Earnings Labs

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (BIO)

Q3 2015 Earnings Call· Tue, Nov 3, 2015

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Bio-Rad Laboratories, Incorporated Third Quarter 2015 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants' lines are in a listen-only mode to reduce background noise, but later we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. Instructions will follow at that time. I would now like to introduce your first speaker for today, Ron Hutton. You have the floor, sir. Ronald W. Hutton - Treasurer & Vice President: Thank you, Andrew. Before we begin the call, I would like to caution everyone that we will be making forward-looking statements about management's goals, plans and expectations, our financial future performance and other matters. Because our actual results may differ materially from these plans and expectations, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and I encourage you to review our filings with the SEC, where we discuss in detail the risk factors in our business. The company does not intend to update any forward-looking statements made during the call today. With that, I'd like to turn over the call to Christine Tsingos, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Thanks, Ron. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Net sales for the third quarter of 2015 were $470 million, a decrease of 11.4% on a reported basis and versus the same period last year sales of $530.6 million. The currency headwind to sales was more than $49 million for the quarter. On a currency neutral basis, sales decreased 2.2% when compared to last year. You may remember that on the second quarter earnings call we cautioned that the continued challenges in Europe coupled with seasonality could make for a tough quarter, especially for our Diagnostics group, and that certainly was the case. In addition, our Life Science group also faced challenges, primarily related to a slowing of growth in various emerging markets as well as system and productivity challenges associated with the go-live of our new ERP. Even with these challenges, during the quarter we did experience good currency-neutral sales growth across some our key Life Science and Diagnostic product lines, including sales of our Digital PCR consumables and our western blotting workflow products as well as our quality controls product line. The reported gross margin for the quarter was slightly better than expected at 56.1% and compares to 54.4% in the year-ago period. This improvement in margin versus last year is related to a more favorable product mix, lower cost as a result of the manufacturing operations and product lines that were shut down during 2014 and a decrease in amortization of acquisition-related intangibles. The total non-cash purchase accounting expense recorded in cost of goods sold related to prior acquisitions was $6.7 million for the quarter, which compares to $8.1 million in the year-ago period. SG&A expenses for the third quarter were $187.4 million or 39.9% of sales compared to $202.6 million and 38.2% of sales…

Operator

Operator

And our first question comes from the line of Brandon Couillard from Jefferies. Your line is open.

Brandon Couillard - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Thanks. I guess maybe this is a better question for John. Could you elucidate some of the issues that occurred with the ERP rollout in the quarter? If I think back to the second quarter call in August, which was probably a month and a half after the initial rollout, it didn't sound like there were any disruptions or issues that had occurred at that time. What changed really between now and then?

John Goetz - Chief Operating Officer

Analyst

Yeah, this is John Goetz. I guess what we've found is that the process timing, being able to take an order and get a product shipped, has taken a lot longer than we really realized at the time of the call. And really what that's done is it's moving shipments and sales recognition out beyond probably I think somewhere around two weeks. So that's what we're looking at there. In addition I think the adoption of the system in our manufacturing plants has gone a little rockier than we've experienced during the first rollout. During the first rollout, we really had only one manufacturing plant come online. With this one, this brought up all of the rest of our Diagnostic manufacturing as well as all of our Life Science manufacturing here in the United States, so this has added quite a bit of complexity. So the amount of time and effort that we've had to be able to cover the questions and requests to respond to some of the concerns of our users has just taken us a little bit longer to get a handle on.

Brandon Couillard - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Which outstanding issues, if any, are still to be resolved? And, Christine, why would it necessarily take several quarters for the revenue trend to normalize?

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Sure. So I think a lot of this, Brandon, is just people getting used to how to use a brand new system. And we know from the first deployment that it takes six months to nine months for people to really get good at doing their jobs again with new processes, new screens, et cetera. I think what we're facing here different in deployment two than deployment one, as John said, it really brings in our entire Life Science group, and much of their manufacturing is here and they ship to many places around the world, so it can ripple to a lot of locations around the world. And people need to, as they get used to the processes, then things start flowing more quickly. So part of the caution on how long it'll take is a little bit based on what we experienced with the first one, but also knowing that the complexity of this second deployment and the complexity of our Life Science business is even that much greater and could take more time to normalize. And part of it, frankly, is that demand has been quite strong and so there was a lot hitting on the system at the same time people were getting used to these new processes.

Brandon Couillard - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Okay. And then in Life Science business, Christine, could you give us a sense of how the process chromatography media performed in the period? I believe you lapped a pretty tough comp there. Was curious if that was an incremental headwind for the segment as well?

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Sure. And Shannon Hall, our President of Life Science, is here. So I'm going to let her talk about that as well in terms of the process media, a tough compare year-over-year. Shannon Hall - Executive VP & President-Life Science Group: Yeah, that period is a tough-to-compare period. But...

