Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Leonardo DRS Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the company's prepared remarks, there will be an opportunity to ask questions, and instructions will be given at that time. As a reminder, this event is being recorded. I would like to now turn the conference over to Steve Vather, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Finance. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and welcome, everyone. Thanks for participating on today's quarterly earnings conference call. With me today are Bill Lynn, our Chairman and CEO; and Mike Dippold, our CFO. They will discuss our strategy, operational highlights, financial results and forward outlook. Today's call is being webcast on the Investor Relations portion of the website where you will also find the earnings release and supplemental presentation. Management may also make forward-looking statements during the call regarding future events, anticipated future trends and anticipated future performance of the company. We caution you that such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. For a full discussion of these risk factors, please refer to our latest Form 10-K and our other SEC filings. We undertake no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements made on this call. During this call, management will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe provide useful information for investors. These non-GAAP measures should not be evaluated in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP performance measures. You can find a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures discussed on this call in our earnings release. At this time, I'll turn the call over to Bill. Bill?

Thank, Steve, and thank you all for tuning in and your interest in Leonardo DRS. I'd like to start by expressing my sincere gratitude to the entire DRS team for their incredible contributions in delivering for both our customers and our shareholders. We continue to build on our execution track record and ended the year on solid footing, resulting in exceptional financial results for 2023. For the year, our revenue growth accelerated to 5%. And when adjusting for the net divestiture impact, we grew approximately 7% on an organic basis. Additionally, we excelled accelerated capturing bookings and achieved a 1.2 book-to-bill ratio for the year, we saw impressive demand for our solutions enable and ground network computing, electric power and propulsion and multi-mission advanced sensing. Our total backlog grew by 82% to a new company record of $7.8 billion. This reflects the over $3 billion contract for the rest of Columbia class electric power and propulsion systems that I briefly mentioned last quarter and also a diverse set of contract awards secured throughout the year. In 2023, we also delivered adjusted EBITDA growth but at a slightly lower pace than our top line. We managed through peak inflationary headwinds and had increased G&A from greater investment in internal R&D and higher public company costs. Lastly, 2023 free cash flow was robust at $159 million and was a result of significantly stronger than expected fourth quarter collections. Moving to the budget market environment, we are closely monitoring the progress of FY 2024 appropriations. And at this time we are cautiously optimistic on its timely passage, the need to deter and counter growing and more sophisticated threats across increasingly connected and contested domains is prompting our customers to accelerate investment and to modernize capabilities. Further, more of the dynamic global threat environment…

Thank, Bill, and thank you to the entire team for their remarkable efforts throughout the year to deliver the excellent financial results for 2023. Revenue was $926 million for the fourth quarter accelerating total growth of 13% and 11% on an organic basis. For the year, revenue was $2.8 billion, representing a 5% total growth and 7% organic growth from 2022. We saw broad-based demand drive growth in both Q4 and 2023 full year. Our advanced sensing and computing segment, revenue growth for the year was driven by strength in naval network computing and multi-mission advanced sensing programs, particularly leveraging our tactical radars lasers tactical communications and electronic warfare technology. Our Integrated Mission Systems segment revenues benefited from strong contribution from electric power and propulsion programs to drive growth for the year. Now to adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA was $131 million for the fourth quarter and $324 million for the full year, representing year-over-year growth of 9% and 2% respectively. Resulting margins were 14.1% for the fourth quarter and 11.5% for the full year a decline of 60 and 30 basis points respectively. Higher volume at the top line resulted in adjusted EBITDA growth but we faced headwinds to adjusted EBITDA margin primarily from higher G&A due to greater investments in internal R&D and an uptick in public company costs. Moving to the segment trends. ASC segment adjusted EBITDA increased and margin expanded for the year mostly on better volume and better mix. IMS segment adjusted EBITDA and margin were down due to unfavorable mix and higher G&A spend for the year. These headwinds masked the strong execution on our Columbia-class program which is progressing favorably towards higher margins in 2024 and beyond. Now to the bottom line metrics, solid operational execution translated to net earnings growth of 14% to…

Thank you. At this time, we will begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Robert Stallard with Vertical Research. Please proceed with your question.

Thanks so much. Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'll start with Bill. On this whole budget situation in DC have you actually seen any impact on your business from this uncertainty as yet? And what sort of contingencies are you building in case we don't actually a budget?

