Earnings Call Transcript - HEI Q3 2022

Operator, Operator

Welcome to the HEICO Corporation Third Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2022 Financial Results Call. My name is Connie, and I will be the operator assisting you today. Certain statements in today’s call will constitute forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties, and contingencies. HEICO's actual results may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by those forward-looking statements as a result of factors including, but not limited to: the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic; HEICO's liquidity, and amount, timing of cash generation; lower commercial air travel caused by the pandemic and its aftermath, airline fleet changes or airline purchasing decisions, which could cause lower demand for our goods and services; product specification costs and requirements, which could cause an increase to our costs to complete contracts; government and regulatory demands, export policies and restrictions, reductions in defense, space or homeland security spending by U.S. and/or foreign customers or competition from existing and new competitors, which could reduce our sales; our ability to introduce new products and services at profitable pricing levels, which could reduce our sales and sales growth; product development or manufacturing difficulties, which could increase our product development and manufacturing costs and delay sales; our ability to make acquisitions. Parties receiving this material are encouraged to review all of HEICO's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to filings on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Forms 8-K. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except the extent requirements by applicable law. I now turn the call over to Laurans Mendelson, HEICO's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

Laurans Mendelson, Chairman and CEO

Connie, thank you, and good morning to everyone on the call. We thank you all for joining us and welcome you to the HEICO third quarter fiscal '22 earnings announcement teleconference. I'm Larry Mendelson, Chairman and CEO of HEICO Corporation, and I'm joined here this morning by Eric Mendelson, HEICO's Co-President and President of HEICO's Flight Support Group; Victor Mendelson, HEICO's Co-President and President of HEICO's Electronic Technologies Group; and Carlos Macau, our Executive VP and CFO. Today, my comments will address our consolidated Q3 results, acquisitions, and accomplishments, followed by a presentation of the segment results from Eric and Victor, HEICO's Co-Presidents. Now before reviewing the quarterly results, I would like to take a moment to thank all of HEICO's talented team members for their contributions to another remarkable quarter. Their commitment to producing the highest quality products for customers resulted in excellent quarterly financial results for all HEICO shareholders. And I remain very optimistic about the future for our company. Summarizing the highlights of our third quarter, I will tell you that consolidated third quarter fiscal '22 net sales and operating income represent record results for HEICO driven primarily by record operating results within the Flight Support Group, mainly arising from continued strong rebound in demand for our commercial aerospace products and services. In addition, this marks the eighth consecutive quarter of sequential growth in net sales and operating income for the Flight Support Group. Consolidated operating income and net sales in the third quarter of fiscal '22 improved 28% and 21%, respectively, as compared to the third quarter of fiscal '21. These results mainly reflect 13% quarterly consolidated organic net sales growth as well as the favorable impact from our fiscal '22 and '21 acquisitions. Consolidated operating margin improved to 22.6% in the third quarter of fiscal '22, and that was up from 21.4% in the third quarter of fiscal '21. Net income attributable to non-controlling interest was $10.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal '22 as compared to $6.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal '21. And of course, the increase principally reflects improved operating results of certain subsidiaries in which non-controlling interests are held. We continue to estimate the annual allocation of earnings to non-controlling interest partners to approximate 7% to 8% of the percentage of pretax income. HEICO's effective tax rate was 27% in the third quarter of fiscal '22, and that compared to 15.7% in the third quarter of fiscal '21. I want to comment on this tax rate because it's a major issue. Carlos Macau will explain the complexities between actual tax that we pay in cash and the tax provision required for GAAP later in this call. But suffice it to say, from an operating point of view, in my mind and management's mind, our tax rate is really 21%. And for the analysts out there who are on the phone, if you apply the 21%, which is what we estimate to be our annual tax rate, you will find that the earnings per share for the quarter would be $0.65 to $0.66. In my opinion, and Carlos' too, and he'll go into detail, the additional 7% difference between 21% and 27% will most likely never have to be paid. And Carlos will explain why that is. The increase in our tax rate reflected a 5.3% unfavorable impact from tax-exempt unrealized losses in the cash-surrendered value of life insurance policies related to the HEICO Leadership Compensation Plan, which was recognized in the third quarter of fiscal '22. This was compared to the tax-exempt unrealized gains recognized in the third quarter of fiscal '21, along with a 2.6% unfavorable impact from a larger income tax credit recognized in the third quarter of fiscal '21 due to higher