Hello, and thank you for standing by, and welcome to JELD WEN First Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Chris Chichoke, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. We issued our earnings press release this morning and posted a slide presentation to the Investor Relations portion of our website, which we'll be referencing during this call. I'm joined today by Gary Michel, our CEO and John Linker, our CFO.
Before we begin, I
would like to remind everyone that during this call, we will make certain statements that constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in our earnings release and provided in our Forms 10 ks and 10 Q filed with the SEC. JELD WEN does not undertake any duty to update forward looking statements, including the guidance we are providing with respect to certain expectations for future results or statements regarding the expected outcome of the pending litigation. Additionally, during today's call, we will discuss non GAAP measures, which we believe can be useful in evaluating our performance. The presentation of this additional information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP.
A reconciliation of these non GAAP measures to their most directly comparable financial measure calculated under GAAP can be found in our earnings release and in the appendix to this presentation. I would now like to turn the call over to Gary.
Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us This morning, we're going to focus on just a few things. First, our multifaceted growth platform with a successful track record of earnings growth, Compounding cash flow and capital deployment. 2nd, our well defined strategy and business operating that are driving transformation and delivering profitable organic growth. And third, how these, coupled with the market and operating momentum coming into this year, delivered great first quarter results.
Please turn to Page 4. On our last call, we discussed how we are executing a disciplined plan to accelerate organic growth, Expand margin and improve cash flow while allocating capital to optimize shareholder returns and have been creating a premier performance culture as a competitive advantage. The underpinning of our strategy deployment is our business operating system, the JELD WEN Excellence Model. JEM, as we call it, is the systematic way that our people work within the company to deliver our strategy globally. This holistic approach is anchored in the very essence of a lean problem solving culture, the practice of continuous improvement, development and respect for people and the identification and elimination of waste.
We've made great progress across each of these strategic growth drivers And we are seeing consistent outperformance in the areas where JEM has been deployed. The combination of commercial strategies, delivering innovative products and services and a differentiated and superior customer experience, coupled with operational excellence, is delivering growth and margin expansion. Please turn to Page 5. Our North America team used JEM demand planning tools to effectively manage supply chain and labor requirements in the value stream And significantly reduced Windows lead time to under 6 weeks, while competitive lead times are currently stretching to as much as 24 weeks. The operational stability and best lead times in the market are delivering profitable growth and a superior customer experience.
And our German team applied GEM to produce industry leading delivery opportunities as well. In this new program, we provide our Fantastic designs and configurations of interior doors and door frames with industry leading lead times of 15 days and in some cases within 9 days. The value stream focus on cycle time reduction delivers an unmatched experience for our customers and delivers growth. In both cases, we are improving customer service and overall satisfaction and increasing effective One more operations example with commercial implications is the redesign of a West Coast U. S.
Plant to add capacity. Using JEM value stream and production planning tools, our new operational design Is intended to add capacity and industry leading service levels with a 70% reduction in inventory, increasing inventory turns by 2 times and delivering more than 40% productivity with just the first stages deployed. The continuous improvement, problem solving mindset Applied to customer and channel partner opportunities is the essence of our premier performing culture, and it's easy to see how applying these principles across the enterprise should continue to deliver standout performance going forward. As John will detail in a few minutes, In addition to our strong track record of earnings improvement through JEM, by using these tools consistently across our operations to eliminate waste, We have also built a multiyear track record of working capital improvements and high cash flow conversion. Identifying commercial opportunities to meet customer unmet needs has led to several innovative product introductions.
In Australasia, we launched the Elements store collection, a range of architectural entrance stores inspired by regional influences and customer desires for style and sustainability. Designed to be produced in our new Seerabane, Indonesia operations, The Elements collection features solid construction and stylish design from sustainably sourced timbers and open air, aligning with JELD WEN's commitment to innovation and sustainability. In addition to the sustainable content in the Elements product itself, The Surabond production facility where this product line is made was designed with sustainability and energy efficiency in mind. For example, the Surabond Facility uses only recycled rainwater to meet the needs of the plant's operations. And since commissioning in 2019, We have operated completely without groundwater or municipal water.
Another exciting offering is the new smart entrance store In Europe, initially launched for the hospitality industry, these door systems boast embedded capabilities to produce security and safety through keyless hands free entry using the guest smartphone with central and remote management. Future enhancements And expansion of our smart entrance portfolio will provide new innovative solutions to our commercial and residential customers worldwide. These are just a few examples of the progress that we've made in deploying our operational and commercial strategies across the enterprise, and we're excited about the results. Please turn to Page 6. Our first quarter performance is a direct result of this ongoing focus and consistent execution of our commercial and operational strategies over many quarters years.
