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Primo Water Corp lifts Q1 2023 results on pricing, rising demand

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May 4, 2023

Primo Water Corp., a provider of water direct to consumers and water filtration services in North America and Europe, as well as a provider of water dispensers, purified and spring bottled water and self-service refill drinking water in the U.S. and Canada, improved its revenue and earnings for Q1 2023 over the prior year period, boosted by pricing and increased customer demand, according to an earnings report.

Highlights include:

• Revenue increased 4% from $526 million in Q1 2022 to $547 million in Q1 2023, driven by revenue growth of 11% in water direct/water exchange and 21% in water refill/water filtration, partially offset by the exit from the North America single-use bottled water retail business and the exit from the Russia business, as well as foreign exchange headwinds.
• Net income rose 12.5% from a net loss of $6.7 million to a positive $6 million in the comparative quarters.
• Net income per diluted share improved from a diluted loss of 4 cents to a positive 4 cents.
• Adjusted net income rose 1% from $14 million to $15 million.
• Adjusted net income per diluted share remained at 9 cents.
• North America revenue increased 4% from $397.1 million to $412 million driven by revenue growth of 12% in water direct/water echange, and 24% in water refill/water filtration driven by increased demand for products and services from residential and business customers, partially offset by the exit from the single use bottled water retail business.
• Europe revenue increased 8% from $64.3 million to $69 million, driven by increased demand for products and services from residential and business customers and pricing initiatives, partially offset by the exit of the Russian operations and foreign exchange headwinds.

The company declared a quarterly dividend of 9 cents per common share, a 14% gain over last year's rate, payable in cash on June 14, 2023 to shareowners of record at the close of business on June 2, 2023.

Shares traded today at $20.39 against a 52-week range of $15.56 to $22.22.

The $547 million in quarterly revenue beat analyst expectations by $13.92 million, according to Seeking Alpha.

"During the first quarter we once again delivered strong revenue and earnings growth, driven by both pricing and increased customer demand across our Water Your Way platform," CEO Tom Harrington said in the press release.

The company reaffirmed its full year 2023 revenue target of between $2.3 billion and $2.35 billion versus consensus of $2.32 billion, and reaffirmed its full year 2023 adjusted EBITDA target of between $450 million and $470 million.