Frank S. Hermance
Analyst · Citi Research
Thank you, Kevin, and good morning. AMETEK had an excellent fourth quarter to complete another strong year. In the quarter, we established records for sales, operating income, net income, diluted earnings per share and operating cash flow. We were also very active on the acquisition front during the quarter, acquiring a number of highly strategic businesses. For the full year, we established records for essentially all key financial metrics, including sales, operating income, operating margin, diluted earnings per share and operating cash flow. Sales were up 8% for the year; operating income was up 9%; operating margins expanded 30 basis points to 22.7%; and diluted earnings per share ended at $2.10, a 12% increase over 2012's diluted earnings per share. Focusing on the fourth quarter, sales increased 12% to $942.5 million. Organic growth was very strong, up 7% on broad-based strength across most of our businesses, while acquisitions added 4%, and currency added 1%. Operating income for the fourth quarter increased 11% to $210.5 million. Operating income margin in the quarter was 22.3% compared to 22.6% in the fourth quarter of 2012. Net income was up 13% to $135.7 million, and diluted earnings per share of $0.55 were up 12% over last year's fourth quarter. Both net income and diluted earnings per share were records. Operating cash flow was excellent. It was $210 million for the fourth quarter and $661 million for the year, both up 8%. Free cash flow was very strong at 135% of net income in the fourth quarter and 116% of net income for the full year. Working capital management was outstanding at 16.7% of sales in the quarter. This represents a record level. Orders in the quarter were $912 million, up 3% organically on an adjusted basis. Now turning to the individual operating groups. The Electronic Instruments Group had a strong fourth quarter and an excellent year. For the quarter, sales were up 15% to $566.9 million on broad-based strength across our Process businesses, plus the contributions from the acquisitions of Controls Southeast, Creaform and Powervar. Internal growth was strong, up 7%, while acquisitions added 7% and foreign currency added 1%. EIG's operating income increased 13% to $151.9 million, and operating margins were 26.8%. Excluding the impact of recent acquisitions and the additional growth investments made in the quarter, EIG's operating margins were 27.5%, up 20 basis points versus last year's fourth quarter. The Electromechanical Group also had a very good quarter. Sales were up 8% to $375.6 million on strong growth across all of our differentiated businesses as well as excellent growth in our Floorcare and Specialty Motors business. Organic sales were up 7%, and foreign currency added 1%. EMG's operating income increased 8% to $70.5 million, and operating margins were 18.8% in the quarter. Now turning to our 4 growth strategies of operational excellence, global and market expansion, new product development and strategic acquisitions. First, I will touch on acquisitions. We had a very active quarter with the acquisitions of Creaform and Powervar. In addition, we acquired Teseq in early January. Combined, we deployed approximately $340 million on these acquisitions and acquired approximately $175 million in revenue. For the full year, including Teseq, we acquired 4 businesses, deployed approximately $500 million in capital and acquired $225 million in revenue. I will provide some highlights of Powervar and Teseq. Powervar and Teseq are both excellent acquisitions for AMETEK. Their products, technologies and markets are highly complementary with our existing power businesses. Equally important, these acquisitions expand the size and capabilities of our Power business. As I have highlighted in the past, we view our Power business as a very attractive platform from which we can grow significantly, both internally and through strategic acquisitions like Powervar and Teseq. With these 2 acquisitions, our Power business now totals approximately $500 million in sales. Our businesses have market-leading positions in power quality instruments for power generation and transmission and distribution, back-up power systems for highly ruggedized environments and test and measurement power solutions for a range of test applications. We remain very excited about the opportunities within our Power business. Powervar is a leading provider of power management and UPS systems used in medical, life sciences, industrial and retail applications. They provide highly engineered and customized power conditioning and UPS products designed to deliver reliable, high-quality power to critical applications. Powervar's strong presence in medical and life sciences provides our Power business with excellent new growth opportunities in these attractive market segments. Additionally, their products and technologies are highly complementary with our existing power quality and UPS systems. Powervar was privately held and has annual sales of approximately $70 million. The business is headquartered in Waukegan, Illinois. Teseq is a leading manufacturer of electrical test systems and instruments for use in electromagnetic compatibility emissions and immunity testing. Products include a broad line of conducted and radiated EMC compliance testing systems and RF amplifiers used for a wide range of industries, including aerospace and automotive electronics, medical equipment, telecommunications and transportation. Teseq is a good addition to our electrical test and measurement business. Their products and markets are complementary with our EM Test business, which we acquired in 2011. In addition, Teseq provides us with opportunities for accelerating product innovation and market expansion worldwide. Teseq was privately held with annual sales of about $53 million, and the business is headquartered in Luterbach, Switzerland and has additional facilities in the U.K., Germany and the U.S. Acquisitions will continue to be a key focus for us during 2014 as we see this strategy as a key driver to the creation of shareholder value. We have the financial and managerial capacity and disciplined approach to support this acquisition focus. Our pipeline of deals is excellent, our balance sheet is strong and our cash flow and financing facilities provide