Core revenue grew 6.4% versus last year with strong performance in all three segments as a result of volume growth and price. Volume accelerated sequentially from the 4th quarter and this momentum continued as the Q1 progressed. 1st quarter adjusted EBITDA increased 31.4%, delivering our 4th consecutive quarter of margin expansion. Cash performance was also healthy as we continued to achieve high cash conversion and compound this cash Over time through disciplined capital allocation. In the quarter, we repurchased approximately 810,000 shares and built a robust pipeline of M and A opportunities.
John will give more detail on the quarter in a few minutes. Please turn to Page 7. JELD WEN has embodied the spirit of possibilities since 1960 When our founders purchased a small mill in Oregon that they would build over time to a global building products leader. They remained inspired We will publish our inaugural environmental, social and governance report detailing the framework for thoughtful strategic initiatives that will increase the benefits we're able to offer our customers, associates, suppliers, investors and the communities where we work and live. In developing this report, we evaluated guidance from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board regarding key topics that are relevant to our industry, And we conducted a materiality assessment to prioritize ESG topics that we believe are most important to JELD WEN stakeholders.
We've always been conscious of waste and sustainability within our facilities. It's good business to reuse as much material as we can and mitigate our waste streams in order to save costs. We've also been committed to meeting high standards for energy efficiency in our facilities and for our customers through the products we design and manufacture. We're a long time Energy Star Leader and JELD WEN products, which are critical products for energy efficient building design meet or exceed local, regional and national efficiency standards worldwide. Our expanding ESG commitment is essential to achieving the exponentially larger impact we know is possible.
Our report will outline our work and the path forward relating to sustainable supply chain and circular economy, Energy efficient and sustainable product portfolios, innovation and research, diversity and inclusion, health and safety, transparency and governance. We look forward to sharing our ESG journey and commitments with you as part of our Investor Day on May 18. Please turn to Page 8. Yesterday at our annual meeting, shareholders elected 3 new directors to the Board. These new directors increase Board independence, bring rich business experience in their own right and coupled with our existing directors And even greater diversity of viewpoints to support the execution of our strategy.
We welcome Tracy, Cynth and Dave As we say thank you and farewell to Stormi Baiorum as she retires. Her dedicated and meaningful service over many years is greatly appreciated by the Board and our associates. Now, I'll turn it over to John Linker to provide additional detail on Q1 results.
Thanks, Gary, and good morning, everyone. I'll start on Page 10. Our first quarter financial results demonstrate the power of our multi growth platform and extend our consistent track record of execution with meaningful improvements in revenue, margin expansion and cash flow. This strong performance is a direct result of investing in our strategic growth drivers over multiple quarters and the ongoing momentum of JEM. 1st quarter net revenue increased 11.6 percent to $1,100,000,000 The increase was driven primarily by a 6% increase in core revenue as well as a favorable impact from foreign exchange.
Notably, all three segments delivered core revenue growth With broad based volume growth and improvements in pricing, volume accelerated sequentially from the Q4 and through the Q1 as well. Gross profit margin expanded 140 basis points, benefiting from pricing realization, operating leverage and increased volume, structural cost reduction programs and Productivity from GEM Initiatives. Reflecting the strong operational performance, adjusted EBITDA increased 31.4% year over year with core margin expansion of 160 basis points, which excludes the impact of foreign exchange and any recent acquisitions. This is our 4th consecutive quarter of core margin expansion, demonstrating the consistency of our execution. Page 11 provides detail of our revenue drivers for the Q1.
I'll highlight pricing realization of 4% and volume mix growth of 2% for combined core growth of 6%. Taking into account that our Q1 accounting calendar Had fewer shipping days than last year, the reported 2% growth in volume mix normalized for shipping days would have been approximately 5% to 6%. Total core growth normalized for the impact of shipping days was approximately 9% to 10%. Please move to Page 12, where I'll take you through the segment performance in more detail. Net revenue in North America for the Q1 increased 9.0% driven by pricing, volume growth Improvements in mix.
Demand and book to bill remains quite healthy, positioning us to deliver accelerated revenue growth in 2021. North America core adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 4 20 basis points to 12.5 percent driven by pricing, productivity and operating The margin improvement was nicely distributed across all major product lines. While there are many examples of stellar performance in our North America segment this quarter, I'd like to highlight the strong improvements demonstrated by our North America windows business. Revenue increased in the low teens percent and margin expanded over 200 basis points. But more importantly, this performance was accomplished while maintaining industry leading lead times as Gary already noted.
