Operator
Operator
Good morning and welcome to the Chart Industries 2015 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. You should have already received the company's earnings release that was issued earlier this morning. If you have not received the release, you may access it by visiting Chart's website at www.chartindustries.com. A telephone replay of today's broadcast will be available following the conclusion of the call until Thursday, March 3. The replay information is contained in the company's earnings release. Before we begin, the company would like to remind you that the statements made during this call that are not historical in fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. For further information about important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the information regarding forward-looking statements and risk factors included in the company's earnings release and latest filings with the SEC. These filings are available through the Investor Relations section of the company's website or through the SEC website, www.sec.gov. The company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Mr. Michael Biehl, Chart Industries' Executive Vice President and CFO. You may begin your conference. Michael F. Biehl - Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer: Thank you, Stephanie. Good morning, everyone. I would like to thank you for joining us today. We will begin by giving you a brief overview of our fourth quarter and year-end results, and then Sam Thomas will provide comments on current market order trends we see in each of our business segments. I'll then finish up by commenting on our outlook for 2016. Fourth quarter 2015 adjusted net income was $0.19 per diluted share. This excludes non-cash and impairment charges of $253.4 million, or $7.68 per diluted share, that I'll provide further detail on momentarily. (2:32) also excludes business restructuring and acquisition-related costs of $4.7 million or $0.05 per diluted share. This compares to fourth quarter 2014 adjusted net income of $23 million or adjusted earnings of $0.74 per diluted share. Net income on a GAAP basis for fourth quarter 2015 was a loss of $230.1 million or $7.54 per diluted share, which is net of all the charges that I just mentioned. This compares to 2014 fourth quarter reported net income of $26.9 million or $0.88 per diluted share. Excluding the asset impairment charges or restructuring costs during the year, adjusted earnings were $1.25 for 2015. Net income on a GAAP basis for all of 2015 was a loss of $203 million or $6.66 per share. This compares to reported net income of $81.9 million or $2.67 per diluted share for the year 2014. The fourth quarter included non-cash asset impairment charges of $195.8 million for goodwill and $57.6 million for indefinite life intangibles and other asset write-offs, when there's no impairment testing annually or more frequently when circumstances dictate. The drop in our market capitalization, along with the impact of lower energy prices, continued weakness in China, major project delays and increased competition including in BioMedical's respiratory markets, led to reductions in our forecast resulting in a non-cash impairment charges in the quarter. The long-term permanent impact of Medicare competitive bidding including the reduction of reimbursement range in the subsequent consolidation of our BioMedical respiratory customers has impacted our ability to meet our original forecast expectations for our BioMedical respiratory business. Something worth noting is that approximately $237 million of the goodwill we had on our balance sheet prior to the impairment was associated with First Reserve's acquisition of Chart back in 2005. First Reserve, a private equity firm, acquired Chart in August 2005. At that time, under purchase accounting, the assets were adjusted to fair value, which resulted in $237 million of goodwill, $35 million indefinite-life intangibles and $122 million of definite-life intangible assets recorded on Chart's balance sheet. Indefinite-life intangible assets are amortized based on our useful life, but goodwill and Indefinite-life intangible assets totaling $272 million are not amortized, but instead tested for impairment annually. $67 million of the current impairment charges related to goodwill recorded as part of the First Reserve's 2005 acquisition of Chart. Sales for the quarter were $260.8 million or 20% decrease from the prior-year quarter. The majority of the decrease is due to lower LNG application sales in both our energy and chemicals or E&C, and distribution and storage or D&S segments, particularly in China. Sales were also reduced by $6.7 million on a constant currency basis due to stronger U.S. dollar compared to the fourth quarter 2014. Our gross profit for the quarter was $72.8 million or 27.9% of sales compared with $96.9 million or 29.7% of sales a year ago. During the fourth quarter of 2014, we received an escrow settlement for the recovery of $5 million related to warranty cost for certain product lines from the AirSep acquisition. Excluding this recovery, gross margins for the quarter decreased approximately 0.3% compared to the same period in the prior year, as the higher margins in the E&C and D&S were more than offset by a 2.1% negative currency impact due to the stronger U.S. dollar. Net orders received in the fourth quarter totaled $231.2 million or down 9% sequentially as the third quarter of 2015 included a mid-scale LNG project awarded in excess of $40 million in E&C. This decline was partially offset by a $23 million award in D&S during the fourth quarter, supply of LNG storage load-out regas system in Jamaica for power generation. In the E&C business, fourth quarter sales decreased 33% to $73.8 million compared to the prior-year quarter. Brazed aluminum heat exchangers have seen the largest decline in sales related to air separation, petrochemical and LNG applications. Gross margins were 32.1% compared with 30.2% in the prior-year quarter. However, it