All right, good morning, everyone. Continuing with Day Three of the Conference, my name is Brad Hewitt from the multi-industry team here at Wolfe. Next up, we have ITT to start the day, start Thursday. Very pleased to have President and CEO Luca Savi, and also Mark Macaluso from the IR team. Thanks for joining us.
Thank you.
Thanks, Brad. Just really quick, I'll turn it over to Luca. A reminder on page two of our Safe Harbor, the presentation comments that Luca and I make, they contain forward-looking statements which are based on our best view of the world and of our businesses as we see them today. These assumptions and expectations can change, and we'd ask that you view them in that light. We encourage you to review the latest risks and uncertainties in our Form 10-K and other SEC filings available on our website. With that, thanks again, and I will turn it over to Luca.
Thank you, Mark. Just a few minutes presentation before we get to Q&A. ITT is an engineering manufacturing company designing engineering components for harsh environments that works across different industries. You're talking brake pads for automotive, shock absorbers for high-speed trains for the rail industry or for defense vehicles, pumps and valves across different sectors from chemical, mining, oil and gas, traditional energy, energy transition, as well as components and connectors that go in aero and defense. Geographically, it is quite well spread with more than 40% here in North America, and our strategy has always been to be in the region for the region. You see here our results for the last 3 years, so I'm not going to take you through those, but we generated a lot of value in the last 6 years, organic value creation through organic revenue growth and margin expansion.
When you look at our Q1, Q1 was resilient, was a good quarter, and preparing for a strong Q2. The highlights of Q1, I would say really the orders, you know, more than $1 billion of orders. This is the first time for ITT in a quarter, as well as capital deployment. We repurchased $100 million of shares in Q1, and then when there was a little bit of a mess in the market, we decided to pre-release our results and to go out in the market and to reaffirm our, you know, our trust in the long-term future of ITT. Year to date, we repurchased $500 million of shares. Last week, we had our Capital Markets Day, and during our Capital Markets Day, the last one was in 2022 when we shared the long-term targets.
We surpassed the long-term targets two years ahead of plan, so we decided to do another Investor Day last week, and we shared how we're going to create value in the future, both organic, because that part is still there, we are not even close to be done, as well as compounding with M&A. We shared how we're going to do it through differentiation in execution as well as innovation. We shared also our long-term targets for 2030, which is organic revenue growth of more than 5%, total growth of 10%, and adjusted operating margin roughly of 23%, or EBITDA above 25%, EPS of $11 from an organic basis or more than 12% if you consider total with the M&A and the free cash flow margin between 14% and 15%. With that, we can move to Q&A, Brad.
Great. Thanks, Luca. Maybe starting with the organic growth outlook, the greater than 5% organic growth target through 2030, that would be targeting 5%-7% in IP, 2%-4% in MT, and 7% and 9% in CCT. Just curious if you could walk through kind of some of the moving pieces on the long-term growth outlook there.
Sure. As you see, our portfolio is shifting towards more flow as well as more on connectors, so higher growth and higher margin businesses. You see that in those growth, there is for sure some market growth when you think about the flow as well as connectors, but there is a lot of outperformance. We have been able through execution and innovation to outperform the markets that we were in. If you look at ITT overall, it was more than 9% organic in the last three years. I would say the same outperformance will happen in flow, and this is because of the way that we are executing on time for our customer and ecosystem and a good quality product across all the different regions, you know, particularly while in the Middle East.
I would say outperformance on the connector side of the business where we are exposed to aero and defense, we differentiate here through a very fast customization of our connectors. We develop and we customize the connector very quickly, prototype it very quickly, and this is how we get specified in programs, as well as in outperformance in auto and rail. Traditionally, we outperform more than 700 basis points every year in the automotive market, and we are committed in 2025 and in the next few years to outperform between 300 and 500 basis points.
Okay, great. Maybe in terms of that consolidated greater than 5% organic growth outlook, how do you think about what you're embedding there for the market growth versus innovation versus execution and kind of outgrowth versus market?
