George Gaspar

Private investor George Gaspar inquired about the sales contribution from products introduced in the last 12 months and questioned why the company hasn't pursued a broader financing program. He also asked if the company is nearing a positive inflection point for margins due to stabilizing costs and price increases, and requested a breakdown of the sales backlog by new versus older products.

Answer

CEO Ted Grauch highlighted significant growth in newer, higher-margin product lines like NXG (up 52% YoY) and encoders (up 9.1% YoY) but did not provide a precise sales percentage for all new products. CFO Eric Skolnik explained that financing opportunities are limited for a company of their size but noted they successfully extended their credit facility. CEO Ted Grauch added that while raw material costs have stabilized, not decreased, the company has raised prices and is nearly caught up on lower-priced backlog orders, which should improve margins going forward. He could not provide a specific breakdown of the backlog but confirmed a healthy portion is from new product lines.

George Gasper, a private investor, asked if the payment to the former CEO's estate was covered by insurance, about plans to refinance long-term debt, and opportunities in the electric substation business. He also inquired about the business outlook for Q4, the reason for the increase in property and equipment on the balance sheet, the current total employee crew count, and the company's real estate strategy.

Answer

Acting Co-CEO and CFO Steve Wherry confirmed there was no company-payable insurance policy and the payment was a contractual death benefit. He stated they plan to manage upcoming debt and noted the increase in PP&E is due to new electrical construction equipment and a new facility being built in Spartanburg, SC. Acting Co-CEO Jason Spivey explained they are expanding their substation work to cross-sell other services and stated the company has approximately 520 employees, a slight increase year-to-date.