Europe revenue increased 13.9% overall and 4% excluding the impact of foreign exchange. Both pricing and volume improved versus prior year with North Europe and France leading the revenue growth for the segment. For the 7th consecutive quarter, Europe delivered core margin improvement with an increase of 30 basis points year over year from strong productivity and pricing. One of the highlights in the quarter from Europe was the productivity realized in our U. K.
Operations, directly as a result of the deployment of GEM. Full time as well as productivity savings. In addition to strong cost productivity in the quarter, our team also built a pipeline of future productivity projects to drive ongoing margin expansion and also took pricing actions as a result of material inflation and to further enhance the returns profile of the UK business. Australasia revenue in the quarter increased 19.2% overall and 2% in local currency versus prior year. Volume benefited from accelerating housing demand and the government stimulus homebuilder program.
The Australia housing market is showing strong demand. Therefore, we expect further growth from this segment as 2021 progresses. As a result of this improved revenue performance, Our Australasia segment delivered core margin expansion of 200 basis points from solid productivity and operating leverage. Turning to Page 13, I'll highlight our working capital performance where we have demonstrated sustained multiyear improvements directly as a result of JEM. The deployment and consistent execution of our business operating system improves customer experience and enables growth through cycle time improvements.
This also allows us to lean out our working capital deployed, accelerating asset velocity. From 2018 to 20 2020, net working capital improved 160 basis points as a percent of sales. Into 2021, the trend continues with the 1st quarter, down 80 basis points compared to prior year. This track record demonstrates our ability to maintain high cash conversion, while also accelerating future top line Please turn to page 14. Operating cash performance improved $11,700,000 compared to prior year, While overall cash usage in the quarter was consistent with our normal seasonal working capital build cycle.
The balance sheet remains healthy As net leverage remained steady at 2.4 times and liquidity was strong at $990,000,000 We are focused on deploying cash in a disciplined, returns focused manner and compounding that cash over time. With that, I'll turn it back over to Gary, who will provide closing comments. Gary?
Thanks, John. The momentum we brought into the quarter further accelerated for us to deliver strong financial results. We're seeing the benefits of our operational execution, share gains and strong market fundamentals, which gives us confidence that our strong financial performance will continue throughout 2021. The effects of accelerating input cost inflation are expected to be more than Construction and R and R markets continue to expand with strong housing starts and permitting numbers and strong RMI remodeling index continuing to increase in the quarter. We expect growth to continue across all product categories and through all channels, including share gains highlighted earlier.
Europe markets continue to be stable across And we will enjoy growth as a result of regional share gains and project business growth. Australasia markets have been strengthening as a result of the homebuilder stimulus in Australia for the last two quarters and are expected to continue as well. As a result of increased visibility from these tailwinds and strong first quarter results, we're raising the full year outlook for 2021. We now expect to deliver full year revenue growth in the range of 8% to 11% increase from the previous outlook of 4% to 7% due to FX rates, recently completed pricing action and strong volume momentum. Additionally, we now expect adjusted EBITDA of $505,000,000 to $535,000,000 increased from the prior range of $480,000,000 to $520,000,000 a result of improved pricing realization, higher volumes partially offset by increased inflationary pressures.
Please turn to Page 17.
This is an exciting time for JELD WEN and here's why. We have a multifaceted growth platform with a successful track record of earnings growth, compounding cash flow and capital deployment. We have a well defined strategy and business operating system that are driving transformation and delivering profitable organic growth. The breadth and scale of the JELD WEN franchise, including leading market positions, powerhouse brands An unparalleled global footprint is unmatched. Our disciplined execution is delivering consistent results And our strong balance sheet and accelerating activity to deliver our bold ESG ambition position us for continued growth and financial performance in a sustainable way.
We look forward to sharing more with you at our Investor Day on May 18. Thank you again for joining us this morning and for your continued interest in JELD WEN. We will now be happy to take your questions.
Your first question comes from Truman Patterson from Wolfe Research. Your line is open.
Hi, good morning guys. Thanks for taking my questions. So first just wanted to dig in on the raw material And likely some transportation cost inflation commentary. Could you just give an update on your inflation expectations across the portfolio, either on a Percentage basis or dollar headwind, the cadence that ends up impacting your P and L moving forward. And Then Gary, if I heard you, you said that the price cost dynamic should be favorable.
Should we expect That price cost to be positive in each quarter moving forward or is there some timing discrepancies?
