Okay. Good morning, everyone. This is Jeff Hammond with KeyBanc, starting day three of our Industrial and Basic Materials Conference. With us today here is Beth Wozniak, CEO Sarah Zavoisky, CFO and J. C.
Weigelt, Investor Relations for nVent. Beth, I'll kick it over to you for some intro here. Before we do that, I do want to indicate there is a chance for the listeners to ask questions at the bottom of your screen. So if you do have any questions during the presentation, shoot those into me and I'll work them into the presentation. With that, back to you, Beth.
All right. Thank you, and good morning, everyone. If we go to the next slide of our presentation and one more. So just a brief overview on nVent. As you know, we are an electrical company, about $2,000,000,000 in 2020 with great cash flow and nice strong margins.
Three segments, our largest vertical is industrial and, most of our revenue today in North America. So we have a big opportunity for us to grow globally. And if we go to the next slide, our value proposition, when we think about what we do at nVent is, we offer enclosures, fastening solutions, and a lot of times, our products are found in mission critical applications. And so we always say we could meet any specification around the world, which is really key for our customers. We also talk about that element of protection where we can avoid the high cost of failure.
And we have an example there where downtime is really important. And our ability with our products are a small cost on the bill of a material, think about an enclosure relative to the value that it creates protecting electronics and the output of running a factory, for example. And the other value proposition for us is that we drive productivity. So many of our products drive labor saving solutions, particularly in the commercial side with our Invent Caddy brand. And when time is money and there's labor shortages, products to get you on and off the job site reliably are really important.
If you go to the next slide, where we play, this is really a look at our portfolio. And you can see it's very broad in how And a lot of our products historically have been focused in that industrial space. But as we define industrial, you'll see it's quite broad, everything from aerospace in there to automotive, food and beverage. Commercial and residential, although I'd say we're more strongly weighted to commercial, very, a lot of different verticals there from education to health care.
Infrastructure, this is what I point out because as we Investor Day, this is an area where we think as everything becomes more electric, we're going to see some significant growth here in our positioning our portfolio. And only about 8% of what we do is in that oil and gas energy space. If we go to the next slide. Why nVent? So as we think about our growth prospects, and I mentioned earlier this idea of the electrification of everything, we're focusing on where we can drive growth.
And we're now three years old as a new public company. And data centers and networking solutions is a great example of where we really pulled the whole portfolio together, did some acquisitions and drove some high double digit growth. And we think that's going to continue in other areas as we emerge out of this pandemic. We have great brands. We have great customer loyalty.
We're well positioned for global growth. Lots of new products, great relationships with our channel partners. When you operational excellence, our Spark management system has really helped us to perform. And as we sit here today, while there's been a lot of supply chain challenges, we've really managed through those well. And so where we know that some others have been on allocation, we believe we've been positioned and are growing just because of the fact that we're able to serve and support all our customers.
We've launched our first social responsibility report. We got strong governance in place. We have great financial metrics. As you look at the lower part of the chart here, as I mentioned earlier, our cash flow, our margins, our balance sheet and a very attractive capital approach with our priority towards focusing on growth. So we believe we're emerging stronger.
That was one of our key themes as we got through the pandemic, and we're well positioned to create value as we go forward.
Okay, great. Beth, appreciate that intro. I just want to kick it off kind of with what I've been doing with most of the discussion here. And you talked a lot, I think, the call about price cost and supply chain. But just maybe to ask it a different way, like what worries you most within these headwinds?
What is getting better? What has the potential to get worse?
Well, let me say a few words, and I'll turn it over to Sarah. I think at price cost, we've been managing very well. We've talked in the past about our locking strategy. And so we're able to lock in the price on some of our commodity metals and be able to respond to that with price increases. We've had several price increases.
So I think we're managing that well. I would say the concern has been that a lot of the price and inflationary environment is just reflective of the demand, right? So being able to manage the supply chain, which I think we've done very well, not without a lot of effort, but I think that's more of been the concern is just matching to the demand and making sure that our supply chain continues to remain robust. And Sarah, I'll ask you to add any comments there.
No. Maybe the only comment I would make is those inflationary pressures persist. But we talked a lot about this in our Q1 call, really getting in front of that, having great visibility to overall those cost pressures. I think we've got a good track record of executing on that price, and we're seeing strong realization of that. So I think managing that pricecost equation is going to continue to be important and then navigating the supply chain challenges, as Beth mentioned.
But again, I think given our in region, for region footprint sets us up well from that perspective. And I think we continue to do a differentiated job in terms of servicing our customers' needs and demands.
Okay. Great. So you guys were early in the earnings cycle reporting. And I think you had thought there was maybe some restocking proactive ordering, particularly in Enclosures. But we kind of as we got through earnings universally were hearing that demand is not really allowing for restocking and then it's true demand, not a restock.
