Eltek - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Eltek Ltd 2025 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. All participants are present in listen-only mode. Following management's formal presentation, instructions will be given for the question-and-answer session. For operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Before I turn the call over to Mr. Eli Yaffe, Chief Executive Officer, and Ron Freund, Chief Financial Officer, I'd like to remind you that they will be referring to forward-looking information in today's presentation and in the Q&A. By its nature, this information contains forecasts, assumptions, and expectations about future outcomes, which are subject to the risks and uncertainties outlined here and discussed more fully in Eltek's public disclosure filings. These forward-looking statements are projections and reflect the current beliefs and expectations of the company. Actual events or results may differ materially.

We'll also be referring to non-GAAP measures. Eltek undertakes no obligation to publicly release revisions to such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring subsequent to this date. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Eli Yaffe. Mr. Yaffe, please go ahead.

Eli Yaffe (CEO)

Thank you. Good morning. Thank you for joining us for our 2025 First Quarter Earning Call. With me is Ron Freund, our Chief Financial Officer. We will begin by providing you with an overview of our business and a summary of the principal factors that affected our results during Q1 2025. After our prepared remarks, we will be happy to answer any of your questions. By now, everyone should have access to our press release, which was released earlier today. The release will also be available on our website. During the first quarter, we concurred on stabilizing and calibrating our new equipment installed in our recently launched solder mask application department, as well as the machinery relocated to this facility. This was a complex and time-intensive process, further complicated by the unavailability of certain technical support personnel who declined to travel to Israel for the on-site installation and calibration.

As a result, we faced challenges in optimizing machine performance and compelling the precise technical adjustment required. This complexity contributed to lower production yield and negatively impacted our profitability for the quarter. The good news is that since the beginning of May, these processes are functioning much more smoothly. Production has resumed at a stable pace, and efficiency levels have returned to where they were prior to the transition. We are continuing the construction work on the basement floor to prepare it for the installation of our new plating lines. While our European supplier is making progress with the production of the equipment, they recently informed us of a delay of approximately two months in the delivery of the first and most significant coating line. Despite this delay, we remain on track to complete our accelerated investment plan by mid-2026.

On the human resource front, we will continue our efforts to recruit production workers and engineers. The Israeli labor market remains highly challenging, particularly when it comes to attracting qualified candidates in these fields. We are hiring at a modest pace within our existing salary structure, following significant wage adjustments we implemented at the end of Q2 2024, as many of you may recall. In terms of market dynamics, we continue to experience strong demand for our products across all segments. Due to this elevated demand, we are seeing an increase in lead time for customer delivery, not only at Eltek but also across the industry and among our competitors. At this stage, there is still no clarity regarding the tariff rate that may apply to products originated from Israel under the new US tariff policy, nor whether defense-related equipment will be included within this framework.

However, the company's competitive position in the U.S. market may benefit from the higher tariffs on products from other exporting countries, such as Canada. Additionally, tariffs on imposed raw material could affect the cost structure and competitiveness of the U.S.-based manufacturers. We estimate that it will take years to establish sufficient domestic production capacity in the U.S. to meet the customer's demand for the high-end products as well we sell. Accordingly, we do not anticipate any material impact on demand for our products in the U.S. market over the near to medium term. We are actively working to diversify our supply base in the Far East to support our goal of expanding our commercial activity. This initiative includes also exploring opportunities for partial production abroad, with final process and completion taking place in our facility in Israel.

The objective is to leverage our reputation and the technological know-how to increase revenue even during the period of production capacity constraints. At the same time, this model enables us to offer our customers more attractive pricing while maintaining the high-quality standard associated with Eltek. During the first quarter, we also began a company-wide process to replace our core information system. This transformation is expected to take approximately 18 months and will involve replacing most of the IT software currently in use across the organization. As part of this transition, we aim to optimize our internal workflow and implement industry-standard efficient work methodologies. The key focus of this project is to develop structured, centralized digital processes that will capture and preserve critical knowledge previously held by key personnel. This will allow us to unify production procedures, retain organizational know-how, and ultimately improve operational efficiency across the company. I will now turn the call over to Ron Freund, our CFO, to discuss our financial results.

Ron Freund (CFO)

Thank you, Eli. I would like to draw your attention to the financial statements for the first quarter of 2025. During this call, I will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Eltek uses EBITDA as a non-GAAP financial performance measurement. Please see our earnings release for its definition and the reasons for its use. I will now go over the highlights of the first quarter of 2025. All numbers are mentioned in US dollars. Revenues for the first quarter of 2025 total $12.8 million compared to $11.8 million in the first quarter of 2024. Gross profit decreased to $2.2 million, down from $3.3 million in the first quarter of 2024. The decline was primarily driven by higher labor costs and lower yields during the quarter, resulting from the ramp-up of new production equipment, as Eli mentioned earlier.