Good morning, Truman. It's John. I'll kick this off. Yes, I mean, just general comments about inflation to start. We are Seeing pressure and millwork and vinyl, resin, logs, lumber and freight would certainly be some of the highest Categories that we're feeling the pressure in.
That said, we as mentioned on the call, we've taken proactive Pricing actions to get ahead of this in multiple regions around the world. And so those pricing increase multiple 2nd round price increases are taking effect in North America this quarter. So I'd say in general, to answer your last question first, yes, we're still favorable price cost The order of magnitude from the original guidance that we gave back in February until what's embedded in this current outlook, The total increase in inflation, both material and freight, is in the $35,000,000 to $40,000,000 magnitude in terms of total full year impact. But again, we believe we've more than offset that with the pricing actions that we've put into the market.
Yes, as we said, Truman, in the prepared comments, The price cost remains favorable and we feel we've got that under control and really It supports our guidance rise. We expect to see margin expansion every single quarter And we have been delivering that over a period of time now. Obviously, we've got some a little more difficult Comparables in the Q2 given the benefits of the cost last year as we were backing down the hatches a little bit For COVID-nineteen, but that, we're more than offsetting that at this point. But we do expect to see margin expansion continue throughout the year.
Okay. Okay. That's definitely encouraging. And then Gary, I know you mentioned in your prepared remarks That improving capacity in your Western facility, but just big picture, could you give a way of the land, if you will, in each of your three segments about Your ability to increase production levels from here over the coming year, Look, we've just been hearing industry wide supply is very tight and clearly it doesn't make sense to rank Production at the risk of product quality, but just wanted to get your broad overview in each of the segments.
Yes. So
one of the great benefits of our business operating systems is pointing a gem across The entire enterprise is the ability to increase cycle time, improve throughput and add capacity Within our existing footprint, the rationalization and modernization program that we started a few years ago, It's also been key to deploying those lean tools in a bigger and better way using Not only some automation and modernization tools, but also looking at how we operate, How we make doors, how we make windows everywhere. The example on West was a story to talk Just how much we can get out of one value stream. You think about our windows business today, We are operating at a competitive advantage, quite frankly, with our lead times on vinyl windows compared to A market today that's seeing 15 20 week lead times on windows, we're able to offer things in a 6 to 8 week lead time, which We still like to be better than that, but competitively, we're able to perform there. We're flying the same tools to our door business In North America, our business is in Europe and Australasia. The market in Australia had been soft.
It's now bouncing back. And we're seeing the benefits of the rationalization work we did there and the GEM deployment in Australia as we're able to use Our more efficient footprint there, our more efficient operations to grow at the speed of the market rebound there as well. So It's an enterprise wide global deployment of JEM and we're really excited. There's still plenty of I always say Truman, we're in the early stages, because there's Just an opportunity to hit our value streams over and over again. At our Investor Day coming up in May, we're going to Talk a little bit more about how we think about the streams that we spend the most time on and how much more opportunity there is.
Hopefully, you'll stay tuned for that as well.
Okay. Thank you for your time. Appreciate it.
And your next question will come from Matthew Bouley from Barclays. Your line is open.
Good morning, everyone. Congrats on the results and
So really interesting commentary there on Windows, Gary, just on that improvement in
the lead times. It seems like you already started to see some
of the benefits of that with the low teens growth in the quarter. Can you just elaborate a little Number 1, just how you knocked those lead times down. It's probably hard to do that in windows in general. And then today, even more challenging given the demand out there. But then going forward, just how to think about the potential for additional share gain in that category?
Thank you.
So thank you for the question. Again, yes, really taking a look at a few years ago when we were having when we had Keeping up with demand, we applied our business operating system and the tools Of leaning to our operations in windows and we started by doing very basic things, looking at the value mapping it out and applying tools like for real lean, For lean nurse like me, tools like 3P Preparedness for production, looking at modeling how we build windows, looking at the supply chain And really looking at how we organize the work to set up standard work to build windows in each of our plants And then working continuously to improve the cycle time to meet the demand that we see from the customer. So being able to build the feeder lines, being able to build all the supply chains into that, it's not a there's really no silver bullet other than applying these tools Over and over again, understanding where the bottlenecks are in the value stream and eliminating those 1 at a time Until you get good flow through the system and are able to meet the demand. The timing for us happened to work out Fairly well because we were improving significantly our operations in windows at a time when demand was increasing.
So Yes, we're able to maintain that. 6 weeks is probably not the desired state, but Competitively right now given demand for vinyl windows, we've been able to maintain that and we believe there's upside for us to continue to grow.