should be noted that several emergency short lead time projects contributed 7% to the E&C's gross margin in the current quarter for 2015 and 2% in the prior year's quarter. Revenues related to these emergency projects were higher than usual during the fourth quarter of this year. Excluding the short-time lead projects, gross margins were down due to lower volume and extremely competitive environment. In our D&S business, fourth quarter sales decreased 18% year-over-year to $131 million. The majority of decline was seen in China LNG applications, in addition to the stronger U.S. dollar that negatively impacted sales by $4.5 million during the period on a constant currency basis. We did, however, see improved industrial gas and LNG application revenues in the U.S. related to the Jamaica order I previously mentioned. Gross margins for D&S increased to 25.9% compared to 24.7% a year ago, driven by global sales and product mix differences. Sales in our BioMedical business remained flat at $56 million compared to the prior-year quarter and commercial oxygen generation segment experienced increased revenues during the quarter which were completely offset by a negative currency impact of $2.2 million on a constant currency basis. BioMedical gross profit margin was 27% in the quarter compared with 43.1% for the same period in 2014. As I mentioned earlier, we received an escrow settlement of $5 million related to excess warranty cost for AirSep oxygen concentrators in the prior-year quarter. We will continue to pursue additional recoveries from our representation of warranty insurance policy associated with that acquisition for higher than anticipated warranty expense and other matters beyond the $5 million recovered in 2014 from the escrow. Excluding the escrow settlement, BioMedical margins in the prior-year quarter would have been 34.2%, which is higher than the current year quarter due to product mix in the Respiratory segment and higher warranty costs. SG&A expense for the quarter was $53.9 million, up $2.1 million from the same quarter a year ago. The increase was due to $3.5 million in severance cost related to the restructuring in the fourth quarter. SG&A as a percentage of sales increased to 20.7% from 15.6% due to the revenue decline. Income tax expense negative $12.6 million for the fourth quarter which reflects a tax benefit recorded on the intangible asset impairment charges, since those assets we amortized for book purposes, but not for tax. Excluding the tax effect of the impairment charge, the effective tax rate would have been 42% which increased over the prior year quarter due to reserves taken against certain of our accumulated tax carryforwards and net deferred tax assets for some of our Chinese operations, as well as an increased mix of domestic versus international earnings. Significantly, we generated $47 million of operating cash flow during the quarter, bringing our earning cash balance to $123.7 million, an increase of $41 million from September 30. We currently have no outstanding borrowings on our revolving credit facility with current availability of $421 million. The non-cash asset impairment charges do not impact our debt covenants and we remain in compliance with all of our covenants with – and our leverage and interest coverage ratios. Our balance sheet and capital structure remain strong with significant liquidity available. I will now turn the call it over to Sam Thomas. Samuel F. Thomas - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Thank you, Michael, and good morning, everyone. As Michael mentioned, after non-cash impairment charges and restructuring costs, we exceeded our fourth quarter expectations through solid project execution at E&C and continued strength in our D&S, U.S., and European businesses. 2016 is going to be another challenging year for Chart as we enter the year with reduced backlog. Uncertainties in the energy markets are resulting in customer deferrals and delays, while increased competition and customer consolidation are compressing margins. To address these challenges, we've implemented further cost-cutting measures company-wide. Over the past year and a half, we've initiated approximately $60 million in cost reductions on an annualized basis. Since the end of 2014, our global workforce has been reduced by 21%. During the fourth quarter and early 2016 we've taken additional actions, we've eliminated certain senior level management positions, close satellite sales and engineering offices, and establish an early retirement program in the U.S. and our D&S business. This recent round of actions will result in approximately $20 million of annualized savings and is included in the 60 million I previously referenced. SG&A savings represented about 15% of the 60 million savings today. These savings were partially realized in 2015 and evident in our SG&A cost, which are down by $5 million when restructuring costs are excluded compared to the prior year. We continue to focus on lean initiatives and process improvements to further improve our cost structure, especially in the down cycle. One current example is the consolidation and reconfiguration of our air cooled heat exchanger facility, which would result in annual savings in excess of $1 million. If 2016 progresses we'll closely monitor near-term expectations and continue to take appropriate actions as necessary. Despite the negative macroeconomic factors around energy markets today, we continue to win orders such as Klaipėdos nafta and to make an LNG projects, and have continue to see bidding activity related to other LNG projects. Customers continue to pursue LNG as an energy options. For power generation, transportation fuel and marine applications this reconfirm the long-term fundamental growth drivers for conversions still exist. Let me remind you that, although many of investors focused heavily on the energy portion of our business it's now less than half of our business in total. We have a diversified product portfolio that continues to generate strong