Joseph W. Dziedzic
Analyst · today only. Brink's assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. The call is copyrighted and may not be used without written permission from Brink's. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ed Cunningham, Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Mr. Cunningham, you may begin
Thanks, Tom. Before getting into first quarter results, I want to provide some background on the Venezuela devaluation and its impact on Brink's. I'll start by covering some of the events and rationale behind our decision to change the rate that we used to translate Venezuela results. But first, some history. In December 2009, we accessed what was then called the parallel market to repatriate approximately VEF 75 million at an exchange rate of VEF 6.2 to the U.S. dollar. This repatriation yielded about USD 12 million. During the first half of 2010, we repatriated another approximately VEF 50 million, yielding another USD 70 million. In May 2010, the parallel market closed. We have obtained very limited currency conversions since May 2010 through any mechanism. In some years, we have been able to access enough U.S. dollars to pay for needed aircraft parts for maintenance. But in recent years, even dollars for this purpose have been inaccessible to us. This background is important because the reality is we have been able to operate our business with very limited U.S. dollars because we are very much a local company in Venezuela, with local revenues and expenses and very limited needs for imports. We believe we are different from many other companies you are reading about who are converting to SICAD I at an exchange rate of about VEF 11 to the USD 1. Many of these companies sell consumer goods that must be imported into Venezuela. Our business is based on local services performed with local personnel who are paid in local currency. Given the recent developments in the exchange mechanisms in Venezuela and the government's stated purpose of the various exchange mechanisms, we believe we are not eligible for the official exchange rate and that it is unlikely we will be invited to participate in the SICAD I exchange mechanism. The SICAD II exchange mechanism opened on March 24, and we were successful in converting some bolivars to U.S. dollars during the first 2 weeks of SICAD II. We hope that we will be able to continue converting currency through this mechanism in the future. Our inability to regularly convert currency was an important factor for accounting purposes to determine the exchange rate for reporting purposes before SICAD II opened. After the SICAD II exchange mechanism opened, we worked with our accountants to review the developments in the various Venezuelan exchange mechanisms at how to interpret the new set of facts and circumstances for our company's situation. Under Venezuelan law, we believe that Brink's is legally allowed to access only the SICAD I and the SICAD II exchange mechanisms. The SICAD I exchange mechanism is by invitation only from the government, and it appears this exchange has been designated for the importation of goods, products and equipment. Therefore, it is our opinion that it is very unlikely that our business activity meets the government requirements to participate, and we expect that we will not be able to access SICAD I. This only leaves SICAD II, which is designated for individuals and private-sector legal entities. We meet the legal requirements to participate and had been successful at converting currency, although converting currency is not a requirement on the latest accounting guidance for determining the exchange rate. Based on the facts and circumstances specific to our business activity, we determined that we should begin using the SICAD II exchange rate effective with its opening on March 24, 2014. This next slide provides our hypothetical 2013 results at VEF 50 per U.S. dollar for comparison purposes only. The non-GAAP basis includes Venezuela at about VEF 6 per dollar. The adjusted non-GAAP basis includes Venezuela at VEF 50 per U.S. dollar, excluding the net monetary asset write-down of $13 million. This represents an 87% devaluation in the currency, which is what you would expect the middle column on this page to represent. Unfortunately, due to Venezuela being designated a highly inflationary country for accounting purposes, it is not that simple. Without getting into the nuances of the accounting treatment of highly inflationary countries, the simple takeaway is that the depreciation expense does not devalue by 87% but instead stays at the same amount as previously reported. The result is the operating profit and net income from Venezuela would have been essentially eliminated if we had used the rate of VEF 50 in 2013. So the middle column reflects an 87% reduction in Venezuela's revenue, but a reduction of essentially 100% of the operating profit and the net income. We estimate that for 2014, Venezuela results for second quarter through fourth quarter of 2014 will also generate close to 0 operating profit and net income as a result of the devaluation and the accounting treatment for depreciation for highly inflationary countries. Now let's cover the reported first quarter results, which were only slightly affected by the March 24 devaluation of Venezuela. Total revenue grew 4% on a reported basis and 11% on an organic basis due primarily to growth in Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina. Venezuela revenue, measured at the more favorable rate for the better part of the quarter, was the primary driver of the growth, along with Brazil and Argentina to a lesser extent. Segment operating profit improved by $19 million, primarily due to Venezuela profit growth in the 2013 Belgium theft loss. EPS improved to $0.43. The EPS bridge highlights the variances from last year. The segment profit increase of $0.23 per share was driven by the absence of an event comparable to the 2013 Belgium theft loss and strong organic growth in Venezuela, partially offset by unfavorable currency in Venezuela and Argentina and a slight decline in profit across the other regions. The non-segment expense increase was driven by the timing of annual incentive grants in the first quarter versus the second quarter last year and the reversal of the benefit expense last year. The noncontrolling interest increase was driven by Venezuela. The tax rate was slightly higher this year than last year, driven by the mix of income by geography. First quarter cash flow from operating activities, excluding changes in customer obligations and discontinued operations, improved by $29 million due primarily to the 2013 Belgium theft loss and working capital improvements. First quarter capital expenditures and capital leases declined by $7 million due to delayed spending across several areas, including our armored vehicle spend, as we prepared for a global tender of our vehicle purchases. We expect to generate significant savings in CapEx through our procurement processes later this year and into 2015 as we implement a global tender process across multiple categories, starting with vehicles and computers. Net debt increased by $104 million since the end of 2013 due mainly to the write-down of cash and cash equivalents in Venezuela. As a result of the Venezuela devaluation, we reduced our projected CapEx spend to a range between $175 million and $185 million, down from our previous guidance of $200 million to $210 million. While this change is due entirely to the reduced level of spending in Venezuela, the decline in our reinvestment ratio over the last several years reflects our ongoing effort to maximize asset utilization and maintenance spending, which we expect will enable us to reduce our annual spend to a level that is more consistent with depreciation. Before closing, I want to comment on our legacy liabilities and the improved level of underfunding, which totaled $255 million at year end, a decline of $265 million since 2012. As a result, the level of cash outflows related to these liabilities has declined substantially to a level that is very manageable. We expect that the next 5 years requires only $110 million of payments to the primary U.S. pension, which is down from $226 million at the end of 2012. And the UMWA liability is not expected to require a cash payment from the company until 2033 as the existing trust is projected to cover payments until then. As Tom stated, our outlook for the 2014 segment margin rate is now about 6.5%. To be clear, our assumptions for North America and Europe have not changed since our prior guidance on January 30. We still expect profit growth in North America and slightly higher profit in Europe from cost actions. Our prior guidance on Latin America called for lower year-over-year profits, unfavorable currency in Argentina and Brazil, a slight decline in Venezuela profits and higher productivity investments. The recent devaluation in Venezuela will obviously lead to a steeper profit decline in Latin America and is the sole cause of our revised overall guidance. Going forward, we will continue to focus on reducing costs as we invest in Latin America, global services, new solutions and adjacencies. Denise, let's open it up for questions.