EMERSON ELECTRIC CO (EMR) FY 2024 MD&A
This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
ITEM 7 - MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
16
Safe Harbor Statement
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains various forward-looking statements and includes assumptions concerning Emerson's operations, future results and prospects. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Emerson undertakes no obligation to update any such statements to reflect later developments. In connection with the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Emerson provides the cautionary statements set forth under Item 1A - “Risk Factors,” which are hereby incorporated by reference and identify important economic, political and technological factors, among others, changes in which could cause the actual results or events to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by the forward-looking statements and related assumptions.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement the Company’s financial information presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP), management periodically uses certain “non-GAAP financial measures,” as such term is defined in Regulation G under SEC rules, to clarify and enhance understanding of past performance and prospects for the future. Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company’s operating performance, financial position or cash flows that excludes or includes amounts that are included in or excluded from the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For example, non-GAAP measures may exclude the impact of certain items such as acquisitions or divestitures, amortization of intangibles, restructuring costs, discrete taxes, changes in reporting segments, gains, losses and impairments, or items outside of management’s control, such as foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Management believes that the following non-GAAP financial measures provide investors and analysts useful insight into the Company’s financial position and operating performance. Any non-GAAP measure provided should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative to, the most directly comparable measure determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as identified in italics below. Further, the calculation of these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from the calculation of similarly titled financial measures presented by other companies and therefore may not be comparable among companies.
Underlying sales, which exclude the impact of significant acquisitions, divestitures and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates during the periods presented, are provided to facilitate relevant period-to-period comparisons of sales growth by excluding those items that impact overall comparability (U.S. GAAP measure: net sales).
Operating profit (defined as net sales less cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses) and operating profit margin (defined as operating profit divided by net sales) are indicative of short-term operational performance and ongoing profitability. Management closely monitors operating profit and operating profit margin of each business to evaluate past performance and actions required to improve profitability. EBIT (defined as earnings before deductions for interest expense, net, related party interest income, and income taxes) and total segment EBIT, and EBIT margin (defined as EBIT divided by net sales) and total segment EBIT margin, are financial measures that exclude the impact of financing on the capital structure and income taxes. Adjusted EBITA and adjusted segment EBITA (defined as earnings excluding interest expense, net, related party interest income, income taxes, intangibles amortization expense, restructuring expense, first year purchase accounting related items and transaction fees, and certain gains, losses or impairments) and adjusted EBITA margin and adjusted segment EBITA margin (defined as adjusted EBITA divided by net sales) are measures used by management to evaluate the Company's operational performance, as they exclude the impact of acquisition-related investments and non-operational items. EBITDA (defined as EBIT excluding depreciation and amortization) and EBITDA margin (defined as EBITDA divided by net sales) are also used as measures of the Company's current operating performance, as they exclude the impact of capital and acquisition-related investments. Adjusted EBITDA (defined as EBITDA excluding restructuring expense, first year purchase accounting related items and transaction fees, and certain gains, losses or impairments) and adjusted EBITDA margin (defined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by net sales) are also used to exclude the impact of non-operational items. All of these are commonly used financial measures utilized by management to evaluate performance (U.S. GAAP measures: pretax earnings or pretax profit margin, segment earnings or segment margin).
Earnings and earnings per share excluding certain gains and losses, impairments, restructuring costs, impacts of acquisitions or divestitures, amortization of intangibles, discrete taxes, or other items provide additional insight into the underlying, ongoing operating performance of the Company and facilitate period-to-period comparisons by excluding the earnings impact of these items. Management believes that presenting earnings and earnings per
17
share excluding these items is more representative of the Company’s operational performance and may be more useful for investors (U.S. GAAP measures: earnings, earnings per share).
Free cash flow (operating cash flow less capital expenditures) and free cash flow as a percent of net sales are indicators of the Company’s cash generating capabilities, and dividends as a percent of free cash flow is an indicator of the Company's ability to support its dividend, after considering investments in capital assets which are necessary to maintain and enhance existing operations. The determination of operating cash flow adds back noncash depreciation expense to earnings and thereby does not reflect a charge for necessary capital expenditures. Management believes that free cash flow, free cash flow as a percent of net sales and dividends as a percent of free cash flow are useful to both management and investors as measures of the Company’s ability to generate cash and support its dividend (U.S. GAAP measures: operating cash flow, operating cash flow as a percent of net sales, dividends as a percent of operating cash flow).
18
FINANCIAL REVIEW