Vulcan Steel Limited Analysis

Overview

Vulcan is the only Australasian-wide, pure-play, value-added steel distributor and processor, with approximately 260kt of products sold in FY21. Vulcan distributes steel products, including carbon steel, stainless steel and engineering steel to a diversified customer base including customers in engineering, manufacturing, fabricating, transport, mining and a broad range of other market segments. Vulcan also provides value-added processing services for steel coils, steel plate, stainless steel and engineering steel. Vulcan cuts, drills, slits and shapes for fabrication, assembly or downstream processing by customers. Vulcan generated pro forma revenue and EBITDA in FY21 of NZ$731.5m and NZ$129.7m respectively, and had 842 employees as at 30 June 2021.

The Company was founded in Auckland in 1995 by Peter Wells and has since grown to 29 operating locations across Australia and New Zealand, serving an average of c.7,000 active trading accounts each month in FY21. Vulcan’s core business is focused on the distribution of steel, stainless steel and other steel across Australia and New Zealand. The Company also offers processing of steel plate, steel coil, stainless steel plate and engineering steel.

Vulcan is able to service a broad range of customers by operating as an intermediary between steel producers and end-users. Vulcan’s scale and longstanding relationships with its suppliers enable the Company to offer a broad product range, comprising c.12,000 individual SKUs in Australia and c.7,500 SKUs in New Zealand at 30 June 2021.

Vulcan generates the majority of its revenue from its Australian operations (62% of revenue in FY21) and has access to a diverse range of end-markets across both Australia and New Zealand. Vulcan has a diversified customer base, with its largest customer accounting for 2% of FY21 revenue and its top 20 customers accounting for 13% of FY21 revenue. Vulcan operated at ~98% distribution DIFOT in FY21, an indicator of its strong operational performance and commitment to outstanding customer service.

Vulcan is characterised by a flat organisational structure where managers in each region are empowered to autonomously manage inventory levels to meet customer demand. Vulcan has developed a fit-for-purpose IT system that is designed to enable staff to seamlessly access key financial and operational metrics in real-time. This assists staff to make better decisions, and improves responsiveness and inventory management. Further, Vulcan operates an in-house trucking fleet, with 92 owned trucks and 12 third-party cartage trucks as at 30 June 2021 across Australasia. This is uncommon in the industry and enables end-to-end control of the process, with an ability to provide customised delivery across Vulcan’s entire range of solutions, including next-day delivery for distribution products.

Vulcan has a proven track record of growing earnings both organically and through acquisitions. Vulcan has numerous opportunities for growth including ongoing business improvement initiatives, entry into new geographies, expansion of product and/or service offerings and opportunistic acquisitions.

Performance

The following information was extracted from Vulcan Steel Limited's ("VSL") full year results, released on 27 August 2024:

Vulcan continues to deliver sound financial returns and strong cashflow in challenging conditions, whilst positioned for growth

Vulcan Steel Limited (Vulcan), an Australasian-wide industrial product distributor and value added processor has announced its results for the financial year ended 30 June 2024 (FY24).

• Reported NPAT of NZ$40m*, down 55% from NZ$88m in FY23
• Reported EBITDA of NZ$148m, down 29% from NZ$208m in FY23
• Adjusted NPAT of NZ$40m*, down 58% from NZ$95m in 1H FY23
• Adjusted EBITDA of NZ$148m, down 33% from NZ$219m in FY23
• Operating cashflow of NZ$169m, up 16% from $145m in FY23
• 12.0 NZ cents per share final dividend declared for FY24

Commenting on the results, Vulcan’s Managing Director and CEO, Rhys Jones, said: “Business conditions in FY24 remained challenging across most markets, especially in New Zealand, following a difficult FY23.

Higher interest rates continued to impact on activity levels. High inflation added to the pressure on business costs.

Despite these tough conditions, we delivered a 16% increase in operating cashflow rising to NZ$169m in FY24 by being disciplined on costs and working capital management, which contributed to a $64m reduction in our net debt since FY23 to NZ$276m at the end of June 2024. The underlying 4% year-on-year growth in our active customer accounts in 2HFY24 and the progress we have made in our growth programme position us well for the future.”