Itron Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results and 2022 Guidance

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 28, 2022—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, 2021. Highlights for the quarter and full year include:

• Quarterly and full year revenue of $486 million and $2.0 billion;
• Quarterly and full year gross margin of 25.0% and 28.9%;
• Quarterly and full year GAAP net loss of $(59) million and $(81) million;
• Quarterly and full year GAAP loss per share of $(1.30) and $(1.83);
• Quarterly and full year non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.75 and $1.75;
• Quarterly and full year adjusted EBITDA of $3 million and $115 million; and
• Backlog of $4.0 billion and 12-month backlog of $1.5 billion.

"Customer demand for Itron's solutions is at an all-time high, as demonstrated by record bookings and backlog in the fourth quarter," said Tom Deitrich, Itron's president and CEO.

"Unfortunately, headwinds due to semiconductor component shortages impacted our fourth quarter results and we anticipate these conditions continuing through at least the first half of 2022."

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

Revenue
Total revenue of $486 million decreased 8%, or 6% excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, compared with the fourth quarter of 2020.

By segment, Outcomes revenue increased 4%, driven by an increase in software and professional services. Networked Solutions revenue decreased 5% and Device Solutions revenue decreased 16%.

Gross Margin
Consolidated gross margin of 25.0% decreased 330 basis points compared with the fourth quarter of 2020 driven primarily by higher component costs and manufacturing inefficiencies.

Operating Income (loss), Net Income (loss) and Earnings (loss) per Share (EPS)
GAAP operating loss of $(107) million compared with operating income of $33 million in 2020. The decreased was primarily due to lower gross profit and higher GAAP operating expenses. The higher GAAP operating expenses were primarily driven by expenses related to restructuring activities and higher variable compensation. Also, we recognized a pre-tax loss related to the sale of certain gas device assets.

Non-GAAP operating loss $(7) million compared with non-GAAP operating income of $44 million in 2020. The decrease was due to lower gross profit and higher non-GAAP operating expenses, primarily driven by higher variable compensation.

GAAP net loss attributable to Itron, Inc. for the quarter was $(59) million, or $(1.30) per share, compared with net income of $22 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, in 2020. The reduction in net income and EPS was primarily due to lower GAAP operating income.

Non-GAAP net income was $34 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, compared with $26 million, or $0.65 per diluted share in 2020. The increase was due to a non-GAAP tax benefit driven by the impact of certain transfers of business activities and assets.

Cash Flow
In the fourth quarter, cash provided by operating activities was $14 million compared with $39 million in 2020. Free cash flow was $7 million compared with $29 million in the prior year. The decrease in cash flow was due to reduced non-GAAP EBITDA and lower cash inflows from working capital.

Other Measures
Bookings were a record $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter. This is a book to bill ratio of 2.2 to 1 for the quarter. Total backlog and 12-month backlog are both at record levels of $4.0 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, at the end of the quarter.

Financial Guidance
Itron's guidance for the full year 2022 is as follows:

• Revenue between $2.0 and $2.1 billion
• Non-GAAP diluted EPS between $1.25 and $1.75

Guidance assumes an average euro to U.S. dollar foreign currency exchange rate of $1.14 in 2022, diluted weighted average shares outstanding of approximately 45.5 million for the year, and a non-GAAP effective tax rate for the year of approximately 25%.

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.

Other Events
Share Repurchase Program
On Nov. 1, 2021 Itron's board of directors authorized a share repurchase program up to $100 million over an 18-month period. As of today, we have completed $25 million under the share repurchase program at an average share price of $61.67, totaling approximately 400 thousand shares.

Sale of European C+I Mechanical Gas / Stations / Global Gas Regulator Business
On Nov. 2, 2021, Itron entered into a definitive securities and asset purchase agreement to sell certain of its Gas device manufacturing and business operations in Europe and North America to Dresser Utility Solutions (Dresser). Itron anticipates this transaction to close today, Feb. 28, 2022.

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. 28, 2022. 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 5, 2022. To access the telephone replay, dial (888) 203-1112 (domestic) or (719) 457-0820 (international) and enter passcode 5471582.

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 plans, 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, 2020 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.

Non-GAAP Financial Information
To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP), we use certain adjusted or non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP operating expense, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (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. We believe 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.

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