NYSE:PACK Ranpak Q4 2023 Earnings Report $3.35 -0.06 (-1.76%) Closing price 05/30/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$3.34 -0.02 (-0.45%) As of 05/30/2025 05:31 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. ProfileEarnings HistoryForecast Ranpak EPS ResultsActual EPS-$0.11Consensus EPS -$0.05Beat/MissMissed by -$0.06One Year Ago EPS-$0.51Ranpak Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$90.40 millionExpected Revenue$87.04 millionBeat/MissBeat by +$3.36 millionYoY Revenue Growth+13.90%Ranpak Announcement DetailsQuarterQ4 2023Date3/11/2024TimeAfter Market ClosesConference Call DateMonday, March 11, 2024Conference Call Time4:30PM ETUpcoming EarningsRanpak's Q2 2025 earnings is scheduled for Thursday, July 31, 2025, with a conference call scheduled at 8:30 AM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Annual Report (10-K)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by Ranpak Q4 2023 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrMarch 11, 2024 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 7 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Desiree, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Randpac 4th Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Operator00:00:33I would now like to turn the conference over to Sarah Horvath, General Counsel. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:42Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that we will discuss forward looking statements as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed in our press release and the risk factors identified in our Form 10 ks and our other filings filed with the SEC. Some of the statements and responses to your questions in this conference call may include forward looking statements that are subject to future events and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. RamPac assumes no obligation and does not intend to update any such forward looking statements. Speaker 100:01:28You should not place undue reliance on these forward looking statements, all of which speak to the company only as of today. The earnings release we issued this afternoon and the presentation for today's call are posted on the Investor Relations section of our website. A copy of the release has been included in a Form 8 ks that we submitted to the SEC before this call. We will also make a replay of this conference call available via webcast on the company website. For financial information that is presented on a non GAAP basis, we have included reconciliations to the comparable GAAP information. Speaker 100:02:02Please refer to the table and slide presentation accompanying today's earnings release. Lastly, we'll be filing our 10 ks with the SEC for the period ending December 31, 2023. The 10 ks will be available through the SEC or on the Investor Relations section of our website. With me today, I have Omar Afili, our Chairman and CEO and Bill Drew, our CFO. Omar will summarize our Q4 results, provide an update on our growth strategies and issue our outlook for 2024. Speaker 100:02:34Bill will provide additional detail on the financial results before we open up the call for questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to Omar. Speaker 200:02:42Thank you, Sarah, and good day, everyone. Thank you all for joining our call. We finished 2023 on a positive note as we built on the momentum from the Q3 and delivered our best quarter of the year. We saw continued general improvement in the operating environment in Europe and the more pronounced holiday season in North America compared to prior year. Overall, the e commerce discretionary goods market and manufacturing sectors remain subdued, but we are starting to see general improvement across many of our end users and are encouraged by the seasonal uptick more in line with historical patterns in the 4th quarter. Speaker 200:03:24Consolidated net revenue on a constant currency basis increased 10%, driven by volume growth in our different regions as we saw improved order activity among larger e commerce customers in the U. S. And generally improving conditions in Europe. The volume improvements seen in Q3 and Q4 helped drive 2023 full year net revenue up 1% on a constant currency basis, a welcome recovery from a slower start of the year. Europe and APAC finished on a strong note, up 12% on a constant currency basis, driven by 15% volume growth as ordering patterns continued to normalize and general sentiment in the region was stable. Speaker 200:04:08The improvement was broad based as all PPS categories in the region were up year over year. Destocking activity is behind us and in many cases distributors and end customers are working to keep as little inventory on hand as possible. Our North America business also experienced an uptick to finish the year with sales up 8% driven by improved volumes and contribution from automation sales. Full year results were up 2% in North America, driven by a larger contribution from automation and improved VoIP tilt performance, offset somewhat by sluggish wrapping and cushioning environment. Adjusted EBITDA of $24,400,000 was up $11,500,000 or 89% in constant currency terms year over year and resulted in a margin of 26%. Speaker 200:05:03The increase in adjusted EBITDA was due to higher sales volumes compared to a year ago, significant improvement in input costs and better absorption of our fixed G and A. For the year, adjusted EBITDA increased 14.5 percent to $76,500,000 Overall, it was a quarter that turned out a bit better than expected and helps us to finish a challenging year on a positive note. Generally speaking, we enter 2024 in a better operating environment than we experienced in 2023. Discretionary goods remain soft, but we are now 2 years into absorbing the pull forward in demand that impacted performance in 2022 and 2023. Strategic account activity in North America is robust with key players announcing their commitment to eliminating plastic in their fulfillment centers over the next few years. Speaker 200:05:56We also have made substantial inroads with our automation business with key accounts that I think solidifies our position as a true automation player. Our distributors and end users are in tight inventory positions and are likely conservative in their positioning. We continue to monitor the energy environment in Europe. It is far improved from a pricing perspective from a year ago as Dutch natgas is at €27 per megawatt down from €300 at the peak and €80 at the start of 2023. This has led to a stable paper input cost environment in the region and improved overall sentiment. Speaker 200:06:38North America paper pricing also remains stable as we enter into 2024 having clawed back the majority of our gross margin profile that we had sacrificed in 2022. The regulatory environment continues to position us with a secular tailwind as extended producer responsibility regulation has been enacted or proposed in many states, including California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington and Connecticut. These laws have been in place in Europe for years, but are just gaining traction in the U. S. We'll take you through our guidance for Bill's remarks. Speaker 200:07:22But to summarize, we are focused on accelerating top line growth this year, double digit adjusted EBITDA growth and working with the investments we have made to generate cash and delever. Now here's Bill with more info on the quarter. Speaker 300:07:39Thank you, Omar. In the deck, you'll see a summary of some of our key performance indicators. We'll also be filing our 10 ks, which provides further information on Rambac's operating results. Machine placement continued its increase, up 1.5% year over year to over 141,200 machines globally. Cushioning systems declined 1.4%, void fill installed systems grew 2.6% and wrapping grew 2.3% year over year. Speaker 300:08:06We continue our fleet optimization efforts to identify opportunities to move less productive converters in the field to higher utilization locations and further our efforts to refurbish and refabricate older converters for redeployment to save on CapEx. Overall, net revenue for the company in the 4th quarter 10% year over year to $93,900,000 on a constant currency basis, driven by volume growth in all regions and increased automation sales, bringing full year results up 1% on a constant currency basis. For the quarter, in the Europe and APAC reporting division, combined