Matt, I'll add on one item as well. In addition to the benefit that you saw in the Q1 results from the actions that Gary mentioned, We are making some selective capacity expansion investments in vinyl windows, some automation investments in a few of our plants, which We'll add incremental throughput capacity in addition to sort of the organic capacity expansions that Gary just described.
Great. Very helpful detail. Thank you both for that and interesting as well. The second one, I'm just curious on the volume outlook A little more, I guess maybe stick with North America. Clearly, easy comparison here in the second But even as we get to the second half, I would say the volume comparisons for the segment are not as difficult For JELD WEN, as we might be seeing elsewhere in the sector.
So just any sense of how to think about the progression of volumes just given this kind of surge in residential demand here for you guys in North America? Thank you.
Yes, so we did increase our full year revenue outlook as referenced on the call from 4% to 7% to 8% to 11% in terms of revenue. There in terms of In terms of revenue, there in terms of the components of how that breaks down, certainly there is some additional FX Translation in there, there's some additional pricing from the pricing actions we took and there's definitely some additional volume from what We're seeing both in North America as well as Australasia and that market turning around. I don't want to get overly specific in terms of exactly what Volume assumptions we've made just because there is an interplay between price, volume and mix throughout the year, but I think it's fair to say that Embedded in that midpoint of the guide is a nice pickup in volume mix and North America Would be leading the way in terms of the 3 segments for sort of what's embedded in our volume guide for the full year.
And your next question will come from John Lovallo from Bank of America. Your line is open.
Hey, guys. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. The first one is on CapEx. It looks like you guys pulled in the outlook ever so slightly.
Curious if this is Sort of timing related and along those lines, how are you feeling about the current door skin capacity? I mean, you guys working on building any more additional capacity on that front.
So on the CapEx front, the change in guidance is really just the timing issue. We just didn't get everything spent in the Q1 that we expected to. So we just trimmed it down slightly. But we see a nice pipeline We're making some investments to support that business. We see some nice productivity projects to do some automation And see some productivity and then also of course some maintenance and sustaining type of investments as well.
So So pretty good about our ability to deploy this capital outlook in a way that's accretive for shareholder value.
Yes, on the Doris, Tim, without being too specific by we try to be too specific On actual plans or anything like that, but we are applying the same type of energy That we applied the windows and doors, door assembly to our skin businesses as well. And we're Seeing the same kind of second time improvements and throughput improvements as well and adding capacity where we can. Clearly, that's A major input component to our door business and one that we watch very closely based on the demand that we see for doors, John.
Okay. That's helpful, guys. And then there was a mention of a robust pipeline of M and A opportunities. Curious if there's any color you can provide on sort of product focus, maybe the
Yes. So I think, John, we were pretty enthusiastic about M and A future. I mean, we've got a good track record. We did 15 bolt ons, as you know, from 2015 to 2019 took a bit of a pause over the last couple of years to sort of integrate what we bought And then a bit of a pause during the COVID disruption. We spent quite a bit of time over the last year Doing some more investments and strategy on where we really want to play, where we really want to grow and starting to cultivate And fill up the M and A pipeline again after that pause that I referenced.
So, I'd say the most attractive opportunities at this point would be in North America and Europe, Windows and doors at this point largely close to the core that would be add some value to our portfolio. Over time, we believe that JELD WEN is a fantastic platform for growth and that there is an opportunity to look at Open the lens just from sort of the core door and window platform to high performing interior and exterior building products in general. And we plan to shed some more light on that in our Investor Day in a few weeks.
Sounds good. Thanks, guys.
Your next question will come from Phil Ng from Jefferies. Your line is open.
Hey, guys. Mid single digit volume growth on a same day basis in North America is really impressive. John, did I hear you correctly? You expect volumes to kind of accelerate from this past year. The reason why I ask Given some of the door skin capacity constraints you have, just trying to gauge what type of bandwidth you have on volumes in North America broadly?
Is that like a limiting factor just because Certainly, we're seeing a lot of growth across RESI right now.
Yes. So certainly, the Q2, we would expect an acceleration in volume Over the Q1, largely just because we're comping a quarter last year, we had facilities sort of shut For the majority of the quarter in certain regions and so just we've got a favorable comp there that would imply volume acceleration. As we think about the back half and what's possible in sort of Q3, Q4 in terms of North America volumes, I'd say that The order of magnitude, something similar to what we delivered in the Q1 is doable. Like I said on the prepared remarks that the pipeline looks good, demand is good, book to bill is good, order intake is good. So, I mean, you're right, we got to be selective around where we do choose to take volume.
