Hendrikus P. C. Derksen
Analyst · Longbow Research
Thank you, John. I will start my comments with results for the quarter, followed by a review of our operations and segment results, a discussion of the balance sheet and close out with our cash flow performance. As a reminder, I will be referencing adjusted results today. Please turn to Slide 6 for a detailed consolidated review. Fourth quarter consolidated revenues were $613.7 million. Compared to the fourth quarter 2013, revenues grew 19% from $515.9 million, with acquisitions contributing $81.5 million. After adjusting for change in copper and currency, the revenues increased organically in the fourth quarter by 7.2% year-over-year. Sequentially, revenues increased $600,000 from $613.1 million. After adjusting for change in copper and currency, organic revenues increased 2.1%, largely due to improved commercial execution, as well as a slight build in inventories with our channel partners and customers. Gross profit margins were 37.4%, increasing 220 basis points from the year-ago period, primarily due to the accretive acquisitions made in 2014. Sequentially, gross profit margins declined 20 basis points, within the range of normal variation. Fourth quarter SG&A expenses were $111 million or 18% of revenue and in line with the commitment made earlier this year. SG&A expenses declined $5.5 million sequentially, due in part -- due to the favorable effect of foreign currency, and to a greater extent, the impact of improvements in productivity. R&D expenses for the quarter were $30.4 million or 5% of revenues. This represents an increase of 100 basis points year-over-year as a percentage of revenues and highlights the investment being made in the long-term health of the company. EBITDA margins were 16.3%, up 50 basis points year-over-year and 60 basis points sequentially. Operating profit margins were 14.5%, up 70 basis points year-over-year and 50 basis points sequentially, both largely due to leverage on volume, as well as productivity improvements. Net interest expense for the quarter was $23.3 million, an increase of $3.9 million year-over-year due to the additional senior subordinated notes issued in June and November of 2014. We expect interest expense to be approximately $26 million per quarter going forward. The adjusted effective tax rate for the fourth quarter was 17.7% and reflects the retroactive extension of the United States R&D tax credit for the calendar year 2014. For financial modeling purposes, we recommend using a 20% effective tax rate for the first quarter 2015 and full year. Income from continuing operations per diluted share increased 36% from the year-ago period and 8% sequentially, to a record of $1.24 per share in the fourth quarter of 2014. Please turn to Slide 7. I will now discuss revenues and operating results by business segment. Broadcast Solutions generated revenues of $253.2 million during the fourth quarter. Compared to the year-ago period, revenues increased $81.4 million or 47.4% from $171.8 million. After adjusting for change in copper and currency, organic revenues increased 13.2% year-over-year and 70 basis points sequentially. Very pleased with the execution of our Broadcast team, delivering full year organic growth of 7.3% in 2014, exceeding the range set forth in our corporate goal. Operating profit margins within the Broadcast segment increased 130 basis points year-over-year to 15.5%, primarily due to leverage on volume. Sequentially, operating profit margins increased 200 basis points. In addition to experiencing favorable product mix with an impact of 70 basis points, we benefited from cost synergies achieved as a result of successful integration of Grass Valley and Miranda, with an impact of 100 basis points. Our Enterprise Connectivity segment generated revenues of $110.8 million during the fourth quarter, decreasing $9.4 million year-over-year and $4.5 million sequentially. After adjusting for change in copper and currency, revenues decreased 4.8% year-over-year and 2.2% sequentially. The year-over-year performance is largely a function of the portfolio actions taken earlier this year and is partially offset by lower-than-expected depletion of inventory levels by our channel partners. Operating profit margins increased 50 basis points year-over-year, a direct result of productivity improvements and the enriched portfolio. Sequentially, operating profit margins declined 250 basis points, due to leverage on seasonally lower volume, as well as higher than anticipated rebates that were attained by specific channel partners for their full year partnership. Overall, the full year 2014 performance reflects operating profit margin expansion of 140 basis points and operating profit growth of $2.6 million. Our Industrial