Rick Nadeau
Analyst · Jefferies. Please go ahead
Thanks, Lisa This morning, MAXIMUS reported financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2016. All things considered, MAXIMUS delivered a solid quarter of financial results led by our Health Services segment. At first, I want to review two unusual items that occurred in the third quarter. During the third quarter the company sold its K-12 education practice. This software oriented non-core business was part of the Human Services segment. As a result, MAXIMUS recorded a pretax gain on the sale of $6.5 million which after-tax computes to $0.06 of diluted earnings per share. On the expense side, we recorded legal expense of $2.1 million or $0.02 of legal cost in the third quarter of fiscal year 2016 that related to matter that occurred in fiscal year 2014. In addition to the unusual items the better than expected earnings delivery in the third quarter was due to the timing of revenue and profit from the start-up of a large expansion to an existing contract that was accelerated into the third quarter. We previously expected the start up revenue in the fourth quarter. Now I will cover the total company financial results. For the third quarter of fiscal year 2016, total company revenue grew 8% to $617.1 million compared to the same period last year. This was comprised of organic revenue growth of 8% which was driven by the Health Services segment, acquired revenue growth of 2% from the Ascend and Assessments Australia acquisitions and a 2% decline or $9.9 million from the effect of foreign currency translation. On a constant currency basis total company revenue would have grown 10%. Operating margin for the third quarter of fiscal year 2016 was 13.7% compared to 12.4% in the prior year. For the third quarter, net income attributable to MAXIMUS was $52.2 million and diluted earnings per share totaled $0.79. Let's turn our attention to segment results starting with Health Services. Overall the Health Services segment delivered a good quarter with strong results in our core business. Segment revenue increased 12% over last year driven by growth on existing contracts including the U.K. HAAS contract. Nearly all growth in the quarter was organic. Revenue in the quarter was also impacted by unfavorable foreign currency translation of 2%. On a constant currency basis, revenue growth for the segment would have been 14%. As you may have already seen in the media, we also have an expansion underway for a new location in New York State that accounts for a good portion of the growth in the third quarter. The revenue and profit from the start up of this expansion through an existing contract was accelerated into the third quarter. We previously expected the start up revenue in the fourth quarter. With a handful of large contracts overachieving, the operating margin for the Health Services segment came in strong at 15.1% and was relatively consistent with the prior year. Looking out to the fourth quarter, we currently expect a large impact to our revenues from unfavorable currency translation due to the weakening of the British pound following the Brexit vote. We expect the segment to deliver fourth quarter financial results that are largely consistent with the third quarter. I will now speak to the U.S. Federal Services segment. Revenue in the third quarter of fiscal year 2016 increased 6% compared to the prior year and all growth in the quarter was organic. Top line growth was driven principally by the ongoing ramp of two contracts. The Department of Education contract and a large health contract where MAXIMUS is performing as a subcontractor. The third quarter operating margin for the Federal segment came in as expected and was 12.8%. This was bolstered by approximately $3.5 million of one-time revenue and profit from a handful of contracts, much of which is not expected to repeat in the fourth quarter. On a normalized basis operating margin would have been 10.7% which is more in line with where our Federal segment margins are presently running. I'll wrap up our segment discussions with the financial results for the Human Services segment. For the third quarter of fiscal 2016 revenue grew 1% compared to the same period in the prior year. Organic revenue growth in the quarter was 1% much of which was driven by the jobactive contract in Australia. This organic growth was offset by the anticipated declines in the U.K. work program contract due to lower volumes. The Human Services segment also had acquired growth of 3% which was offset entirely by a 3% decline from foreign currency translation. On a constant currency basis, revenue would have grown 4%. As expected the Human Services segment operating margin in the third quarter of fiscal 2016 was 10.7% and lower compared to the prior year. The expected reduction in margin was a result of the ongoing startup of the new jobactive contract in Australia which is currently less profitable than its predecessor contract. Let me move on to discuss cash flow and balance sheet items, as expected days sales outstanding improved on a sequential basis and were 67 days at June 30.This remains in line with our targeted range of 65 to 80 days. For the third quarter of fiscal 2016, cash provided by operating activities totaled $86.3 million with free cash flow of $72.0 million. For the remainder of the year, we expect continued solid net income, good collections and benefits from the timing of tax and other disbursements to drive an increase in cash from operating activities. At June 30, we had cash and cash equivalents totaling $50.6 million with most of our cash held outside of the United States. During the third quarter, we purchased 43,794 shares for $2.2 million. At June 30, we had an estimated $137.5 million remaining under our Board authorized share repurchase program. In terms of capital deployment, we maintain an active M&A program and we’ve seen increasing number of quality companies coming to market. Our available line of credit allows us to be nimble and flexible. During the quarter, we pay down our debt by approximately $75 million net of additional borrowing. Our total debt at June 30 including the credit facility was $211 million. Above all management remains focused on the most practical uses of cash in an effort to strengthen our growth platform and deliver long-term shareholder value. And lastly guidance, as noted in this morning's press release we are lowering our revenue guidance and now expect revenue for the full year of fiscal 2016 to range between $2.375 billion and $2.4 billion. This is due in large part to unfavorable foreign currency translation of approximately $20 million to $25 million for the full fiscal year with the greatest impact occurring in the fourth quarter with the weakening of the British pound. The revised revenue guidance also reflects the previously disclosed changes to three of our programs in startup which are the HAAS and Fit for Work contracts in the U.K. and the jobactive contract in Australia. This compares to our view when we first established guidance in November of 2015. On the bottom line, MAXIMUS is tightening our earnings guidance for fiscal 2016 and now expects GAAP basis diluted earnings per share to range between $2.60 and $2.70.There are a couple of puts and takes in the earnings range, so let me recap. This range includes the $0.06 gain on sale of our K-12 education business, year-to-date legal costs of $0.03, this includes the $0.02 of cost from this quarter and a penny that was incurred in the first quarter and we also expect diluted earnings per share to be unfavorably impacted by foreign currency translation by about a penny for fiscal 2016. For the full year of fiscal 2016, we continue to anticipate operating cash flows in a range of $200 million to $230 million but at the lower end of that range. However even a brief delay in payment from one of our large customers at the end of September could result in us falling short of this target. We still anticipate free cash flow in the range of $130 million to $160 million for the full fiscal year. In addition, I'd like to provide some commentary on a few specific items from the income statement that have generated some questions. The first is our expectations for weighted average shares outstanding. For the third quarter this was approximately 66.2 million shares. In the absence of any share buybacks we should expect our total share count to increase by approximately 400,000 shares per year for the effect of outstanding restricted stock unit grants. The second is the interest expense line. This is related to the interest on our borrowings which is approximately 1.6%. The third is the other income line which recently had a one-time short-term benefit that will not recur. Looking forward we generally expect that our other income will be less than $300,000 annually. A final item is the income attributable to non-controlling interests. This relates to the portion of net income from certain foreign entities that is tied to the equity interests held by employees or partners. A good example would be the Remploy employees who hold a 30% ownership while the Remploy results are included in our financial statements, a 30% portion of earnings related to the minority ownership is a reduction to net income. Nevertheless we still control the strategic direction and management of the entities. We expect the amount of income attributable to non-controlling interest in future periods to be consistent with recent periods. We hope that you find these additional details helpful. Thanks for your continued interest and now I will turn the call over to Rich.