一次成功的收购战略往往能够令一家濒临破产的公司起死回生，LMI Aerospace(代號:LMIA)就是一例。最为一家金属片生产商，LMI Aerospace主要为航空和航天工业提供零部件，公司近期推出了一系列的收购增长战略。从上世纪90年代起，飞机生产商Boeing(代號:BA) 就拥有LMI Aerospace很大一部分的业务，直到2001年公司上市之后，公司业务扩展至军工领域，引发新一轮抢购狂潮。LMI Aerospace成立于58年以前，近十年来积极开展业务多元化战略和一系列大规模的收购交易。公司的喷气式飞机业务目前已经涉足商业航空器板块，后者已经成为公司最大的销售额创造者。
LMI Aerospace自去年六月以来就通过进行最大规模的收购交易不断扩展业务能力。目前公司已经斥资6500万美元收购San Diego-based D3 Technologies，后者是一家一流的设计和技术维护公司。分析师表示：“对于San Diego-based D3 Technologies的收购战略是公司的一项大举措。” D3 Technologies现在已经将公司业务扩展至整个技术维护板块，提供一整套包括建筑、系统以及工具设计服务，项目管理支持，物流以及航空舰队维护服务等在内。在此项收购之前，公司仅染指机翼或驾驶舱门窗领域的业务，但是并不包括设计和制造。分析师表示：“目前，对于D3 Technologies的收购已经使得我们能够涉足航空器的食品链供应缓解。”同时此项收购交易还使得公司能够更多的零部件设计，包括整个机身的零部件制造。
当然，LMI Aerospace并不满足于此，公司还积极地寻找下一个猎物，目前市场中有成千上万的金属片生产商，但是只有LMI Aerospace能够傲视群雄。公司能够弯曲、延展、碾压各种各样的材料，比如铝合金、不锈钢，以及使用于飞机装备的钛合金产品，几乎涵盖了航空器的各个部位，包括机翼、机身、内部构造、齿轮以及其它零部件。此项业务赢得了BA和General Dynamics(代號:GD)的大量订单，包括民用飞机和私人飞机在内。
Investor's Business Daily
Metal Bender Moves Up The Aerospace Food Chain With Acquisition
Tuesday October 21, 5:40 pm ET
Brad Kelly An acquisition can do wonders for a company. Just ask LMI Aerospace. The sheet-metal bender, which makes components for the aerospace industry, designed a growth strategy focused on acquisitions.
Plane maker Boeing (NYSE:BA - News) accounted for a large chunk of LMI's (NasdaqGS:LMIA - News) business in the 1990s before it went on a buying spree in 2001 that expanded the St. Charles, Mo., company into military products and regional jets.
Established 58 years ago, LMI has spent the better part of this decade diversifying its business through various tuck-in acquisitions. The company's corporate-jet business now edges commercial aircraft as its biggest sales generator.
Key Acquisition
It continued expanding capabilities last June by making its most significant acquisition to date. LMI shelled out $65 million in cash to buy San Diego-based D3 Technologies, a premier design and engineering services firm.
"The D3 acquisition filled a strategic hole in LMI's business," said Alex Hamilton, a Jesup & Lamont analyst. "They've done a good job diversifying their operations."
D3 Technologies now comprises LMI's entire engineering services segment, which provides a suite of services such as structural, systems and tool designs, program management support, logistics and fleet maintainability.
Before the acquisition, LMI would get an order to build wing skins or cockpit window frames, but not design them. The D3 acquisition moves the supplier up the food chain, says Tyler Hojo, a Sidoti & Co. analyst.
"Now, with D3 in its fold, LMI is well positioned as a turnkey aerospace systems provider," Hojo said. "(The acquisition) also enables the supplier to bid on bigger projects, such as manufacturing a plane's entire fuselage."
While LMI currently looks for potential acquisition targets -- there are hundreds of mom-and-pop sheet-metal benders available -- it continues to execute on what it does best.
LMI bends, stretches, draws and stamps a myriad of materials, such as aluminum alloys, stainless steel and titanium to outfit aircraft makers with wing skins, fuselage parts, body structures and other interior parts, gears and components.
The manufacturer is busy filling orders for Boeing's passenger planes as well as private jets made by Gulfstream, a division of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - News). It also supplies metal for Black Hawk helicopters made by Sikorsky, a unit of United Technologies (NYSE:UTX - News).
These projects helped LMI turn in its fourth straight quarter of double-digit sales growth in the April-June period. Revenue soared 91% to $64.9 million. The company expects 2009 sales of $289 million to $304 million. Analysts see revenue of $294.97 million.
