So we're getting some mix away from sterndrive product and towards output product.

Speaker 2

There is also some latency in that that we don't typically Dissolve in a quarter or a month, but those are some of the major factors.

Speaker 4

Okay, helpful. Thanks. And then maybe just on the engine P and A, you talked about the retail stocking levels. I guess, can you remind us how it usually works? So as usage starts to pick up maybe in the season, the retailers start to sell through and then they reorder.

Speaker 4

When should we start to see that? And are you seeing any kind of pickup in Sell through maybe in March, April?

Speaker 2

Yes. So we are seeing some pickup in sell through in March, April. Normally, the Docking follows a bit more of a seasonal pattern than it did last year and to some extent even the year before. There's typically an inventory build ahead of the main season. But what happened last year was with supply chain Disruptions.

Speaker 2

Retailers were just stocking everything they could. So there was a more of a Supply chain is less disrupted. We expect it to follow more of a seasonal pattern. I think the exciting thing for us is that New products are still being demanded at wholesale and selling through strongly at retail. So we saw, For example, Navaco's new HTS Pro product from its Lowrance brand, which is its most important brand, Begin to be demanded very strongly at retail and sell through very at that wholesale and sell through very quickly at retail.

Speaker 2

So this is not just It's not a completely uniform phenomena. If you can get the right product in there, you can get good wholesale orders and good sell through. And overall, I would say that the kind of destocking or rightsizing of inventories is occurring. So we're optimistic ahead of the season.

Speaker 3

Yes. And the only thing I would add to that, Dave, is that our U. S. Products business was actually up in the quarter. And so kind of your reliable annuity based P and A sales that we talk about pretty regularly, showed that here in the quarter even in the off season.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Joe Altobello with Raymond James. Please proceed.

Speaker 5

Hey, thanks guys. Good morning. I guess first question on boat trends. You mentioned that improved significantly as the quarter progressed, particularly in March. We did not see that obviously in the industry trends.

Speaker 5

So what's driving that dichotomy, if you will?

Speaker 2

Hi, Joe. Yes, it's always a little bit difficult to pinpoint these things, particularly at this point in the But I would tell you that registry as both as dealers are preparing for the season. They're very busy. They're doing a lot of things. So we tend to get registrations coming through in a bit of a hockey stick through the month.

Speaker 2

And then also, of course, SSI doesn't have a full complement of states reporting yet. So we assume that these are Industry reporting delays, we're obviously sure about our registrations. There may be also with Some renewed strength, I would say, in aluminum versus some of the earlier parts of the year and the end of last year, I think, where our Marketing and promotions came through pretty strongly for us. There may be an impact there with some of the states that are reporting. But normally over a period, these things converge confident in our of numbers and excited about the trend.

Speaker 5

Got it. That's helpful. And maybe a second question on the 2nd quarter guide. It looks a little bit below what we were expecting. Any puts and takes or pull forwards that we have to think about that move into 1Q?

Speaker 5

And maybe how much is how much did the timing of capitalized inventory variances impact propulsion profit?

Speaker 3

Hey, Joe, I'll take this one. Yes, that's a good place to start. It's about a dime, so about $0.10 on the capitalized variance issue. The good guy in Q1 that will reverse in Q2. So that's part of it.

Speaker 3

The rest of it, I think, is just normal seasonality. I think Paratively to last year, you're just going to see more normal sell in and sell out, whereas last year we saw, like Dave said earlier, It's a real rush of restocking in our P and A business. But otherwise, there's no real factor still looking for growth on the top line, right, flat, Slightly up with strong pull through on the EPS line.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Mike Swartz with True Securities. Please proceed.

Speaker 6

Hey, guys. Good morning. Just a quick question following up on retail. I think in prior calls you had mentioned your kind of Outlook for the year was for industry retail to be down high single digits, obviously it was down more than that in the Q1, particularly for the industry. Have you Change that view for the full year?

Speaker 2

Good morning, Mike. No, we haven't really changed the view for the full year. Obviously, we're super early in the season So March is beginning to be more important, but as we go into Q2, we'll understand a lot more how things are going. I would say, just across the industry, we're actually pretty pleased about the resilience of the consumer so far. They're clearly looking for promotions, so they're shopping around a bit more.

