Caesarstone Ltd. (CSTE) has reported 19.47 percent fall in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has earned $15.07 million, or $0.44 a share in the quarter, compared with $18.71 million, or $0.53 a share for the same period last year. On the other hand, adjusted net income for the quarter stood at $18.15 million, or $0.53 a share compared with $19.69 million or $0.55 a share, a year ago. Revenue during the quarter grew 5.98 percent to $134.98 million from $127.36 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 25 basis points over the previous year period to 38.10 percent. Total expenses were 85.84 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 82.22 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 362 basis points in operating margin to 14.16 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $19.11 million, compared with $22.64 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $29.97 million compared with $30.43 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 169 basis points in the quarter to 22.20 percent from 23.89 percent in the last year period.
Yonathan Melamed, Interim chief executive officer, commented, "We are pleased to have momentum in our U.S. business which has begun to benefit from investment in our sales and marketing capabilities. Our brand continues to demonstrate global strength and we continue to innovate new products that position us as a clear market leader and establish further growth opportunities for the Company."
Caesarstone Ltd. projects revenue to be in the range of $580 million to $595 million for financial year 2017.
Operating cash flow improvesCaesarstone Ltd. has generated cash of $101.52 million from operating activities during the year, up 18.51 percent or $15.86 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $23.37 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $77.72 million in the last year.
The company has spent $35.62 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash inflow of $2.15 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $106.27 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 69.20 percent or $43.46 million from $62.81 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
Debt increases substantially
Caesarstone Ltd. has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $16.61 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 41.81 percent or $4.90 million from $11.71 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
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