Joe Woody
Analyst · Raymond James. Please go ahead
Thanks, Dave. Good morning everyone and thank you for your interest in Halyard Health. Let me begin by saying that we are off to a strong start to the year, as we continue our sales execution and top-line momentum, delivered another quarter of solid earnings, closed the S&IP divestiture, and began reshaping our cost structure with initiating the installation of our new IT system. We are in an excellent position to continue to deliver on our four goals for 2018 that I outlined on last quarter's conference call. First, we've seen continued top-line momentum with 6% organic sales growth for the quarter, and as a more focused company we're well-positioned to continue to enhance our commercial execution. Multiple factors drove growth including continued double-digit demand for COOLIEF and interventional pain. Solid demand for our CORPAK portfolio continued to drive digestive health sales. And last year's oral care contract, along with a more severe cold and flu season, drove growth in respiratory health. In surgical pain, two factors impacted ON-Q pump volume for the quarter. First, the industry-wide bupivacaine shortage which is expected to continue through the second quarter; second, a key pump fellow's inability to fill pumps due to the findings from their FDA audit. Despite these headwinds, our outlook remains positive as we continue to convert new accounts and deepen surgical penetration with our increased sales focus on educating surgeons. Our outreach highlights the efficacy and benefits of ON-Q as a non-opioid pain therapy and is resonating as physicians seek effective alternatives to opioids. In post-operative pain management, life threatening opioid addiction can begin within just three days of opioid use. ON-Q is a clinically superior solution that offers extended relief and non-opioid pain control for the first five days. Halyard is well-positioned to play an important role in reducing opioid use. From an earnings perspective, for the quarter, we delivered adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.76 ahead of our expectations. For the year, we expect to earn between $1.65 and $1.85 of adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing and discontinued operations. With the divestiture now complete, we have become a focused pure-play medical device company in attractive high-margin, high-growth end markets with roughly $800 million of acquisition capacity to execute our dual-track growth strategy. We are actively evaluating M&A opportunities through a wider lens. Exploring areas that leverage our technologies, help us expand call points, and increase our adjustable markets. And finally, as a smaller more agile company, we're focused on driving efficiencies and right-sizing our corporate cost structure. During the quarter, we began the installation of our new IT system which will generate $15 million to $19 million of cost savings when completed in 2019. This more efficient structure will support our internal growth, help reduce cost in other areas, and speed integration of M&A activity. While we are working to drive efficiencies, and reduce corporate cost, we are also making the necessary strategic investments to ensure we are well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunities ahead. Let me highlight four examples of strategic investments we made during the quarter that support our growth strategy. First, we are consistently shifting our R&D investment from sustaining to transformative projects. In the first quarter, our R&D investment increased 35% compared to the prior year and we launched four medical device products. The most significant was our 14 French MIC-KEY* GJ Tube which strengthened the competitive position of our digestive health portfolio. Second, our investment in clinical studies continues and is expected to grow more than 50% this year. During the quarter, we initiated a new study to show the favorable differentiation of COOLIEF to other therapies widely used today including Hyaluronic Acid. Enrolment in this randomly controlled 200 patient study is progressing as planned. Additionally, my team and I are engaging in a robust government relations effort to help improve the reimbursement of medical devices and other non-opioid pain management therapies. Through our efforts, alongside AdvaMed, we are aiming to impact current legislation working its way through Congress. Finally, we see an opportunity to strengthen our international performance. To lead this effort, we recently appointed Arjun Sarker, as Senior Vice President of International who will report to me. Arjun brings deep experience and a solid track record of driving commercial success and revenue growth. Prior to his appointment, Arjun served as Vice President and General Manager of Halyard's Asia-Pacific region. He also held leadership roles with Covidien and served as their Vice President and General Manager of Southeast Asia. Growth in our international regions has trailed our domestic business, but we believe with an increased focus and leadership, we can see acceleration in 2019. With one solid quarter behind us, we are well-positioned to achieve our 2018 goals. With our streamlined business and the full focus of our leadership team, we will continue to accelerate our top-line momentum, drive efficiencies, and create new opportunities for growth. We look forward to sharing more details about our strategy at our first Analyst Day on June 21st in New York. With that, I will turn the call over to Steve.