free cash flow as evidenced in the current quarter. We have a solid balance sheet with significant liquidity, and we'll continue to pursue profitable investments, including acquisitions to add long-term value. I'll now comment on specific highlights for each of our business. Energy and chemicals book $45 million in orders during the fourth quarter, which is down from the third quarter orders of $77 million. As a reminder, third quarter orders in the E&C included a previously announced mid-scale LNG order of $40 million. Order levels remain weak in E&C with customers continuing to delay projects due to deteriorating and uncertain market conditions. As a result, our E&C backlog has declined 48% year-over-year. These factors have caused us to bring our forecast, which is one of the drivers for the non-cash impairment charges taken in the fourth quarter, with limited opportunities for seeing significant pricing pressures from competition and decreased throughput, which negatively impacted E&C margins. Roughly half of the cost reduction savings mentioned earlier are results of the E&C initiatives. Most of these related to direct labor savings as approximately half of the direct labor has been reduced since 2014. But more aggressive actions were taken during the fourth quarter and early 2016 to address salary and labor cost. Despite the weak near-term outlook for E&C, we see continued interest in quoting activity for mid-scale LNG liquefaction, for LNG export facilities here in North America. We continue to have large potential opportunities in this area, where our equipment and process technology efficiencies give us an advantage. Current natural gas market conditions, significant new LNG supply and reduced demand forecast have delayed end-user long-term contract commitments. It's worth remembering that these decisions are based on expected pricing in the 2020 to 2030 timeframe as opposed to the current market conditions. Within D&S, we received orders of $131 million in the fourth quarter, this is up 5% sequentially largely due to the LNG storage slowdown and re-gas project in Jamaica, which Michael mentioned earlier. We're pleased to announce today our D&S European operation Chart Ferox, along with our EPC partner, PPS Pipeline System, secured a $30 million combined contract for LNG reloading station for Klaipėdos nafta in Lithuania. Chart will provide all LNG equipment including the storage tank, loading areas for trucks and ship bunkering. The contract value at Chart is approximately $15 million. We're currently involved in quoting a few other similar projects around the globe. During the fourth quarter, one of our privately held competitors filed for bankruptcy. The assets of this company were required but many previously established contracts were not honored, leaving customers stranded. This has opened up a number of opportunities for us, both in the industrial gas and the LNG segments. During 2015, we experienced significant growth in our food and beverage applications in North America. This is an example of how our business benefits from the diversity of our end markets. From an LNG perspective in D&S, order levels within the U.S. and Europe have remained rather steady although China remains extremely weak with an uncertain near-term outlook. The fundamental growth drivers and influence from the Chinese government for better air quality will drive LNG growth in the long run in our opinion. Moving on to BioMedical. Orders of $55 million were up slightly as both respiratory in life sciences improved over the third quarter, while commercial oxygen system orders were down as environmental application program timing is lumpy. In respiratory, we're investing in new product development, as well as rebuilding our sales and marketing channels to combat the increased competitive environment. As with our respiratory segment, we intend to see moderate growth in our life sciences segment, specifically in emerging markets like Latin America, India and China. To achieve this growth in 2016, we are investing in product development and marketing efforts. Within the commercial oxygen generation segment, we expect growth in our smaller standard products for ozone and water treatment systems. We continue to pursue a number of large oxygen plants, but again timing of these projects is difficult to predict. Finally, the overall business model of BioMedical allows us to generate significant cash flows with modest capital requirements. This positions us well to be – to well diverse supply to help offset our energy exposure in the near term. Michael will now provide our outlook for 2016. Michael F. Biehl - Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer: Thanks Sam. As we entered 2016 with the lower backlog and continued macroeconomic concerns with low oil prices, 2016 will be another challenging year. Outside of the energy segments we serve, we still anticipate flat to moderate growth in the industrial gas, healthcare and environmental industries. However, highly competitive markets in the natural gas processing, petrochemical and healthcare segments could impact our margins. Nonetheless, we expect to generate robust operating cash flows and continue to have significant liquidity available. Based on these factors, we expect sales for 2015 to be in a range of $900 million to $1 billion, and diluted earnings per share are expected to be in a range of $0.50 to $1 per diluted share on approximately $30.7 million weighted average shares outstanding. In addition, our earnings will be more weighted towards the second half as they have been historically. This excludes the impact of any restructuring costs. We currently estimate our capital expenditures for 2016 to be between $20 million and $25 million, just primarily to maintain our facilities with no major projects planned. Additionally, we are estimating our income tax rate of 34% for 2016. I would now like to open it up for questions. Stephanie, please provide instructions to the participants to be able to ask questions.