Michael Monahan
Analyst · Oppenheimer
Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Ecolab's second quarter conference call. With me today is Doug Baker, Ecolab's Chairman and CEO. A copy of our earnings release and the accompanying slides referenced in this teleconference are available on Ecolab's website at ecolab.com/investor. Please take a moment to read the cautionary statements on Slide 12 -- or Slide 2, stating that this teleconference and the slides include estimates of future performance. These are forward-looking statements, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are described in the section of our most recent Form 10-K under Item 1A, Risk Factors, and our second quarter earnings release and on Slide 2. We also refer you to the supplemental diluted earnings per share information in the release. Also, please note that in order to provide a meaningful comparison of our results of operations where applicable, actual results for the second quarter of 2012 are compared against pro forma results for the second quarter of 2011. The pro forma results are based on the historical consolidated financial statements of Ecolab and Nalco and were prepared to illustrate the benefits or the effects of our merger with Nalco. Those -- these pro forma statements are available on our website at ecolab.com/investor, as well as our Form 8-K filed April 27, 2012, and selected portions are contained in our slides and press release. Starting with an overview on Slide 3. We delivered strong results at the top end of our earnings forecast in the second quarter despite currency and economic headwinds. We leveraged our sales and volume growth, pricing, as well as our synergy and cost efficiency work to offset significantly higher delivered product cost and produced yet another strong double-digit increase in our adjusted earnings per share. Looking ahead, we expect to continue to outperform our markets and show good earnings gains in the third quarter and for the full year as solid sales growth, appropriate pricing, innovation, synergies and margin leverage more than offset expected moderating increases in delivered product costs, as well as offset the impact of higher depreciation and amortization charges from the merger. Further, we expect 2012 will be our 10th year of double-digit adjusted EPS growth in the last 11, and we will do so while setting up strong growth for the years ahead. Moving to some highlights from the quarter and as discussed in our press release. Reported second quarter earnings per share were $0.62. On an adjusted basis, excluding special gains and charges and discrete tax items from both years, second quarter 2012 earnings per share increased 13% to $0.72. The adjusted earnings per share growth was driven by volume and pricing gains, new products and new accounts, which along with synergies and cost savings actions, more than offset higher delivered product costs. We enjoyed very strong sales growth in our Global Energy and Latin American operations, as well as solid growth from Kay and Healthcare. We continue to be aggressive, focusing on top line growth. We are emphasizing our innovative product and service strengths to help customers get better results at lower cost and, through these, drive increased market share in our core businesses, as well as new account acquisition across all of our customer segments. We also continue to implement appropriate price increases to help offset higher delivered product costs. We remain focused on expanding our margins, emphasizing productivity and efficiency improvements to help increase profitability, as well as drive merger synergies. We also continue to make investments in key growth businesses, as well as bolt-on acquisitions to build future growth. Our work to integrate Ecolab and Nalco is going very well, and we are delivering on our cost and growth synergies. We continue to be focused on growing our business and excited by the opportunities the combined company offers our customers, as well as our position as the leader in additional high-growth markets that leverage our mutual core strengths in product technology and sales and service execution. While economic trends and currencies present increasing challenges, we continue to look for the second half to show solid sales growth and further margin improvement. This strong business performance will continue to be impacted by the much higher depreciation and amortization expense from our merger. Third quarter adjusted EPS is expected to increase 11% to 16% to the $0.83 to $0.87 range and compare with adjusted EPS of $0.75 earned by legacy Ecolab in the third quarter 2011 as business growth, the increasing benefits from synergies and cost reductions and seasonally higher revenues more than offset the higher fixed depreciation and amortization interest expense from the merger. We narrowed our forecast range for 2012, recognizing exchange has cost us $0.05 per share since the last forecast while our efforts to gain share and improve efficiency will be used to offset weakening economies. We expect full year 2012 earnings per share to rise 16% to 19%, the $2.95 to $3.02 range. In summary, we expect 2012 to reflect another strong performance by Ecolab as we show accelerating quarterly earnings gains to once again deliver very attractive