Earnings Labs

CSP Inc. (CSPI)

Q4 2013 Earnings Call· Tue, Dec 17, 2013

$10.59

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, and welcome, everyone, to CSP's Fourth Quarter 2013 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. The financial results news release is posted on the website at www.cspi.com, for those of you who did not receive the email. [Operator Instructions] With us today are CSP's President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Victor Dellovo; and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Gary Levine. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Levine. Please go ahead, sir.

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. With me on the call today is Victor Dellovo, CSPI's Chief Executive Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that during the call today, we will take advantage of the Safe Harbor provisions of the Privacy (sic) [Private] Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to statements that may be deemed to be forward-looking under the act. The company cautions that numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements made by the company. Such risks include general economic conditions, market factors, competitive factors and pricing pressures and others described in the company's filings with the SEC. Please refer to the section on forward-looking statements included in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. During today's call, Victor will provide an overview of our performance for the year and an update on our business segments and on our strategic progress. I'll then discuss our fourth quarter financials in more detail. And then we'll open it up to your questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to Victor.

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Thanks, Gary. Fiscal 2013 was a successful year for CSP. While the year initially looked like it could be challenging due to the tough year-over-year comparison at our Systems or MultiComputer business, it turned out quite solid based on the strength of our Modcomp Service and System Integration business. For the year, we grew revenues 3% over last year and recorded $0.10 per share in profit despite recording royalty revenue at our Systems business of only $800,000 versus $6.3 million last year. We also distributed $1.4 million in dividends in fiscal 2013 and raised the quarterly dividend from $0.03 per share to $0.10 per share during the year. As you may have read in our news release this morning, the board has voted to raise the quarterly dividend again, beginning in the first quarter, for next year by 10% from $0.10 to $0.11. This reflects the board's commitment to enhancing shareholder value and its support for our new strategic direction. We continue to see significant growth potential for CSP, and we believe we have the right strategy to unlock the value in our company. Throughout the fiscal year, we made progress in the execution of that strategy, and the fourth quarter was no exception. During our call today, I'll discuss some of our strategic achievements as -- by providing operational overview. Let's start with our Systems segment, which consists of our MultiComputer business. This business sells primarily to major prime contractors that in turn sell to the U.S. Defense Department. Systems segment revenue was down $400,000 to $2.7 million in the fourth quarter. Sales in the Q4 last year included $1.3 million of royalty revenue from the E-2D Hawkeye intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. While we recorded no royalty revenue in Q4 this year, our Systems gross margin, therefore, was…

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

During the fourth quarter, we reported a loss of $8,000 on revenue of $21.9 million, which were down 2% from a year ago. The revenue decline was due to slightly lower sales in both the Systems and Service and Systems Integration businesses. Our total cost of sales for Q4 was $17.1 million, slightly higher than the prior year. Gross profit for the quarter was $4.8 million compared with $5.7 million as a result of the absence of royalty revenues in Q4 2013 and a lower percentage of sales from Systems segment -- from the Systems segment. For those reasons, gross margins declined to 22% from 25% in Q4 last year. Fourth quarter engineering and development expense was $0.6 million, compared to $0.4 million a year ago. As a percentage of sales, Q4 engineering development expense was 2.7% compared to 1.9% last year. We were just in our target range for engineering and development of between 2.4% and 2.7%. SG&A expenses were $4.2 million or 19.3% of sales compared with $5 million or 22.5% of sales in the year-ago quarter. The decrease was primarily due to a $1 million reversal in Q4 2012 from a cash surrender value for an officer's life insurance policy. Our fourth quarter 2013 SG&A was higher than our target range of between 14.5% and 16.5%. We're continuing to maintain a vigilant focus on cost control, and we are constantly reviewing every aspect of the business to ensure that we are operating in the most efficient manner possible. We had a tax benefit of $66,000 compared with a tax benefit of $2.6 million a year ago. We expect our overall tax rate for next year to be approximately 40%. Cash and short-term investments decreased by $1.9 million to $18.6 million from $20.5 million at the fiscal year end last year. We've paid out about $1.4 million in dividends during the year. As Victor mentioned earlier in the call, beginning in the first quarter of 2014, we'll be raising the dividend from $0.10 to $0.11 per share. We have previously raised the dividend from $0.03 to $0.10 per share in the second quarter of 2013. This reflects the board's confidence in our long-term prospects and commitment to enhance shareholder value. Looking back at fiscal 2013, we performed well, especially with the very difficult comparison with last year. We grew sales, maintained profitability on significantly lower gross margins and distributed $1.4 million in cash back to the shareholders in the form of quarterly dividends. Given our expectations for the E-2D next year, we are encouraged by our prospects for fiscal 2014. We expect to report better results in the coming year as we continue to execute our growth strategy. We made excellent progress on that strategy in fiscal 2013 and plan to build on its momentum in 2014. With that, Victor and I will be happy to take your questions.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question today is coming from Daniel Zeff from Zeff Capital.