qualifying R&D expenses as compared to the third quarter of fiscal '22. And that's a big mouthful; it's very complicated. The simplistic answer, as we look at it, again, is the real tax, in my opinion, and management is 21% for the quarter. We now expect the full-year effective tax rate to be between 20% and 21% of pretax earnings. The increase in our estimated annual effective tax rate, up from prior year estimates of 18% to 20%, is directly attributable to overall stock market declines causing unfavorable investment results within the HEICO Leadership Compensation Plan during the third quarter of fiscal '22. Consolidated net income increased 7% to $82.5 million or $0.60 per diluted share in the third quarter of fiscal '22, up from $76.9 million or $0.56 per diluted share in the third quarter of fiscal '21. Liquidity and cash generation was very strong. Cash flow provided by operating activities increased 20% to $149.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal '22, which was up from $124 million in the third quarter of fiscal '21. This, despite our continued investments in working capital to support strong orders and our increased consolidated backlog. We now expect capital expenditures for the full fiscal '22 to approximate $35 million, down from prior estimates of $40 million. HEICO's total debt to shareholders' equity ratio improved to 9.9% as of July 31, '22, down from 10.3% as of October 31, '21. Our net debt, which is total debt less cash and cash equivalents of $112.2 million as of July 31, '22, compared to shareholders' equity ratio improved to 4.5% as of July 31, '22, compared to 5.6% as of October 31, '21. Our balance sheet is very, very strong. Net debt-to-EBITDA ratio improved to 0.2x as of July 31, '22, down from 0.26x as of October 31, '21. We have no significant debt maturities until fiscal '25, and we plan to utilize our financial strength and flexibility to continue aggressively pursuing high-quality acquisitions of various sizes to accelerate growth and maximize shareholder returns. In July '22, we paid our regular semiannual cash dividend of $0.09 per share, which represented our 88th consecutive semiannual cash dividend. In July '22, our Flight Support Group acquired Accurate Metal Machining, a leading manufacturer of high-reliability components and assemblies in the aerospace, defense, and semiconductor equipment subsystem supplier markets. Accurate employs approximately 250 people at its Cleveland, Ohio production facility. In July '22, we announced the agreement for our ETG Group to purchase Exxelia International, which represents HEICO's largest-ever acquisition. Exxelia is headquartered in Paris, France, and is a global leader in the design, manufacture, and sales of high-reliability complex passive electronic components and rotary joint assemblies for aerospace and defense products. Exxelia is expected to generate approximately EUR 190 million in revenue during calendar year '22, and has 11 advanced locations worldwide to support its over 3,000 customers. The Exxelia transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of fiscal '23. In August '22, a subsidiary of the ETG Group acquired Charter Engineering, located in Pinellas Park, Florida. Charter designs and manufactures RF and microwave coaxial switches for the aerospace, defense, commercial, and automated test equipment and instrumentation markets. In August '22, we announced the ETG Group acquired Sensor Systems, which is based in Chatsworth, California, and is one of the world's leading designers and manufacturers of airborne antennas for commercial and military applications. Sensors antennas are found on nearly all large commercial transport aircraft built in the last 50 years, along with numerous business and military aircraft. We expect all of these acquisitions to be accretive to our earnings within the year following their respective close date. At this time, I'd like to introduce Eric Mendelson, Co-President of HEICO and President of HEICO's Flight Support Group to discuss third quarter results of the Flight Support Group.

Eric Mendelson, Co-President and President of Flight Support Group

Thank you. The Flight Support Group's net sales increased 39% to a record $330.3 million in the third quarter of fiscal '22, up from $237.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal '21. The net sales increase in the third quarter of fiscal '22 reflects strong organic growth of 25% as well as the impact from our profitable fiscal '22 and '21 acquisitions. The organic growth mainly reflects increased demand for the majority of our commercial aerospace products and services resulting from continued recovery in global commercial air travel as compared to the third quarter of fiscal '21. The Flight Support Group's operating income increased 68% to a record $70.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal '22, up from $42.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal '21. The operating income increase in the third quarter of fiscal '22, principally reflects an improved gross profit margin, mainly from increased net sales across all product lines, and efficiencies realized from the higher net sales volume. The Flight Support Group's operating margin improved to 21.4% in the third quarter of fiscal '22, up from 17.7% in the third quarter of fiscal '21. The operating margin increased in the third quarter of fiscal '22, principally reflects a decrease in SG&A expenses as a percentage of net sales, mainly reflecting the previously mentioned efficiencies as well as the previously mentioned improved gross profit margin. Now I would like to introduce Victor Mendelson, Co-President of HEICO and President of HEICO's Electronic Technologies Group, to discuss the third quarter results of the Electronic Technologies Group.