Yes, thanks, Rob. I mean unfortunately short-term CRs and even shorts shutdowns it become a little bit to standard. So that those right -- right now wouldn't show an impact on us. Longer term CR we still see as unlikely. And that's because in order there's still strong bipartisan support for defense given the threat Ukraine, the longer-term threat in China. So that the only way you see a long-term CR is at the whole budget process fails and we think that that's unlikely. But in any event the lower end of our guidance range caps -- captures that downside risks.

Okay. And then secondly you finished 2023 with a net cash on the balance sheet. You made a couple of comments about M&A still being some of your strength. But given the cash situation here do you think it's feasible to start thinking about paying dividends?

Well Robert at this point our priorities continue to be the organic investment. We announced the maritime facilities are moving forward on that and we're actively looking for M&A in our four core markets. We have a good pipeline. We do have strict financial criteria, but we are seeing opportunities that we think might be attractive. We have nothing to announce at this point but we're actively looking for M&A. And so that that remains the priority M&A and organic investment.

Okay. And then just finally one for Michael. On the South Carolina investment I was wondering do you have any sort of government support or contracts lineup in relation to this investment? And how do you expect the CapEx profile on this facility to pan out over the next couple of years?

Sure. I'll start with the latter part of that first which is we are just commencing this initiative. Still the spend profile would be relatively linear between where we are today through the 2026 occupancy date that Bill alluded to. So think of it kind of that way Robert in your model. In terms of this investment, this investment is really geared towards the Columbia class and the rest of class program. And that's really where we're expecting to make a return on this investment. So therefore that's so the $120 million we referenced is really DRS's investment. What it does do though is it enables us to be part of the conversations for the industrial base initiatives to increase throughput prospectively. That's our view on this, Rob.

Okay. That's great. Thanks so much.

Our next question comes from the line of Seth Seifman with JPMorgan. Please proceed with your question.

Hi. Thanks very much and good morning.

Good morning. Seth.

Good morning. I wanted to I guess start off asking a little bit about the growth and kind of given the strong results that we saw in ASC in the fourth quarter. I mean, I know there's a quarterly profile here, and so we'll see that step down sequentially in Q1, but just given the level of growth that we saw and thinking about the growth that you're looking for overall at the company, I mean, it would seem that the advanced sensing and computing business should grow significantly faster than the average level of company growth that you're forecasting for 2024. I guess, first of all, is that a fair assumption to make? And if so is there is there something in particular that kind of weighs down the growth at IMS to get to that average level that you're forecasting?

Hey, Seth, I'll take that one. I wouldn't necessarily view the segment growth as being differentiated between ASC and IMS. And really where I'm looking at there when I make that comment is the bookings profile and the book-to-bill ratio that we had and the growth in backlog both of those segments had kind of proportional growth on the backlog excluding the unfunded piece for Colombia at IMS. And we do expect both of the segments to contribute to the growth that we outlaid in a 2024 guide pretty proportionately.

Okay. And but I guess in terms of the on is there some reason to think about it? Was there something really outsized about 4Q 2023 in advanced sensing and computing that wouldn't suggest that there's kind of, I understand, it's on a quarterly run rate, but at least from a seasonally adjusted quarterly run rate? And do the Q4 results to give up to a seasonally adjusted quarterly run rate?

Yes, no, it's a good question. I get where you're going now. So I think that one of the contributing factors to the Q4 contribution from ASC was that we started to see supply chain stabilization. And as we alluded to on previous calls, we started setting up kind of advanced procurement and other mitigations to really stabilize our supply chain and make sure that we can have the output that we predicted for the Q4 ramp. So we knew that there was going to be a little bit about wave that created this anomaly in ASC in Q4, because of what we've seen in the supply chain and the proactive mitigations we took to secure our confidence in being able to deliver that ramp in Q4. I don't think you're going to see that quite as pronounced in the 2024 for you. So I think that's adding to the disconnect in Q4.

Got it. Got it. Thanks. Okay. And then on maybe one more kind of top line related is just on when you think about the bookings opportunities for this year and think about the potential book-to-bill for 2024, how are you thinking about that including the opportunities relative to what you picked up in 2023 understanding that there aren't that kind of giant Colombia contracts out there?