revenue increased 12% on a constant currency basis. The better second half drove net revenue on a constant currency basis to finish up 1% for the year in the region, driven by volume growth and increased contribution from automation, offset somewhat by pricing giveback due to raw material input cost relief after achieving our targeted margin profile. North America also finished on a positive note, driven by better volumes and increased contributions from automation. Speaker 300:09:05Net revenue for the quarter was up 8%, which brought the full year results in the region to growth of 2%. We are encouraged by what we see in the region and are looking forward to strategic account activity driving volume acceleration as the year progresses. Reported gross margins of 37.7 percent for the quarter improved more than 9.50 basis points versus the prior year, with input costs peaked and volumes were lower, resulting in an increase in gross profit on a constant currency basis of 11,500,000 dollars or 48% year over year. Gross margins in the Europe and APAC reporting unit stayed flat with the 3rd quarter at 39%, while North America was approximately 35.5%, although we do expect to have some upside going forward in North America as additional volumes flow through. As we enter 2024, paper pricing has stabilized, although we have seen some market participants publicly vocal about their desire to raise price. Speaker 300:09:58SG and A excluding RSU expense was in line with the previous two quarters at $26,700,000 on a constant currency basis. Controlling our spend and leveraging our G and A investments are a top priority. We expect that as the volume environment improves, we will better absorb our overhead as you have seen in the Q4 as well as higher volume quarters in the past. Headcount was roughly flat year over year. And on the personnel front, we have over 140 people dedicated to automation currently, obviously resulting in a substantial drag in our profitability profile. Speaker 300:10:29As that business scales, we expect to have a much improved financial profile with our adjusted EBITDA margins on a consolidated basis getting back to the mid to high 20 percent area overall. As a result of the improved sales volumes and improved gross profit in the 4th quarter, adjusted EBITDA improved 89% in the quarter to $24,400,000 on dollars on a constant currency basis or a 26% adjusted EBITDA margin. This brings the full year's results to up 14.5 percent to 76 $500,000 on a constant currency basis, implying a 21.9% adjusted EBITDA margin for the year. Moving to the balance sheet and liquidity. We completed 2023 with a strong liquidity position, including a cash balance of $62,000,000 and no drawings on our revolving credit facility, bringing our reported net leverage to 4.6 times on an LTM basis or 5.0 times according to the definition of adjusted EBITDA in our credit agreement. Speaker 300:11:23Our recent peak for leverage was 5.7 times in the June quarter and our short term target was to get below 5 turns by year end. We are pleased to make progress, but our ultimate goal remains to return to a leverage ratio of 3 turns or less. 2024 is a year where we expect to continue to grow our adjusted EBITDA and generate cash to delever. Major CapEx cycle of investing in digital and physical infrastructure is largely complete. The final remaining $1,500,000 from Malaysia to be funded in 2024. Speaker 300:11:51With that, I'll turn it to Omar. Speaker 200:11:54Thanks, Bill. This year was a pivot year, and I'm happy to report that we took critical steps required to position us well in 2024 and to scale Rampac. In 2023, we successfully closed back the majority of our gross margin profile after investing in our customer relationships during the significant input cost inflation of 2022. We also made meaningful inroads with key strategic accounts in North America and PPS, which will show up beginning in the Q2 of this year. I believe automation has hit the commercial inflection point we have been working towards as we have won key mandates for our autofill and cut it products that solidify ramp back as a top tier automation player. Speaker 200:12:40We have completed the expansion of our production capabilities to be able to serve over $100,000,000 annually in revenue. We believe these signature wins will serve as a baseline for automation growth over the next few years and also be a strong signal to the market of the quality and robustness of our solutions. This is what we have been building towards in automation and are excited to be at a point where we believe the step change in the top line is here. Regarding guidance for the year, on a constant currency basis, we're anticipating revenues of $370,000,000 to $390,000,000 reflecting top line growth in the area of 6% to 12% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 5% to 16%, implying a range of 80,000,000 to 89,000,000 dollars Our top line growth for the year reflects our expectations of a slow but continuing return to a more normal operating environment as e commerce buying patterns normalize and industrial activity remains somewhat pressured. We expect to achieve volume growth in PPS building on the momentum that started in the second half of the year and automation revenue to be up more than 50%. Speaker 200:13:57Our growth in adjusted EBITDA of 5% to 16% reflects the contributions from the expected top line increase and steady margin profile. We expect that capital expenditures will step down as we exit our major investment cycle and be in the area of $35,000,000 enabling us to focus on cash generation and deleveraging. Generally speaking, we believe this guidance reflects a level of conservatism continued somewhat challenging near term backdrop. Our bottom up fundamental view is giving us more optimism. Hence, we believe our guidance has some upside depending on the timing and speed with which key strategic accounts ramp up their plastic to paper shift. Speaker 200:14:452024 is an inflection year for Rampac in general and for automation in particular. I feel better about our company now than I have at any point in the past 2 years. We have solid momentum in the business with potential step change opportunities in PPS and automation about to kick in. We have seen some of the largest e commerce players publicly announce this year they have begun a multiyear transition to eliminate plastic delivery packaging and replace it with paper. We are part of that switch. Speaker 200:15:18Industrial Automation is a mega theme in an environment where labor costs and other rising inputs pressure margins. Companies are willing to spend on projects that deliver an attractive ROI and we believe our end of line solution portfolio is able to deliver what customers need, specifically in the form of reduced labor costs, reduced logistics costs and lower waste. We have the solutions, people and facilities to scale this business and look to nearly double our sales and automation in 2024. The input cost environment remains pretty balanced. North America added kraft paper capacity in 2023 and pricing has stabilized in recent months. Speaker 200:16:05Additional volume should help us drive efficiencies and better absorb our overhead in 20 24, especially as strategic account activity really kicks in, in the second half of the year. In Europe, the energy markets have been favorable and we were able to emerge from winter without a large spike and excessive draw on reserves. We believe that positions us well in 2024 to maintain our margin profile in Europe and Asia Pacific. Expanding our presence in Asia Pacific is a key milestone for us this year as we will go live with our Malaysian production facility this summer. APAC is currently served out of Europe, which adds significant cost and lead time to getting product to our end users. Speaker 200:16:50This facility will enable us to take meaningful freight time and cost out. We believe our go to market network and strategy in this region coupled with our local manufacturing footprint will result in our ability to sell at much more attractive prices to fuel growth without negatively impacting our margin. With the size of the economies there and growing the importance of sustainability in places like Australia and Japan, we believe Asia Pacific should become a more meaningful contributor to our PPS business globally. Thank you all again. At this point, we'd like to open up the line for questions. Speaker 