Victor Mendelson, Co-President and President of Electronic Technologies Group

Thank you, Eric. The Electronic Technologies Group's net sales increased 2% to $244.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal '22, up from $239.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal '21. The net sales increase principally reflects the impact from our profitable '21 and '22 acquisitions as well as 1% organic growth. The organic growth mainly reflects increased demand for our other electronics, space, and medical products, partially offset by decreased defense product sales, which seems to be common among defense companies this year with U.S. government outlays lagging. The increase in non-defense revenues underscores the strength of these other product lines in the quarter. The Electronic Technologies Group's backlog remains healthy with a roughly 16% increase since October 31, '21, and it remains elevated, reflecting strong orders. However, we've experienced increasing delays in receiving components and raw materials from some suppliers, adversely impacting some defense products, planned production, and shipment during fiscal '22 and during the quarter. We estimate somewhere around $25 million of our revenues moved out of fiscal third quarter into future periods, mostly estimated to be in the fiscal fourth quarter due to supplier issues or even customer ordering delays. Notably, our book-to-bill ratio increased in the quarter and year-to-date. The Electronic Technologies Group's operating income was $68 million in the third quarter of fiscal '22, compared to $69 million in the third quarter of fiscal '21. The slight operating income decrease principally reflects a lower gross profit margin, due mainly to the previously mentioned decrease in defense product sales. The Electronic Technologies Group's operating margin was 27.9% in the third quarter of fiscal '22 compared to 28.8% in the third quarter of fiscal '21. The lower operating margin principally reflects the previously mentioned lower gross profit margin, and an increase in SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales. I turn the call back over to Larry Mendelson.

Laurans Mendelson, Chairman and CEO

Thank you, Victor and Eric. As we look ahead to the remainder of fiscal '22, we expect global commercial air travel to continue on a path to recovery, despite the potential for additional pandemic variants. We remain cautious and optimistic that the ongoing worldwide pandemic vaccines and boosters rollout will continue to positively influence global commercial air travel and benefit the markets we serve. While signs of stability in global commercial air travel continue to surface, it still remains very difficult to predict the pandemic's path and effect, including factors like new variants, vaccination rates, potential supply chain disruptions, and inflation, which may impact our key markets. Therefore, we feel it would not be responsible to provide fiscal '22 net sales and earnings guidance at this time. In closing, I'd like to again thank our incredible global team members for their continued support and commitment to HEICO and its shareholders. Together, we continue to win in the marketplace, exceed our customers' expectations, and build a larger and more successful company for the future. Your contributions are what makes HEICO an excellent company. I would now like to open the floor for questions.

Operator, Operator

And we'll take our first question.

Larry Solow, Analyst

Maybe just the first question, Larry, if we could kick off with the Exxelia acquisition. I realize you haven't closed this acquisition yet, but it's obviously your largest product ever and sounds exciting. Could you provide us with a little more detail on that? It seems like you’re entering complementary markets, particularly in Europe, which might give you a nice advantage, possibly on the defense side. Also, is there room for improvement on the operating side? It sounds like margins aren't quite where you would like them to be, or is it more of a mix issue that's impacting that?

Laurans Mendelson, Chairman and CEO

I will let Victor provide most of the details. What I can say is that Victor, the team, and I have been exploring Exxelia for about four years. We have always been interested in this company. We have gotten to know the management and the company itself, and we believe it will be a fantastic addition to the ETG Group. Their margins are good, though not quite the exceptional 30% margins we typically prefer at ETG. However, we do have solid margins. We also have an excellent management team in place, and we see realistic opportunities for growth through acquisitions. Therefore, I believe this will be a significant addition to the HEICO Group. I will now turn it over to Victor to provide more details.

Victor Mendelson, Co-President and President of Electronic Technologies Group

Hey, Larry, those are good questions. I think until we're completely done with the regulatory processes, hold off on kind of predicting anything there other than to say that the same management will continue running the company. The people who are there will be there, and they'll be implementing the plan that they've laid out in their own internal growth plan, which certainly impressed us, and we remain very excited about the company.

Larry Solow, Analyst

The quarter appeared strong, excluding the $25 million sales push. Can you provide more insight into what is driving the growth in sectors outside of defense? You mentioned that defense is still slightly down, which makes up almost half of your revenue in that segment. Is the growth coming from sectors like space, medical, or general industrial? Additionally, do you anticipate an improvement in defense visibility in the upcoming quarters?