Yes. So first I'll say from a 2023 perspective, when we do our book-to-bill ratio, we don't include the unfunded piece. So the book-to-bill at 1.2, book to bill in 2023 was not dominated by Columbia was actually a holistic of demand that we saw from really stemming from these evolving threats, as Bill alluded to in his speech just a moment ago. We don't guide to bookings, but we don't put out a number, but we do kind of target to make sure that our bookings are exceeding that one to one book-to-bill ratio. And as we look into 2024 we have confidence that we're going to be able to execute and continue to grow backlog.

Great. Thanks very much. I'll leave it there for now.

Thanks.

Our next question comes from the line of Peter Arment with Baird. Please proceed with your question.

Yes, good morning Bill, Mike, Steve. And Mike, you called out the on the Columbia as being a big piece of the adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of 100 to 140 basis points. But you said there were others, maybe you could just give us a little more color about some of the other programs that are that are helping you on the – on the expansion side?

Yes. So there's a couple of programs. I think as we kind of show this margin expansion historically over the past couple of years, it's been as we've been moving these next-generation programs into a larger production base. Colombia has been a highlight on that, but there's been others, particularly in our kind of ground-based and dismounted sensing programs. We're seeing that transition out of our ASC segment. And then you've got the Colombia piece on the IMS. So those are the real headlines that you're going to see move and continue to drive this positive margin occurrence that we're anticipating.

Okay. And then just circling back to the CapEx in South Carolina. So this it sounds like it's all for supporting Columbia and then eventually being part of the conversation to help throughput at the yards. And so that picks up incremental business. How do we think about other opportunities for electronic propulsion on surface ships? And would that require a lot more CapEx on it and just maybe high-level thoughts Bill, thanks.

Yes, not – Peter, you've got it right. The business case for the facility, the $120 million investment is based on that large multiyear Colombia award that that gave us the assurance to go forward this facility and it's going to drive additional capability capacity that will drive higher margins. But it also gives us the ability and the capacity to go after future work on new – on new platforms. And that's a key part, especially upside to the initial investments. But it does position us for that kind of expansion. And then in parallel, it positions us as Mike was talking about to participate in the general expansion of the submarine industrial base. The Congress's funding and the Navy is pursuing. And we're in active discussions with the Navy in the yards, as to how you'd align work between the yards and the suppliers to drive that increased throughput and the facilities a key part of that conversation.

Appreciate the color. Thanks, guys.

Thanks.

Our next question comes from the line of Ronald Epstein with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.

Hey, good morning. Thanks for the call. This is Jordan Lyonnais on for Ron. Could you just talk about the opportunities you're seeing in space? Do you think there's an opportunity in SDA for the Proliferated Warfighter and what those opportunities look like?

Yes. No thanks for the question. As we've talked about, space is a long-term play for us. What we're really focused on doing is try and move from what we really have now as a niche capability and move that to have really a core part of our new base. We have had early success as we talked about in weather satellites. And on the missile defense, where your questions focus, we've seen strong customer interest in our payloads. We have some unique capabilities in the lower orbit area, that did tranche 1 tracking layer award but that's just the first step and we need to have more awards that's a longer-term play. But we do think we have customer receptivity and we're going to continue to pursue this over the next 18 to 24 months.

Great. Thank you so much.

Our next question comes from the line of Michael Ciarmoli with Truist Securities. Please proceed with your question.

Hey, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. Maybe just a couple of quick ones. First, I guess Mike, in terms of bookings, do you guys think you can have – maybe I missed it. But do you think you could have a book-to-bill greater than one and 2024? I know we've got some budget uncertainty. It sounds like the low end of the range kind of captures that. But how are you thinking about the bookings outlook?

Yes. That's what as I said earlier, I don't think we guide to bookings, but we don't guide to bookings. So I'm going to answer your question a little differently. I think that the threat evolution that we're seeing and that's being highlighted by the conflicts that we're seeing around the globe is certainly continuing to drive demand to our product set. So although, we don't guide to bookings we're confident that we can push higher than a one to one book-to-bill ratio for 2024. Q – Michael Ciarmoli: Okay. And if you could give us any color, I mean are you seeing growth in your overall pipeline of opportunities, across the range of capabilities is one area, becoming stronger than others? Any kind of color you could give us there?