200:17:30Operator? Operator00:17:36Thank you. The floor is now open for your questions. Your first question comes from the line of Ghansham Panjabi with Baird. Your line is open. Speaker 400:18:06Thank you, operator. Hello, everybody. Omar, just kind of specific to the Q4 as you think back, maybe you can give us a sense of which end markets were better than perhaps your initial forecast? And then as it relates to the guidance for 2024 on an EBITDA basis, how should we sort of think about phasing and seasonality between the first half and second half? Speaker 200:18:29Sure. Yes. Thanks Ghansham. I would say in the Q4, the holiday season, in particular in e commerce, was a little bit healthier than we had anticipated going into the quarter. Maybe we were a little bit too cautious given the prior year we didn't see that seasonality uptick. Speaker 200:18:50And then in reality, what we saw frankly across different geographies in the U. S, in Europe and in Asia Pacific was a stronger holiday season. So I think that really helped. In terms of 2024 and seasonality, this is a year where we think the large accounts and strategic accounts that I've been discussing on a number of these calls are going to kick in, in a meaningful way. I've mentioned in prior calls that we have a number of them in our trials and in our pipeline. Speaker 200:19:25Well, I'm happy to report, as of now, we have been successful in converting some of these trials and pipeline into wins and closes. We're installing some of that equipment in this quarter. And from a seasonality standpoint, I would expect that you're going to start seeing some pickup in the Q2 of 2024. And again, given some of these wins and given what we saw this past quarter, I'm expecting a pretty strong second half of the year based on both these wins and the switch from plastic to paper as well as the holiday and peak season later in the year. Speaker 400:20:07Okay. So would that by definition imply an acceleration in the machine placement side too then as we progress? Speaker 200:20:13I think it will play some, to be honest, we through our systems and through optimization and refab and refurbishing, we have been moving more equipment within our system than ever. So it may not be reflected in a lot of new CapEx and new equipment. I think you may see a number of these dispensers and converters being a little bit more optimized as Bill highlighted in the call. That's a pretty big initiative given the large investments we've done the last couple of years in converters. So the short answer is you'll see some incremental CapEx and new equipment, but you're also going to see some movement to optimize our network between existing converters and dispensers. Speaker 400:21:01Okay. That's fantastic to hear. And maybe a follow-up for Bill in terms of some of the moving parts Bill on free cash flow and also the swap expiration in June of 2024 and the impact on interest expense in the second half versus the first half? Speaker 300:21:18Yes, Ghansham. So you're asking about free cash flow expectations for 2024? Speaker 200:21:22Yes, yes. Yes. Speaker 300:21:24So I think Ghansham, the way that we think about it, if you look at the guide, the mid range, we call it around 85,000,000 or so. For us, we've got pretty sizable cash balance that we're getting some nice income on. So if you include the interest income that we collect, as well as obviously the cash interest expense, we're looking at around $29,000,000 $30,000,000 for 2024. Cash taxes, we would assume to be kind of in that mid single digits in 1,000,000. And then from a working capital standpoint, a slight use, right? Speaker 300:21:56Well, I think we'll be making some investments in working cap this year to invest in some of the strategic account activity that Omar highlighted. So kind of all in that gets you in the double digit millions of free cash flow generation. Speaker 400:22:09Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. Okay, I'll turn it over. Thanks a lot. That's very helpful. Speaker 200:22:13Thanks, Ghansham. Operator00:22:17Our next question comes from the line of Adam Samuelson with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. Speaker 500:22:24Yes. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Speaker 200:22:27Hi, Adam. Speaker 500:22:28Hi. So I guess, first question is going back to the point on maybe repositioning more converters than you had in the past. I think this is the first time in really any point that I can see in the model where the installed base and especially the installed base in void fill had actually decreased sequentially. So can you talk maybe Omar a little bit more about the magnitude of those actions? How much you're repositioning? Speaker 500:22:58Is it largely void fill? Are you doing it in wrapping and cushioning as well? And what is the expectation for installed base growth in 2024 in aggregate with, I think you said $35,000,000 of total CapEx bill? So within that, just trying to tie all those pieces together. Speaker 300:23:20Sure. I mean, I would say the converter, refabrication and refurbishment is a major initiative for us, right? We want to make sure that we're maximizing free cash flow, especially in this environment. And I think with the number of converters that we deployed, right, over recent years, there's the ability for us to reposition a number of those. So we're working actively with the sales team and also using the analytics that we've put in place in the past couple of years to really look at accounts, make sure that the way that deals were underwritten, if the performance isn't matching what was originally expected that we have those conversations and redeploy those converters elsewhere. Speaker 300:23:55Then I think the team has been doing a good job with that. And I think other things that you're probably seeing just in the placement account numbers is related to some of the macro activity, particularly in Europe, on the cushioning side, right? You're just seeing some of those accounts, right, that have been under pressure, right. So we're going and getting machines back from some of those more industrial areas that have just been hit harder by the last couple of years. So, I think it's an initiative that's across the board, right across all categories, to maximize our free cash flow. Speaker 300:24:27And we'll continue to do that and use the analytics to really make sure that we're maximizing the return on the capital that we've deployed. As far as 2024 goes, if you're looking for kind of a modeling estimate, I think for us, we're estimating kind of that mid single digit growth in the installed base, if that's helpful. Speaker 500:24:48No, that is. And maybe just a follow-up as we think about pricing and kind of the confidence on the gross margin outlook, especially where you might have seen you might see kraft paper inch higher in North America. I think Europe, it's been weaker. And certainly the inflationary environment there with energy has backed off. Just help us think about your visibility on your kraft paper purchases and your ability to consistently price that up through distribution, where I think pre COVID, pre Europe inflation, the business that operated on kind of annual kind of paper purchases. Speaker 500:25:29And I can't imagine you're getting fixed price paper purchases from your suppliers anymore? Speaker 200:25:37Yes. I think that's right, Adam. What we are seeing in this environment and frankly it's applying to different geographies, obviously our largest being Europe and in the U. S, is pretty much we are coming up with agreements that on average, I would say, are around 6 months in duration. So think about the price resets twice a year rather than the annual agreements that we used to have a couple of years ago. Speaker 200:26:07And that reset might be related to sort of some index pricing. So in general, we feel pretty good about getting some visibility even though it's not for the full year. It's not super volatile with a lot of frequent resets, if you will. Now the tone out there in the market is, look, obviously, the space now is facing a lot of consolidation and discussion around consolidation with the large corrugated and paper players. We're in close touch with all of our suppliers. Speaker 200:26:39They continue to push that if we can do more volume, they're willing to work with us on price. And frankly, we think with some of these strategic account activity that we're winning and