And so just as you reflect and we're maybe a little more than a month out, what's your sense on whether there was any kind of success restocking? Or is it all demand driven?
Yes. It is a really good question, Jeff, because we started to see, particularly from our distributors, our orders really picked up. And as we try and look at the inventory that's out there in the channel, it is turning, right, which implies that it is real true end demand. And we continue to see strong orders across the portfolio. So I think to some extent, there's an attempt to restock, but it's turning really quickly.
Okay, great. And then just focusing in on you gave a great slide with some detail on your end markets. Commercial construction is one that I think people were worried about in air pocket, and that seems to be coming back a little bit better than we had thought. And you certainly have exposure along verticals and across all three businesses. So if you look outside of maybe data center and more traditional commercial construction activity, What are you seeing there?
And it seems like a source of upside here if we do start to get some momentum there?
Yes. We've seen commercial pick up for the fact that we've been able to deliver, we've also seen some good momentum in our EFS business. But I would also say in our thermal management business, it's been a source of strength, that commercial market. And so I think what we're seeing are momentum there. But I'd say we have some caution just because if there are other supply chain shortages, we've heard that some commercial contractors may decide just to delay if they've got lumber shortages, for example, they may decide to delay some projects.
So I think we're seeing some nice momentum there, maybe not to the same extent as we're seeing industrials, just really strong, but it continues to improve. So we feel good about how we're positioned.
Okay, great. And then yes, I think in your Analyst Day, you talked about a 30% incremental margin kind of corporate target. And I think this year, there's some noise with temp costs coming back, and there doesn't seem to be quite that leverage in there. So maybe maybe just talk about when you think you get back to those normal incrementals? And as you see this robust demand, can you kind of overcome some of those temp costs coming back and hit that target this year?
Yes. So embedded in our guidance for this year was a bit less, right, than those, what I would say, normalized incremental margins because, as you said, Jeff, just indicative of that strong margin profile across our three businesses, we see those more normalized incrementals in that 30% plus range. But we do see this as a bit of a unique year. I mean we do have some of those temporary costs flowing back in. A lot of that we expect to see here in the back half.
The other piece is just the compensation kind of related accruals that was sort of deflated last year and that coming back, especially with that strong Q1 performance. No doubt, a stronger, faster recovery is going to help from a volume leverage if we were to see that from an overall margin profile. But as we look at this year, we would expect those incrementals to be a bit below that from an incremental from a more normalized perspective, just really related to those temporary costs feathering back in. I think maybe one other point, Jeff, I would make, too, and it's sort of that sheer math. We even talked about this as we exited last year.
It's just that price cost. So even as we manage those inflationary pressures with more price, from an incremental perspective, that just gets squeezed.
Okay. Very good. Moving to the businesses, maybe just starting with Enclosures. People seem to always, they call it metal boxes and be concerned about commoditization. Just talk about where you win here, where you differentiate and just ability to get price in this business versus the other ones?
Yes. So with our Enclosure, I think the key fact there is that protection element, and we have such a broad portfolio that we can meet any specification around the world. And this really does matter for a couple of reasons. One, as you think about data centers, we've been able to differentiate because not only are we providing protection with the enclosure, but our liquid cooling capability. When you think about where enclosures are used in various applications, we can meet whatever specification, and we can do that in a very efficient way in terms of our Hoffman Express or our configurators, for example.
And now with our Eldon portfolio, we truly have a global portfolio, and that does matter to some large OEMs. If they're putting in some factory automation anywhere around the world, they want to drive to one specification. There's very few Enclosures players who can provide that product made in the region where they want to be served to that specification. We really have a global footprint. And as we go forward, we're going to we have great distribution.
We've invested in a lot of digital capability, which is a true differentiator because time and speed are really important. And we just continue to see the Enclosures portfolio extend into other verticals more so than even just that industrial core. As we think about our newest acquisition, Vinke A, that we just did, it is giving us a portfolio that is very strong when it comes to solar, for example, or energy storage. So we're just continuing to expand that portfolio and think it's our reach and capability that allows us to really differentiate.
Okay. You mentioned Eldon early in the presentation, kind international growth and that was being a big opportunity. Maybe just walk through what you need to do to kind of push that forward? Is it finding acquisitions to kind of extend your reach? Or do you have what you need and you just need to kind of push organically?
Yes. For Enclosures, so Eldon was a key driver for us just to have that IEC global product portfolio. And we're now taking that portfolio and manufacturing it around the world. So that's number one. We're in the process right now of moving into a new factory in China.