Victor Mendelson, Co-President and President of Electronic Technologies Group

We experienced strong growth across most markets, particularly in space, medical, and various electronics sectors. Aerospace and telecom also performed well, along with some smaller markets like marine. However, in defense, we've noticed that Department of Defense spending has been slower this year, and there are many theories as to why that might be. I'm inclined to take a cautious approach and don’t expect significant changes in the next couple of months, as these situations often take longer to resolve. There haven't been any significant order cancellations in defense for us; typical fluctuations in business can happen, but nothing seems out of the ordinary. Our book-to-bill ratio is increasing, and our backlog is growing, indicating that none of these orders are lost. I expect some of these will ship in the fourth quarter, with others beyond that.

Larry Solow, Analyst

Okay, great. I want to take a moment to acknowledge Eric. Regarding your revenue trends, they have been quite strong. However, it seems likely that we will need to slow down as we return to pre-COVID levels. Could you provide more insight into airline inventory levels? I assume they are still below normal. Additionally, how do you envision the future developments in this area? On the topic of passenger travel, it appears to be back to where we were, excluding business travel, which still seems to be lagging. I'm trying to understand your perspective on growth over the next few quarters from a high-level view.

Eric Mendelson, Co-President and President of Flight Support Group

Yes, those are excellent questions, Larry. I've dedicated a significant amount of time thinking about this and discussing it with our team. Our results have been exceptional, and I believe we have definitely captured market share. We have parts that our competitors lack, and HEICO is gaining credibility in the industry. We are now recognized as a major player and supplier, no longer the small PMA company we once were. This credibility is crucial, and our perception has changed significantly. Currently, North America has essentially returned to pre-COVID levels, with Europe slightly behind. Asia continues to lag considerably, and Latin America is somewhere in between Europe and Asia regarding the recovery in service. Concerning inventory, we don't think airlines are stocking substantial inventories. Much of what we've supplied is going directly onto aircraft. However, the industry is experiencing significant delays in turnaround times for materials, parts, and services. As a result, it seems reasonable to assume that airlines are purchasing more than they need. While they aren't necessarily increasing inventories, they have a heightened demand due to the maintenance required as they bring aircraft back into service. When considering all these factors, I believe HEICO will continue to perform well. We need to be cautious, as 25% organic growth is remarkable, and we've maintained this for a while now. We are almost back to pre-COVID levels, so I don't foresee this growth rate persisting indefinitely. We’re still evaluating the situation, as there's uncertainty about airlines potentially ordering more than necessary due to concerns about future availability. Having been in this industry for a long time, I remain cautious about overestimating future growth. This uncertainty may be somewhat alleviated by the recovery in Asia and South America. Overall, I think we're in a strong position and expect continued success, but I urge caution in making long-term predictions since no one can say for sure what the future holds.

Operator, Operator

And we'll take our next question from Sheila Kahyaoglu from Jefferies.

Ellen Page, Analyst

This is Ellen on for Sheila. On your Sensor Systems acquisition, you paid in part with HEICO shares, what made you decide to use equity here? And how does that change the return profile for that transaction?

Laurans Mendelson, Chairman and CEO

The reason for that decision was that one of the sellers of Sensor Systems was inclined to sell only in exchange for HEICO shares. It was really that straightforward. We are pleased to offer cash, and we have known this seller for over seven years as we worked on the acquisition. The seller has a strong preference for HEICO. Although we were approached by several other companies with higher offers, the seller was only interested in selling to HEICO and exclusively wanted HEICO shares. That was the only way to finalize the deal, and we were happy to accommodate.

Ellen Page, Analyst

Great. And you've been pretty active with four acquisitions announced in the past month or so. Is there anything that changed in the M&A market that allowed you to be more active? Or what drove that activity?

Laurans Mendelson, Chairman and CEO

No, I don't think so. We have often stated that we pursue acquisitions as opportunities arise. It seems that in some instances, the market for acquisition loans from private equity may have become more challenging, and private equity firms realized they couldn't match the terms that HEICO has on its credit line. In one or two cases, they couldn't really compete with us, allowing us to succeed in those deals. That may have contributed to our activity. However, some of these acquisitions, like Sensor, took us seven years to finalize. The timing was right.

Victor Mendelson, Co-President and President of Electronic Technologies Group

And this is Victor. I would say it really is a question of timing in these deals that we closed and when they came available, when we were able to reach terms. In most of the acquisitions we're working on now or we've announced, they were talking exclusively with us, and it's just when the timing became good.