Connectivity segment generated revenues of $173.7 million during the fourth quarter. Revenues increased $8.7 million from $165 million in the fourth quarter 2013. After adjusting for changes in copper and currency, revenues increased 8.3% year-over-year and 2.9% sequentially. We attribute the growth to improved commercial execution and slightly higher channel inventory levels to support next year's growth expectations. Operating profit margins of 13.4% increased 40 basis points year-over-year, largely a result of leverage on volume, offset slightly by unfavorable product mix. Sequentially, operating profit margin decreased 20 basis points, a result of winning some larger projects that initially come at lower margins, but allow for future MRO business at more effective margins. The Industrial IT segment generated revenues of $76 million during the fourth quarter. The revenues increased $17.1 million year-over-year and $5.9 million sequentially. After adjusting for change in currency, revenues increased organically by 11% compared to the year-ago period and 12.6% sequentially. Industrial IT experienced revenue growth of 9.5% for the full year 2014, a solid performance. Operating profit margins of 20.1% increased 60 basis points year-over-year and 150 basis points sequentially, both a result of leverage on volume. In summary, I am pleased with our fourth quarter and full year 2014 performance, with revenue growth of 19% and 11.3%, respectively, both above the high end of our new corporate goal. EBITDA margins are already at 15.5% for the full year 2014, and I look forward to achieving our goal of 18% to 20% over the next 3 years. If you will turn, please, to Slide 8. I'll begin with our balance sheet highlights. Our cash and cash equivalents balance at the end of the fourth quarter was largely a function of significant free cash flow and liquidity from additional debt this year, both dollar and euro denominated. We took advantage of attractive interest and exchange rates, and ended the year with approximately $740 million of cash, of which, greater than 80% was held here in the United States and available for immediate deployment in support of our strategic plans. Inventory turnover was 6.9 turns, an improvement of 0.5 turns year-over-year. Days sales outstanding was 59 days in the fourth quarter, an increase of 3 days year-over-year and a decrease of 3 days sequentially. Working capital turnover was 12 turns, an improvement of 2.9 turns year-over-year and 4 turns sequentially. The improvement was, in part, a function of the timing of payables due to investments in productivity and capital expenditures made towards the end of the year. PP&E turnover was 7.7 turns, an improvement of 0.9 turns year-over-year. We continued to enjoy significant improvement in fixed assets efficiency, highlighting the success of our Lean Enterprise system and a less asset-intensive portfolio. Our debt balance increased $401 million year-over-year due to the additional senior subordinated notes issued in June and November mentioned earlier. This provides for a well-designed operational and capital structure and positions the company to partially mitigate the effects of foreign currency fluctuations. As expected, net leverage was 2.7x net debt to EBITDA at the end of the fourth quarter. The balance sheet metrics displayed on Slide 8 do not reflect the recent acquisition of Tripwire, which occurred in early January. We anticipate net leverage to be approximately 4.0 at the end of the first quarter, but with a goal to decrease this level to approximately 3.0 by the end of this year. Please turn to Slide 9 for a few cash flow highlights. Cash flow provided by operating activities for the fourth quarter were $145.2 million compared to $113.8 million in the year-ago period. Net capital expenditures for the quarter were $14.3 million, an increase of $5.5 million compared to last year, primarily due to capital investments made to produce Grass Valley products in our current facilities. Free cash flow was $130.9 million in the fourth quarter 2014. On a year-to-date basis, free cash flow exceeded net income for the 10th consecutive year. We returned greater than 50% of that free cash flow to our shareholders, as we repurchased 1.3 million shares for $92 million at an average price of $73.06. On a combined program to date basis, we repurchased 6.7 million shares or 14% of the company at an average price of $46.54. In addition, we deployed approximately $348 million and committed another $710 million to acquisitions during the year. I'm pleased with our ability to continually identify attractive capital deployment opportunities. That completes my prepared remarks. I would now like to turn this call back to our CEO, John Stroup, for the outlook. John?