growth and shareholder returns this year and set the stage for improved results in the years ahead. Slide 4 shows our second quarter results, both as reported and pro forma, with adjustments for special gains and charges, while Slide 5 shows our sales growth detail. Ecolab's reported consolidated sales for the second quarter increased 74%. When compared with second quarter 2011 pro forma sales, which include the impact of Nalco in both years, fixed currency sales rose a strong 6%. Looking at the pro forma fixed currency growth component, volume and mix increased 3%, pricing rose 2%, acquisitions and divestitures did not have a significant impact, and currency decreased sales by 3%. Rounding accounts for the difference in the total. Reported sales for the U.S. Cleaning & Sanitizing operations rose 1%. Adjusted for the transfer of the water treatment related businesses to the Global Water segment, U.S. Cleaning & Sanitizing sales increased 5%. Institutional sales grew 3% in the second quarter. Sales initiatives targeting new accounts and effective product and service programs continue to lead our results and outperform mixed end markets. As expected and mentioned in our May teleconference, second quarter sales growth moderated from the first quarter rate, reflecting the impact of an inventory build by distributors in the first quarter, as well as by comparison to the rollout of new products and programs in the year ago second quarter period. Total shipments, meaning direct plus distributor shipments to our end use customers which we closely track, showed a consistent trend as in the first quarter, growing around 5%. Looking at our end markets, lodging room demand continued to show steady gains, while foodservice foot traffic remained soft. To drive our growth and improve on our industry leadership, we're introducing more new products that deliver increased value and reduced labor, water and energy costs for our customers in our warewashing, laundry and housekeeping markets. We launched our next-generation warewashing platform called Apex2 and showcased a number of other innovations at the National Restaurant Show in May. We also continue to increase our customer focus and service intimacy through sales force investment, simplified structures, marketing initiatives and improved field technology. Institutional continued to show very good fundamental trends and share gains. We expect Institutional to continue to deliver solid growth over the balance of the year and once again outperform its markets in 2012. Kay's second quarter sales increased 10%. Quick service sales enjoyed strong growth in the quarter from both large and small customers. The food retail business grew double digits, benefiting from several new customer additions. We look for continued good sales growth in the third quarter and another strong performance for Kay in 2012. Healthcare sales increased 7% as good growth from hand hygiene, environmental hygiene and surgical drapes were offset by continuing soft U.S. health care industry market trends. We continue to see steady new account gains from our product innovation and investments in new sales productivity tools. Looking ahead, third quarter sales are expected to show solid growth. Food & Beverage sales grew 6%. Sales increased in all segments led by corporate account wins, pricing and product penetration. Food & Beverage will continue to focus on new account acquisition, pricing and new product sales though we expect third quarter sales growth to moderate due to slower industry trends and the annualization of recent customer wins. Sales for U.S. Other Services rose 4% in the second quarter. Pest Elimination sales continued to show good trends, rising 4%. Growth was led by stronger gains in food processing and hospitality, improved results in foodservice segments and robust growth in add-on service sales. We continue to drive new product and program solutions to better meet our customer needs and differentiate our offerings. Recent new program launches, like the Expanded Large Fly Program and a new HotelProtect program with bedbug assurance offering are showing good initial results. We expect our new products and programs, along with aggressive selling and improved service levels, to yield continued sales gains in 2012. Sales for GCS increased 4% in the quarter, and profitability improved once again against the year ago period. New account wins and appropriate pricing helped to drive strong growth in service revenues, which were partially offset by soft part sales. We are seeing good results from chain account relationships as we drive sales through their regional and franchise organizations. We expect GCS to show stronger sales growth and continued profit improvement in the third quarter. Measured in fixed currencies, sales for International Cleaning, Sanitizing and Other Services increased 3%. Adjusted for the transfer of water treatment to the Global Water segment, fixed currency sales increased 5%. Europe, Middle East and Africa fixed currency sales rose 2% in the second quarter. Europe's institutional second quarter sales were flat versus last year. New business gains among regional and local customers leveraged new products but were offset by weak demand primarily in the Mediterranean and Ireland. Food & Beverage sales rose modestly