Sure. Sure. I would say if you look at that property, the outperformance overall in the market is anything between the 300 and 400 basis points. That is, and this is really related to the execution and the innovation.
Okay, great. Maybe switching over to the margin side of things. You're talking about 500 basis points of margin expansion in 2030 versus 2024. Maybe just walk through some of the moving pieces on how we get there.
Sure. When you look at the margin, it has been a great story in terms of in the last few years, and it's generated a lot of value. As I said before, we are not even close to get it done. If you come to our plants and you walk the shop floor, you will be able to see a lot of efficiency, a lot of things that are super lean, but at the same time, we'll be able to share with you and point out the area for improvements. Our factories in process, in flow, pumps and valves are working well, but there is still a lot of progress that we can do in lean and productivity, a lot of automation that can happen there.
The same is when it comes to connectors and controls, a lot of lean, a lot of automation that will make our factory more productive. Even when it comes to the gem in terms of productivity, which is our automotive and rail business, there is still room to improve there in terms of continuous improvement. Productivity is a big chunk of that. I would say in terms of supply chain, we have a pocket of excellence, but there is still improvement that needs to be made on that front. In some of the sectors like flow and controls, I think that we will also have more price powers. There is definitely room to get those 500 basis points.
Okay. One of the interesting slides from the Capital Markets Day, you had a slide about an opportunity to expand margins by 400 basis points from getting some of the underperforming sites up to the ITT level. Maybe just walk through, you know, what are the biggest steps you're taking to get there? What are the characteristics of those sites that are underperforming on margins?
Sure. In the framework that we are operating in when it comes to our plant, our business is SQDC, Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost. These are really the fundamentals of the businesses. There is a very good correlation if you look at the best performing site on the side that got the best track record on safety, the best track record on quality. Working on continuously improving those fundamentals is really key. Focus on that one. Guess what? The financials will just happen as a consequence. The other thing is ensuring that we cross-fertilize the talent.
We have sites where we have developed the best performing sites is also where we have the best talent, and therefore moving those talents across the organization from Saudi, which is an incredible pool of talented individuals, moving them to sites either in Europe as well as in North America will facilitate also the gain of the 500 basis points we are talking about.
Okay. And maybe sticking along that topic, you know, it seems like IP in Saudi has been one of the really good success stories for you guys in terms of margin expansion. I guess curious how replicable you think that level of performance can be, you know, kind of across other regions?
It is. Definitely, it is. In using the framework and the processes that we developed with SQDC, as well as some of the talents that we had in Saudi, I think that will make that improvement replicable across the board. Just to share, there are talents, for instance, Hamdi, Hamdi Salim. Hamdi went to Saudi in 2018, 2019. He turned around that operation. He was responsible then for the European operation, now responsible for goods pumps or oil pumps around the world. Therefore, he is facilitating the implementation of all those processes and those frameworks around the world, for sure.
Maybe sticking with the execution topic, but switching over to MT, your motion technology segment, you know, the brake pad is the biggest business there. Your execution there has been vastly better than peers. I guess maybe talk about how much further room for improvement you see in that particular segment, you know, given where you already are in terms of quality, speed of launches, customer experience?
Sure. Definitely. Of course, the profitability of and the journey, the profitability journey of friction of our very business has been incredible. But as I said, we are not even close to be done. That's the beauty of the culture that you have in this team. Let me give you an example. I live at quality on a quality point, from a quality point of view, they are performing in PPBs, in parts per billion. There is nobody in the market, no competitor that is at that level. They closed 2024 at 400 , 400 parts per billion. When they set their own target for 2025, they did not go for 10%, 20%, or 30% improvement. They just said, okay, we half it to 200 PPB. They do not need the market, you know, I mean, the competitors are not even close to be there.
