Given JBTs strong
year-to-date performance and backlog, we are reiterating our full year guidance for revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS. We are, however, updating guidance for
income from continuing operations and GAAP EPS, which reflect our plan to settle all outstanding obligations of JBTs pension plan through a combination of voluntary lump sum settlements and the purchase of an annuity contract.
And in the fourth quarter, we expect a portion of eligible participants to elect to receive lump sum settlements from the plan. As a result, we expect to
incur approximately $30 million in noncash pretax charges during the quarter. This brings our full year estimate for income from continuing operations to $116 million to $125 million, and GAAP EPS to $3.60 to $3.90.
Additionally, in the first quarter of 2025, we expect to settle the remaining obligations of the plan and anticipate further noncash pretax charges of
approximately $145 million. Given the plans fully funded status, we anticipate these actions will have an immaterial impact on cash flow.
Lastly, as
outlined in our press release, in October, we secured financing commitments contingent on the completion of the merger with Marel. Once executed, we will issue a $900 million Term Loan B and expand our existing revolving credit facility to
$1.8 billion. Funds from this new capital structure, along with cash on the balance sheet will be used to pay the cash portion of the transaction, refinance Marels outstanding debt and pay transaction-related expenses.
As a first-time issuer in the Term Loan B market, we are very pleased with the overall demand and pricing structure. With an offering that was more than 3x
oversubscribed, we were able to upsize and achieve favorable pricing. Additionally, we believe that lenders willingness to add a leverage-based pricing step down indicates confidence in managements ability to delever the business. As we
have stated, we are committed to reducing JBTs leverage to less than 3x by year-end 2025.
With that,
Ill turn the call back to Brian.
Brian A. Deck
President, CEO & Director
Thanks, Matt. Let me
start with order trends. Orders, which totaled $440 million in the quarter, increased 10% from the prior year period. We feel good about what the order strength means for the current state of our business and it positions us well as we plan for
2025. Driving the overall gains in orders, we enjoyed continued recovery in demand from the poultry end market, which showed improvement globally.
Pet
food, fruits and vegetable and pharma end markets also experienced healthy demand in the quarter. Orders at AGV normalized from the record second quarter. While there were pockets of weakness, including certain CPG areas like beverages, our overall
strength is a function of JBTs broad portfolio and end market and customer exposure. As we have said, we have the diversified portfolio to serve our food and beverage customers regardless of changing consumer preferences.
Geographically, we experienced a nice pickup in order activity in Asia and a good quarter in Europe. North America also experienced good order momentum.
As we mentioned last quarter, our AGV business is posting record sales and orders. Secular demand for facility automation, which is critical to addressing
labor shortages and high costs remains robust. Within the factory and warehouse automation market, AGV boasts a differentiated product, the results of decades of experience, the quality of our technology and the ability to integrate with
customers operations.
Over the past few years, we have invested heavily in AGVs R&D and adjusted its business model. Specifically, we
have focused on the intelligence, safety and service element of our value proposition while focusing on larger scalable projects with our customers as opposed to bespoke projects. This strategy is paying off. We are seeing customers who installed
AGV at 1 or 2 warehouses returned to us as they seek to establish an expanded automation solution across their enterprise.