Speaker 2

But There isn't a sense in which there's they're really backing away in large numbers. The behavior is just more normal. So there's nothing really that would suggest that we should modify our expectations for the balance of the year at the moment. We think we have the right products. We're very excited about the new products that we've launched, which is always generating excitement.

Speaker 2

We have the right promotions in place. We have the right events in place. So early in the season, but no real reason to change our perspective.

Speaker 3

And Mike, as you probably know, the Q1 comps were the toughest. So as we go throughout the remainder of the year, I mean, we're kind of right in line maybe a little bit better than where we thought We'll be here 3 quarters 3 months in.

Speaker 6

Okay, helpful. Thank you, guys. And then just a question on the propulsion margins. I think this is the 2nd time in history you guys have done over 20% in a quarter. I'm just trying to understand, is Is that sustainable given some of the puts and takes that are going on?

Speaker 6

Obviously, high horsepower is doing well, lower horsepower production probably coming down a bit and then you have the capitalized inventory benefit in the Q1. So I'm just wondering maybe how much temporary benefit did you get from that in the Q1 and then how do we think about that going forward?

Speaker 2

It was a very strong quarter, but although there were some kind of timing benefits associated with those Variances. I would say, overall, we have a long history now of expanding propulsion margins on a pretty secular basis. And as you would have seen and many people on the line had an opportunity to see, our newly installed capacity is Extremely efficient and automated. And that is a continued march for us. So yes, we have a lot of, I think very strong secular trends that are supporting increased propulsion margins, although they were assisted a little bit A quarter, but no, I think that this is a good trend that could be sustained.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of James Hardiman with Citi. Please proceed.

Speaker 7

Hey, good morning. So just a point of clarification, the difference between the SSI being down, call it, 21% for the Q1 and your internal number suggesting down 10%. You think that's more an issue of The industry number is wrong rather than you're just gaining that much share in the Q1. And the reason I ask that, Paul, As we thought about sort of your industry or your benchmarks for retail, I don't think you were assuming a ton of Market share increases this year. And so I don't know if I should think about sort of your flat to down, whatever, low double digits sort of range in the context of your guidance and any differently based on what we saw in the Q1.

Speaker 2

Hi, James. I would say we were assuming some market share increases in select segments this year. So it is possible that some of that Differences associated with market share increases. If it is, I mean, we know that Sea Ray and Whaler had a strong start to the year. We saw that clearly in boat show Results, we had some good strength in aluminum product in March in particular, which is Very nice to see.

Speaker 2

Market share is very unlikely to be the full reason for that substantial difference there. I think more likely to be the major component is the fact that we're in a period of acceleration early in the season and it's probably more about the amount of retail registrations that have been captured in the industry data and which states are reporting. So I don't think it's just a short period of time between the end of the month, so we get the SSI data and clearly they identify that there are there's partial reporting.

Speaker 7

Got it. That makes sense. And then I guess along the same vein, you talked about how your dealers are cautiously optimistic. Obviously, your biggest dealer just lowered guidance this morning. They're looking for a double digit decrease in retail this year.

Speaker 7

Maybe connect the dots if there are dots to connect. I know that their fiscal year is different than Calendar year we're talking about and I would assume that the Q4 is probably going to be the best quarter from a retail perspective just based on the comps, but How do we connect what on the face of things, right, the headline seems to be to pretty disparate outlooks here.

Speaker 2

Yes, I think the couple of things to think about is, MarineMax does not say specifically which brands are selling well and which ones are not selling well. We know we had good sales through MarineMax of the brands for which they are our channel partner. Whaler and Sea Ray both had a strong start to the year. And then MarineMax overlaps a portion of our portfolio, but not all of our portfolio. And so there's a potential source of difference there.

Speaker 2

It's really We overlap just on a couple of our brands. So it's difficult to exactly compare their view of the world with our view of the world. But I would say that our premium backed brands are probably performing ahead of the market at the moment.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Fred Wightman with Wolfe Research. Please proceed.

Speaker 8

Hey, guys. I just wanted to follow-up on that disconnect between the internal registration data and what we're seeing from SSI. I get it for 1Q, but if we look at the March numbers specifically, I mean down 20% versus up low to mid single digits is kind of a different story. So Is that was there anything specific in March? Like did things get better in March per year data and into April?