us with ample liquidity to pursue this strategy. Now turning to global and market expansion. Global and market expansion continues to be an important driver for AMETEK's growth. In the fourth quarter, international sales represented a record 57% of our total sales. The strong performance was driven by excellent organic growth in our international markets and the benefits from recent acquisitions. Sales growth in the BRIC regions was also very strong, up 11% organically in the quarter. These results also reflect the continued investments we are making to develop and expand our sales channels, service capabilities and manufacturing footprint in order to position our businesses to capitalize on the attractive growth opportunities in these international markets. In the fourth quarter, AMETEK's Micro-Poise Measurement Systems business, which we acquired in 2012, secured a number of large orders for their Modular Tire Measurement Systems within the BRIC regions. Overall, orders for Micro-Poise in the BRIC regions were up over 50% in the quarter with $7 million worth of orders in China and India for these modular measurement systems. Micro-Poise's tire measurement systems combine uniformity, balance and geometry measurement capability in a single machine. We have seen strong demand in emerging markets for these systems as a result of ongoing expansion of tire manufacturing capacity in these markets. In addition, we have made a number of investments and improvements in the global sales, service and distribution structure within Micro-Poise since the time of acquisition. Moving on to our third strategy, new product development remains key to our long-term health and growth. We have consistently invested in RD&E. In 2013, we spent $179 million, which was up 16% from 2012. In 2014, we expect to spend approximately $200 million, a 12% increase over 2013. We're excited about some recent new product introductions. Vision Research, the leader in high-speed digital imaging, unveiled the latest addition to its Phantom line of ultra high-speed cameras, the Phantom v2010. The Phantom v2010 delivers more than 22,000 frames per second at full megapixel resolution and is the world's fastest high-resolution digital camera. With the v2010, Vision Research brings a new level of performance to scientists, researchers and engineers, who need to capture high-speed digital images, and further reinforces our commitment to offering the most innovative products in the digital high-speed imaging market. AMETEK's Atlas Material Testing Technology business launched the Xenotest 440, a new weathering instrument suitable for accelerated weather testing of a variety of materials. The instrument incorporates a new twin-lamp operating technology that allows it to achieve higher irradiance levels that can significantly reduce test times. It also utilizes a new technology for extending the service life of the instrument's xenon lamps, increasing the instrument's uptime and reducing lamp's operating cost by more than 30%. From an overall perspective, revenue from products introduced over the last 3 years was 21% of sales in the quarter, reflecting the excellent work of our businesses in developing the right products to serve their customers. Lastly, I will touch on operational excellence. We continue to see tremendous results from our various operational excellence initiatives. Our management teams and employees continue to do an excellent job driving continual operational improvements through their businesses by leveraging the numerous operational excellence tools we have put in place in our company. Key tenets of our operational excellence activities include Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma in our factories and back-office operations, Design for Six Sigma in our new product development efforts, global sourcing and strategic procurement initiatives, moving our production to low-cost locales and value engineering. Through our global sourcing and strategic procurement activities, we recognized $16 million in savings in the fourth quarter and $62 million in savings for all of 2013. Overall, we realized approximately $100 million in total cost savings in 2013 through our various operational excellence initiatives. For 2014, we expect approximately $90 million in total cost savings through our operational excellence initiatives, including $60 million in savings through our global sourcing and strategic procurement initiatives. Turning to the outlook now for 2014. We expect our businesses overall to show solid growth during 2014 with balanced organic growth across both operating groups. We anticipate 2014 revenue to be up high single digits on a percentage basis from 2013. Organic growth is expected to be up 2% to 4% for all of AMETEK and for both operating groups. Earnings for 2014 are expected to be in a range of $2.30 to $2.35 per diluted share, up 10% to 12% over 2013, reflecting the leveraged impact of core growth, our operational initiatives and the benefit of contributions from recent acquisitions. First quarter 2014 sales are expected to be up high single digits from last year's first quarter. We estimate our earnings to be approximately $0.55 to $0.57 per diluted share, up 8% to 12% over last year's first quarter. Our solid backlog, strong portfolio of businesses, proven operational excellence capabilities and a successful focus on strategic acquisitions should enable us to perform well in 2014. So in summary, our overall business has performed very well in the fourth quarter and in 2013, producing records for essentially all key financial metrics. Although the macroeconomic conditions created a more challenging environment in 2013 than we expected, our team did an excellent job, and we were able to deliver exceptional operating results through a focus on executing our 4 growth strategies. We have a strong balance sheet and generate significant cash flow that provides us with plenty of liquidity to operate the business and pursue our acquisition strategy. In addition to acquisitions, we continue to make sizable investments in new product development as well as global and market expansion to position ourselves for future growth. We look forward to another successful year in 2014. Bob will now cover some of the financial details, and then we'll be glad to take your questions.