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Yeah. It's a lumpy business. Shannon Hall - Executive VP & President-Life Science Group: Yeah, very much so. It's been a solid year so far. We continue to see great demand in that area, so I'd say it'd be easier to look at on a full-year basis.

Brandon Couillard - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Okay. And then last one finally, Christine or maybe this is a better one for Ron, I've been getting quite a number of questions from investors recently about your exact exposure to Sartorius. And I believe in your last Q for the first time you called out an unrealized gain of about $400 million which you attributed to the preferreds. Was curious if you could quantify your exact exposure in terms of the preferred stock, either in number of shares or any round numbers?

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

So, historically we really haven't disclosed exactly what we own in preferred shares. We do talk about what's on the books versus – the carrying value versus the estimated market value. And as a reminder, the voting shares we are holding at cost, the preferred shares we mark-to-market and I think certainly they continue to do well and so the unrealized gain on our investment continues to increase as well.

Brandon Couillard - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Super. I'll hop back in the queue. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Bryan Engler from Great Lakes Advisors. Your line is open.

Bryan Langsam Engler - Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Analyst

My question has been answered. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Matthews from RAM Partners. Your line is open.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

Hi. Can you hear me? Ronald W. Hutton - Treasurer & Vice President: Yes.

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Hi, Jeff.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

Hi. Aside from the currency and the ERP, what were the big surprises operationally in the quarter, would you say? Norman D. Schwartz - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: I think those are the two big ones. I think that the continued softness in Europe, I think that probably when we went into the year we were a little more optimistic about maybe being farther through the cycle, especially in France, with this lab consolidation, but it appears that we've got a ways to go with that.

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Yeah...

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

Excuse me, why do you think that is, Norm? What's happening that keeps this ball rolling? Norman D. Schwartz - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: It's just the continuous consolidation of labs, especially in France.

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

I think, remember, Jeff, we had a very strong market share position in France compared to some of our competitors. So as that market has consolidated in terms of the number of labs, we've probably felt a disproportional impact compared to other IBD providers in France because we had such a strong market share position there. And I think some of the economic woes of the region are bleeding into Eastern Europe and that may be more than we would have anticipated at the beginning of the year. And you know regulatory changes continue throughout much of the emerging market world, both in Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

Okay. And that leads to my next question which is, what have you seen in China and Japan this last quarter? What's new and different? Norman D. Schwartz - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Not much is new and different, I would say. Japan continues to hobble along at a slow pace for both Life Science and Diagnostics. China, it's kind of running about the same as it has been. Certainly I think some of the slowdown that we have experienced in China this quarter has been related to the ERP implementation and being able to ship products and recognize the revenue in the quarter, but I think the underlying market is still about the same.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

Okay. So I guess ERP-wise then, IBM is happy to get to keep all their people there and spend a lot more time trying to help you out. Norman D. Schwartz - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Yeah. I would say it's largely a learning curve. The system is running. I think it's running pretty well. It's just our adapting to the way it works and changing our mindset around the discipline of this system is probably the biggest challenge.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

It sounds like what John was saying earlier, you went from the first iteration, you added one plant. This time you added multiple plants. And I would imagine it's mainly just a function of the scale of it. Is there anything that you see in it that makes you any less enthusiastic about what you're thinking the outcome will be, or does it change your timing of the rollout in Europe? Norman D. Schwartz - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: No, I think we're still enthusiastic about it. I think the people who are using it see the benefits of it. It's just a matter of getting used to it and learning to use it as a tool. It's kind of like when you pick up a hammer or a saw for the first time, it takes a while to get acclimated to it and to learn how to use it. I think it's the same thing with this system.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

And how about timing on the European implementation? Any change there?

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Yeah, we've been continuing to talk about going live in Europe during 2017 and we'll spend much of 2016 doing the design. With each deployment, the complexity increases as we take it to more complex pieces of our business. And without question, the life science business model is much more complex than a diagnostic business model and the number of products is at least three times. And so the second deployment was a big implementation for us. That'll actually help us a little as we go to Europe, because most of the products will be in the system already. So hopefully we'll be able to stay on the projected timeline of going live in a series of deployments during 2017 as we roll through Europe.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

Okay, thanks. And final question and I don't know what you can say about this, but this whistle blower case related to the FCPA stuff seems to be creating new precedents into law. Has this continuation of it in its current iteration had any impact on your settlement? Is there anything that could come out of this that could affect the P&L that we should be aware of, or is this just a side issue? Norman D. Schwartz - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: I think it's probably better not to comment on items that are currently open litigation.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

Understood. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. It looks like we have a follow-up from Mr. Couillard from Jefferies. This is Brandon Couillard from Jefferies. Your line is open.

