PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., March 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mistras Group, Inc. (NYSE:MG), a leading "one source" global provider of technology-enabled asset protection solutions, reported financial results for its abbreviated fiscal period (the "2016 stub period") which commenced on June 1, 2016 and ended December 31, 2016.  The 2016 stub period is a result of the Company's previously announced change in its fiscal year to December 31 in order to better align the Company's budgeting and planning cycles with those of its customers.

Revenues for the 2016 stub period were $404.2 million, or 6% lower than in the comparable period of 2015.  Net income during the 2016 stub period was $9.6 million or $0.32 per diluted share, both measures reflecting declines of approximately 50% compared with the comparable period of 2015. Included in the 2016 stub period were pre-tax charges aggregating approximately $5 million, primarily associated with the acceleration of certain costs to align with the Company's new December 31 fiscal year-end, and other charges which included severance and the write-off of an intangible asset.

The Company generated $30.3 million of cash from operating activities during the 2016 stub period and approximately $20 million in free cash flow, defined as cash flow from operating activities less cash used to purchase property, plant and equipment and intangible assets. The Company utilized its free cash flow during the 2016 stub period for acquisitions ($8.3 million) and to repurchase $9 million of stock. The Company's net debt (total debt less cash) of $84.3 million at December 31, 2016 was approximately 1.1x Adjusted EBITDA.

Adjusted EBITDA for the 2016 stub period was $43 million, or 10.6% of revenues, compared with $58 million in the comparable period of the prior year. The decline of $15 million was almost entirely driven by the Company's Services segment, which experienced a weaker than expected fall 2016 turnaround season.

Dr. Sotirios Vahaviolos, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "As mentioned in our recent earnings calls, the fall 2016 season was an especially challenging market in North America, as workloads from many customers were less than in prior year. These conditions caused results in our Services segment to suffer a poor comparison to prior year that more than offset continued positive performance in our International segment. Having realized strong improvements in our fiscal year that ended May 31, 2016, the fall off that we experienced in the second half of calendar 2016 was very disappointing."

Dr. Vahaviolos added: "Unfortunately, the market has not yet rebounded in the spring of 2017. We are using this time to make further adjustments to our cost structure, and to enhance our competitive position by adding capabilities that will help our customers in new and exciting ways. We will use 2017 to position Mistras to drive incrementally more value for our customers, and to make investments that will reignite our profitable growth in 2018 and beyond. "

Planning Assumptions and Guidance for 2017

The Company is introducing its planning assumptions and guidance for fiscal year 2017 that commenced on January 1, 2017. The Company expects that the present range for petroleum prices will persist for the foreseeable future, causing oil and gas customer spend for inspection services to be correspondingly flat to down.

Information obtained from North American oil and gas customers suggests that their spending in the first half of calendar 2017 will continue to trend lower than prior year, albeit at a lower rate of decline than in the fall of 2016. Spending levels are expected to pick up modestly in the second half of 2017. The Company's results for the first half and second half of 2017 are expected to reflect this dynamic.

Total revenues for 2017 are expected to be between $670 million to $700 million, or roughly flat with calendar 2016 revenues of $685 million. The Company's net income for calendar 2016 was $16 million, including net of tax charges of approximately $5 million. Net income for 2017 is expected to range from $20 million to $23 million. Earnings per diluted share is expected to range from 68 cents to 78 cents.  Adjusted EBITDA for calendar year 2016 was $74 million, or 11% of revenues. Adjusted EBITDA for calendar 2017 is expected to be between $73 million to $78 million.

The Company expects that its operating cash flow will approximate $50 million, inclusive of funding over $6 million pertaining to a prior year legal settlement. Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $20 million, inclusive of approximately $5 million to be used to build out the Company's facilities and equipment to service its recent long-term contract with Safran in France.

Conference Call

In connection with this release, Mistras will hold a conference call on March 17, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern). The call will be broadcast over the Web and can be accessed on Mistras' Website, www.mistrasgroup.com. Individuals in the U.S. wishing to participate in the conference call by phone may call 1-844-832-7227 and use confirmation code 88319215 when prompted. The International dial-in number is 1-224-633-1529.

About Mistras Group, Inc.

Mistras offers one of the broadest "one source" services and technology-enabled asset protection solution portfolios in the industry used to evaluate the structural integrity of energy, industrial and public infrastructure. Mission critical services and solutions are delivered globally and provide customers with the ability to extend the useful life of their assets, improve productivity and profitability, comply with government safety and environmental regulations and enhance risk management operational decisions.

Mistras uniquely combines its industry leading products and technologies - 24/7 on-line monitoring of critical assets; mechanical integrity ("MI") and non-destructive testing ("NDT") services; destructive testing services; and its proprietary world class data warehousing and analysis software - to provide comprehensive and competitive products, systems and services solutions from a single source provider.

For more information, please visit the company's website at www.mistrasgroup.com.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Certain statements made in this press release are "forward-looking statements" about Mistras' financial results and estimates, products and services, business model, strategy, growth opportunities, profitability and competitive position, and other matters. These forward-looking statements generally use words such as "future," "possible," "potential," "targeted," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "predict," "project," "will," "may," "should," "could," "would" and other similar words and phrases. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which, such performance or results will be achieved, if at all. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in these statements. A list, description and discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties can be found in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2016 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 15, 2016, as updated by our reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and Mistras undertakes no obligation to update such statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Use of Non-GAAP Measures and Unaudited Proforma Financial Information
In addition to financial information prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (GAAP), this press release also contains adjusted financial measures that we believe provide investors and management with supplemental information relating to operating performance and trends that facilitate comparisons between periods and with respect to projected information. These adjusted financial measures are non-GAAP and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with GAAP. We typically exclude certain GAAP items that management does not believe affect our basic operations and that do not meet the GAAP definition of unusual or non-recurring items. Other companies may define these measures in different ways. The term "Adjusted EBITDA" used in this release is a financial measurement not calculated in accordance with GAAP. A Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to a financial measurement under GAAP is set forth in a table attached to this press release. In addition, the Company has also included in the attached tables non-GAAP measurement" "Segment and Total Company Income (Loss) Before Special Items", reconciling these measurements to financial measurements under GAAP. The Company uses the term "free cash flow", a non-GAAP measurement the Company defines as free cash flow as cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures (which is classified as an investing activity).  Free cash flow does not represent residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures since items such as debt repayments are not deducted in determining such measures.  The Company also uses the term "net debt", a non-GAAP measurement defined as the sum of the current and long-term portions of long-term debt and capital lease obligations, less cash and cash equivalents. The Company believes that investors and other users of the financial statements benefit from the presentation of these non-GAAP measurements because they provide additional metrics to compare the Company's operating performance on a consistent basis and measure underlying trends and results of the Company's business.

The accompanying unaudited proforma summary operating information and unaudited proforma reconciliations of net income to Adjusted EBITDA for each of the 2016 and 2015 quarterly periods and calendar years presented has been prepared as-if the Company had historically reported on a calendar year basis.  Certain assumptions have been made in preparing the information on this basis.

Media Contact:
Nestor S. Makarigakis, Group Director of Marketing Communications, 
marcom@mistrasgroup.com
1(609)716-4000