Boris Elisman
Analyst · SunTrust. Your line is now open
Thank you, Jennifer, and good morning, everyone. Overall I'm pleased with our performance in the second quarter despite some industry and macro challenges. We executed well against our strategy, particularly in Europe, where we benefited from broader distribution as well as integration synergies. In North America, our sales continued to shift away from traditional office channels into mass retail, e-commerce and independents. And we acquired GOBA Internacional, a school and craft products distributor in Mexico, which doubles our footprint in Mexico and will add 1% to our total revenues in 2018. GOBA's leading brands, such as Barrilito, and alternative sales channels, will significantly increase our penetration with wholesalers and retailers throughout Mexico and complement our existing distribution there. Q2 company sales increased 2% on a reported basis. I'm especially pleased with the modest comparable sales growth from Q2 prior year. We're continuing to focus on growing product categories, brands and channels and our teams have done a nice job executing on this in Q2. North American sales were up slightly. Great initial back-to-school shipments to mass and e-tail offset declines with office super stores and wholesalers. EMEA comparable sales were up 3%, accelerating from 2% growth in Q1. These two regions contributed 85% to our Q2 sales. Their growth was partially offset by a 5% comparable decline in International. Reported earnings per share increased $0.03. Adjusted EPS were up $0.01 from last year, primarily due to the lower tax rate and share count. I'll begin my color commentary with North America. Last quarter I mentioned that we expected back-to-school sales to be comparable to last year's season. That is still our view. The season started well with Q2 shipments to mass and e-tail channels up 13% versus last year. These channels are taking share in North America and I'm really pleased with our Q2 sales with those customers. Our key North American BTS brands of Five Star, Mead and Hilroy were up 11%, 10%, and 23% respectively. Growth in mass and e-tail channels was partially offset by a 10% decline in OSS and office wholesalers. These declines were expected, as OSS and wholesalers continue to revise their business strategies, close stores and take out inventory. Independent dealer channel sales were up approximately 8% in the quarter as more dealers bought directly from us rather than through wholesale. We would like this trend to continue and have initiated programs to make it easier and less expensive for them to buy directly from us. Kensington sales were up 12% in North America due to growth in security cables and notebook docks. North America gross margins were down versus prior year due to adverse mix, more sales to dollar stores and less to wholesalers, a difficult comp versus unusually high gross margin last Q2, as well as higher product and raw material costs. We expect cost inflation to accelerate in the second half in the U.S. due to the rising cost of uncoated paper and implementation of tariffs and plan a price increase on October 1 in the U.S., and another one early next year to offset rising costs. In addition, to protect profitability, we are further consolidating manufacturing and distribution facilities in the U.S., accelerating ongoing cost-saving initiatives in North America, and reallocating sales and marketing assets from declining channels to those that are expanding. Historically, we have a strong track record of successfully flexing the business to meet industry and macro challenges and aligning our expenses to revenues. EMEA had another great quarter. Comparable sales grew 3% with gains across most customers. We are continuing to see positive sales synergies in Europe with good growth of our legacy products in continental Europe. Sales were especially strong with Rexel, Kensington and Rapid Tools brands which were up 49%, 44%, and 6% respectively in the quarter. We are not seeing significant inflationary pressures in Europe and gross margins expanded due to acquisition synergies and improved productivity. We have now integrated all of our distribution centers to ship combined products with a single order and bill with one invoice, making it easier to do business with ACCO Brands. I'm very pleased with our business in EMEA and believe strong performance will continue for the remainder of the year. Our results in International continue to be mixed, but remember that Q2 is the smallest revenue quarter for this segment. While the sales trajectory improved versus Q1, declines in Australia and Mexico more than offset another good quarter in Brazil and growth in Asia. I expect continued sequential improvements in Q3 and Q4, but still some organic sales challenges in both Australia and Mexico in the second half. On to our guidance. We're increasing our sales outlook for the year from 2% growth to now 3% growth, with GOBA adding 1% to sales. We are maintaining our adjusted earnings per share outlook for the year to $1.33 to $1.37 and expectations for free cash flow at approximately $180 million. GOBA should not have a meaningful impact on earnings in 2018. Strong first half sales in EMEA, cost reduction activities and fourth quarter price increases should offset pressures from North America channel mix, expected a second half headwinds from commodity costs and tariffs in the U.S., and a negative foreign exchange environment. Overall, the better balance of our businesses and geographies will enable us to deliver commercial success in the marketplace and value for our shareholders over the long term. Now I'll ask Neal to give you a more detailed look at the quarter. Neal?