Andrew H. Beck
Analyst · Barclays
Thank you, Martin, and good morning to everyone. AGCO's regional net sales performance for the third quarter and first 9 months of 2012 is outlined on Slide 6. Currency translation had a negative impact of about 11% on AGCO's consolidated net sales, and acquisitions added approximately 10% of sales in the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. The Europe/Africa/Middle East segment reported a net sales increase of approximately 8%, excluding the impact of currency translation during the third quarter of 2012 compared to the third quarter of 2011. Excluding the positive impact of the GSI acquisition, the EAME sales were about 5% higher than in the same period in 2011. The negative impact of Fendt's lower production, especially on our German sales, was offset by growth in France, Russia and Africa. North American sales increased approximately 52%, excluding currency translation impacts during the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. Excluding acquisition impacts, the growth was approximately 21%. Increases in high horsepower tractors, sprayers and hay equipment produced most of the growth. AGCO's third quarter net sales in South America grew about 14% from comparable 2011 levels, excluding currency translation impacts. Acquisitions generated about 4% of the growth. Higher sales in Brazil due to improved crop fundamentals accounted for most of the increase. Net sales in our Asia/Pacific segment increased approximately 24% in the third quarter of 2012 compared to 2011, excluding the impact of currency translation and the benefit of acquisitions. Sales growth in China and Australia produced most of the organic increase. Part sales were $330 million for the third quarter of 2012, an increase of approximately 4% compared to the same period in 2011, excluding the impact of currency translation. Slide 7 details AGCO's sales and margin performance. Adjusted operating margins were up about 60 basis points in the third quarter of 2012 compared to the third quarter of 2011. Gross margins benefited from a favorable pricing environment, and we faced only modest inflationary pressure for the purchase -- for purchased materials. Gross margins were impacted by costs associated with the start-up and low production at the Fendt facility in the third quarter. Operating margins were negatively impacted by market development expenses. Operating margins in the third quarter of 2012 in AGCO's Europe/Africa/Middle East segment were down slightly compared to the same period in 2011 due to lower production volumes, a weaker mix of products and the impact of the Fendt factory start-up costs. North America's third quarter operating margins reached 9.5%, including the benefit of GSI. Core margins were up significantly due to higher sales, a favorable sales mix and cost-control initiatives. In the South American region, operating margins improved to 9.4% in the third quarter of 2012, up approximately 250 basis points compared to the third quarter of 2011. Favorable exchange impacts, cost-reduction benefits and higher sales volumes produced the increase. As Martin mentioned, in the third quarter, we started to feel the impacts of the U.S. drought on our grain storage and protein production businesses in North America. Slide 8 details GSI sales by region and by product for the first 9 months of 2012. GSI sales grew about 3% in the first 9 months of 2012 compared to the same period last year. Strong growth in Asia was partially offset by a slight decline in North America. GSI contributed approximately $0.50 of earnings per share during the first 9 months of the year. With the impact of the drought in the U.S. on GSI's North America grain storage and protein production businesses, we are reducing the projected full year EPS contribution of GSI to $0.30 to $0.45 per share for the full year. Slide 9 details our depreciation and capital expenditure trends. In 2012, we expect to increase our capital expenditures to approximately $375 million as we continue to work to meet the Tier 4 emissions requirements, refresh and expand our product line, upgrade our system capabilities, improve our factory productivity and complete the expansion at Fendt and establish assembly capabilities in China. Slide 10 addresses AGCO's free cash flow, which represents cash provided by or used in operating activities less capital expenditures. AGCO's use of cash in the first 9 months of 2012 was elevated compared to the first 9 months of 2011 due to our inventory build and our increased schedule of capital projects. Every year, our operating plan includes an increase in dealer and company inventory required for the selling seasons. The heavier inventory build in the first 9 months of 2012 was attributable to stronger sales, supplier delivery constraints and the slower ramp-up in the new Fendt assembly facility in September. We expect to reduce inventory in the fourth quarter as we complete our plant improvements and work through our supplier issues. We expect to generate strong cash flow in the fourth quarter and plan to continue investing for future growth in the form of engineering expenses and additional investments in our plants and new products. Even after covering the increased spending on these strategic investments, we are targeting free cash flow to exceed $150 million during 2012. At the end of September 2012, our North America dealer month supply on a trailing 12-month basis was approximately 5 months for tractors and combines and 6 months for hay equipment. Relative to last year, this was flat for tractors and hay equipment and higher for combines. Other working capital details are as follows. Losses on sales receivables associated with our receivable financing facilities, which is included in other expense net, were approximately $5.8 million during the third quarter of 2012 compared to $6.9 million in the same period during 2011. In addition, AGCO repurchased 224,000 of its shares during the third quarter for a total cost of about $9.5 million. Our regional market outlook for 2012 is captured on Slide 11. Our forecast anticipates relatively stable demand across a global basis. In North America, the solid financial position of row-crop farmers and the outlook for record farm income is expected to mitigate most of the impact of the drought that will reduce crop production this year. In South America, we expect elevated demand in the fourth quarter, as strong crop prices, favorable exchange rates and enhanced government financing programs keep demand at a relatively high level. The improvement in the second half of 2012 is expected to offset most of the softness experienced in the first half of the year, resulting from the first -- the weak first harvest in Southern Brazil and in Argentina. Higher soft commodity prices are expected to provide healthy income for European grain farmers in 2012, supporting retail demand. We are forecasting modest growth in key Western European markets, offset by declines in Southern Europe due to dry weather and credit constraints and declines in Scandinavia and Finland due to wet weather and lower crop production. Slide 12 highlights the assumptions underlying our 2012 outlook. Our sales forecast includes price increases between 3% and 3.5% on a consolidated basis, offset by 7% of negative currency impacts. In 2012, expenditures on new product development and Tier 4 emissions requirements are expected to cause an increase in engineering expense by approximately 10% to 15% or $40 million. We anticipate that our new products and our productivity and purchasing initiatives will drive improved gross margins. Our forecast includes an increase in costs associated with the start-up and ramp-up of production at our Fendt tractor facility. For the full year, the impact of start-up costs and lower productivity during the ramp-up period throughout the fourth quarter is estimated to be approximately $25 million. In addition, our forecast includes $20 million to $25 million for expansion in China. We project the GSI acquisition will be accretive to 2012 earnings per share by $0.35 to $0.40. In addition, the strengthening U.S. dollar is expected to negatively impact 2012 EPS by about $0.30 to $0.35 based on the current exchange rates. Slide 13 lists our view of selected 2012 financial goals. We are projecting 2012 sales in the $9.8 billion to $10 billion range. Forecasted pricing benefits, market share improvements and acquisition impacts are expected to be partially offset by the negative impact of currency translation. Including significant planned investments and product development, market development and start-up costs associated with our manufacturing projects, we expect to continue to improve gross margins from 2011 levels. We're now targeting 2012 earnings per share of about $5.20 per share. Earnings per share forecast was reduced since last quarter to take into account lower sales expectations at GSI in North America due to the impact of the drought, lower sales projections in Europe due to weaker Northern European market conditions and the impact to sales and margins of the slower ramp-up of production at our Fendt tractor operations. We expect capital expenditures to be in the $375 million range and our free cash flow to exceed $150 million after funding the expected increase in capital expenditures. Operator, that concludes our remarks. We're ready to take questions.