We want to make sure we keep our lead times healthy and And the business continues to perform and service our customers. But as of right now, we do not see any volume headwinds for North America business at this point in the year.
Yes, the commercial license work that we've done previously on segmentation of customer base Channel really paying off and we continue to work on capacity and throughput through JEM Where the value streams can support that growth. So we're already looking ahead of that and planning for it.
Excellent. Last year, mix was kind of a headwind just because you saw outsized growth on your retail channel and then certainly you saw a big V shaped recovery in demand. Just
Yes. So in the traditional cycle in that business as well is more stock units in the Q1 You're building up for the season. So right now, we're starting to see that special order demand Pickup somewhat and the mix moving a little more favorably, but sell through at retail continue to our The in and the out is about equal, right? We're keeping up with point of sale. We're still trying to build up to the seasonal norms At the point of sale, so there's still a little bit of a mix issue there, but it's starting to improve.
There still hasn't been really the type of specialist promotions because the stock units have been flowing through so nice, but we are seeing that As a tailwind for our business this year.
Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it.
And your next question comes from Josh Chen from Baird. Your line is open.
Hi, good morning, Gary, John, Chris. Thanks for taking my questions. You guys mentioned that demand kind of accelerated through the quarter. I was just wondering, I assume that you saw that in North America as well. So Within that segment, I was wondering if you could give some color as to what's kind of driving the acceleration?
Is it the new construction channel improving because of the housing starts improvement that we've seen?
Yes. So it's really what we're seeing in North America Well, Australia has been strengthening as well over the last few quarters. So after a long period of Tough markets down there, the stimulus programs around homebuilding and our Markets has really been taking off and we're starting to see moves in Australia as well. So We're pretty excited about that market starting to come back to life and it's a real opportunity for us. The work that we've been doing You have to gain share should accelerate that growth.
In North America, housing fundamentals Remains strong in the short term and quite frankly over the horizon. All the basic fundamentals of housing growth Here still apply. We're probably seeing a little more of that millennial body going on. We're seeing house Creations, our home household creations still outpacing completions. So we feel good about that and we're seeing R and C business Pretty good.
And R and R, which tends to be fairly stable, has been robust over the last 12 months or so, and we continue to see that as added to that retail business. So the month to month, day to day comps are still there and we're excited about those.
Yes, just to add on, certainly the retail channel, as Gary mentioned in North America continues to be strong, sell through is greater than our Sell end to them and so that continues to be a strong channel. On the revenue construction side, completions were 10%, 12%, I think in the quarter. So certainly, completions in the market are not keeping up with the starts that the homebuilders have been reporting. So I think there continues to be a little bit of a lag here On sort of that starts to completions and we would track more with completions than we would with starts in terms of our revenue. And then just a reminder, we do have a small portion of our North America business through our distribution business that services non resi and commercial.
That market, of course, is a little bit lighter than resi. So if you're trying to do a blended average of sort of where we play, you do need to take into A portion of our North America revenue does have some exposure there. But in general, yes, we saw that demand sort of
And you guys mentioned earlier about the Sort of the M and A strategy kind of sticking to the core and then maybe eventually kind of broadening out a little bit. Could you talk about sort of the So, TJ, the financial metrics that you're going to be using to kind of evaluate acquisition opportunities, just going to put a little bit of a finer point on those things.
So it's a great question and a great set up for our Investor Day on May 18, where we'll certainly share the work that we've done I'm looking at how JELD WEN grows and what our positioning is and we'll share quite a bit of detail on that Coming up on the 18th. But if you think about the work that we've been doing to be a reliable operator and be able to provide a differentiated Your customer experience in the building product space, that's a primary focus. Looking at how we can solve problems for The problems that exist for our channel partners, the builders and the like is another area. But really understanding that at our core, being able to provide logistical support, being able to reliably meet the needs Our channel partners provide innovative use of materials that matter in building homes primarily and to a certain extent In that in the multifamily and light commercial space is really where we're looking. And we've done a nice job of demonstrating and we will continue to demonstrate our ability to meet those demands with those customers.
I really look forward to being able to share even more with you in a couple of weeks. And I think you'll see it's a really exciting time for us to use Kind of use our franchise, use our capabilities and help our customers grow as well.
Great. Thanks guys. I look forward to the announcement.
And your next question comes from Sue Maclari from Goldman Sachs.