Ellen Page, Analyst

Awesome. And maybe just one more on ETG. Do you have any visibility to when that $25 million of delayed revenue will be recovered? Is there something that you need to see in the market? Or how do we think about how much confidence you have in recovering any of that in fiscal Q4?

Victor Mendelson, Co-President and President of Electronic Technologies Group

Yes. I believe that our expectations indicate that most of this will come in the fourth quarter, with some spilling over into the first and second quarters. We do not anticipate it extending much further than that. However, there has been a shift occurring. Some items have moved from the second to the third quarter, and while those transitioned to the third quarter increased in number, the overall amount of delayed shipments rose significantly. Last quarter, I mentioned we estimated about $10 million worth of delayed shipments in the first quarter, and in the second quarter, that estimate increased by 50% to 70%, landing in the $15 million to $17 million range. Now, we're projecting approximately $25 million. This increase in delayed shipments is what we are particularly focused on. I do expect that a significant portion of the delayed shipments from the third quarter will be fulfilled in the fourth quarter, although there may be some pushouts into the first quarter. I hope that at some point, this situation will stabilize. My expectation is that initially it will level off and eventually start to decrease, though it’s possible it could drop immediately.

Operator, Operator

And we'll take our next question from Peter Arment from Baird.

Peter Arment, Analyst

Eric, can you maybe talk a little bit about maybe the size of your parts catalog today or the runway that you still see in developing parts? Because obviously, your organic growth continues to be incredibly impressive.

Eric Mendelson, Co-President and President of Flight Support Group

Got it. Yes, Peter. Our parts catalog in terms of PMA has about 13,000 approvals. It is quite broad and includes many engines as well as various ATA chapters. We cover areas such as fuel, hydraulic, pneumatic, electromechanical, avionics, wheels and brakes, structures, and interiors throughout the aircraft. It's a very diversified product line that isn't focused on any one area or competitor, which we really appreciate. This approach makes a lot of sense. Additionally, when you consider the parts catalog alongside our line replaceable unit or component overhaul capability, the scope is substantial. When we also factor in the distribution, it becomes even larger. We essentially cover everything in the airplane for a wide range of customers.

Peter Arment, Analyst

And Eric, do you still have the ability to kind of add more to that? I mean, now that you've gotten to such a large size in terms of 13,000-plus parts, do you still kind of see the ability to add a few hundred parts a year as you've done in the past?

Eric Mendelson, Co-President and President of Flight Support Group

We are maintaining our new product development spending at previous levels and continue to create 300 to 500 new PMAs each year, along with a similar number of DER repairs. This means we are expanding our product range. Additionally, we have several highly complex and critical products that we do not discuss publicly for competitive reasons. Sometimes our competitors are aware of these, and other times they are not. Our team is exceptional at identifying opportunities and figuring out how to engineer these solutions. I believe we have the best sales force in the industry, which generates significant customer enthusiasm and collaboration. Customers place their trust in us because our work is intricate, and they need to have confidence in HEICO. This is why we prioritize our quality organization and the thorough engineering efforts we invest to ensure our processes are robust. We go beyond regulatory requirements, a practice we've upheld for 32 years because it is the right choice for our customers and protects HEICO. We invest heavily to ensure everything is flawless, which contributes to our strong quality reputation.

Peter Arment, Analyst

Thank you for that color. And just how do we think about, as wide-body activity starts to recover as going forward, we should see a pickup there. We're already starting to see some pickup in wide-body traffic. How much of an impact will that have on overall FSG?

Eric Mendelson, Co-President and President of Flight Support Group

Yes, it will be very helpful. I'd say Asia, a little bit of South America wide-body that's the upside from here. Most of our business, as I've mentioned before, is a narrow-body. Of course, cargo has done very well, and a lot of that cargo market is basically wide-body aircraft. So we've done very well in that space as well. But I do think there's going to be additional demand, obviously, as the wide-bodies further return to service.

Carlos Macau, CFO

I think you should plan on somewhere around 21% for the year, possibly between 20% and 21%. This estimate assumes that we don't experience a significant downturn in the stock market. As mentioned earlier, if there are widespread losses in the stock market before our fiscal year-end, that could slightly increase our rate again in Q4. However, I'm not in the business of predicting that. So that's our current outlook.