Speaker 8

It It just seems like we're kind of getting some mixed signals on the retail side.

Speaker 2

Yes. I agree with the fact that we're getting some mixed Signals on the retail side, and we can report obviously only our retail. And obviously, there is partial reporting of the industry. Our retail has sequentially improved through the Q1. So, not entirely sure what the source of the disconnect is.

Speaker 2

But I would say that, Once again, retail registrations tend to come in somewhat late in the month and late in the quarter. So if there is a Delay in reporting or partial reporting of end of quarter retail, we would likely capture it and they may not. That's about the best I can Say at the moment, things will become clearer as we go more into the Q2. When things stabilize, we're just in a period of Extremely rapid sales acceleration at the moment. This is the inflection point in the quarter as you go through March and into April.

Speaker 3

And Fred, just a reminder, I mean percentages here, we're talking a couple of 100 units, give or take on a various brand, right, because of where we are in the early part of the season. So it doesn't take a lot to move the numbers, especially when SSI is only reporting 52% or so, a little bit over half of the saves.

Speaker 8

Yes. Okay. That's fair. But I guess to summarize, Dave, what you were just saying, the inflection You saw throughout the quarter that trend has sort of continued into April.

Speaker 2

Yes. I think we're seeing a good solid trend. Once again, we'll get Better view of April after we get out through the full month, but I would say that we continue to be encouraged.

Speaker 8

Okay. That's fair. And then you guys also made some comments about Navico improving in March. Was that just a comment about some of the inventories getting worked down? Was it a comment on Consumer takeaway, what exactly did you mean there?

Speaker 2

Yes. Well, NAVCO's op margin for the month was about 11 As we went March was in the kind of mid teens, I would say, low to mid teens, which is more consistent with the full year trends from last year. We actually a couple of things are coming through from Navaco at the moment. Obviously, we took a lot of actions, which affected mainly March versus the early part of the quarter and actually the full effect will only be felt in subsequent months quarters. And then we had a when we launched the HDS Pro, which is a big product for us.

Speaker 2

It's the ramp up was slower than we had expected, and we ended up in a situation where we're replacing a lower margin product that we were discounting out with a higher margin product with no discounts, but it just happened slower than we anticipated. So Essentially, we're in the market with a lower margin product that should have been replaced by a higher margin product. And now that launch is complete, We'd expect that full impact to flow through in Q2.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Eric Wold, a Private Investor. Please proceed.

Speaker 9

Just a heads up. So two follow-up questions. I guess one on the propulsion capacity expansion now being complete. Can you just Can you update us on where you are with manufacturing lead times on the higher end products versus where you ultimately want to be maybe towards the end of

Operator

the year.

Speaker 2

Yes, I think as we've gone into the quarter, we've really Now kind of shaking off the few remaining, the kind of supplier constraints that we would, continuing to have to deal with. We feel in good shape both internally in terms of operations and also well supported by the supply base now with a really good flow of product. So We feel good. We're working through making sure that we fully supply our existing OEM customers, and we're beginning to prepare to take on new OEMs and that transition is already occurring and will begin to be seen more clearly as we go into the model year. So Yes.

Speaker 2

Good progress with improving delivery, particularly of the high horsepower engines. And I think we'll be in really good shape as we get into Q2 to take on those additional OEM customers and continue to supply aftermarket channels.

Speaker 9

Perfect. And then follow-up on The Engine P and A segment, I guess aside from the retailer returning to kind of a more inventory restocking patterns and You talked about seeing retail sell through kind of improving in March April. Anything that you drill down, I'm not sure how much data you can tell you more

Speaker 6

on a real

Speaker 9

time basis, but can you drill down into what is selling through? Is this like you talked about kind of upgrade, Maybe nice to have products that people are adding on the boats. Are you seeing any kind of shift in purchases of kind of deep maintenance and replacement

Speaker 2

Yes. Well, as Ryan mentioned earlier on the engine P and A side, we were actually up slightly on our product sales in Q1 of this year versus Q1 of last year. And those are the kind of products that you mentioned that are the more essential maintenance or Breakfix type products. So clearly, given the fact that last year and the Q1 of last year in particular was a banner In that area, it's great that we comped really well in that area. We would definitely say that The kind of willingness to restock depends to some extent on the product category.

