Itron Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Financial Results and 2021 Guidance

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 24, 2021—Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI), which is innovating the way utilities and cities manage energy and water, announced today financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2020. Highlights for the quarter and full year include:

• Quarterly and full year revenue of $525 million and $2.2 billion;
• Quarterly and full year gross margin of 28.3% and 27.7%;
• Quarterly and full year GAAP net income of $22 million and net loss of $(58) million;
• Quarterly GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.53 and full year loss per share of $(1.44);
• Quarterly and full year non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.65 and $1.85;
• Quarterly and full year adjusted EBITDA of $56 million and $178 million; and
• Backlog of $3.3 billion and 12-month backlog of $1.2 billion.

"I'm proud of our team's commitment during a challenging year with the COVID-19 pandemic," said Tom Deitrich, Itron's president and chief executive officer. "We have prioritized the health and safety of our employees, customers and the communities we serve, while continuing to execute on our strategy."

"We are optimistic as we enter 2021 with a record backlog; over 74 million endpoints under management; and over 2.7 million Distributed Intelligent Riva^® meters deployed."

Summary of Fourth Quarter Consolidated Financial Results
(All comparisons made are against the prior year period unless otherwise noted)

Revenue
Total revenue of $525 million decreased 16%, or 18% excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, compared with the fourth quarter of 2019.

By segment, Outcomes revenue increased 14%, driven by higher software license revenue. Networked Solutions revenue decreased 25% and Device Solutions revenue decreased 10%.

Gross Margin
Consolidated gross margin of 28.3% increased 10 basis points compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, driven primarily by higher-margin software license revenue, partially offset by increased inventory reserves.

Operating Income, Net Income and Earnings per Share (EPS)
GAAP operating income increased to $33 million from $29 million in 2019. The increase was due to lower GAAP operating expenses.

Non-GAAP operating income decreased to $44 million from $46 million in 2019. The decrease was due to lower gross profit, partially offset by lower non-GAAP operating expenses, including lower variable compensation.

GAAP net income attributable to Itron, Inc. for the quarter was $22 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, compared with net income of $15 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, in 2019. The higher GAAP net income and EPS was primarily due to higher GAAP operating income.

Non-GAAP net income was $26 million, or $0.65 per diluted share, compared with $29 million, or $0.72 per diluted share in 2019. The decrease was due to lower non-GAAP operating income and a higher non- GAAP effective tax rate due to the mix of taxable income by jurisdiction and fewer discrete tax benefits.

Cash Flow
In the fourth quarter, cash provided by operating activities was $39 million compared with $45 million in 2019. Free cash flow of $29 million increased slightly year over year with a reduction in capital expenditures offsetting the lower operating cash flow.

Other Measures
Bookings were $973 million in the fourth quarter. This is a book to bill ratio of 1.9 to 1 for the quarter. Total backlog was $3.3 billion and 12-month backlog was $1.2 billion at the end of the quarter.

Financial Guidance
Itron's guidance for the full year 2021 is as follows:

• Revenue between $2.23 and $2.33 billion
• Non-GAAP diluted EPS between $2.15 and $2.55

Guidance assumes an average euro to U.S. dollar foreign currency exchange rate of $1.20 in 2021, diluted weighted average shares outstanding of approximately 41 million for the year, non-GAAP interest expense of $36 million and a non-GAAP effective tax rate for the year of approximately 30%.

A reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP diluted EPS to the GAAP diluted EPS has not been provided because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty the potential amount or timing of restructuring and acquisition and integration related expenses and their related tax effects without unreasonable effort. These items are uncertain, depend on various factors and could have a material impact on GAAP results for the guidance period.

Earnings Conference Call
Itron will host a conference call to discuss the financial results and guidance contained in this release at 10 a.m. EST on Feb. 24, 2021. The call will be webcast in a listen-only mode. Webcast information and conference call materials will be made available 10 minutes before the start of the call and will be accessible on Itron's website at investors.itron.com. A replay of the audio webcast will be made available at investors.itron.com. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available through March 1, 2021. To access the telephone replay, dial (888) 203-1112 (domestic) or (719) 457-0820 (international) and enter passcode 3823454.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This release contains, and our officers and representatives may from time to time make, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are neither historical factors nor assurances of future performance. These statements are based on our expectations about, among others, revenues, operations, financial performance, earnings, liquidity, earnings per share, cash flows and restructuring activities including headcount reductions and other cost savings initiatives. This document reflects our current strategy, plans and expectations and is based on information currently available as of the date of this release. When we use words such as "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "goal", "seek", "project", "estimate", "future", "strategy", "objective", "may", "likely", "should", "will", "will continue", and similar expressions, including related to future periods, they are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions and estimates. Although we believe the estimates and assumptions upon which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of these estimates or assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and the forward-looking statements based on these estimates and assumptions could be incorrect. Our operations involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control, and any one of which, or a combination of which, could materially affect our results of operations and whether the forward-looking statements ultimately prove to be correct. Actual results and trends in the future may differ materially from those suggested or implied by the forward-looking statements depending on a variety of factors. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that we believe could affect our results include our ability to execute on our restructuring plan, our ability to achieve estimated cost savings, the rate and timing of customer demand for our products, rescheduling of current customer orders, changes in estimated liabilities for product warranties, adverse impacts of litigation, changes in laws and regulations, our dependence on new product development and intellectual property, future acquisitions, changes in estimates for stock-based and bonus compensation, increasing volatility in foreign exchange rates, international business risks, uncertainties caused by adverse economic conditions, including, without limitation those resulting from extraordinary events or circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors that are more fully described in Part I, Item 1A: Risk Factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019 and other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Itron undertakes no obligation to update or revise any information in this press release.

The impact caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic includes uncertainty as to the duration, spread, severity, and any resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic including other factors contributing to infection rates, such as reinfection or mutation of the virus, the effectiveness or widespread availability and application of any vaccine, the duration and scope of related government orders and restrictions, impact on overall demand, impact on our customers' businesses and workforce levels, disruptions of our business and operations, including the impact on our employees, limitations on, or closures of, our facilities, or the business and operations of our customers or suppliers. Our estimates and statements regarding the impact of COVID-19 are made in good faith to provide insight to our current and future operating and financial environment and any of these may materially change due to factors outside our control. For more information on risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, please see Itron's updated risk in Part II, Item 1A: Risk Factors of our latest 10-Q filing with the SEC.

Non-GAAP Financial Information
To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with GAAP, we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP operating expense, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP diluted EPS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, constant currency and free cash flow. We provide these non-GAAP financial measures because we believe they provide greater transparency and represent supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. We exclude certain costs in our non-GAAP financial measures as we believe the net result is a measure of our core business. The company believes these measures facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period by eliminating potential differences caused by the existence and timing of certain expense items that would not otherwise be apparent on a GAAP basis. Non-GAAP performance measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, results prepared in accordance with GAAP. We strongly encourage investors and shareholders to review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure. Our non-GAAP financial measures may be different from those reported by other companies. A more detailed discussion of why we use non-GAAP financial measures, the limitations of using such measures, and reconciliations between non-GAAP and the nearest GAAP financial measures are included in this press release.

Related Documents
Itron Q4 2020 Earnings Statement.