/EINPresswire.com/ -- VANCOUVER, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/01/16 -- Northwest Pipe Company (NASDAQ: NWPX) today announced its financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2015. The Company will broadcast its fourth quarter and full year 2015 earnings conference call on Wednesday, March 2, 2016, at 8:00 am PST.

Full Year 2015 Results
Net sales from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2015 decreased 41.3% to $236.6 million compared to $403.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. Gross loss was $12.6 million (negative 5.3% of net sales from continuing operations) in 2015, a decrease from a gross profit of $40.6 million (10.1% of net sales from continuing operations) in 2014. A non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $5.3 million was recorded for the Water Transmission segment in 2015. In 2014, the Company recorded $16.1 million for a similar charge associated with the Company's Tubular Products segment. Including the impairment charges, the 2015 loss from continuing operations was $29.4 million or $3.07 per diluted share, compared to $6.2 million or $0.65 per diluted share for 2014. Excluding the impairment charges, adjusted loss from continuing operations for full year 2015 was $24.1 million or $2.52 per diluted share compared to income of $9.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share for full year 2014.

Water Transmission sales decreased 27.4% to $173.2 million in 2015 from $238.5 million in 2014. The decrease in net sales was the result of a 16% decrease in production due to reduced demand and project timing and a 14% decrease in average selling prices, which was due to a very competitive bidding environment coupled with lower steel costs. Water Transmission gross profit decreased to $0.6 million (0.3% of segment net sales) in 2015 from $39.6 million (16.6% of segment net sales) in 2014. Water Transmission gross profit decreased in total and as a percent of sales due to the mix of products produced coupled with significant competition on recent project bids. In addition, lower of cost or market adjustments were $1.1 million higher in 2015 than 2014.

Tubular Products sales from continuing operations decreased 61.5% to $63.4 million in 2015 from $164.8 million in 2014, driven by a 55% decrease in tons sold and a 14% decrease in selling prices per ton. The 2015 segment gross loss of $13.2 million (negative 20.9% of segment net sales from continuing operations) compared to a gross profit of $1.0 million (0.6% of segment net sales) in 2014. Gross profit was negatively affected by reduced sales volumes and prices due to lower demand for line pipe and high levels of imported pipe.

For the year ended, December 31, 2015, free cash flow, defined as net cash generated from operating activities after capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment, was $46.7 million, compared to $20.8 million during the year ended December 31, 2014. As of December 31, 2015, the Company has no amounts drawn on its line of credit.

As of December 31, 2015, the backlog of orders in the Water Transmission segment was approximately $116 million. This compared to a backlog of $121 million as of December 31, 2014 and $101 million as of September 30, 2015. The backlog includes confirmed orders, including the balance of projects in process, and projects for which the Company has been notified that it is the successful bidder even though a binding agreement has not been executed.

Fourth Quarter 2015 Results
Net sales from continuing operations for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 decreased 55.4% to $45.6 million compared to $102.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2014. Gross loss was $11.4 million (negative 25.0% of net sales) in the fourth quarter of 2015, as compared to gross profit of $9.1 million (8.9% of net sales) in the fourth quarter of 2014. The loss from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $13.7 million or $1.43 per diluted share compared to $14.0 million or $1.47 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2014. The fourth quarter 2014 results include the $16.1 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge described above. Excluding that charge, adjusted income from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2014 was $2.1 million or $0.21 per diluted share.

Water Transmission sales decreased 31.5% to $38.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 from $56.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. The decrease in net sales was the result of a 39% decrease in average selling prices due to the mix of products produced coupled with lower steel costs partially offset by increased production. Water Transmission gross loss was $7.4 million (negative 19.2% of segment net sales) in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to a gross profit of $9.9 million (17.5% of segment net sales) in the fourth quarter of 2014. Water Transmission net sales and gross profit decreased due to lower selling prices from the overall competitive pressures in the bidding for water infrastructure projects combined with the mix of projects produced in the quarter.

Tubular Products sales from continuing operations decreased 84.9% to $6.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 from $45.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Tubular Products gross loss increased to $4.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $0.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Gross profit was negatively impacted by reduced sales volumes and prices due to lower demand for line pipe products and high levels of imported pipe.

Outlook
"We shut down our remaining energy tubular operations in Atchison in January and plan to keep this facility idle until either we sell that asset or the market improves," said Scott Montross, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. "While our water business backlog has almost doubled in tons versus a year ago, project delays will hurt production in the first quarter. We expect that municipal markets will continue to improve this year, but prices and margins will remain weak due to increases in supply that have created a far more competitive bidding environment than we have seen historically."

Conference Call
The Company will hold its 2015 earnings conference call on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at 8:00 am PST. To listen to the live call, visit the Northwest Pipe Company website, www.nwpipe.com, under Investor Relations. For those unable to listen to the live call, the replay will be available approximately one hour after the event and will remain available until Friday, April 1, 2016 by dialing 1-800-677-5211 passcode 6301.