Brandon Couillard - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Thanks. Go all the way around the horn, a question for John Hertia. Could you give us an update on where the IH 1000 stands with the FDA, whether you've had any dialogue or feedback from the Agency, which seems to be holding up the approval? And then in terms of the BioPlex 2200, would love to get a status update on where you stand in terms of the menu rollout and any round numbers you can give us in terms of placement growth activity year-to-date. John Hertia - EVP & President-Clinical Diagnostics Group: Sure. Brandon, this is John. Maybe we'll address the IH 1000 first. So we are in constant dialogue with the FDA. Still pretty optimistic that we'll get news before the end of the year on the IH 1000 and the North American gel launch and also the infinity System, which is targeted at our mid-volume laboratories. On BioPlex, we're seeing I would say increased traction in autoimmune. We've had really good response to celiac and our measles panel, also the addition of vitamin D and HIV. And we're seeing a wave of, let's say, increased requests for second and third placements within accounts that had BioPlex upfront and that's been really good news.

Brandon Couillard - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Great. Thanks.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Matthews from RAM Partners. Your line is open.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

Hi. Thanks. Norman, Theranos seems to be imploding. I don't know if you were as surprised as I was reading about it. Wondered if you had any thoughts about what it means for what they were ultimately trying to do. Does it cast doubt on the whole notion of this liquid biopsy explosion or is it a one-off bad business model kind of thing? Norman D. Schwartz - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: I don't know. It's really hard to say. I guess I would put this down to maybe growing pains. And it seems like any young company goes through a few of these things. I think there's certainly some value in what they're trying to do and the audience that they're trying to reach and so we'll have to see how they navigate it.

Jeffrey L. Matthews - RAM Partners LP

Analyst

All right. Thank you very much.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Dan Leonard from Leerink. Your line is open.

Dan L. Leonard - Analyst, Leerink Partners LLC

Analyst

Thanks. And I hopped on late, so apologies if it's been asked already. But you called out Digital PCR again as a growth lever in the Life Sciences business. Can you give us an update on how large that business is, either in terms of revenue or placements and then also any insights into the Droplet next-gen sequencing instrument that you might be able to offer?

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

So, Dan, as you know, we don't give out details of our revenue by our various product lines. We believe it continues to do very well, both in terms of revenue and the instrument placements all over the world and another encouraging sign is how our customers are using the product itself and the papers that continue to be published which then has a kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy of generating even more demand for that product. But it's not something we've given out specific information on in terms of the size of that business.

Dan L. Leonard - Analyst, Leerink Partners LLC

Analyst

But it does sound like you continue to expect it to be a good growth driver going forward? Norman D. Schwartz - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Yes.

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Yeah.

Dan L. Leonard - Analyst, Leerink Partners LLC

Analyst

Got it. And then the Droplet sequencing instrument, is there any updates to be had there?

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Development and... Norman D. Schwartz - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Okay. Well, certainly that continues to be under development. They're making good progress. I don't have an exact schedule for you, but it's still a little ways off.

Dan L. Leonard - Analyst, Leerink Partners LLC

Analyst

Got it. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Scott Wilkin from UBS. Your line is open.

Scott Wilkin - UBS Global Asset Management

Analyst

Thank you and good afternoon. I was just hoping – I think maybe John is probably the best equipped to answer this. I was just curious if you could put a little more color on the lost sales of $5 million to $10 million in the quarter and how you're confident that that's not business that's going elsewhere? I understand maybe you're slow to be able to ship the revenue. It's just when I think about researchers doing experiments and ordering product, they're doing it as they need to do the experiments, right? And so how is this not leading to lost business as opposed to a delay?

John Goetz - Chief Operating Officer

Analyst

Okay. Well, we're very close to our customers, number one. And through this launch of the system, we've been monitoring customer satisfaction pretty closely. And we have the ability to, let's say, flex a little bit about where products can go. And so if I think about what the impact has been, it's just added time for us to get products shipped. And the adoption has also caused us a little bit of problem with backorders. The combination of those two things has caused what we're thinking about in this $5 million to $10 million range. But in terms of, do we think we're going lose the business? We don't believe we will. Bookings are strong and, as I said, we're staying very, very close to our customers.

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Yeah...

Scott Wilkin - UBS Global Asset Management

Analyst

Go ahead, Christine.

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Scott, I would also add that a lot of this is instrument-related and there it's not so much the day-to-day I need more consumables for my experiments that I really need that instrument. And for us, the larger instruments need to not only be delivered but also accepted by the customers, et cetera. And so as the timeline gets pushed out, it can push sales from one period to the next.

Scott Wilkin - UBS Global Asset Management

Analyst

I see. So what you're saying is, you expect the backorder to persist through Q4 and it's more instrument-related so it's not a daily consumable issue.

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Some level could persist. Since this quarter-end, we have been tracking it in great detail every single week and see with each passing week it's getting better and better. But there's a fair amount of demand. I guess that's the good news in it.

Scott Wilkin - UBS Global Asset Management

Analyst

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. We will hold for one moment to see if anyone else wants to queue up. And that looks like all the questioners that we're going to have for today, so I'd like to turn the call back over to management for closing remarks.

Christine A. Tsingos - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Okay. Great. Thank you, Andrew. And thank you, everyone, for joining us today. Bye-bye.