Victor Mendelson, Co-President and President of Electronic Technologies Group

Thanks, Ken. This is Victor. It's a good question. I am not looking for an increase in margins. If that happens, that would be great, but I am planning to be more conservative and not assume an increase in margins in the fourth quarter at this time. We are now in our budgeting process for 2023, and we'll start considering those. The 2023 margins will be somewhat moderated from historical levels due to the Exxelia acquisition. We've mentioned that their margins fall within our target range, but they are more toward the lower end of that range. We will start to think about those later.

Carlos Macau, CFO

Ken, this is Carlos. Just to follow up real quick on what Victor said, there are so many businesses in the ETG and it is a very mix sensitive segment. And with the little bit of the drag that we've had this year on defense, that has brought the margin down a little bit, but we've been running the last couple of quarters, 28%. I think as a management team, we're very happy with that. And as Victor said, I think going into the fourth quarter, we'd be very happy if that maintained at that level.

Eric Mendelson, Co-President and President of Flight Support Group

Yes, that's a good question, Ken. To clarify, if you're referring to a PMA part, the typical cycle time from when we start the process to when it's available is around a year. It can take as little as a couple of months for a simpler part in high demand, or up to a couple of years for a highly complex part. Currently, we're benefiting from increased penetration of our existing product line. These are parts that have been available for sale, and it’s surprising that more customers haven't been utilizing them yet; it just takes time to address this. As a result, we believe we're able to gain market share. Additionally, since we haven't heavily leveraged ourselves and have ensured the company is well financed, we didn't reduce our inventory as much as others did. This has allowed us to meet demand when it returned, unlike some competitors who have significantly depleted their inventory. Overall, our market share growth comes more from capitalizing on opportunities we have already been working on rather than developing new ones right now.

Robert Spingarn, Analyst

I want to follow up on a few things that have already been asked. Larry, I was going to start with you on M&A. You mentioned the concentration of deals and the random timing involved. I found your private equity comment interesting. Are we seeing a different pipeline now compared to the past? And is the size of the transactions increasing?

Laurans Mendelson, Chairman and CEO

I don't think so, Rob. It seems like it's pretty much business as usual. In the past, large transactions typically went to private equity and industry buyers at multiples that are not within our range. If they were trading at 17x or 15x EBITDA, we have looked at those companies before but were unable to proceed. Currently, we're observing slightly lower pricing, likely due to interest rates, which is to be expected. Private equity needs to be more cautious, as we've heard from various bankers that they have to contribute more equity and face higher interest rates. Some banks are now out of the game for certain private equity borrowers, which might pressure pricing and allow us to get involved. Overall, it feels like business as usual, and we have numerous deals in the pipeline that we are evaluating, which is typical for us. The key questions remain whether we can close these deals, if the pricing will be suitable, and if our due diligence confirms that these companies are genuinely strong opportunities, rather than just appealing presentations from sellers. So, I think the situation is somewhat business as usual, perhaps slightly improved.

Eric Mendelson, Co-President and President of Flight Support Group

Yes. We have some acquisitions contributing to a higher number. I'm not certain what the exact figure would be. It might be around $370 million per quarter or perhaps $300 million. However, achieving something like $360 million would mark a record for us.

Laurans Mendelson, Chairman and CEO

One other thing, this is Larry. They have approximately 3,000 customers, which provides a great market reach, and these customers are among the top industrial companies in the world. Thus, this customer list, along with the potential to market with our other product lines, is significant. I would like to remind you that the average industrial company has an operating margin of 7% to 11%, and our margins are substantially higher than that. One issue we face is that the ETG Group is operating in the 30s in terms of margin. Selecting a company with margins in the 20s would lower the overall margin. However, it still represents a great return on investment and strong cash flow. Therefore, we believe it will be a very strong acquisition.

Victor Mendelson, Co-President and President of Electronic Technologies Group

Taking your question about management constraints regarding Exxelia, I would say it's quite the opposite for us. Exxelia has a strong central management team, which means we gain a range of operations and excellent product lines without needing to allocate individual resources. Typically, we would need to acquire around eight or ten companies to achieve similar outcomes, but the quality of the management team makes it easier for us. It's a collective effort, so we're not dependent on just one individual, but rather a group of capable people.

Laurans Mendelson, Chairman and CEO

Well, thank you very much. And again, thank you to all the participants on the call. I hope we've responded to your questions adequately. If you have other questions, of course, we are available, you know how to reach us. And otherwise, we will look forward to speaking to you after our fourth quarter and full year report later on this year. So have a very good holiday weekend, which is coming up, and we look forward to speaking to you soon again. Thank you.

Operator, Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.