over last year, reflecting market share gains, a focus on corporate accounts and an emphasis on the cost savings benefits of our innovative products, which work to offset slower customer volumes. Textile Care sales declined in the second quarter, reflecting very weak end markets. We're using new products and technology, like lower temperature washing, to offset these market trends. Reported Healthcare sales in Europe was strong, reflecting the Esoform acquisition. Excluding the acquisition, Healthcare sales showed good organic gains. Pest in Europe sales showed good progress, reflecting a continued focus on corporate accounts, new programs and continued operational improvements. Our work to improve operating efficiency in our Europe business continues to show good progress. We're on track to deliver more than 200 basis points of structural margin improvement in 2012 though the weak economic environment and raw material increases in Europe will offset about half of those gains and operating income. We continue to expect to improve margins to the lower teens in Europe over the coming years though the current turmoil there is slowing the pace of our progress. Looking ahead, we expect Europe's third quarter to show continued modest fixed currency sales growth with good profit improvement as it outperforms the weak European business environment. Asia Pacific sales grew 5% in fixed currencies on a pro forma basis as sales recovery in Japan helped to offset moderate growth in China. Institutional sales showed good growth. New programs and a focus on restaurant and lodging expansion in the emerging Asian markets, along with a recovery in Japan from last year's devastating tsunami, benefited sales. Food & Beverage sales also performed well. New account gains and recovering sales in mature markets led the increase. Looking ahead, Asia Pacific expects continued good growth in the third quarter. Second quarter sales for Ecolab's Canadian operations increased 6% at fixed currency rates. Strong growth in core businesses drove the solid results. Latin America reported continued strong fixed currency sales gains up 20%. Adjusted for the Brazil Pest and Institutional acquisitions, Latin America grew 14% in fixed currencies as Institutional, Food & Beverage and Pest Elimination continue to grow at double-digit rates. Institutional growth was driven by continued success with global and regional customers and new growth opportunities in Brazil. Food & Beverage sales reflect continued strong demand in the beverage and brewing markets, as well as the benefits of new accounts and investments in key sales areas. Pest Elimination continued to deliver double-digit gains. Looking ahead, Latin America expects continued double-digit growth in the third quarter. Fixed currency water sales increased 1% in the second quarter compared with 2011 pro forma results. Both periods include certain water treatment-related sales transferred from the U.S. and international segments. In addition, 2012 compared with the year ago period when sales grew a very strong 12%. Second quarter 2012 saw a good growth in food and beverage, power, manufacturing and mining. These were offset by lower sales in wastewater, where we compared against a large onetime sale last year, and in heavy industry including primary metals where destocking, especially in Asia, hurt results. Regionally, we saw a strong growth in Latin America and a modest increase in North America and Asia. These are partially offset by lower sales in Europe, reflecting the weak economic conditions in that region. We expect sales growth to improve in the third quarter, led by North America and Latin America, as new account wins resulting from our differentiated technologies and appropriate pricing more than offset lower volume gains, lower volume trends at existing customers. Global Paper also compared against a strong period last year. Second quarter 2012 fixed currency global sales for paper declined 2%, compared with a very strong 11% increase in the year ago period. Growth in Latin America and EMEA was more than offset by sales declines in North America and Asia Pacific. Lower customer plant utilization rates, especially in Asia Pacific packaging, and a strategic elimination of certain low-margin business in North America more than offset the use of innovative technology to drive sales. Excluding the elimination of that low-margin business, paper sales would have grown slightly. We expect third quarter paper sales to be flat as the paper market stabilizes. Measured in fixed currencies, pro forma Global Energy sales grew an outstanding 19%, reflecting continued strong volume growth in upstream and market share gains in downstream. Very strong double-digit growth in our upstream business was the result of robust markets, share gains and continued focus on higher growth energy sources. We saw a strong growth with deepwater accounts, as well as continued strong sales to oil sands, the Middle East and Africa. High-single digit growth in our downstream business reflected share gains in the Middle East and Asia. We expect the energy segment to grow -- to remain very strong in the third quarter as continued strength in the conventional offshore businesses and upper-single digit growth in downstream largely offsets the temporary impact of unconventional