Apogee Enterprises Inc. reports strong net sales and operating income in various glass-related segments, including architectural glass. Per the company’s fiscal 2024 first quarter (Q1) results, architectural glass grew by 27.5%, and architectural framing systems grew by 0.5% compared to this time last year. However, architectural services net sales declined to $89.4 million from $103.4 million in Q1 2023.
Overall, Apogee reports that Q1 2024 net sales ended May 27, 2023, grew 1.4% to $361.7 million compared to $356.6 in 2022. Operating income grew 1.7% to $33.7 million compared to $33.2 million this time last year.
“Our first quarter results were led by exceptional performance in architectural glass, building on our progress over the past two years,” says CEO Ty Silberhorn. “Through executing our strategy, we’ve driven sustainable cost and productivity improvements and shifted our sales mix to emphasize premium solutions that leverage our unique capabilities. These efforts transform glass from an underperforming business to an economic leader delivering significantly improved profitability. Framing systems and large-scale optical both continue to deliver strong execution and operating margins above our targeted levels, while results in architectural services were below our expectations this quarter.”
According to Apogee officials, the decline in architectural services resulted from lower project volume. Q1 results show that the segment had an operating loss of $(0.6) million due to the impact of low estimated profitability levels on certain projects and severance costs related to a facility closure.
Architectural glass made up for the decline in services, as the segment reported a nearly 30% increase driven by improved pricing, higher volume and more favorable sales mix. Officials say the move to emphasize premium, high-performance products was critical in the segment’s increased sales. Q1 2024 operating income increased to $16.5 million, or 17% of net sales, compared to $5.2 million, or 6.8% of net sales.
Architectural framing services increased by 0.5% in Q1 to $164.2 million. This was due to improved pricing and mix, which offset lower volume. Operating income was $19.9 million, or 12.1% of net sales, compared to $23.7 million, or 14.5% of net sales.
For fiscal 2024, officials expect flat to declining net sales compared to fiscal 2023. This is due to the expected lower volume of architectural services and framing systems.