hopefully will move the needle in 2024, We have been negotiating pricing, etcetera, to fulfill the rest of the year. So I feel near term in both geographies in Europe and in the U. S, we're seeing some stability in pricing that I think hopefully will last throughout the year. But my guess is in the second half of the year, there will be a set of negotiations that we will have given the resets and depending on where the index pricing is, we'll see how the second half of the year plays out. Speaker 200:27:27And then to your point on energy, I mean that seems to be a lot more subdued in terms of volatility in Europe compared to where we were. And from everything we're hearing, there's more supply coming to Europe from other sources that hopefully that energy stability will last for a while. Speaker 500:27:47That's helpful. And if I could just squeeze one more in on the automation equipment side, talking about 50% plus growth, which should be over $10,000,000 I mean, how much of that do you have in backlog today? Or that how would you frame the confidence level in that 50% growth just in terms of fixed orders versus kind of you have the lead generation, but you have to convert those into orders and the timing of backlog conversion to orders? Speaker 200:28:14I would say the confidence is relatively high about that number. That's why we're comfortable sharing it. The way our business works and obviously there is peak season and sort of early in the year, it's a bit different. But I think about once we get these orders and these bookings, we're fulfilling those sometime in the next 6 to 9 ensuing months. So I would say our visibility for the next couple of quarters is pretty decent. Speaker 200:28:45Later in the year, we still need to increase our bookings now to help hit those numbers that are later in the year given the 6 to 9 month average period, if you will. But I mean, last quarter, I think I mentioned we had record bookings. I mean, we continue to sort of have very, very elevated levels of bookings, which is increasing our confidence in hitting that number this year. Speaker 500:29:15That's very helpful. I'll pass it on. Thank you. Speaker 200:29:18Thanks, Adam. Operator00:29:22Next question comes from the line of Greg Palm with Craig Hallum Capital Group. Your line is open. Speaker 600:29:30Thanks. This is Danny Eggerich on for Greg today. Congrats on the good quarter. Good to see the volumes kind of come back a little bit. I guess from maybe what you've seen in Q4 and quarter to date on the volumes, just overall visibility and sounds like you're pretty confident in the guide as well as those larger strategic accounts ramping in the second half. Speaker 600:29:52I guess does the macro have to improve much from here for you to feel pretty good about those or regardless you feel comfortable there and then kind of any continuation in macro recovery provides even some potential upside from there? Speaker 200:30:07Yes. Let me start, it's Omar, and then I'll have maybe Bill chime in. I would say the micro and the fundamental picture that we see in our business, we really like. So whether that's volume trends, whether that's what we're seeing in gross margin and stability in our largest input cost, which is paper, whether that's sort of the trial activity, the switch from plastic to paper and our pipeline activity, all these are trending really well. I wouldn't say that we're banking on the macro environment to improve. Speaker 200:30:45I would say we're saying that things may be stay the same from a macro environment. And probably given the macro environment, we've decided to give a guide that we feel confident in, but reflects a little bit of conservatism, not because of what we're seeing inside our business, but more because of what's happening all around us with the macro backdrop. So whether it's geopolitics, whether it's about where inflation is headed or interest rates, where we don't have any unique insight or views, I think that's the stuff that's causing us to be a little bit cautious. So I would say we're assuming a macro environment that will go throughout the year that's similar to where we are today. And if that's the case, given the fundamentals that we're seeing in our business, we have very high confidence in our guide. Speaker 200:31:41Bill, I don't know if you have something to add. Speaker 300:31:43Yes. I mean, I can give Speaker 200:31:44a little bit more detail as to Speaker 300:31:46how we're thinking about maybe the top line growth, if that's helpful. So just from a volume standpoint, at the low end of the guide, we're assuming kind of a low to mid single digit volume growth with the high end being kind of mid to high single digit. Automation, we're assuming is roughly 2.5 to 3.5 points. And then a little bit of the pricing headwind is what we've built in as we lap some of the pricing adjustments we made in the second half of last year. So from a volume perspective, with the strategic account activity that Omar has mentioned, we're not baking in a meaningful improvement in operating activity. Speaker 300:32:22So I think for us, we feel like it will continue to get better throughout the year, right, as the operating environment continues to slightly improve, which is kind of what we're seeing, and then this account activity kicks in. Speaker 600:32:36Yes, got it. That all makes sense. Maybe just touching quickly on kind of sustainability trends, it kind of feels like we're seeing more and more companies coming out with new initiatives or state regulations. I guess from your guys' seat, you feel like you're seeing that kind of accelerate and is there potential for overall sustainability to be a bigger driver this year maybe relative to last? Speaker 200:33:04I think and I highlighted it on the call, I think extended producer responsibility laws and regulations that have been passed in a number of states, probably most importantly, California are really playing an important role in having a number of these companies go maybe beyond the conversation around sustainability and start taking action. I really attribute that as a key driver to increasing some of our trial activity. And then obviously, once our equipment is there, it's up to us to prove ourselves and our solutions and hopefully convert these trials into closes. So I think what you were seeing in the U. S, in particular with the larger accounts, I believe a big driver behind the switch is driven by new regulations, Now those rules have been enacted in Europe for a while and we've seen the benefit of those over the last number of years. Speaker 200:34:10The new thing that we're seeing is really this spike in discussion and in activity in the U. S, which I think hopefully will give us a tailwind for the next number of years because many of these EPR rules are going to start being implemented over the next number of years, which I think is good for us. Operator00:34:39There are no further questions at this time. Mr. Bildrew, I turn the call back over to you. Speaker 300:34:45Thank you, Desiree, and thank you all for joining the call today. I look forward to talking about Q1 with you next earnings call.Read morePowered by Key Takeaways Randpac delivered 10% revenue growth in Q4 on a constant currency basis, driven by higher volumes in North America and Europe, helping full-year net revenue finish up 1%. Adjusted EBITDA surged 89% year-over-year to $24.4 million in Q4 (26% margin) and rose 14.5% for the year to $76.5 million (21.9% margin), benefiting from volume gains, lower input costs, and fixed-cost leverage. Management expects 2024 revenue of $370 million to $390 million (6%–12% growth) and adjusted EBITDA of $80 million to $89 million (5%–16% growth), focusing on top-line momentum, cash generation, and deleveraging. The automation segment reached a commercial inflection point with major mandates for Autofill and Cut-It equipment, and automation revenue is projected to grow over 50% in 2024 due to expanded capacity and strategic account wins. Paper pricing remains stable and European energy costs have normalized, while new extended producer responsibility regulations in the U.S. create a long-term tailwind for paper-based packaging solutions. AI Generated. May Contain Errors.Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallRanpak Q4 202300:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Annual report(10-K) Ranpak Earnings HeadlinesRanpak Expands its Global Footprint Through Large-Scale Sustainable Packaging Partnership with ...May 13, 2025 | gurufocus.comRanpak Expands its Global Footprint Through Large-Scale Sustainable Packaging Partnership with ThaliaMay 13, 2025 | businesswire.comThe “black glass” breakthrough behind AI’s next leapAI is advancing fast… But there’s one problem almost no one’s talking about. Power.June 1, 2025 | True Market Insiders (Ad)Ranpak Holdings Corp. (NYSE:PACK) Q1 2025 Earnings Call TranscriptMay 8, 2025 | msn.comRanpak Holdings Corp. Earnings Call Highlights Growth and ChallengesMay 7, 2025 | tipranks.comRanpak Holdings Corp (PACK) Q1 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong North America Growth Amid ...May 7, 2025 | finance.yahoo.comSee More Ranpak Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Ranpak? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Ranpak and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About RanpakRanpak (NYSE:PACK), together with its subsidiaries, provides product protection solutions and end-of-line automation solutions for e-commerce and industrial supply chains in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company offers protective packaging solutions, such as void-fill protective systems that convert paper to fill empty spaces in secondary packages and protect objects under the FillPak brand; cushioning protective systems, which convert paper into cushioning pads under the PadPak brand; and wrapping protective systems that create pads or paper mesh to wrap and protect fragile items, as well as to line boxes and provide separation when shipping various objects under the WrapPak, Geami, and ReadyRoll brands, as well as cold chain products, which are used to provide insulation for goods. It also offers end-of-line packaging automation products, which help end users automate the void filling and box closure processes after product packing is complete. The company sells its products to end users primarily through a distributor network, and directly to select end-users. Ranpak Holdings Corp. was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Concord Township, Ohio.View Ranpak ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Earnings By Country U.S. Earnings Reports Canadian Earnings Reports U.K. Earnings Reports Latest Articles e.l.f. 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There are 7 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Desiree, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Randpac 4th Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Operator00:00:33I would now like to turn the conference over to Sarah Horvath, General Counsel. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:42Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that we will discuss forward looking statements as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed in our press release and the risk factors identified in our Form 10 ks and our other filings filed with the SEC. Some of the statements and responses to your questions in this conference call may include forward looking statements that are subject to future events and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. RamPac assumes no obligation and does not intend to update any such forward looking statements. Speaker 100:01:28You should not place undue reliance on these forward looking statements, all of which speak to the company only as of today. The earnings release we issued this afternoon and the presentation for today's call are posted on the Investor Relations section of our website. A copy of the release has been included in a Form 8 ks that we submitted to the SEC before this call. We will also make a replay of this conference call available via webcast on the company website. For financial information that is presented on a non GAAP basis, we have included reconciliations to the comparable GAAP information. Speaker 100:02:02Please refer to the table and slide presentation accompanying today's earnings release. Lastly, we'll be filing our 10 ks with the SEC for the period ending December 31, 2023. The 10 ks will be available through the SEC or on the Investor Relations section of our website. With me today, I have Omar Afili, our Chairman and CEO and Bill Drew, our CFO. Omar will summarize our Q4 results, provide an update on our growth strategies and issue our outlook for 2024. Speaker 100:02:34Bill will provide additional detail on the financial results before we open up the call for questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to Omar. Speaker 200:02:42Thank you, Sarah, and good day, everyone. Thank you all for joining our call. We finished 2023 on a positive note as we built on the momentum from the Q3 and delivered our best quarter of the year. We saw continued general improvement in the operating environment in Europe and the more pronounced holiday season in North America compared to prior year. Overall, the e commerce discretionary goods market and manufacturing sectors remain subdued, but we are starting to see general improvement across many of our end users and are encouraged by the seasonal uptick more in line with historical patterns in the 4th quarter. Speaker 200:03:24Consolidated net revenue on a constant currency basis increased 10%, driven by volume growth in our different regions as we saw improved order activity among larger e commerce customers in the U. S. And generally improving conditions in Europe. The volume improvements seen in Q3 and Q4 helped drive 2023 full year net revenue up 1% on a constant currency basis, a welcome recovery from a slower start of the year. Europe and APAC finished on a strong note, up 12% on a constant currency basis, driven by 15% volume growth as ordering patterns continued to normalize and general sentiment in the region was stable. Speaker 200:04:08The improvement was broad based as all PPS categories in the region were up year over year. Destocking activity is behind us and in many cases distributors and end customers are working to keep as little inventory on hand as possible. Our North America business also experienced an uptick to finish the year with sales up 8% driven by improved volumes and contribution from automation sales. Full year results were up 2% in North America, driven by a larger contribution from automation and improved VoIP tilt performance, offset somewhat by sluggish wrapping and cushioning environment. Adjusted EBITDA of $24,400,000 was up $11,500,000 or 89% in constant currency terms year over year and resulted in a margin of 26%. Speaker 200:05:03The increase in adjusted EBITDA was due to higher sales volumes compared to a year ago, significant improvement in input costs and better absorption of our fixed G and A. For the year, adjusted EBITDA increased 14.5 percent to $76,500,000 Overall, it was a quarter that turned out a bit better than expected and helps us to finish a challenging year on a positive note. Generally speaking, we enter 2024 in a better operating environment than we experienced in 2023. Discretionary goods remain soft, but we are now 2 years into absorbing the pull forward in demand that impacted performance in 2022 and 2023. Strategic account activity in North America is robust with key players announcing their commitment to eliminating plastic in their fulfillment centers over the next few years. Speaker 200:05:56We also have made substantial inroads with our automation business with key accounts that I think solidifies our position as a true automation player. Our distributors and end users are in tight inventory positions and are likely conservative in their positioning. We continue to monitor the energy environment in Europe. It is far improved from a pricing perspective from a year ago as Dutch natgas is at €27 per megawatt down from €300 at the peak and €80 at the start of 2023. This has led to a stable paper input cost environment in the region and improved overall sentiment. Speaker 200:06:38North America paper pricing also remains stable as we enter into 2024 having clawed back the majority of our gross margin profile that we had sacrificed in 2022. The regulatory environment continues to position us with a secular tailwind as extended producer responsibility regulation has been enacted or proposed in many states, including California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington and Connecticut. These laws have been in place in Europe for years, but are just gaining traction in the U. S. We'll take you through our