Yes. I think as Bill kind of alluded to, what we're seeing, with these conflicts abroad although, we don't have a lot of direct sales to Ukraine or to Israel at this point in time, they have certainly highlighted a capability that you need a more integrated and communicated battlefields. And we're starting to see the demands from that in our advanced sensing space in particular. And that is where we're seeing a lot of those. The port protection business, the tactical radars that is where we're seeing a lot of demand really stemming from what became apparent, with the complex that we're seeing both in Israel and Ukraine. Q – Michael Ciarmoli: Got it. Got it. And then you talked about the on the international revenues. I mean, do you guys have sort of a target of where you think international? I mean you just said, you don't have a lot into Ukraine or Israel, but do you kind of have a goal or a target as to where you think you can get international revenues as a percent of total?

We haven't set a specific part target. As we said, we've moved up to 10%, but that over the last five or six years that represents, a doubling about our proportion. And as we move programs from development to production, as we've talked about we have a kind of a bubble of programs that are moving in both the sensing and propulsion area from development to production, is when those programs hit production as you see international opportunities. So, we think we're going to see more international opportunities and as we refine those, we may set a target, but right now we're looking to have a steady increase, but we haven't named a specific target. Q – Michael Ciarmoli: Got it. Got it. And then a last one for me, just on the, the Columbia program itself. Can you just give us a general update? I think you're currently working Shipset 2 I think maybe you kind of said you were starting Shipset 3. And I think that program expect it to be pretty positive for margins. So do we have that right or are you guys kind of sort of marching along to your stated path there.

Basically you have -- we're actually still finishing the initial contract which goes back to Shipset 1. We are working on a Shipset 2 which is better margins. And we've just started Shipset 3 which had still better margins because it's part of the contract that was negotiated with new higher inflation assumptions. So with that stair step, as we go up each Shipset at least for the initial ones we'll see that kind of step up in margins each year. Q – Michael Ciarmoli: Got it. Perfect Thanks, guys. I’ll get back in the queue.

Thanks.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line Jon Tanwanteng with CJS Securities. Please proceed with your question. Q – Jon Tanwanteng: Hi good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I was wondering about the new facility, you mentioned of mostly for the Columbia. What does that do for your Columbia program economics on a per Boe basis or a consolidated basis for a company? I'm wondering, when it comes online.

Sure Jon. So this investment is really geared towards driving efficiencies, looking at complex builds on the Columbia and figured out what we can -- we can take an inside here and make sure that we maximize our efficiencies maximize our margins. And from that, with this new facility, we believe we've got a good path to increase the returns on that program as we start executing when this facility goes live.

Okay. And then do you still expect to participate in Navy or government funded expansion in the industrial base versus self funding in the future?

That's the goal, Jon. We think that the -- as Mike said, the business case for the facilities are based on the Columbia class. And that analysis compares well to an acquisition. It would just give you an idea -- if you did it in that kind of analysis, you'd have a sub-10 multiple comparing to an acquisition. So financially, this was a very strong move but also it positions us as you're suggesting to be a part of that submarine industrial base expansion, and by extension part of the Navy investment in that. So, we would look as we go forward for some Navy and investment if we going to expand this facility to improve the throughput at the yards by moving work to the suppliers.

Got it. That's helpful. And then on -- Mike, if you could just talk about your -- on your cash flow in 2024 and the cadence. Is that expected to be normal from a seasonal basis? Or are there any puts and takes versus how you've seen that on -- from historical versus your historical performance?

Yes. I think it's going to be a path typically as we've seen in terms of that same quarterly trend and that seasonality skewing towards the fourth quarter. I think the linearity a bit improved but I still think the large majority of the cash will reside in Q4.

Is there any way you can help us ballpark what were the trough level of your cash will be as you go through Q1?

It typically kind of goes along with what we see from kind of the revenue output. So, as we start really liquidating and pushing up the revenues towards Q4, although we mentioned we're going to be a bit better this year from a linearity perspective, that additional revenue and the way we kind of have a fixed G&A rate, if you will, that's pretty linear. You'll see that profit pickup and with that profit will come to working capital liquidations of cash. So, as you start modeling out the revenue, you kind of look at that to be the impetus to really drive the cash into the Q4 ramp if you will.

Got it. Thank you.

At this time, I will turn the floor back to Steve Vather for closing remarks.

Thank you all for your time this morning and your interest in DRS. Of course, if you have follow-up questions, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me. And look forward to speaking with all of you again soon. Have a great day.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect now. Thank you all for participating.