By the way, they will not hit it, but they simply do not care. They know that, you know, if they stretch themselves, they will go for absolutely, you know, the best result that they can get. They will be red every single month of the year. They know that at the end of the year, they will achieve the best result. That approach in terms of quality is the same when it comes to the productivity of a press, oven, or a finishing line. Therefore, the lines that today are operating at more than 90% efficiency set their target, you know, even higher than that. There is still room that they can work on.
Maybe on the innovation side of things, curious if you could talk about kind of the pace of innovation at the total company level. Maybe is there a way to translate that into a new product vitality metric?
Sure. The way we do, and we have metrics internally, the way that we classify our innovation is in, you know, now, new, and next. Now are all the VAVE, the value analysis, value engineering project that we get going to continuously improve the competitiveness and the performance of the product that we do have. And as you can imagine, plenty of projects in there, and this is where the success rate is the highest. Then you have the new. The new is practically the same product, but it's really new. It could be a new mix. It could be, you know, a new product for us that has got the application in mind that we did not have before. Therefore, we got less project on that one and good success rate, but less than the now. Then we got the next.
The next is really where you have the revolutionary product. It could be a smart brake pad that is intelligent and that gives data for autonomous driving. Or it could be VIDAR, a new motor new to the world and new to us. In those cases, you know, our success, we got fewer projects, but also the success rate is a little bit lower just because they're completely new. We keep on feeding. We tend to invest, you know, more than 4% of our revenue in R&D, and it's one way that we differentiate.
Maybe in terms of capital allocation. M&A was also a big focal point at the Capital Markets Day. Can you talk about some of the criteria and how do you think about what are the nice-to-have criteria versus the must-have criteria for M&A?
Sure. M&A is a muscle that we are building. As I said before, a lot of value has been created organically. In the last couple of years, we started to deploy capital also on the M&A front. We bought Habonim, a valves company out of Israel that works a lot on LNG hydrogen. We bought Micro-Mode, RF connectors in aero and defense. Then Habonim, cryogenic pump for the marine industry for LNG, LPG, ammonia. Last but not least, kSARIA last September for interconnect solutions for aero and defense. Those are all working very well. I would say the criteria are, A, working for high growth and high margin businesses. You see it, cryogenic energy transition, you look at aero and defense, high growth, high margin business. Companies that have a leading position in their market.
Svanehøj is a leader in three of the four sectors that they're operating in. Strong management teams. This has been the case for Habonim, it's been the case for Svanehøj, it's been the case for kSARIA, to the point that the management team of these three companies, they're all 100% still with us within ITT. These are really the criteria that we are looking for.
It sounds like both Svanehøj and kSARIA are both very good templates in terms of what to expect for future acquisitions. I guess, curious, is there anything that could lead you to do a meaningfully larger size deal?
Sure. I think those are, if you look at kSARIA and Svanehøj, is really the sweet spot. And if I look at the funnel of opportunities, the majority of the opportunities in the funnel of M&A are really that kind of size. So you're talking about anything between $400 million-$700 million in terms of capital deployment and revenue between $200 million and $300 million. Sure, there are, you know, some larger deals in the funnel, but the majority is really in that range.
Maybe on free cash flow. You raised the free cash flow margin guidance, long-term guidance, 14%-15%. At the previous Capital Markets Day, it was 11%-13%. A nice step up there. Maybe how much, you know, curious how much of that is coming from working capital?
A lot of that is coming from working capital. When you look at our portfolio, you have our Motion Technologies business. The working capital of Motion Technologies is roughly 15%, is the best performing as a value center. We still have some room for improvement on that front. If you think about it, we were discussing with the board that their past year as a percentage of all receivables is less than 4%. Great performance. If you think about it, a big chunk is also European business where, you know, it operates differently. Great on that respect. When you look at IP and CCT, their working capital leaves a lot to be improved. They are in the 20s, low 20s, or in the case of CCT, you're in the higher 20s.