guidance for Bill's remarks. Speaker 200:07:22But to summarize, we are focused on accelerating top line growth this year, double digit adjusted EBITDA growth and working with the investments we have made to generate cash and delever. Now here's Bill with more info on the quarter. Speaker 300:07:39Thank you, Omar. In the deck, you'll see a summary of some of our key performance indicators. We'll also be filing our 10 ks, which provides further information on Rambac's operating results. Machine placement continued its increase, up 1.5% year over year to over 141,200 machines globally. Cushioning systems declined 1.4%, void fill installed systems grew 2.6% and wrapping grew 2.3% year over year. Speaker 300:08:06We continue our fleet optimization efforts to identify opportunities to move less productive converters in the field to higher utilization locations and further our efforts to refurbish and refabricate older converters for redeployment to save on CapEx. Overall, net revenue for the company in the 4th quarter 10% year over year to $93,900,000 on a constant currency basis, driven by volume growth in all regions and increased automation sales, bringing full year results up 1% on a constant currency basis. For the quarter, in the Europe and APAC reporting division, combined revenue increased 12% on a constant currency basis. The better second half drove net revenue on a constant currency basis to finish up 1% for the year in the region, driven by volume growth and increased contribution from automation, offset somewhat by pricing giveback due to raw material input cost relief after achieving our targeted margin profile. North America also finished on a positive note, driven by better volumes and increased contributions from automation. Speaker 300:09:05Net revenue for the quarter was up 8%, which brought the full year results in the region to growth of 2%. We are encouraged by what we see in the region and are looking forward to strategic account activity driving volume acceleration as the year progresses. Reported gross margins of 37.7 percent for the quarter improved more than 9.50 basis points versus the prior year, with input costs peaked and volumes were lower, resulting in an increase in gross profit on a constant currency basis of 11,500,000 dollars or 48% year over year. Gross margins in the Europe and APAC reporting unit stayed flat with the 3rd quarter at 39%, while North America was approximately 35.5%, although we do expect to have some upside going forward in North America as additional volumes flow through. As we enter 2024, paper pricing has stabilized, although we have seen some market participants publicly vocal about their desire to raise price. Speaker 300:09:58SG and A excluding RSU expense was in line with the previous two quarters at $26,700,000 on a constant currency basis. Controlling our spend and leveraging our G and A investments are a top priority. We expect that as the volume environment improves, we will better absorb our overhead as you have seen in the Q4 as well as higher volume quarters in the past. Headcount was roughly flat year over year. And on the personnel front, we have over 140 people dedicated to automation currently, obviously resulting in a substantial drag in our profitability profile. Speaker 300:10:29As that business scales, we expect to have a much improved financial profile with our adjusted EBITDA margins on a consolidated basis getting back to the mid to high 20 percent area overall. As a result of the improved sales volumes and improved gross profit in the 4th quarter, adjusted EBITDA improved 89% in the quarter to $24,400,000 on dollars on a constant currency basis or a 26% adjusted EBITDA margin. This brings the full year's results to up 14.5 percent to 76 $500,000 on a constant currency basis, implying a 21.9% adjusted EBITDA margin for the year. Moving to the balance sheet and liquidity. We completed 2023 with a strong liquidity position, including a cash balance of $62,000,000 and no drawings on our revolving credit facility, bringing our reported net leverage to 4.6 times on an LTM basis or 5.0 times according to the definition of adjusted EBITDA in our credit agreement. Speaker 300:11:23Our recent peak for leverage was 5.7 times in the June quarter and our short term target was to get below 5 turns by year end. We are pleased to make progress, but our ultimate goal remains to return to a leverage ratio of 3 turns or less. 2024 is a year where we expect to continue to grow our adjusted EBITDA and generate cash to delever. Major CapEx cycle of investing in digital and physical infrastructure is largely complete. The final remaining $1,500,000 from Malaysia to be funded in 2024. Speaker 300:11:51With that, I'll turn it to Omar. Speaker 200:11:54Thanks, Bill. This year was a pivot year, and I'm happy to report that we took critical steps required to position us well in 2024 and to scale Rampac. In 2023, we successfully closed back the majority of our gross margin profile after investing in our customer relationships during the significant input cost inflation of 2022. We also made meaningful inroads with key strategic accounts in North America and PPS, which will show up beginning in the Q2 of this year. I believe automation has hit the commercial inflection point we have been working towards as we have won key mandates for our autofill and cut it products that solidify ramp back as a top tier automation player. Speaker 200:12:40We have completed the expansion of our production capabilities to be able to serve over $100,000,000 annually in revenue. We believe these signature wins will serve as a baseline for automation growth over the next few years and also be a strong signal to the market of the quality and robustness of our solutions. This is what we have been building towards in automation and are excited to be at a point where we believe the step change in the top line is here. Regarding guidance for the year, on a constant currency basis, we're anticipating revenues of $370,000,000 to $390,000,000 reflecting top line growth in the area of 6% to 12% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 5% to 16%, implying a range of 80,000,000 to 89,000,000 dollars Our top line growth for the year reflects our expectations of a slow but continuing return to a more normal operating environment as e commerce buying patterns normalize and industrial activity remains somewhat pressured. We expect to achieve volume growth in PPS building on the momentum that started in the second half of the year and automation revenue to be up more than 50%. Speaker 200:13:57Our growth in adjusted EBITDA of 5% to 16% reflects the contributions from the expected top line increase and steady margin profile. We expect that capital expenditures will step down as we exit our major investment cycle and be in the area of $35,000,000 enabling us to focus on cash generation and deleveraging. Generally speaking, we believe this guidance reflects a level of conservatism continued somewhat challenging near term backdrop. Our bottom up fundamental view is giving us more optimism. Hence, we believe our guidance has some upside depending on the timing and speed with which key strategic accounts ramp up their plastic to paper shift. Speaker 200:14:452024 is an inflection year for Rampac in general and for automation in particular. I feel better about our company now than I have at any point in the past 2 years. We have solid momentum in the business with potential step change opportunities in PPS and automation about to kick in. We have seen some of the largest e commerce players publicly announce this year they have begun a multiyear transition to eliminate plastic delivery packaging and replace it with paper. We are part of that switch. Speaker 200:15:18Industrial Automation is a mega theme in an environment where labor costs and other rising inputs pressure margins. Companies are willing to spend on projects that deliver an attractive ROI and we believe our end of line solution portfolio is able to deliver what customers need, specifically in the form of reduced labor costs, reduced logistics costs and lower waste. We have the solutions, people and facilities to scale this business and look to nearly double our sales and automation in 2024. The input cost environment remains pretty balanced. North America added kraft paper capacity in 2023 and pricing has stabilized in recent months. Speaker 200:16:05Additional volume should help us