About Northwest Pipe Company
Northwest Pipe Company is the largest manufacturer of engineered steel pipe water systems in North America. With eight Water Transmission manufacturing facilities, the Company is positioned to meet North America's growing needs for water and wastewater infrastructure. The Company serves a wide range of markets and their solution-based products are a good fit for applications including: water transmission, plant piping, tunnels, and river crossings. The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington and has manufacturing facilities across the United States and one manufacturing facility in Mexico.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release by Scott Montross are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act that are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our business, management's beliefs, and assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of important factors. While it is impossible to identify all such factors, those that could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by us include changes in demand and market prices for our products, product mix, bidding activity, the timing of customer orders and deliveries, production schedules, the price and availability of raw materials, price and volume of imported product, excess or shortage of production capacity, international trade policy and regulations, the results of our exploration of the sale of our remaining energy tubular products business, including our ability to identify and complete any transactions or other actions as a result of such efforts, our ability to identify and complete internal initiatives and/or acquisitions in order to grow our Water Transmission business and other risks discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and from time to time in our other Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release. If we do update or correct one or more forward-looking statements, investors and others should not conclude that we will make additional updates or corrections with respect thereto or with respect to other forward-looking statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company is presenting, adjusted, income from continuing operations, adjusted income from continuing operations per diluted share and free cash flow which are non-GAAP measures, to better enable investors and others to assess our results and compare them with our competitors. These non-GAAP measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

For more information, visit www.nwpipe.com.

                           NORTHWEST PIPE COMPANY
        CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited)
                 (In throusands, except per share amounts)


                                  Three Months Ended      Full Year Ended
                                     December 31,          December 31,
                                 --------------------  --------------------
                                    2015       2014       2015       2014
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Net sales:
  Water Transmission             $  38,681  $  56,484  $ 173,160  $ 238,545
  Tubular Products                   6,881     45,674     63,448    164,753
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Net sales                       45,562    102,158    236,608    403,298

Cost of sales:
  Water Transmission                46,124     46,601    172,554    198,944
  Tubular Products                  10,850     46,432     76,679    163,778
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total cost of sales             56,974     93,033    249,233    362,722

Gross profit (loss):
  Water Transmission                (7,443)     9,883        606     39,601
  Tubular Products                  (3,969)      (758)   (13,231)       975
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total gross profit (loss)      (11,412)     9,125    (12,625)    40,576

Selling, general and
 administrative expense              5,104      6,469     22,303     24,316
Impairment of goodwill                   -     16,066      5,282     16,066
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Operating (loss) income
  Water Transmission                (9,026)     7,817    (11,592)    31,490
  Tubular Products                  (4,530)   (17,227)   (15,699)   (16,677)
  Corporate                         (2,960)    (4,000)   (12,919)   (14,619)
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Operating (loss) income        (16,516)   (13,410)   (40,210)       194

Other income                             6        105         88        108
Interest income                          -         83        173        466
Interest expense                      (492)      (493)    (1,390)    (2,290)
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Loss before income taxes           (17,002)   (13,715)   (41,339)    (1,522)

Income tax (benefit) expense        (3,309)       287    (11,951)     4,651
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Loss from continuing operations    (13,693)   (14,002)   (29,388)    (6,173)

Income (loss) from discontinued
 operations                              -          6          -    (11,714)
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Net loss                         $ (13,693) $ (13,996) $ (29,388) $ (17,887)
                                 =========  =========  =========  =========

Basic loss per share
  Continuing operations          $   (1.43) $   (1.47) $   (3.07) $   (0.65)
  Discontinued operations                -          -          -      (1.23)
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

  Net loss per share             $   (1.43) $   (1.47) $   (3.07) $   (1.88)
                                 =========  =========  =========  =========

Diluted loss per share
  Continuing operations          $   (1.43) $   (1.47) $   (3.07) $   (0.65)
  Discontinued operations                -          -          -      (1.23)
                                 ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

  Net loss per share assuming
   dilution                      $   (1.43) $   (1.47) $   (3.07) $   (1.88)
                                 =========  =========  =========  =========

Shares used in per share
 calculations:
  Basic                              9,565      9,520      9,560      9,515
                                 =========  =========  =========  =========
  Diluted                            9,565      9,520      9,560      9,515
                                 =========  =========  =========  =========



                           NORTHWEST PIPE COMPANY
              CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited)
                        (Dollar amounts in thousands)


                                                  December 31,  December 31,
                                                      2015          2014
                                                 ------------- -------------
Assets:
  Cash and cash equivalents                      $      10,309 $         527
  Trade and other receivables, net                      27,567        58,310
  Costs and estimated earnings in excess of
   billings on uncompleted contracts                    42,592        45,847
  Inventories                                           29,475        72,779
  Other current assets                                   5,336        17,776
                                                 ------------- -------------
    Total current assets                               115,279       195,239
  Property and equipment, net                          131,848       132,595
  Other assets                                          12,253        24,048
                                                 ------------- -------------
    Total assets                                 $     259,380 $     351,882
                                                 ============= =============

Liabilities:
  Current maturities of capital lease
   obligations                                   $         340 $       2,170
  Accounts payable                                       4,739        15,480
  Accrued liabilities                                   15,971         9,071
  Billings in excess of cost and estimated
   earnings on uncompleted contracts                       520         2,835
                                                 ------------- -------------
    Total current liabilities                           21,570        29,556
  Borrowings on line of credit                               -        45,587
  Capital leases, less current portion                     718           225
  Other long-term liabilities                           19,532        30,879
                                                 ------------- -------------
    Total liabilities                                   41,820       106,247

Stockholders' equity                                   217,560       245,635
                                                 ------------- -------------
    Total liabilities and stockholders' equity   $     259,380 $     351,882
                                                 ============= =============

Contact:
Robin Gantt
Chief Financial Officer
(360) 397-6250