A lot has to be done on the working capital and particularly on the inventory side. If you look at Svanehøj, which is marine industry projects, flow, their working capital is single digit. There is a lot that we can learn in IP from the way that Svanehøj is managing their working capital.
Okay, great. Maybe moving on to the Motion Technology segment. As we think about your friction OE business, you know, you guys are embedding kind of 400-500 basis points of outgrowth for 2025 and, you know, over the long term. I guess curious if you could talk about your confidence level of that level of outgrowth. You know, historically, you guys have outgrown by more like 800 basis points. You know, what can cause that outgrowth to re-accelerate?
Sure. I think that, you know, it's true. If you look at the last 10 years as an average and even in the last 5, 6 years, despite COVID and all, you know, what was happening, supply chain, war, et cetera, we outperform as an average by 700-800 basis points. I would say, you know, we committed to 400-500 basis points also because, you know, as your market share is growing, you know, the amount of outperformance becomes more and more challenging. We have a very, very healthy market share in Europe. China went from low single digit in 2014, 2015 to more than 30% market share last year. If you look at North America, went from zero in 2017 to 26%-27% market share last year. As we've gained all this market share, the outperformance becomes a little bit more challenging.
This is why we went to 400-500 basis points. Now, in terms of confidence in meeting that performance, we are pretty confident because, think about it, you win an award in automotive and the SOP, the start of production in the Western world, is two years after the award. So the award that we won in 2023 are going to start in 2025. The award that we won in 2024 are going to start in 2026. The award that we are winning now, they are going to start in 2027. We have that visibility in terms of the platform that we won and that we have stopped. We are not being arrogant. We just know we have that visibility and therefore we know that market share has already been won as an award.
It will just have to be executed as just making the brake pads.
Okay, great. Let me pause for a moment and see if there's any questions in the audience. All right, we'll keep going then. Maybe in terms of MT margins, you're talking about around 20% margins this year. Long-term target for 2030 is around 23%. Curious if you could talk about kind of the path to get there.
Sure. I would say one part is linked to the business within MT. You know, we have friction and brake pad business, which is the biggest chunk, 70% of the business and highly, you know, good profitability. As we said, continuous improvement in the productivity in the plant, in the machinery, in, you know, continually reducing, you know, the waste. That continuous improvement will keep on feeding, you know, the growth in terms of margin. Our rail business today is accretive actually to MT. If you look at the KONI business, and there is still productivity improvement, a little bit of price as well that can help on that front. We have another business, Axtone in rail, where we make crush buffers. That business is today in the low teens. That was a business that was impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Therefore, that business is in a path to get to the 20s as well. All of those are levers for us to get to the new target.
Great. Maybe switching over to the IP segment. In terms of Svanehøj, you know, one of your recent acquisitions, book- to- bill was 1.3 in 2024 and then 2.0 in the first quarter. I guess, you know, curious if you could talk about what's driving the strength of the orders there and do you expect that level of strength book- to- bill to continue?
Sure. There is a component of that, which for sure is the market. If you think about the marine industry, they are all moving to cleaner fluid. That energy transition to LNG, to LNG now, and then to ammonia probably in the next 10, 15 years is what is feeding the growth of Svanehøj. There is a big chunk, which is the market. On top of that, a nice top-up is the outperformance simply because their quality is second to none. Their on-time delivery is good. They have great credibility and great loyalty from their customer. Now, do I think that the book- to- bill will stay to now, but that the book- to- bill be higher than one will be consistently higher than one in the years to come as well.
When you look at Svanehøj, we are comfortable in saying that Svanehøj will grow double digit for the next few years for sure.
As we think about the margins of Svanehøj, I think it's currently high teens, EBITDA margins. I mean, as we think, you know, over the next five years, could that be a 25% EBITDA margin business?
I think there is no reason why not. I was on a call with Søren, the leader of Svanehøj this morning, and they had a management meeting there, and we were talking about the area for improvements. This is definitely one opportunity for Svanehøj and for us, that's for sure.