Daniel Alden Zeff - Zeff Holding Company, LLC

Analyst · Zeff Capital

What is the margin moving forward on the E-2D royalty revenues? And why can't you give us a little bit more specific guidance moving forward?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

The revenue on the E-2D planes, Dan, is approximately $600,000 to $630,000. There's a discount level that -- as we continue to ship. We're -- and as far as giving more guidance, I think that we're just being cautiously optimistic. We just have not started to do that. We're trying to at least give you some color relative to what it's going to look like next year. But we do believe we will beat this current year.

Daniel Alden Zeff - Zeff Holding Company, LLC

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Now the margin was my question on the royalties. It's very high, I assume. So wouldn't it be fair to assume that we would have at least $3 million in operating income next year based only on that and if Modcomp is not profitable?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Well, obviously, that's $3 million on the gross level, but you still have the operating expenses of the division. And the corporate expenses -- what was your question in relation to...

Daniel Alden Zeff - Zeff Holding Company, LLC

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Is Modcomp profitable, and will it be profitable moving forward?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Yes, Modcomp was profitable. It was very profitable this year. They were the leader in the whole operation. Modcomp made the profit that we had.

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Zeff Capital

And it has been for many years. It's always been profitable for at least the last 5 years.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question is coming from Sam Kidston from North & Webster. Samuel A. Kidston - North & Webster, LLC: Just one quick question. Could you just -- you talk a lot about revenue growth. What was the year-over-year revenue growth, and what do you expect going forward to next year?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · North & Webster

The revenue growth was about 3%.

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · North & Webster

Yes.

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · North & Webster

This year. And we believe it's going to grow, Sam. We just haven't indicated what that will be. Samuel A. Kidston - North & Webster, LLC: Do you think it's still in those low-single digits, or do you pop up toward the double digits in '14?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · North & Webster

As Victor was pointing out, I think one of the things that we're looking for growth is in the service business, which is obviously better margins, but smaller dollars in total compared to selling products. So there's -- we're in this -- the growth is important to the bottom line, and the top line growth may not be as brisk as we've had in the past, Sam.

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · North & Webster

No, I was just saying when you -- when making the transition to more managed services instead of selling a lot more product, the top line revenue, as Gary had mentioned, is not as important. We're trying to move the business to more profitable business of -- and reoccurring revenue. So that's -- I've mentioned that in the last couple meetings we've had about kind of a transition in part of the strategy. So that's -- so the top line revenue, we're not exactly sure how much that may grow at this point.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question is a follow-up from Daniel Zeff from Zeff Capital.

Daniel Alden Zeff - Zeff Holding Company, LLC

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Are you looking at more M&A activity? And are there more opportunities to buy smaller companies?

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Our eyes and ears are always open, and we look at a lot of things that we have over quite a few years. And if something makes sense that can be accretive immediately or gives us some value on other parts of the business, we will definitely look at everything.

Daniel Alden Zeff - Zeff Holding Company, LLC

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Victor, are you going to be able to provide guidance moving forward on the next call or in 2 quarters or at some point in the future? And what is the 3- to 5-year plan to unlock shareholder value here? The stock is trading for an enterprise value of $15 million or $16 million on almost $100 million revenues.

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Zeff Capital

The guidance, that's something we'll discuss with the board on how much more we divulge moving forward. And I think over the last year -- it's only been 12 months since I've been here. I think we've made a lot of changes with the dividend and increasing it and the strategy, which I think I have outlaid over the last 2 or 3 calls very specifically of where we're trying to grow the business. And if acquisitions and M&A is part of it, we'll definitely look at it.

Operator

Operator

Our next question is coming from Joseph Murges [ph] from [indiscernible] Investments.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

A couple of quick questions. One, on the E-2D program, did you say you thought there would be a delivery of 32 to 37 planes through 2018? Is that the number? Is that correct?

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Zeff Capital

That's correct.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

So you're looking for something in the neighborhood of 6 to 7 planes a year subsequent -- after, let's say, next year, in that neighborhood, to come up with those numbers?

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Zeff Capital

That's an estimate. As you may have heard on -- before, that each year the budget gets approved. So there's no guarantee, but that's just what's estimated at this point.

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Right. In the government's budget, they show you projections of what they think the planes are -- and they show the rollout. If you get -- look at the Defense budget. So they give you at least the projected that they're going to have, and that's what we're saying. And that -- in that, that's 32 planes. And then talking to the customer, there is some upside that's potential. So that's where we get the numbers.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Okay. And if I recall, there are still -- on the total program, what the Defense Department wanted to buy was something in the neighborhood of 75. Now you've delivered, what, approximately 10?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

There's been a delivery of 15.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

15. So is there around -- around 60 planes would be the remainder of what they would initially wanted? Is that correct?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Well, it's -- I mean, that's what they -- when they give the initial procurement, but obviously, as you know, with the budget situation in Washington, it becomes very difficult to know exactly what the total program will be. As they tell us, it's a year-to-year item, and ultimately, they had originally said it was 75. They haven't adjusted that, but the rollout doesn't seem to include that many planes.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

I understand, but at least initially they were looking at the 75.

