Novanta Announces Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018

• Full Year 2018 GAAP Revenue of $614.3 million
• Full Year 2018 GAAP Net Income of $49.1 million
• Full Year 2018 GAAP Diluted Earnings Per Share of $1.43
• Full Year 2018 Adjusted Earnings Per Share of $2.16
• Full Year 2018 Adjusted EBITDA of $124 million

BEDFORD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Novanta Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVT) (the “Company”), a trusted technology
partner to medical and advanced technology equipment manufacturers,
today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year
2018.

“2018 was an excellent year for Novanta with solid execution and good
financial results,” said Matthijs Glastra, Chief Executive Officer of
Novanta. “We delivered on our promises for robust top line growth and
bottom-line profitability. For the full year, reported revenue growth
was very strong at 18%, our Adjusted EPS grew 35% and Adjusted EBITDA
grew 17%. As we head into 2019, we remain very confident in our
strategy, our business model and our team’s commitment and ability to
deliver results.”

Fourth Quarter

During the fourth quarter of 2018, Novanta generated GAAP revenue of
$156.2 million, an increase of $9.3 million, or 6.3%, versus the fourth
quarter of 2017. The Company’s acquisition activities resulted in an
increase in revenue of $3.3 million, or 2.2%, compared to the fourth
quarter of 2017. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates year over
year adversely impacted our revenue by $1.6 million, or 1.1%, during the
fourth quarter of 2018. Our year-over-year Organic Revenue Growth, which
excludes the net impact of acquisitions and changes in foreign currency
exchange rates, was 5.2% for the fourth quarter of 2018 (see “Organic
Revenue Growth” in the non-GAAP reconciliation below).

In the fourth quarter of 2018, GAAP operating income was $15.7 million,
compared to $19.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. GAAP net income
attributable to Novanta was $11.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2018,
compared to $8.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. GAAP diluted
earnings per share (“EPS”) was $0.33 in the fourth quarter of 2018,
compared to ($0.00) in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Adjusted Diluted EPS was $0.56 in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared
to $0.44 in the fourth quarter of 2017. The Company ended the fourth
quarter of 2018 with 35.5 million weighted average shares outstanding.
Adjusted EBITDA was $30.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2018,
compared to $30.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Operating cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $21.9 million,
compared to $22.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2017.

Full Year

For the full year 2018, Novanta generated GAAP revenue of $614.3
million, an increase of $93.0 million, or 17.8%, versus the full year
2017. The Company’s acquisition activities resulted in an increase in
revenue of $52.9 million, or 10.2%. Changes in foreign currency exchange
rates year over year favorably impacted our revenue by $3.7 million, or
0.6%, in 2018. Our year-over-year Organic Revenue Growth, which excludes
the net impact of acquisitions and changes in foreign currency exchange
rates, was 7.0% for the full year 2018 (see “Organic Revenue Growth” in
the non-GAAP reconciliation below).

For the full year 2018, GAAP operating income was $71.0 million,
compared to $57.6 million in 2017. GAAP net income attributable to
Novanta was $49.1 million for the full year 2018, compared to $60.1
million in 2017. GAAP diluted EPS was $1.43 for the full year 2018,
compared to $1.13 in 2017. In 2018, the Company purchased the remaining
equity interest in Laser Quantum, resulting in a reversal of $1.8
million of the previously recorded redemption value adjustment, to
reduce the carrying value of the noncontrolling interest to the actual
purchase price. This nontaxable adjustment was recognized in retained
earnings instead of net income, but resulted in a $0.05 increase in EPS
under U.S. GAAP accounting rules.

Adjusted Diluted EPS was $2.16 for the full year 2018, compared to $1.60
in 2017. The Company ended the full year 2018 with 35.5 million weighted
average shares outstanding. Adjusted EBITDA was $123.8 million for the
full year 2018, compared to $106.1 million in 2017.

Operating cash flow for the full year 2018 was $89.6 million, compared
to $63.4 million in 2017. The Company finished 2018 with approximately
$207.4 million of total debt and $82.0 million of total cash. Net Debt,
as defined in the non-GAAP reconciliation below, was $127.5 million.

