Joe Dziedzic
Analyst · KeyBanc. Please go ahead
Thanks, Gary. Now, I’ll provide an overview of each of our product lines. Starting with Advanced Surgical, Orthopedics & Portable Medical product line, which represents about one-third of our 2016 revenues. The chart on the left highlights the improved of the product line, primarily due to a return to normalized Portable Medical volume as we move beyond the temporary disruption caused by product refers to our facility in Tijuana. As we expected and communicated last quarter, volumes are normalizing as the transfer product line becomes fully qualified, and this is reflected in the strong growth this quarter. This product line’s revenues can by lumpy due to product launches and this year, we are benefiting from several launches in orthopedics and arthroscopic. Looking ahead, we expect to see revenue growth for the full year as new product launches reach expected volumes and we continue to drive market share growth within our existing products despite the impact of unfavorable currency changes and historical level of price reductions. We are focused on growing the already strong relationships and the high levels of collaboration with our top customers in this product line. We continue to partner with our customers to support the cost management programs and to collaborate on internal continuous improvement and productivity initiatives to optimize our own cost. We continue to see significant opportunities to invest in technology and innovation with the focus on wireless technology and single use orthopedic instrumentation. The Cardio & Vascular product line had another strong quarter with year-over-year growth of 10%, driven by strong demand for existing OEM product lines and contract components. We saw particular strength in our vascular access and electrophysiology products. In addition, we benefited from customer restocking activities and expect a return to more normalized demand patterns. Our outlook for 2017 remains positive for Cardio & Vascular although we do expect the growth rate to moderate as the year progresses because last year the first quarter was the lowest of the year. We're seeing strong demand for several key products that have a number of new opportunities in the sales pipeline. We continue to execute supply agreements that secure a longer term revenue and provide incentives for growth. Our customer relationships remain strong and our partnership approach is enabling deeper penetration and increased opportunities for future growth. The Cardiac Rhythm Management & Neuromodulation product line continues to be a solid contributor to our overall results. Having recovered from the CRM bottom in Q2 of 2016, CRM at neuro demanding is strengthening across several key customers and we are ramping production in several of our medical component product areas. The overall CRM end market is relatively flat. However, our heightened focus on customer relationships coupled with our value-added services and opportunity for economic efficiencies has increasing number of opportunities in our pipeline. We are well-positioned to optimize total cost of ownership, supply chain control by leveraging our breadth and depth in the medical device supply chain. Recent wins in the first quarter include incremental value for next generation pacemaker components with a major CRM customer as well as growth in our leads business. We've also seen demand increase for our existing batteries, enclosures and V3 feedthrough technology from many of your current customers. In the neuromodulation market, we are actively supporting customers in the design, development and manufacture of everything from components to full systems to customer applications. With strong end-market growth and increasing applications for neuro modulation, the neuro modulation market is an important growth area to capitalize on our innovation. Examples that are contributing to our positive outlook include our support of a strategic customer that is growing faster than the market and we recently won incremental component business from a major neuromodulation customer that is achieving double-digit growth in the neuro market. Additionally, we are finalizing long-term supply agreements with emerging players that are well-positioned for future growth. We are excited about what is happening within this product line and our opportunities to grow and expand market share. Wrapping up the product lines is Electrochem, our non-medical segment, which represents about 3% of our total revenues. The Electrochem product line continues to trend towards positive year-over-year growth, primarily driven by increased drilling activity in North America. We expect to see continued revenue improvements throughout the year as long as we see sustained stabilization in the energy markets. In fact, we are starting to see growth begin, which could be significant year-over-year growth, we are definitely seeing it in second quarter volumes so far. We also continue to vigilantly manage our cost structure and work to maintain appropriate inventory levels while effectively supporting customer needs. As we have shared with you in the prior few quarters, even as we were impacted by challenges in the energy market throughout 2016, we remain focused on maintaining and growing our market share within this space. We're also aggressively pursuing new customers and new market opportunities. Our demonstrated history of operational excellence, high quality and value added services has enabled us to seek and win incremental revenue opportunities, expanding our market share and increasing revenue growth. Our vision is clear, to enhance the lives of patients worldwide. We do this through our customers by being their partner of choice. We have a strong history of delivering innovation that is the foundation of our Company and it is what differentiates to us. The strategy to realize our vision is also clear. We serve the needs of our customers as their medical device outsource partner. We do this by leveraging our global presence and breadth of capabilities to provide high-quality manufactured products from components to finished devices. In addition, a key point of differentiation is our innovative design, process solutions and service capabilities. We have over 90,000 highly-motivated and energized associates across the world executing our strategy everyday to ensure we realize our vision, and I’m proud to be leading Integer during this transition period. Everyone loves top-line growth and we are no different, but it has to deliver bottom-line benefits to generate cash flow that fuels that growth. So, we continue to drive operational efficiencies across the business including supply chain optimization and standardization of processes. We’ve made progress in our standardization efforts, but there is still tremendous opportunity to optimize these new processes. The integration is a phrase that we’re moving on from. And now, we’re focused on business process optimization. You’ll hear us continue to talk about the strong brands of Lake Region, Greatbatch and Electrochem and the proud legacies of these brands. But today, we are Integer and we are executing our strategy to realize our vision together as one company. The CEO search process is progressing well and has confirmed our expectations that Integer is a highly sought-after opportunity that offers tremendous growth potential. My priorities as interim President and CEO are very clear. First, I’m here to ensure a smooth transition and lead the Company during the interim period; second, to continue the execution of our strategy to realize our vision; and third, to ensure we deliver on our commitments to customers, associates and investors. It is important to highlight that customers are first. We have to continue to deliver innovative, on-time and high quality products. We have to deliver on our commitments to each other, the management team and associates. We’ve made commitments to each other in the form of individual and organizational goals and objectives that support the execution of our strategy and we have to deliver. I’m confident that if we take great care of our customers and if we deliver on our commitments to each other, the investors are going to be very happy with the Company we build and the growth we deliver. Although Gary has been -- only been on the job formally for six business days now, he spends a considerable amount of his personal time getting up to speed on the business over the past few months. I’m confident he’s going to have an immediate impact, helping us drive profitable growth, increased cash flow generation and make operational improvements. In conclusion, we are well-positioned for growth. We have a unique breadth of capabilities to serve our customers across the entire product continuum and across multiple product lines. While there are customer needs in integrated component or complete device that we’ve developed or anything in between, we can deliver. Our innovative design and manufacturing capabilities, our global footprint and scalability, our high-quality and our customer focus enable us to deliver more for our customers than anyone else in our space. As the OEM markets continue to consolidate, the need for a world best supplier, which can scale with their ever growing requirements, places Integer in a unique position to excel. I'd like to conclude by reiterating what I said at the beginning of the call. We are now growing revenues again and expect to for the full year. Commercially, our intense focus on customers is paying dividend. Operationally, we are transitioning from integration to business process optimization. We have a very clear strategy to realize our vision. It’s an exciting time to be part of Integer and I hope you share that view as an investor. Kelly, we'll now turn to the question-and-answer portion of the call.