Speaker 2

Technology related products continue to be extremely strong. We've said before that People are willing to hold a boat a bit longer, but they don't really want last year's electronics on it. So When we launched the HTS Pro from ORANZE, we were extremely pleased. The pull through was really If you have a superior product, it's going to get pulled through right now, especially as we go into the Season, we talk about saltwater shows a lot because it correlates really well with high horsepower. But one of our pro anglers, Jeff Gustafsson, who is a Lund pro and Mercury Pro won the Bassmasters this year, with a Lund boat and with a Mercury engine on the back.

Speaker 2

Why is that relevant? Of the top ten finishes, 9 were powered by Mercury and 7 had Lowrance Electronics. So those kind of events that are like the Super Bowl events of fresh water fishing, They attract a lot of attention. There are tens of thousands of people attending those events, looking at the Mercury Engines and looking at the Lowrance Electronics on those boats, and they will get a lot of traction and pull through. So We're very excited about the kind of technology that we're bringing to market and it really is getting a strong pull through.

Speaker 2

So we're seeing I think technology is being pulled through and of course as you mentioned earlier consumables and kind of break fix parts

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Scott Stember with MKM Partners. Please proceed.

Speaker 10

Good morning and thanks for taking my questions. Yes.

Speaker 2

Going back to Engine

Speaker 10

P and A, could you talk about the POS? I know you said it was improving in March April, but Was it up in the Q1?

Speaker 3

Yes, Scott, we don't have The accuracy necessary for that kind of answer to be honest. We get bits and pieces of information from certain of our Channel partners, but not enough to know whether we were technically up or flat or slightly down wherever you'd be. But we can tell from wholesale ordering patterns that the wholesale orders are picking up. So we can infer That and we know that retail has been solid. It's been steady.

Speaker 3

So we can infer that the channel is clearing up and Wholesale and retail will once again kind of be hand in hand.

Speaker 2

I think we can one thing we can say is that one of our biggest Partners holds a lot of events at this point in the year and they have been extremely well attended and generated a lot of Pulled through, but we only have partial data. Yes.

Speaker 10

Got it. And then looking at Freedom, I know you've had this for 3 plus years, maybe a little bit longer And we've gone through a very nice growth cycle coming out of the pandemic. But what are you seeing as far as retention rates of people that either are just renting a boat or deciding to trade up and actually buy a boat. Can you talk about how freighterium is helping that narrative?

Speaker 2

Yes. That's a good question. There's no change in retention rates. They continue to be extremely strong and very, very strong, particularly for a kind of a franchise, a subscription business like this. Yes.

Speaker 2

Freedom, interestingly, when there's a lot of inflation around, when Interest rates are higher, Freedom members or prospective members are not looking at the same level of Increased pricing, they're not looking at interest rates as a potential inhibitor. So Freedom becomes a comparatively even more attractive option. And we have grown, I think, quarter over quarter, 13% remember the quarter, it's 23% versus 22%, up 13%, I think about 6,000 Net members, so yes, growth continues to be strong. And I think potentially not only benefiting from the proposition that Freedom presents, but also the relative lack of impact of pricing and interest rates on Freedom membership.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Derek Johnson with BMO Capital Markets. Please proceed.

Speaker 11

Great. Thank you. Good morning. Hey, So you're increasing Ryan, you're increasing the low end of boat revenue guidance, the low end of propulsion margin guidance, upsizing your share Purchase, so how come the bottom end of your consolidated guidance does not come up?

Speaker 3

That's a good question, Garik, and I'm not surprised Coming from you. Listen, we are and you know us very well, it's early in the year. We still have 90% or so of the retail season left. We have an uncertain marketplace that were macroeconomic environment that we're dealing with. So we simply believe that we can hit There are scenarios where both ends of the range are in play.

Speaker 3

I think we're probably a little bit more Optimistic, given the good in the Q1, but not it didn't make a whole lot of sense to change the guidance when we have so much of the year left to come.

Speaker 11

Okay. I didn't think that question would come to me. I figured James would ask it first. But hey, How about a softball for you, Dave? When I was at the last show, the Palm Beach Show, looked at the Chris Craft Calypso 32.

Speaker 11

I was impressed that had dual Mercury Engines, Navico touch screen, Fathom E Power. Can you start talking about like your Content per boat from a supplier side, and any metrics you can share there?