Sales at its aerostructures segment rose 23% to $41.6 million, while its engineering services division, consisting entirely of D3 Technologies, recorded $24 million. That was driven in large part by program support for commercial aircraft, in particular Boeing's line of planes.
LMI's military business increased 41% to $11.7 million, due to higher production rates and new awards on the Black Hawk, the company said. Corporate business jets accounted for $14.1 million, up 24% from a year ago, while commercial aircraft sales hit $12.4 million.
Second-quarter earnings jumped 73% to 45 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 39 cents.
Rising commodities and energy costs are not as much a concern to LMI as they would be to other manufacturers. That's because when it bids for a contract, the input costs are already factored in and the cost is passed through to the customer, Hamilton says.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to fuel LMI's military business. The Black Hawk carries the lion's share of the load, and the wear and tear is quite high. The company also expects ongoing demand for commercial jets, despite the 45-day strike at Boeing and financial turmoil.
"The Boeing 767 winglet programs and increasing production rates and market share on several Black Hawk models will drive our revenue growth in 2009," CEO Ron Saks said in a post-earnings statement. "These programs are expected to add a minimum of $25 million to $30 million of revenue in 2009."
While LMI will never be taken for a giant in the aerospace industry, its client list includes some of the biggest names in the aerospace industry. But even that might not stave off the problems that have plagued Wall Street.
The credit crunch continues to bite down on the economy, and Hojo expects cancellation rates for commercial aircraft to reach 20% or 30% as loans for new planes become tough to get.
"In the short term, LMI has its work cut out for it over the next couple of years, given its backlog, and the advent of outsourcing by a lot of its customers will help as well," Hojo said.
LMI's total backlog at the end of 2007 was $160.9 million, up 15% from the end of 2006. Roughly $126 million is expected to be delivered in 12 months, creating good visibility, Hojo says.
Next Acquisition
As the company patrols for potential buyout targets, it will keep a few things in mind, such as acquiring a manufacturer with high-speed machining capability. It may want to make larger components on the scale of building the fuselage, which is the body of the plane, Hamilton says.
There is also a shift to a new kind of metal that requires a change in its capabilities. The next generation of commercial aircraft, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing's 787, are using more and more composite material instead of sheet metal.
As energy costs squeeze airlines, lightweight composite materials will help reduce the amount of fuel used.
"It is clear that a secular shift is occurring in the industry right now," Hamilton said. "LMI will keep all these changing factors in mind as it scours the industry for more acquisitions."
公司还为Sikorsky制造的Black Hawk直升飞机提供金属零部件产品，后者是United Technologies(代號:UTX) 旗下子公司。这些如雪片飞来的订单使得公司四季度销售额增长率达到20%以上。四季度营收飙升了91%至6490万美元。公司预计09年销售额将达到 2.89-3.04亿美元，分析师预计09年营收为2.9497亿美元。公司飞机结构板块的销售额上涨了23%至4160万美元。而技术维护部门销售额达到2400万美元。这是受到公司的商用飞机，尤其是来自BA订单的极大推动。
公司的军用飞机业务也上涨了41%至1170万美元，主要由于较高的生产率和Black Hawk带来的有业绩。商用喷气式飞机销售额上涨了24%至1410万美元，商用飞机销售额创1240万美元。二季度每股收益上涨了73%至0.45美元，分析师预计为0.39美元。不断上涨的商品和原油价格并不对公司构成多大影响，公司主要依靠的是制造业务。在确立订单的时候，成本往往被转嫁到消费者身上。
美国军方发动的针对阿富汗和伊拉克的战争使得公司获得大量军事业务。而Black Hawk就占到这部分业务中很大一部份，这种直升飞机的磨损率极高。公司还将迎来商用喷气式飞机市场需求的大涨，尤其是在BA和其它航空公司罢工斗争不断的当前。分析师表示：“上述利好因素将大大提振公司09年的业绩，预计营收将增加至少2500-3000万美元。”“就短期来看，公司已经进行了裁员和扩大的订单量的战略，同时合同业务外包也不失为一种降低成本的有效措施。”
公司截至07年底总订单量达到1.609亿美元，同比上涨了15% 。约有1.26亿美元订单能够持续12个月之久。新一轮的收购战略也在如火如荼地展开，公司正在考虑收购一家拥有高速加工能力的制造商。总而言之，分析师认为：“公司将秉承变革的理念，通过不断的收购战略实现业务多元化目标。”
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