Joseph W. Dziedzic
Analyst · Brink's. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ed Cunningham, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Mr. Cunningham, you may begin
Thanks, Tom, and good morning, everyone. Total reported revenue for the quarter declined 7% due primarily to the devaluation in Venezuela. On an organic basis, which excludes currency impact and acquisitions and dispositions, revenue was up 13% due to growth in Venezuela, and to a lesser extent, Brazil and Argentina. On Page 13 of our press release, we provide the third quarter and year-to-date reported and organic revenue growth rates for our 6 largest countries. The currency devaluation in Venezuela that occurred late in the first quarter of this year resulted in a 78% decline in the Venezuela reported revenues for the third quarter, even though the local currency growth rate was 74%. Argentina, a much smaller country, had a similar scenario, as reported revenues decreased by 12% due to currency devaluation in spite of 31% local currency growth. Mexico revenues were down 8% in the quarter as they have not been able to overcome the volume lost in late 2013. The organic growth in the quarter was primarily in Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina, but it was not enough to overcome the currency devaluations. Brazil continues to deliver strong growth despite slow macroeconomic growth. There was a bright spot in the U.S. where revenues grew more than 3% organically for the first time since the third quarter of 2008. The growth was in most lines of business and was spread across numerous customers. We expect this growth to continue into the fourth quarter and early 2015. Segment operating profit declined $44 million driven by a $22 million decline in Venezuela, the $10 million theft loss in Chile and $5 million declines in both Brazil and Mexico. The earnings per share declined 72%, and this slide explains the changes versus last year. The segment profit decrease of $0.56 per share was driven mainly by Venezuela results, which, in addition to being affected by the devaluation of the bolivar, were also affected by higher labor cost associated with the finalization of a collective bargaining agreement. Last year, this agreement was completed in the second quarter and selling prices began to catch up in the third quarter. This year, we expect to recapture some of the increased labor cost with higher pricing in the fourth quarter. Profits in Mexico and Brazil also declined. In Mexico, delays in replacing volume from previously reported customer losses led to lower-than-expected profits. We expect significant improvement in Mexico in the fourth quarter due to cost-reduction actions that were taken in the second and third quarters, normal seasonality improvement and the addition of some new business. Brazil's profits declined due mainly to a delay in the timing of price increases, which we expect will be fully implemented in the fourth quarter. Our results were also affected by a $10 million theft loss in Chile. The impact of this loss was allocated across all of our regional segments, which is consistent with how we allocate global expenses. The changes in noncontrolling interest were a partial offset to lower profits in Venezuela. The summary from this chart is the $0.50 decline in earnings per share was caused by 3 primary factors: Venezuela declined $0.21 from unfavorable currency and the timing of passing through wage inflation; the Chile theft loss was $0.13; and Mexico and Brazil combined were about $0.13. Third quarter cash flow from operating activities, including pension payments, declined by $57 million. If you exclude pension payments from this measure, the cash flow actually improved by $17 million. The rationale for excluding pension payments is that $61 million of the payments were voluntary. The $17 million improvement was due primarily to the timing of payments to customers for losses and reimbursement from insurers. Year-to-date capital expenditures and capital leases decreased by $34 million as we significantly reduced this year's IT spending on the finance shared services implementation and other projects. We also reduced the spend on money processing equipment and other related equipment and purchased fewer armored vehicles due to the timing of a global tender. Net debt increased by $100 million since the end of 2013 due mainly to the write-down of cash and cash equivalents in Venezuela from the currency devaluation. The pension payments this year were largely offset by the Peru disposition proceeds and the increased cash flow from the timing of insurance receivables collections. As we continue to tighten the reins on capital spending and execute global tenders through our new global procurement processes, we have driven our reinvestment ratio to slightly less than 1.0. We will continue to invest to protect our employees and customer valuables while managing our capital spending prudently. During the quarter, we prepaid our 2015 and 2016 required contributions, totaling $61 million to the primary U.S. pension. We funded these payments using available cash and existing credit facilities. This is a continuation of our efforts to de-risk the pension plan and minimize future volatility. It also reduces our pension benefit guarantee corporation premiums. Based on current estimates, we do not expect to make a required pension payment until 2020. We will update the assessment at year-end when we conduct our annual remeasurement of pension assets and liabilities. We also recently offered eligible pension plan participants the option of receiving a lump-sum payment or reduced annuity. As a result, we expect to incur a fourth quarter, noncash settlement charge against our GAAP earnings of between $50 million and $65 million. The amount of the charge depends on the number of respondents who choose one of these options and the actuarial assumptions at the remeasurement date. With regard to UMWA liability, we do not expect to have any cash outflows until 2033. That covers the third quarter. I'll turn it back over to Tom.