drive efficiencies and better absorb our overhead in 20 24, especially as strategic account activity really kicks in, in the second half of the year. In Europe, the energy markets have been favorable and we were able to emerge from winter without a large spike and excessive draw on reserves. We believe that positions us well in 2024 to maintain our margin profile in Europe and Asia Pacific. Expanding our presence in Asia Pacific is a key milestone for us this year as we will go live with our Malaysian production facility this summer. APAC is currently served out of Europe, which adds significant cost and lead time to getting product to our end users. Speaker 200:16:50This facility will enable us to take meaningful freight time and cost out. We believe our go to market network and strategy in this region coupled with our local manufacturing footprint will result in our ability to sell at much more attractive prices to fuel growth without negatively impacting our margin. With the size of the economies there and growing the importance of sustainability in places like Australia and Japan, we believe Asia Pacific should become a more meaningful contributor to our PPS business globally. Thank you all again. At this point, we'd like to open up the line for questions. Speaker 200:17:30Operator? Operator00:17:36Thank you. The floor is now open for your questions. Your first question comes from the line of Ghansham Panjabi with Baird. Your line is open. Speaker 400:18:06Thank you, operator. Hello, everybody. Omar, just kind of specific to the Q4 as you think back, maybe you can give us a sense of which end markets were better than perhaps your initial forecast? And then as it relates to the guidance for 2024 on an EBITDA basis, how should we sort of think about phasing and seasonality between the first half and second half? Speaker 200:18:29Sure. Yes. Thanks Ghansham. I would say in the Q4, the holiday season, in particular in e commerce, was a little bit healthier than we had anticipated going into the quarter. Maybe we were a little bit too cautious given the prior year we didn't see that seasonality uptick. Speaker 200:18:50And then in reality, what we saw frankly across different geographies in the U. S, in Europe and in Asia Pacific was a stronger holiday season. So I think that really helped. In terms of 2024 and seasonality, this is a year where we think the large accounts and strategic accounts that I've been discussing on a number of these calls are going to kick in, in a meaningful way. I've mentioned in prior calls that we have a number of them in our trials and in our pipeline. Speaker 200:19:25Well, I'm happy to report, as of now, we have been successful in converting some of these trials and pipeline into wins and closes. We're installing some of that equipment in this quarter. And from a seasonality standpoint, I would expect that you're going to start seeing some pickup in the Q2 of 2024. And again, given some of these wins and given what we saw this past quarter, I'm expecting a pretty strong second half of the year based on both these wins and the switch from plastic to paper as well as the holiday and peak season later in the year. Speaker 400:20:07Okay. So would that by definition imply an acceleration in the machine placement side too then as we progress? Speaker 200:20:13I think it will play some, to be honest, we through our systems and through optimization and refab and refurbishing, we have been moving more equipment within our system than ever. So it may not be reflected in a lot of new CapEx and new equipment. I think you may see a number of these dispensers and converters being a little bit more optimized as Bill highlighted in the call. That's a pretty big initiative given the large investments we've done the last couple of years in converters. So the short answer is you'll see some incremental CapEx and new equipment, but you're also going to see some movement to optimize our network between existing converters and dispensers. Speaker 400:21:01Okay. That's fantastic to hear. And maybe a follow-up for Bill in terms of some of the moving parts Bill on free cash flow and also the swap expiration in June of 2024 and the impact on interest expense in the second half versus the first half? Speaker 300:21:18Yes, Ghansham. So you're asking about free cash flow expectations for 2024? Speaker 200:21:22Yes, yes. Yes. Speaker 300:21:24So I think Ghansham, the way that we think about it, if you look at the guide, the mid range, we call it around 85,000,000 or so. For us, we've got pretty sizable cash balance that we're getting some nice income on. So if you include the interest income that we collect, as well as obviously the cash interest expense, we're looking at around $29,000,000 $30,000,000 for 2024. Cash taxes, we would assume to be kind of in that mid single digits in 1,000,000. And then from a working capital standpoint, a slight use, right? Speaker 300:21:56Well, I think we'll be making some investments in working cap this year to invest in some of the strategic account activity that Omar highlighted. So kind of all in that gets you in the double digit millions of free cash flow generation. Speaker 400:22:09Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. Okay, I'll turn it over. Thanks a lot. That's very helpful. Speaker 200:22:13Thanks, Ghansham. Operator00:22:17Our next question comes from the line of Adam Samuelson with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. Speaker 500:22:24Yes. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Speaker 200:22:27Hi, Adam. Speaker 500:22:28Hi. So I guess, first question is going back to the point on maybe repositioning more converters than you had in the past. I think this is the first time in really any point that I can see in the model where the installed base and especially the installed base in void fill had actually decreased sequentially. So can you talk maybe Omar a little bit more about the magnitude of those actions? How much you're repositioning? Speaker 500:22:58Is it largely void fill? Are you doing it in wrapping and cushioning as well? And what is the expectation for installed base growth in 2024 in aggregate with, I think you said $35,000,000 of total CapEx bill? So within that, just trying to tie all those pieces together. Speaker 300:23:20Sure. I mean, I would say the converter, refabrication and refurbishment is a major initiative for us, right? We want to make sure that we're maximizing free cash flow, especially in this environment. And I think with the number of converters that we deployed, right, over recent years, there's the ability for us to reposition a number of those. So we're working actively with the sales team and also using the analytics that we've put in place in the past couple of years to really look at accounts, make sure that the way that deals were underwritten, if the performance isn't matching what was originally expected that we have those conversations and redeploy those converters elsewhere. Speaker 300:23:55Then I think the team has been doing a good job with that. And I think other things that you're probably seeing just in the placement account numbers is related to some of the macro activity, particularly in Europe, on the cushioning side, right? You're just seeing some of those accounts, right, that have been under pressure, right. So we're going and getting machines back from some of those more industrial areas that have just been hit harder by the last couple of years. So, I think it's an initiative that's across the board, right across all categories, to maximize our free cash flow. Speaker 300:24:27And we'll continue to do that and use the analytics to really make sure that we're maximizing the return on the capital that we've deployed. As far as 2024 goes, if you're looking for kind of a modeling estimate, I think for us, we're estimating kind of that mid single digit growth in the installed base, if that's helpful. Speaker 500:24:48No, that is. And maybe just a follow-up as we think about pricing and kind of the confidence on the gross margin outlook, especially where you might have seen you might see kraft paper inch higher in North America. I think Europe, it's been weaker. And certainly the inflationary environment there with energy has backed off. Just help us think about your visibility on your kraft paper purchases and your ability to consistently price that up through distribution, where I think pre COVID, pre Europe inflation, the