Given the severe weather events that we saw in the quarter down in Texas, people have been seeing some issues in terms of some of the raw material procurement. Can you talk to any impact that you saw there? And I guess with that, as you've done all the kind of initiatives around JEM and your efficiencies, Were you able to kind of better offset some of that impact and perhaps get through a little bit easier? Yes.
So clearly, we're not immune to any of the issues related to the shortages or supply disruptions From the Gulf, but that being said, we do have just the nature of our supply chain, the breadth of it and Our vertical integration capabilities and substitution capabilities have probably have isolated us a little bit from the Affecting customer deliveries, primarily the chemical supply issues out of the Gulf It will affect blues and foams. We have alternatives for both of those. Well, We have the ability to source and to manufacture glue that we need for the door processes Internally, and we've been able to just offset that issue. That's actually improving at this point, the alternatives that have kept us flowing and allowed us to keep up with order demand.
Okay. All right. That's helpful. My final question is, John, you highlighted the work and the improvements that you've seen in working capital. As we think about this year and obviously given the fact that your inventories are still below normal and your it sounds like you're still working to catch up some of your customers, How should we be thinking about the working capital this year?
Could we see inventory kind of being more of a factor in that versus normal? And just Any other thoughts there?
Sure. So certainly for us to support the volume growth that We've got embedded in the guide that there is going to be some level of working capital investment to support that. I think it would be Consistent to think about it as on a percent of sales basis, if we were growing volumes, every dollar Volume just apply sort of low teens percent of sales to that in terms of the working capital investment needed to support it. That said, I mean, we're Jim is allowing us to really lean out cycle times and amount of inventory that we do keep on hand continues to improve. And so as we think about sort of over a longer period of time, the opportunity can continue to chip away at that And lean out the investment and working capital required to grow the business.
That's what we get really excited about as we got ability to grow the top line, While also leaning out the working capital investment, which should translate to a pretty attractive cash conversion story over the longer term beyond 2021.
Okay. Thank you both for the color and good luck.
Thanks, Sue.
And your next question will from Mike Dahl from RBC. Your line is open.
I have two follow ups. The first one is on the cost side. And John, I'm not sure if I heard you correctly, but I think your reference on to Truman's question on cost inflation for $35,000,000 to $40,000,000 sounded like that was incremental The prior guide, but even if I kind of take that combined with your prior commentary, I think and maybe my numbers are I think it's implying kind of 3% of COGS for the full year. Could you clarify that? Because if that's right, it just seems a Given the magnitude of inflation we've seen in a lot of things?
Yes, I mean, roughly 2.5% of sales It would be sort of the expectation for the material and freight inflation that we expect to see for the full year. So yes, the 35,000,000 Our sourcing team and actions that they're taking, certainly I agree with you there. If you read headlines on steel, millwork, lumber or anything else, the market inflation It's higher than that, but what I'm conveying is what we expect to actually realize in the P and L after the efforts of our procurement team.
Okay, got it. That's helpful and good to see the progress on the procurement side. And then my follow-up Is on the revenue side, I understand you don't want to get too detailed into the breakdown. But if I'm looking kind of high level, it looks like FX would probably contribute a few points. I mean price just based on what you've been generating the past couple of quarters and the increases that you've got in the market Seemed like you're kind of mid single digits on price, but the 8 to 11 then for the full year, it doesn't seem to imply a heavy lift On the volume side, you seem fairly optimistic.
So I guess what I'm trying to parse out is kind of how you're thinking about whether it's kind of Market share or if there's some conservatism baked into that or if you just have different assumptions behind
Yes, whether it's FX or price?
Yes. So I mean, the midpoint revenue Our guide went up about 4 percentage points, 400 basis points. I think that FX is certainly a piece of that. We don't necessarily we can make our own assumptions around sort of what you think FX rates today will flow through for the year, but we have taken our FX up Assumption up slightly from the original guide. We've taken our pricing assumption up slightly from the original guide and we've taken our volume mix assumption up More meaningfully from the original guide, but as I mentioned before, there is some interplay between price, volume and mix.
We want to make sure that we Have some room to execute on each one of those items. And yes, there's an opportunity to outperform The volume guide that we're giving you here today, but it's still sitting here in the Q2. We want to see how the year progresses.
Okay. Fair enough. That helps. Thanks.
Yes.
And your next question will come from Steven Ramsey from Thompson Research, your line is open.
Hey, good morning.
This is actually Brian Biros on for Steven. Thank you for taking my questions. I guess first one, Can you speak to any regional differences you're seeing across North America, maybe if one region is significantly outperforming or underperforming? And if any part of the U. S.