We've extended we've expanded our footprint in India. And now it's building out, in some cases, the channel relationships. So we've often talked about our OneNvent strategy with our channel partners and how that has really been successful for us, really putting a big focus now in Europe to do the same because now we have the product portfolio to do that. So I would say, Jeff, it's really at this point, we believe we've got the portfolio. It's now just ensuring that we're driving the market back vertical approach, executing on that and just completing some of the supply chain projects that we have to be able to manufacture everything around the world.
Okay. Very good. And then just on Enclosures margins, I think your medium term target is like 17.5, a couple of hundred basis points higher than last year. If you go back a few years, you were running north of 20%. And so what's kind of different?
And what precludes you from getting back to that 20% level?
Well, Jeff, I would start by saying our target for this business is high teens from a margin perspective. And this is hundreds of basis points in terms of where we're exiting 2020, which, as you suggested, was at that 15.6% mark. I would say a couple of things. One, this margin profile does reflect some continued investments in this business. R and D is a big focus for us as well as digital as well as marketing.
And so that's reflected in that overall margin profile. I think the other piece I would point out is also reflects strong global growth in places like China and India. So the team is very focused on improving that overall margin profile. I think our focus in these high growth verticals will certainly be additive. I think the price cost management in terms of this business has been excellent over time.
And I think the third piece is we're really focused on how do we drive continued improvements in the factories with more digital and more automation. So the team is very focused on growth as well as getting to that high teens margin profile over time. And I think Q1 was a strong representative of that. We exited Q1 of this year in excess of 17%.
Okay. And you mentioned stepping up investments in digital. Maybe just talk about how you think that changes the growth profile over time of either the broader company or within Enclosures?
I think it's really important as you think about how customers want to buy products. It's really the digital customer experience. And a lot of products are still going to be bought, majority through distribution. And so our ability to have our products represented with all the product information digitally on our customers' websites, our ability to provide selection tools like configure price quote that seamlessly integrate in with our distribution partners, Those are really key aspects, we believe. And it drives efficiency for us too, because when you have these selection tools, it can drive to a more modular approach.
We have very modular platforms. So we're able to make a custom type of product for a customer, yet at the same time, it's very modular for us. Then I think about all the other digital things that we're doing in terms of just ensuring that we can end to end support our customers better, whether it's investing in some of our factories and our digital capability, whether it's looking at our back office so that we can become more efficient and how we provide just running our operations as well as how that supports our customers. So we're really driving to some platform architectures. We're early days, but starting to we have a data platform created for us.
That's a data layer for us to do some analytics, and I think we're going to get smarter at that as we go. But I think digital for us is helping drive growth as it provides a better customer experience as well as driving operational improvements. And of course, where for us it makes sense, connected solutions as well.
Okay. Let's shift gears to Thermal. Kind of similar question on margins. This was kind of a mid-20s business. It's gotten pretty hit pretty hard on the margin side as your MRO high margin MRO business has rolled over.
So, maybe just talk about how you see an MRO recovery shaping up and how that impacts getting back to those historical margins?
Okay. Well, I'll part of it, and I'll let Sarah jump in on the margin side. As we had said, in first quarter, we started to see the strength of commercial, right? And so with our thermal portfolio, we really, over the last several years, have been diversifying it further, right, into other areas. And so commercial and residential were strong coming out of the first quarter, and that momentum continues.
What we've seen is that MRO, we've said it was going to gradually improve, and that's what we have seen is that orders have improved quarter over quarter. We've seen that pick up. And so we're through Q2, we're expecting it to continue to improve. And that's what's really having the impact, as you noted, on the margins. And I'll let just Sarah add more color.
Yes. Maybe I'd start by saying even with the really tough year that we had in 2020, this business closed out the year with just shy of 20% return on sales. So an underlying just strong margin profile business. But I would say two things. One is we did do a lot of structural work in this business, and so that should help here in 2021 and beyond.
And things like looking at how we were had bricks and mortars from a sales perspective versus how might we get greater coverage and more agility moving to more of a rep structure. That's just one example. Another example is looking at how we were delivering our project services and could we take a more centralized COE type approach versus having beachheads in many, many different locations? So I think we've done a lot to work very structurally on this business in terms of making it stronger. So as we get back to growth, we should see good leverage.
I think the other piece is just that MRO business. So even with the structural work done last year, the margin still did contract in a more meaningful way, and that was largely because of that MRO business being down so significantly, and that is a higher margin part of that business. So as we would expect that MRO business to come back, we would also expect that margin lift. The only last thought I would leave you with is just in Q1, I think, again, it's a good proof structural work being done. So even as overall sales were down and MRO not back to recovery, some encouraging points in terms of quote and order activity, we still expanded Ross net business roughly 10 basis basis points.
Okay. And then if you look at the project business, maybe just update what you're seeing in the project side, how backlogs look? And just how do you manage pricing on projects today versus, say, three, four years ago?