Speaker 2

Yes, it is a good question, Garik. Thank you for asking it. I think we've already said that in Brunswick Boats, about 50% of the bill of material now is from our own Products and brands supplied inside the company. And we have some of the leading brands, so they set market expectations in a lot of ways. And we're developing relationships and building our muscles really with how to replicate that in 3rd parties.

Speaker 2

Mercury, because of its penetration, is a fantastic foundation for that. But our ability to deliver these Solutions is really important to builders, especially as they're very conscious of costs. We can do a lot of things for them that other providers cannot In terms of integrated solutions, doing portions of our engineering for them. So yes, I think you what's great to see is those Independent customers of ours who are trusting us to do so much now and the more great customers like Chris Crafts to do it, the more others do it. So we're doing similar things for other customers and expect to do it more and more because we're a great partner in that respect.

Speaker 2

Nobody else has anything like the Fathom e POWER system fully integrated. So we have some unique propositions, I think, that are going to continue to make that attractive. I would say you saw it in Chris Craft, but you will see it and can see it more and more in the RV industry as well. And as that recovers, you'll see us doing a lot more of those kind of engineering solutions outside Marine 2.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line Craig Kennison with Baird. Please proceed.

Speaker 12

Hi. Thanks for taking my question. I appreciate it. Just hopefully it's not a tough one, but it goes back to your 2022 Analyst Day and One of your P and A slides, you had the goal in 2025 for your P and A business to achieve, I think, 3 point $25,000,000,000 in revenue, excluding acquisitions. I know you don't have the deck, but it was Slide 143.

Speaker 12

Just with the restatement and whatnot, I'm just wondering if you can give us a split between Navico and your engine P and A business as you try to achieve that $3,250,000,000 goal and maybe what are the key drivers if you still think that goal is attainable? We've had that question a few times.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Craig. It's a good question. Obviously, we have in the Q3 another Investor Day, and we'll be trying to answer more of those questions in detail at that point in time.

Speaker 2

But if you look across Our P and A portfolio, obviously, there's a real kind of confluence of a lot of factors at the moment. There is the, I think really strong increase versus 2019. There is this restocking phenomena that we're experiencing this early in the season. We've still got weather related factors. So there is a lot of time between now and 2025 to get to those kind of targets.

Speaker 2

Ryan, I don't know if you have any more

Speaker 3

Yes. I mean, in terms of the 2 now new segments, I mean, they are basically the same size, give or take a couple of 100,000,000 in top line. I think you would anticipate Navico to be a bit of a faster grower. That's just the kind of business that is more technology, Like Dave said, more channels including RV. Engine P and A has always been the steady business that continues to drive margin growth and be very recurring and annuity based.

Speaker 3

But the kind of CAGR there, the long term target CAGR is more Low to mid single digit of revenue growth. So you can envision NAVCO growing a little faster, engine P and A continue to be very steady, but I don't think

Operator

Thank you.

Speaker 2

Okay, well thank you all.

Operator

Yes, this concludes the question and answer session. Dave, back to you.

Speaker 2

Thank you very much indeed. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for your questions. As you have seen, despite the extremely dynamic environment, we delivered another very strong quarter, Record revenue and EPS for any Q1. I think having the strongest brands in the market matters particularly at the moment.

Speaker 2

And also Our recent investments in products and capacity have been right on target in the most resilient parts of the market, high horsepower engines, premium boats, Technology and Free to Book Club. And all of those represent the strength of the market at the moment. We're also maintaining strict cost control and you have seen the restructuring actions that are completed already in Q 1 of 2023 in the Navico Group, which will flow through to the rest of the year. As Ryan said earlier and relative to The question, we maintained our unusually large guidance window entirely because of the external environment, which just is very dynamic. But we have a clear path still to the upper end of that guidance range.

Speaker 2

And as we go through the year, clearly the upper half becomes more likely and the lower half becomes less likely. We just didn't think it was appropriate so early in the year to adjust the guidance, but we continue to be excited for the prospects of the company and really nothing has changed about our understanding of what's possible for the company in the year. We are In the end, to a large extent, a product space company, and you can expect some very exciting new products from us in Q2. So please look forward to that. Thank you again for joining us.

Speaker 2

Appreciate it very much. Bye for now.

Operator

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your

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