Okay, great. Maybe on VIDAR, one of your new exciting product launches. I think you're getting first sales in July. You talked about the $6 billion addressable market, targeting $150 million of revenue in 2030. Maybe just talk about that a little bit and then what drives that assumption of $150 million of revenue?
Sure. When we're talking about innovation, we're talking about next. VIDAR is the best example. If you think about it, you know, the industry, pumps are the heart of the industry. When you think about your Amazon boxes, that paper, everything, you know, you use pumps to, you know, process fluid, et cetera. These pumps have got a motor associated with that. That motor runs 100% speed all the time. Even if you need half of the flow, et cetera, the motor can run only 100% speed. Therefore, you can imagine it's almost like you're driving your car, you know, with a foot full on the accelerator, and then you manage your speed just using the brake. Doesn't make any sense. It's a lot of waste. The industry came to the solution with the variable speed drive.
These are big boxes, you know, with a lot of electronics in it that give the instruction to the motor to run 50%, 70%, 40%, depending on your need. Because variable speed drive electronics, bikes, they need a lot of space. They need a clean room. These variable speed drives are used only 15% of the cases. In 85% of the cases, you still have a motor running 100% of the speed, wasting a lot of energy. This is where VIDAR comes in. What our team did, working with the best university in the world, we invented, you know, an embedded motor drive. Practically, you can imagine you get the motor, you reduce it, and you insert it into the motor. The variable speed drive, you reduce it and you insert it into the motor.
We invented this, we prototyped it, we tested in the last couple of years in different fields with different customers. The results are incredible. Therefore, we launched commercially in Q1. We already have orders and we start selling in Q3. The return to ROIC for the plant is less than two years, between one and two years. The energy savings is between 50-70%. The noise level drops dramatically. You go from incredible noise where you need to cover your ears to the noise of a Hoover, right? We are very excited about it. The opportunity is $6 billion in a market that where we do not play. We do not make motors. By the way, we will not make the motor. We will contra-manufacture the motor.
This motor is contra-manufactured, but all the intellectual property is ours, is our own sales team, and we are already selling it through our own distribution, new distribution of motors, and also end users.
Maybe switching over to the CCT segment. So kSARIA, another one of your recent acquisitions. You talked about a high single digit growth outlook for that business over the next five years. Maybe talk about just the confidence in that and then also the margin progression of that business as well.
Sure. kSARIA, high attractive market, you know, is aero and defense. They're very well known in terms of the quality, very good quality, high quality team in terms of execution and with a great customer loyalty. There is the reason why we purchased this is one, when we are in the connector business, in many cases, we were receiving from our customer request for quotation for fiber cabling with our connectors that we were not able to execute because we didn't have those competencies. The acquisition of kSARIA was critical to expand our market. Also there are nice revenue synergies there. If you think about kSARIA buys a lot of connectors. Some of those connectors are ITT Cannon, some of the connectors are our competition, competitors. There is an opportunity there for the programs where we are qualified, sure, to put our connectors in there.
The growth is going to be there. We are in the major programs in terms of defense, and therefore we have that visibility. Now in being together, connectors and kSARIA, we will have even more opportunity to win even more.
Okay, I guess we'll pause there and see any questions from the audience.
On the motor. Yes, thank you. On the motor development, you mentioned that it's your own IP. Are you worried that there's any risk for other competitors to develop anything similar to this or not at all because of that? Or are you one year ahead, five years ahead? Just curious there.
Sure. I think that we are very comfortable in terms of having protected properly the intellectual property. We managed to go to the most expensive IP lawyers in the U.S., and we spend a considerable amount of time, brain, and money to have an IP intellectual property strategy to cover. We feel comfortable on that one to be the only one that in an industrial world will be able to have this. I think that we are talking about probably a couple of years ahead from the motor manufacturers when it comes to this technology.
All right, I think we're at time. We'll have to draw the line there. Thanks, Luca, so much for joining us.
Thank you, Brad. Thank you.