drilling shifting its focus and drilling assets to oil and away from natural gas. Slide 6 of our presentation shows selected income statement items, comparing reported 2012 with pro forma 2011 information to allow more meaningful comparisons. Reported second quarter gross margins were 45.6%. Adjusted for the impact of special charges, 2012 adjusted gross margins were 45.7%. When compared with second quarter 2011 adjusted pro forma results, 2012 gross margins decreased 20 basis points. The decrease in the adjusted gross margin primarily reflected the impact of the business mix impact of higher energy sales and exchange, which more than offset volume and pricing gains from a gross margin perspective. In absolute dollar terms, pricing once again exceeded a higher delivered product cost in the second quarter, and we expect third quarter gross margins to exceed prior year levels. Reported SG&A expenses represents 33.2% of sales. When compared with 2011 pro forma results, 2012 SG&A expenses declined 140 basis points. Leverage from the sales gains and cost savings efforts, including merger synergies and Europe restructuring savings, led the improvement. Reported operating income for Ecolab's U.S. Cleaning & Sanitizing segment rose 19%. Adjusted for the transfer of water treatment to the Global Water segment, operating income increased 17% compared with second quarter 2011 pro forma operating income. Volume and pricing gains and cost innovation more than offset higher delivered product costs in the quarter. Operating income for U.S. Other Services increased 16%, benefiting from sales leverage and improved efficiency. International fixed currency operating income increased 19% versus last year. Adjusted for the transfer of water treatment to the Global Water segment, operating income increased 21%, with EMEA operating income up 33%. Margins improved as volume and pricing gains, our European margin transformation efforts and improved cost efficiencies more than offset higher delivered product costs. Global Water operating income grew 5% in fixed currencies compared to pro forma results. Pricing more than offset higher delivered product costs. Excluding a large project sale in last year's second quarter, profits would have risen 8%. Global Paper operating income declined 9% in fixed currencies as pricing was more than offset by lower volume and the higher delivered product and other costs. Global Energy operating income grew 18% in fixed currencies led by the strong volume gain, operating leverage and pricing, which offset higher delivered product costs, investments in the business and product mix. The Corporate segment and tax rate are discussed in the press release. We repurchased 1.3 million shares during the second quarter. The net of this performance is that Ecolab's reported second quarter diluted earnings per share of $0.62 compared with $0.53 reported a year ago. When adjusted for special gains and charges and discrete tax items in both years, adjusted earnings increased 13% to $0.72 when compared with $0.64 earned a year ago. Turning to Slide 7. Ecolab's balance sheet reflected the impact of the Nalco merger. Total debt to total capital was 53% at June 30, compared with 32% reported a year ago. Our net debt was 51%. Looking ahead and as outlined in Slide 8, we continue to take aggressive actions to drive both our top and bottom lines, expanding our market share and customer penetration as one company among major accounts, leveraging our leadership positions in key growth markets in food, water, energy and healthcare. We are using innovation and pricing to benefit margins and expect to more than offset delivered product cost through 2012. Our merger synergies, along with Europe's transformation work, continues to go well and meet or exceed expectations. And we expect to deliver on these aggressive goals while building growth for the future. As also described in our press release, we look for our third quarter results to show mid-single digit sales gains led by Global Energy and our Latin America operations. This solid business performance will again be impacted by the much higher depreciation and amortization and interest expense, as well as increased share count from our merger. Adjusted third quarter diluted earnings per share are forecast to increase 11% to 16% to the $0.83 to $0.87 range compared with the adjusted earnings per share of $0.75 earned last year. We expect the benefits of growth from the underlying business, seasonally higher revenues and moderating impact from delivered product costs and increasing synergies and cost reductions to more than offset the weakening global economies, unfavorable currency and higher fixed depreciation, amortization, interest expense and shares from the merger. As a result, we continue to look for 2012 full year adjusted EPS to increase 16% to 19% to the $2.95 to $3.02 range. In summary, we once again delivered on our forecast in the second quarter while offsetting higher than expected delivered product cost in the weakening economy while still investing in our future. We look for sales and profit growth to accelerate through 2012 second half to produce another strong year and make it our 10th year of adjusted double-digit EPS growth out of the last 11 years. And now here's Doug Baker with his comments.