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

You are correct.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

That's correct.

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Yes.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

One other -- a little bit -- a little more color on this Myricom acquisition. Now you were saying they profitable for the last 5 years. But you didn't buy the company in whole. You bought assets.

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

That's correct.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

So you didn't buy the entire operation. Why wasn't Myricom, if they were profitable -- why -- do we know why they couldn't sell the company in total to somebody?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

They sold a portion of the company, so a portion -- a major portion of their technology was sold.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

To us?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

No, to someone else.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Okay. So there's -- and so of -- and how many people did we add with the Myricom acquisition? I assume some people came with our asset...

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Well, we hired them.

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Right, so I believe there was 11.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

11. Do we have any idea of what kind of revenue that section that we bought in last year would have generated?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

No, because everything was mixed together. It wasn't broken out. So it became difficult because you had cross-selling that went on. I mean, we -- in our due diligence, we pretty much were able to at least break out at least the product lines that we had. But there was a lot of cross items that went on because it was a technology sale, and pieces of what we had -- we got were included in that. But we do have numbers, but we just aren't disclosing those.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Okay. And the 11 people, I assume, are located still in California? Is that -- or do we have -- have we incorporated them in our offices in...

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

They're in the West Coast, right, and other locations.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

And you didn't take over the lease from the facility, I [indiscernible]...

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

No.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

So they have separate offices, in effect, on the West Coast?

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Well, right now, we're subleasing part of their space until we determine what we're going to do.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question today is coming from Brett Davidson from Investletter.

Brett Davidson

Analyst · Investletter

My impression of what's been going on has been pretty darn exciting. I do have a question regarding Myricom. And I wonder if you guys can give me little color in exactly what it is that we bought and how that fits into CSP's business.

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Investletter

Well, we bought technology that we were buying from them for many, many years to continue supporting our CSPI customers. And also, they also another technology with some boards that are more in the commercial space. So that was a -- it's a building block for us to continue developing their technology, and it gives us another platform and new products to cross-sell, both into the current government space and also into commercial space, where you have commercials account that require a high fast processing -- speed boards. So that's kind of where we're moving forward with that. So it was a very good acquisition and it was a comfortable one based on the relationship we had for quite a few years, and it gives us a stepping stone to move forward for the future while we continue supporting our current customers.

Brett Davidson

Analyst · Investletter

So on the commercial side, would that be something typically like server firms, or am I going in the wrong direction here?

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Investletter

No, the board's going to server. That's correct.

Brett Davidson

Analyst · Investletter

And as far as integrating it in the CSP, I mean, is this -- so obviously, you guys have done business with these -- this firm for a while. Is this something that's integral to the servers that we're selling and are there, I mean, other supplies of these type of products?

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Investletter

There are components that they manufacture that go into our boards on the CSPI side, but they also have their own products that they have been selling through distribution, both here in the States and internationally. So we're leveraging distribution with their current technology in their software. They're in the process of developing the next generation of product to continue selling to distribution OEMs and potential end-user customers directly.

Brett Davidson

Analyst · Investletter

Now does that distribution network have advantages that we're going to be able to take advantage of over and above the products that Myricom provides?

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Investletter

I'm -- what do you mean by that?

Brett Davidson

Analyst · Investletter

Well, I mean, I'm -- we have distribution channels for our products. I mean, is there's something that the Myricom distribution channel has that we currently don't have?

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Investletter

Well, they have access to a lot of integrators, right? So if we sold to an Avnet, for instance, that distribution that hold the product, they have access to a lot of customers where it's other integrators selling their product to other end users.

Brett Davidson

Analyst · Investletter

And that's something a little different than what we currently have.

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Investletter

It's completed different. We really -- most of the CSPI customers are being filled directly. And as the Modcomp side of it, we are one of those integrators that buy from an Avnet or Ingram or Tech Data or whoever else, like an IBM or EMC or some of the normal products that we represent and resell.

Brett Davidson

Analyst · Investletter

And is that a channel that we possibly have a possibility to start selling into, based on this Myricom?

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Investletter

We're selling -- the customers, right now, in the Modcomp side of it, we're one of the distribution customers. We're now -- distribution becomes one of our customers on the Myricom side.

Brett Davidson

Analyst · Investletter

But I was thinking more along the lines of Modcomp finished products selling back into that...

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Investletter

No. We buy from those distributors. Modcomp buys from those distributors, where Myricom on the side, because they manufacture our products and software, that distribution is actually our customer on the Myricom side.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] At this time, we've reached the end of our Q&A session. I will now turn the conference back over to Mr. Victor Dellovo for any closing or additional remarks.

Victor Dellovo

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Thank you for joining us today and for your support of CSP. We look forward to speaking with you, all, again, on our first quarter call.

Gary W. Levine

Analyst · Zeff Capital

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

And that does conclude our conference call. Thank you for joining us today.