business that operated on kind of annual kind of paper purchases. Speaker 500:25:29And I can't imagine you're getting fixed price paper purchases from your suppliers anymore? Speaker 200:25:37Yes. I think that's right, Adam. What we are seeing in this environment and frankly it's applying to different geographies, obviously our largest being Europe and in the U. S, is pretty much we are coming up with agreements that on average, I would say, are around 6 months in duration. So think about the price resets twice a year rather than the annual agreements that we used to have a couple of years ago. Speaker 200:26:07And that reset might be related to sort of some index pricing. So in general, we feel pretty good about getting some visibility even though it's not for the full year. It's not super volatile with a lot of frequent resets, if you will. Now the tone out there in the market is, look, obviously, the space now is facing a lot of consolidation and discussion around consolidation with the large corrugated and paper players. We're in close touch with all of our suppliers. Speaker 200:26:39They continue to push that if we can do more volume, they're willing to work with us on price. And frankly, we think with some of these strategic account activity that we're winning and hopefully will move the needle in 2024, We have been negotiating pricing, etcetera, to fulfill the rest of the year. So I feel near term in both geographies in Europe and in the U. S, we're seeing some stability in pricing that I think hopefully will last throughout the year. But my guess is in the second half of the year, there will be a set of negotiations that we will have given the resets and depending on where the index pricing is, we'll see how the second half of the year plays out. Speaker 200:27:27And then to your point on energy, I mean that seems to be a lot more subdued in terms of volatility in Europe compared to where we were. And from everything we're hearing, there's more supply coming to Europe from other sources that hopefully that energy stability will last for a while. Speaker 500:27:47That's helpful. And if I could just squeeze one more in on the automation equipment side, talking about 50% plus growth, which should be over $10,000,000 I mean, how much of that do you have in backlog today? Or that how would you frame the confidence level in that 50% growth just in terms of fixed orders versus kind of you have the lead generation, but you have to convert those into orders and the timing of backlog conversion to orders? Speaker 200:28:14I would say the confidence is relatively high about that number. That's why we're comfortable sharing it. The way our business works and obviously there is peak season and sort of early in the year, it's a bit different. But I think about once we get these orders and these bookings, we're fulfilling those sometime in the next 6 to 9 ensuing months. So I would say our visibility for the next couple of quarters is pretty decent. Speaker 200:28:45Later in the year, we still need to increase our bookings now to help hit those numbers that are later in the year given the 6 to 9 month average period, if you will. But I mean, last quarter, I think I mentioned we had record bookings. I mean, we continue to sort of have very, very elevated levels of bookings, which is increasing our confidence in hitting that number this year. Speaker 500:29:15That's very helpful. I'll pass it on. Thank you. Speaker 200:29:18Thanks, Adam. Operator00:29:22Next question comes from the line of Greg Palm with Craig Hallum Capital Group. Your line is open. Speaker 600:29:30Thanks. This is Danny Eggerich on for Greg today. Congrats on the good quarter. Good to see the volumes kind of come back a little bit. I guess from maybe what you've seen in Q4 and quarter to date on the volumes, just overall visibility and sounds like you're pretty confident in the guide as well as those larger strategic accounts ramping in the second half. Speaker 600:29:52I guess does the macro have to improve much from here for you to feel pretty good about those or regardless you feel comfortable there and then kind of any continuation in macro recovery provides even some potential upside from there? Speaker 200:30:07Yes. Let me start, it's Omar, and then I'll have maybe Bill chime in. I would say the micro and the fundamental picture that we see in our business, we really like. So whether that's volume trends, whether that's what we're seeing in gross margin and stability in our largest input cost, which is paper, whether that's sort of the trial activity, the switch from plastic to paper and our pipeline activity, all these are trending really well. I wouldn't say that we're banking on the macro environment to improve. Speaker 200:30:45I would say we're saying that things may be stay the same from a macro environment. And probably given the macro environment, we've decided to give a guide that we feel confident in, but reflects a little bit of conservatism, not because of what we're seeing inside our business, but more because of what's happening all around us with the macro backdrop. So whether it's geopolitics, whether it's about where inflation is headed or interest rates, where we don't have any unique insight or views, I think that's the stuff that's causing us to be a little bit cautious. So I would say we're assuming a macro environment that will go throughout the year that's similar to where we are today. And if that's the case, given the fundamentals that we're seeing in our business, we have very high confidence in our guide. Speaker 200:31:41Bill, I don't know if you have something to add. Speaker 300:31:43Yes. I mean, I can give Speaker 200:31:44a little bit more detail as to Speaker 300:31:46how we're thinking about maybe the top line growth, if that's helpful. So just from a volume standpoint, at the low end of the guide, we're assuming kind of a low to mid single digit volume growth with the high end being kind of mid to high single digit. Automation, we're assuming is roughly 2.5 to 3.5 points. And then a little bit of the pricing headwind is what we've built in as we lap some of the pricing adjustments we made in the second half of last year. So from a volume perspective, with the strategic account activity that Omar has mentioned, we're not baking in a meaningful improvement in operating activity. Speaker 300:32:22So I think for us, we feel like it will continue to get better throughout the year, right, as the operating environment continues to slightly improve, which is kind of what we're seeing, and then this account activity kicks in. Speaker 600:32:36Yes, got it. That all makes sense. Maybe just touching quickly on kind of sustainability trends, it kind of feels like we're seeing more and more companies coming out with new initiatives or state regulations. I guess from your guys' seat, you feel like you're seeing that kind of accelerate and is there potential for overall sustainability to be a bigger driver this year maybe relative to last? Speaker 200:33:04I think and I highlighted it on the call, I think extended producer responsibility laws and regulations that have been passed in a number of states, probably most importantly, California are really playing an important role in having a number of these companies go maybe beyond the conversation around sustainability and start taking action. I really attribute that as a key driver to increasing some of our trial activity. And then obviously, once our equipment is there, it's up to us to prove ourselves and our solutions and hopefully convert these trials into closes. So I think what you were seeing in the U. S, in particular with the larger accounts, I believe a big driver behind the switch is driven by new regulations, Now those rules have been enacted in Europe for a while and we've seen the benefit of those over the last number of years. Speaker 200:34:10The new thing that we're seeing is really this spike in discussion and in activity in the U. S, which I think hopefully will give us a tailwind for the next number of years because many of these EPR rules are going to start being implemented over the next number of years, which I think is good for us. Operator00:34:39There are no further questions at this time. Mr. Bildrew, I turn the call back over to you. Speaker 300:34:45Thank you, Desiree, and thank you all for joining the call today. I look forward to talking about Q1 with you next earnings call.Read morePowered by