Operating profit for the quarter was $0.7 million compared to $1.7 million in the same period last year. We recorded financial income of $0.5 million in the first quarter of 2025, primarily due to the devaluation of the Israeli shekel against the US dollar and interest earned on our interest-bearing accounts. Net income for the quarter was $1 million or $0.15 per share compared to $1.7 million or $0.27 per share in the first quarter of 2024. EBITDA for the quarter was $1.2 million compared to $2.1 million in the prior year period. Cash flow from operating activities totaled $0.1 million during the first quarter of 2025. As of March 31, 2025, we had $15.7 million in cash, cash equivalent, and short-term bank deposits with no outstanding debt. We are now ready to answer your questions.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the question-and-answer session. If you have a question, please press star one. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you are using speaker equipment, kindly lift the handset before pressing the numbers. Your questions will be answered in the order they are received. Please stand by while we poll for your questions. The first question is from Guy Mualem of Analyst. Please go ahead.

Hi. Thank you for taking my question. Regarding the new line that you expected the implementation in mid-2026, will this line also impact the profitability of the company, or now that in the next three months you're going to finish the implementation of the current implementation, will you get back to the profitability we've seen in 2025?

Eli Yaffe (CEO)

Good morning, Guy. I'm not sure that I understood your question, but the line that we are going to install and is going to be fully operated in mid-2026 positively is going to impact our profitability because it's going to increase our production significantly, and the marginal contribution of any additional sales is going directly to the bottom line, which is a big number.

No, this is what I understand, of course, but I'm saying you have your profitability with this because during this time you had to increase the capacity of the current existing lines, and you said that this helped a little bit with the manufacturing production. Now the next line that you're going to implement is going to be a new line, and the implementation of it is not going to be interfering with the existing line.

Yeah, now I understand. No, you're right. The new line is not going to interfere with the current production.

Will we see you get back to the profitability within maybe 2023?

We don't.

Before 2023?

As you know, we don't give a forecast.

Okay. Okay.

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

If there are any additional questions, please press star one. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. Please stand by while we poll for more questions. There are no further questions at this time. Before I ask, there is an additional question from Eitan Ezioni of Ezioni Portfolio Management. Please go ahead.

Eitan Ezioni (CEO)

You mentioned that in Q1 you were held back by operational difficulties and people refusing to travel to Israel. Once these difficulties are resolved, how do you see sales picking up, or to what extent was the holdback in Q1?

Eli Yaffe (CEO)

The holdback in Q1 was we suffered from reduced yields, which affected our gross margin, but we overcame the problem with our local engineers and local support. The constraint of some people not to ride to Israel still exists. The main production line, which I mentioned before, the plating line, they are going to come from the Czech Republic, and they are going to arrive. They notified us that they are going to arrive.

Eitan Ezioni (CEO)

That's the 2026 project that you were talking about earlier?

Ron Freund (CFO)

It's due in 2025. We expect them to arrive, as we said, around August, and it will take us several months to install the first plating line, which is the most significant one. We hope that by the end of 2025 it will be in good position and stable, and we can increase our capacity and efficiency.

Eitan Ezioni (CEO)

An additional line at the end of 2025 and another line in 2026. How many existing lines do you have again, please?

Ron Freund (CFO)

We have currently two plating lines, very old ones, and we are now building in the basement floor an area which we will install in it the two new ones, one which is going to arrive by August, and the second one will arrive, I think, during 2026 in the first half. These lines will stabilize and calibrate it as we produce in the old ones. Once finished installation, we'll start to produce or manufacture in the new lines and stop manufacturing the old lines.

Eitan Ezioni (CEO)

Will the new lines only help operational efficiency, or will they also help in increased revenues?

Ron Freund (CFO)

They increase capacity significantly.

Eli Yaffe (CEO)

And quality?

Ron Freund (CFO)

They increase quality and efficiency, give us momentum to upgrade technology to new technologies. It is state-of-the-art lines with the higher technology existing now.

Eitan Ezioni (CEO)

Do you see demand to support the increased capacity?

Ron Freund (CFO)

The demand, yes, we see it.

Eitan Ezioni (CEO)

Okay. Okay. Thank you.

Eli Yaffe (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

There are no further questions at this time. Before I ask Mr. Yaffe to go ahead with his closing statement, I would like to remind participants that a replay of this call will be available tomorrow on our website. Mr. Yaffe, would you like to make your concluding statement?

Eli Yaffe (CEO)

Yes. Before we conclude, I would like to take a moment to thank our dedicated employees for their exceptional efforts during what we see in a particularly demanding period. The successful stabilization of our new solder mask application production lines, alongside the attenuation of the IT transformation and ongoing expansion efforts, would not have been possible without their commitment and their alliances. I would also like to thank our shareholders and partners for their continued trust and support. Our confidence in Eltek enabled us to pursue our long-term strategy and invest in the infrastructure, technology, and people that will drive our future growth. Thank you for joining us on today's call. Have a good day.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. This concludes Eltek's 2025 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. Thank you for your participation. You may go ahead and disconnect.