Is kind of best positioned for growth going forward from where we stand today?
Yes, surprisingly, one of the things that we were looking at is particularly the R and D business is actually picking up across the Country, right, even in places where 12, 18 months ago, we're maybe even somewhat So we're actually seeing a general kind of a general across the country Favourability in Marcus, I guess is what I would call it, the R and R business supporting that as well. There's no call out that one area is pulling grass or rest off. I mean, we're Looking at it, it looks pretty consistent across the country.
Okay. And then a Quick follow-up, I guess, would be interested to hear how you guys would describe the labor environment currently and if that is meaningfully impacting your business either from limiting production or increased or increased costs and if you're seeing any impact on your suppliers or customers kind of stuff as well.
Yes, I mean, we're not immune to the issues of that and we've certainly talked about them in the past quarters that In certain markets and certain areas, there are issues in getting labor into the plants. But that being said, all of our plants As of this morning, around the world are all operating and able to operate at full capacity With the exception of really 2 in Indonesia, which are under still under a bit of a government That being said, we've had to make some alterations in our In the way that we operate the plants based on the people that we have there, so We are meeting our demand and we are able to using our JEM playbooks operate at either Different shift timing, different throughputs and the like, so that we're operating at the most productive level given The demand and the people that we have to operate the plant. We have made some modifications And in premiums and how we are hiring in different communities, it's not I don't want to give the impression here that This is a widespread, every single plant, every around the world problem. It's not. It's isolated in a few communities and a few places, And we've been able to work through that and even move work around if we've had to.
So, yes, it's something we're working through, but just like everything else we've done, we've got it under control and not something that is particularly worrisome at this point. It's just something we're working through.
Appreciate the color. Thank you.
Your next Question comes from Reuben Garner from The Benchmark Company. Your line is open.
Sorry about that guys. All my questions have actually been asked.
So I thought I'd pass that at
the queue, but congrats on the quarter.
Thank you. Thanks, Raven.
Your next question will come from Michael Rehaut from JPMorgan. Your line is open.
Hi, good morning. This is Elad Hillman on for Mike. Thanks for taking my So first, I was hoping to get a couple more numbers on the volume mix in North America, but really just focusing on this quarter and just Maybe some quantification of the pieces. I was wondering if you could break out what pure volume growth was for this quarter and then also how much the negative mix headwind from stock versus special orders was this quarter?
Sure. So we reported 3% Volume mix in North America, which on a days adjusted basis is about 6% to 7% that we talked about. I would say that that was pretty much all volume. The mix impact year over year was negligible in the quarter. Certainly, the stock special dynamic is there, but it was not a headwind to our performance in North America in the quarter.
Great. That's really helpful. And then second, I was wondering if you could provide more color on the North America door results this quarter. What was revenue growth and margin expansion there?
Yes. I'd say, as we said in the prepared remarks, We saw a nice growth and margin expansion across all of our products in North America. In terms of Doors, I would say, it grew sort of in line with segment performance and some very nice Windows margin expansion or performance in the quarter, all sort of similar with segment performance.
Okay, great. And just lastly, all three segments saw pretty solid margin expansion this quarter. So I was just curious if you Could you provide some more color on your expectation for margin expansion sort of by segment for the full year and driving to that 70 basis points for the full year?
Yes, I think North America is going to be the outperformer in terms of the overall segment margin expansion. I'd say we do expect Gross margin expansion in all three segments of pretty nice magnitude, but depending on sort of the COVID cost that we had To absorb from last year as that we're lapping, that can certainly impact the magnitude of the EBITDA margin expansion. But I'd say North America would be the standout. And then just to call out, as we progress into Q2, we do expect gross margin expansion, pretty nice gross margin expansion in Q2, But we are lapping $35,000,000 or so of one time benefits that we had last year in SG and A and other income related to furloughs And some other items. So as you think about margin progression through the year, that will certainly mute the overall margin expansion a little bit in Q2, but we feel very
I have no further questions in queue. I turn the call back over to our presenters for closing remarks.
Thank you all again for joining us today. Our strong performance in the Q1 definitely is a demonstration of our multifaceted growth platform delivering Consistently and with the market dynamics that we just talked about and the execution of our strategy and the deployment of our business operating system, we expect those to continue for the remainder of the year. We look forward to sharing more about our strategy and our expectations on May 18 at our Investor Day. We hope that you all can join us. And again, thank you for your interest in JELD WEN.
We look forward to sharing our progress in the coming quarters.
Thank you everyone for joining us today. This will conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.