Financial Outlook

For the full year 2019, the Company expects GAAP revenue of
approximately $645 million to $655 million, Adjusted EBITDA in the range
of $131 million to $135 million, and Adjusted Diluted EPS to be in the
range of $2.30 to $2.36. The Company’s Adjusted Diluted EPS and Adjusted
EBITDA guidance assumes no significant changes in foreign exchange rates.

For the first quarter of 2019, the Company expects GAAP revenue of
approximately $154 million to $157 million, Adjusted EBITDA in the range
of $27 million to $29 million, and Adjusted Diluted EPS to be in the
range of $0.44 to $0.49. The Company’s Adjusted Diluted EPS and Adjusted
EBITDA guidance assumes no significant changes in foreign exchange rates.

Novanta provides earnings guidance on a non-GAAP basis and does not
provide earnings guidance on a GAAP basis, with the exception of GAAP
revenue guidance. A reconciliation of the Company’s forward-looking
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS guidance to the most directly
comparable GAAP financial measures is not provided because of the
inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that
are necessary for such reconciliations, including future changes in the
fair value of contingent considerations; significant discrete income tax
expenses (benefits); divestiture related expenses; acquisition related
expenses; impact of purchase price allocations for recently completed
acquisitions; gains and losses from sale of real estate assets; costs
related to product line closures; intangible asset impairment charges
and related asset write-offs; future restructuring expenses; foreign
exchange gains/(losses) on proceeds from divestitures; benefits or
expenses associated with the completion of tax audits; and other charges
reflected in the Company’s reconciliation of historical non-GAAP
financial measures, the amounts of which, based on past experience,
could be material. For additional information regarding Novanta’s
non-GAAP financial measures, see “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures”
below.

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a conference call on Wednesday, February 27, 2019
at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss these results. To access the call, please
dial (888) 346-3959 prior to the scheduled conference call time.
Alternatively, the conference call can be accessed online via a live
webcast on the Presentations and Events page of the Investor Relations
section of the Company’s website at www.novanta.com.

A replay of the audio webcast will be available approximately three
hours after the conclusion of the call on the Investor Relations section
of the Company’s website at www.novanta.com.
The replay will remain available until Friday, April 5, 2019.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release are Organic
Revenue Growth, Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Gross Profit Margin,
Adjusted Operating Income and Operating Margin, Adjusted Income before
Income Taxes, Adjusted Income Tax Provision and Effective Tax Rate,
Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Novanta Inc., Net of Tax, Adjusted
Diluted EPS, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Free Cash Flow,
Free Cash Flow as a Percentage of Net Income Attributable to Novanta
Inc. and Net Debt.

The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide
useful and supplementary information to investors regarding the
operating performance of the Company. It is management’s belief that
these non-GAAP financial measures would be particularly useful to
investors because of the significant changes that have occurred outside
of the Company’s day-to-day business in accordance with the execution of
the Company’s strategy. This strategy includes streamlining the
Company’s existing operations through site and functional
consolidations, strategic divestitures and product line closures,
expanding the Company’s business through significant internal
investments, and broadening the Company’s product and service offerings
through acquisition of innovative and complementary technologies and
solutions. The financial impact of certain elements of these activities,
particularly acquisitions, divestitures, and site and functional
restructurings, is often large relative to the Company’s overall
financial performance and can adversely affect the comparability of its
operating results and investors’ ability to analyze the business from
period to period.

The Company’s Adjusted EBITDA and Organic Revenue Growth are used by
management to evaluate operating performance, communicate financial
results to the Board of Directors, benchmark results against historical
performance and the performance of peers, and evaluate investment
opportunities, including acquisitions and divestitures. In addition,
Adjusted EBITDA and Organic Revenue Growth are used to determine bonus
payments for senior management and employees. The Company also uses
Adjusted Diluted EPS as a measurement for performance shares issued to
certain executives. Accordingly, the Company believes that these
non-GAAP measures provide greater transparency and insight into
management’s method of analysis.

Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as substitutes for,
or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance
with GAAP. They are limited in value because they exclude charges that
have a material effect on the Company’s reported results and, therefore,
should not be relied upon as the sole financial measures to evaluate the
Company’s financial results. The non-GAAP financial measures are meant
to supplement, and to be viewed in conjunction with, GAAP financial
measures. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these
non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP
financial measures as provided in the tables accompanying this press
release.

Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this release are “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 and are based on current expectations and assumptions that are
subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements contained in this
news release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be
considered forward-looking statements, and are generally identified by
words such as “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,”
“future,” “could,” “should,” “plan,” “aim,” and other similar
expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, statements regarding our confidence in our strategy and our
business model and our team’s commitment and ability to deliver results;
anticipated financial performance, including our financial outlook for
the first quarter and full year 2019; expectations regarding market
conditions; and other statements that are not historical facts.

These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees,
but involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking
statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those
anticipated in these forward-looking statements for many reasons,
including, but not limited to, the following: economic and political
conditions and the effects of these conditions on our customers’
businesses and level of business activity; our significant dependence
upon our customers’ capital expenditures, which are subject to cyclical
market fluctuations; our dependence upon our ability to respond to
fluctuations in product demand; our ability to continually innovate and
successfully commercialize our innovations; failure to introduce new
products in a timely manner; customer order timing and other similar
factors beyond our control; disruptions or breaches in security of our
information technology systems; our failure to comply with data privacy
regulations; changes in interest rates, credit ratings or foreign
currency exchange rates; risks associated with our operations in foreign
countries; risks associated with increased outsourcing of components
manufacturing; our exposure to increased tariffs, trade restrictions or
taxes on our products; our failure to comply with local import and
export regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate; negative
effects on global economic conditions, financial markets and our
business as a result of the United Kingdom’s impending withdrawal from
the European Union and the actions of the current U.S. government,
including its policies on trade tariffs and reactions from other
countries to any new tariffs imposed by the U.S.; violations of our
intellectual property rights and our ability to protect our intellectual
property against infringement by third parties; risk of losing our
competitive advantage; our failure to successfully integrate recent and
future acquisitions into our businesses; our ability to attract and
retain key personnel; our restructuring and realignment activities and
disruptions to our operations as a result of consolidation of our
operations; product defects or problems integrating our products with
other vendors’ products; disruptions in the supply of certain key
components or other goods from our suppliers; production difficulties
and product delivery delays or disruptions; our exposure to medical
device regulation, which may impede or hinder the approval or sale of
our products and, in some cases, may ultimately result in an inability
to obtain approval of certain products or may result in the recall or
seizure of previously approved products; changes in governmental
regulation of our businesses or products; our failure to comply with
environmental regulations; our failure to implement new information
technology systems and software successfully; our failure to realize the
full value of our intangible assets; our exposure to the credit
risk of some of our customers and in weakened markets; our reliance on
third party distribution channels; being subject to U.S. federal income
taxation even though we are a non-U.S. corporation; tax audits by tax
authorities; changes in tax laws, and fluctuations in our effective tax
rates; anticipated impact from the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; any need
for additional capital to adequately respond to business challenges or
opportunities and repay or refinance our existing indebtedness, which
may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; our existing
indebtedness limiting our ability to engage in certain activities;
volatility in the market price for our common shares; our ability to
access cash and other assets of our subsidiaries; provisions of our
corporate documents that may delay or prevent a change in control; and
our failure to maintain appropriate internal controls in the future.

Other important risk factors that could affect the outcome of the
events set forth in these statements and that could affect the Company’s
operating results and financial condition are discussed in Item 1A of
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2018, our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(“SEC”), and in our future filings with the SEC. Such statements are
based on the Company’s beliefs and assumptions and on information
currently available to the Company. The Company disclaims any obligation
to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments
occurring after the date of this document except as required by law.

About Novanta

Novanta is a leading global supplier of core technology solutions that
give medical and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers
(“OEMs”) a competitive advantage. We combine deep proprietary technology
expertise and competencies in photonics, vision, and precision motion
with a proven ability to solve complex technical challenges. This
enables Novanta to engineer core components and sub-systems that deliver
extreme precision and performance, tailored to our customers’ demanding
applications. The driving force behind our growth is the team of
innovative professionals who share a commitment to innovation and
customer success. Novanta’s common shares are quoted on Nasdaq under the
ticker symbol “NOVT.”

More information about Novanta is available on the Company’s website at www.novanta.com.
For additional information, please contact Novanta Investor Relations at
(781) 266-5137 or InvestorRelations@novanta.com.

Contacts

Novanta Inc.
Investor Relations Contact:
Robert J.
Buckley
(781) 266-5137

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