Well, I'd say that we're executing on some backlog right now. We're seeing some activity and bidding on projects. And so I think we're working through some backlog, and we felt we had a good backlog coming into this year. And I think we're seeing some longer term projects on the horizon that we're working on quoting activity. So I think through this year, we've got some nice execution work in front of us.
And when it comes to project margins, we're pretty disciplined around that because all the inflationary environment, of course, that gets factored in. But for us, we're really trying to sell on our value, and we often talk about some of our software tools that allow us to optimize a solution, that creates a lot of value for our customers. And we have good margins when it comes to our projects as well. So sometimes, in our case, we always have good margin relative margin on projects versus others may not have any margin there. So that dynamic really hasn't changed for us.
It's more what you see in the thermal profile. It's the mix that's impacting our margins as we go forward. So as MRO picks up, that's really going to see that overall thermal segment margin improve.
Okay, great. How should we think about Thermal or pieces of Thermal in the portfolio longer term? I mean, clearly, we're kind of towards the bottom and inflecting up. But just feels like this business in your first last few years has been more volatile than the rest of the portfolio?
I mean, without a doubt, it has because of that project side of the business. As we go forward, we think consistent with our strategy around this focus on the electrification of everything. And as you've seen where we've done some of our acquisitions, it's building out our portfolio to be positioned to serve some of that growth So for thermal, our focus there is really getting more diversification. And so we've really been looking at that commercial resi space, how it is very synergistic with what we do, for example, for EFS and or data and networking solutions where we have some complementary products and focusing there so that we can see growth emerging from those infrastructure trends. So that's really how we're positioning it.
And overall for nVent, it's just how do we build out to grow with the high growth verticals or we're going to see just great macro trends there.
Okay. And then we're a little further away from this Texas freeze and people get kind of got excited about maybe that's an opportunity within thermal. What as you get further away and you're hearing from customers, is this really a needle mover? Or what kind of comes out of that?
Yes. Immediately, as that event occurred, we had a lot of requests to help do some audits and see where we could assist in some pipe freeze protection, etcetera. And, I think we will see some of that some of those are longer term projects. And I think some of that towards the back half of the year, we'll see, some work happen there. I don't think it's going to be a huge growth spike, but I just think it is going to be additive to how we had thought about the year.
And certainly, we saw some immediacy there with even our heat trace business was pretty strong on the commercial side, too, as we came out of first quarter. So it's opportunity, and I think some of it is longer term projects, and we'll continue to execute on it.
Okay, great. And then just EFS, that business, you mentioned being resilient in 2020. So how does that frame kind of the pace of growth expectations as economies reopen? And you talk a lot about your differentiation there and new product pipeline. Just maybe touch on what really differentiates that business and where the new products are kind of moving the needle in exciting you?
Yes. As you noted, Jeff, that business was down just single digits last year relative to the rest of the portfolio. So we're seeing a bigger bounce with Enclosures as we always do. EFS turned to growth in first quarter. I think we continue to we launched a lot of new products last year.
We're seeing momentum on those new products. Our new product vitality is certainly strong as we saw the revenue coming from those new products, and that was a big part of EFS. I think the fact that we are able to execute on demand is serving us really well right now. And this is a portfolio that just through product innovation and creating labor saving solutions. And not only is it a commercial focus, but it really has grounding, bonding, surge protection that is all focused on that electrical infrastructure growth, right?
And we're seeing that being very good momentum there as we started off this year. So what differentiates us here is our ability to really understand the installation process and provide, on the electrical side, really robust, resilient products. Our Aeroflex product provides labor savings and space savings and is very unique, right, relative to wiring methods, right? So we it's our innovation that just allows us to creating that real value. And you see it in the margins, right, the value that we create.
So we're very bullish on this portfolio.
Great. And then just last one. Cash flow is great. You guys have done some good successful deals. Maybe just talk about what you see in the pipeline and how much time you spend on bigger, more transformational type deals?
The pipeline is very robust. We just announced earlier this quarter that we a smaller acquisition, but very strategically important to us. And we've said our capital allocation priority was to drive growth. And I really think that there's some nice opportunities because this is such a fragmented space. We've often talked about it being where we play a $60,000,000,000 space, and we're a larger player at $2,000,000,000 And I think what we with the deals that we've done over the last couple of years, we've developed a really good playbook and our execution has been strong.
And so we have confidence that there's the opportunity for us to do a larger deal, right? And so Eldon was around $100,000,000 I think we have confidence that we could do a larger deal than that. And I think we're going to see some of those opportunities over the next couple of years, just the environment is right for being able to execute on some strategic opportunities.
Great. Well, we're up against it on time. I appreciate you spending the day with us, Beth, JC, Sarah. We'll catch up soon. Thanks.
Thank you. Thanks, Jeff.