Efrain Rivera
Analyst · Evercore Partners
Thanks, Marty. Let me start out with our standard legal disclosure. Certain written and oral statements made by us constitute forward-looking statements, and I'd just say that you refer to our press release for the discussion of forward-looking statements and related risk factors. As Marty indicated, third quarter results for fiscal 2013 represented good progress. Here's some of the key highlights for the quarter and 9 months. I will provide greater detail in certain areas and then wrap with a review of our 2013 outlook. Total service revenue grew 4% for both the third quarter and for the 9 months. Interest on funds held for clients was flat for the third quarter and decreased 6% for the 9 months to $11 million and $31 million, respectively. This result was a byproduct of the low interest rate environment, offset by an increase in average investment balances. Expenses increased moderately, 3% for both the third quarter and for the 9 months. We continue to invest at a higher rate in product development and supporting technology, but this was partially offset by increased productivity within operations, which allowed us to maintain our solid operating margins. Note that recent business acquisitions had immaterial impact on quarterly revenue growth and expense growth. Operating margin was 36.8% for the third quarter and 40.5% for the 9 months. Operating income net of certain items increased 7% to $214 million for the third quarter and 6% to $662 million for the 9 months. We expect operating margin for the full year to be in the range of 37% to 38%. Net income increased 7% to $145 million for the third quarter and 5% to $446 million for the 9 months. Diluted earnings per share increased 8% to $0.40 per share for the third quarter and $0.04 (sic) [4%] to $1.22 per share for the 9 months. Let me talk a little bit more about payroll revenue. It increased 2% for the third quarter and 1% for the 9 months. We benefited from increases in checks per payroll and revenue per check. As Marty already mentioned, our checks per payroll metric continued to improve and was stronger than anticipated, increasing 2.3% compared to the same period last year. This result was partially due to higher calendar year-end bonus payment activity during the quarter. Revenue per check grew modestly as a result of price increases, partially offset by discounting. Payroll growth was tempered by 1 less payroll processing day in the quarter due to the leap year in the prior year. The impact of this 1 processing day on payroll revenue growth is approximately 0.5%. As we've said on past calls, payroll revenue is expected to be stronger in the fourth quarter. HRS. HRS revenue increased 10% to $189 million for the third quarter and 10% to $553 million for the 9 months. HRS revenue growth reflects favorable trends in client growth and price increase. Some highlights of contributions to HRS revenue growth include the following: Retirement services revenue benefited from client growth, price increases and an increase in the average asset value of retirement services client employees' funds. This was partially offset by the impact from a shift in the mix of assets within these funds to investments earning lower fees from external fund managers. Paychex HR Solutions was positively impacted by growth in both clients and client employees and price increases. The rate of growth was tempered by fewer client employees on average within our PEO compared to the quarter ago. However, we've seen an improvement in both new sales and client retention in the PEO during our peak selling season, and both PEO clients and client employees were higher at the end of the third quarter compared to a year ago. Insurance services revenue benefited from growth in the number of applicants, though at moderating levels, while workers' comp insurance delivered increases in both clients and premiums. We expect that health care reform will impact our insurance revenue -- services revenue moderately going forward. Our eServices revenues were positively impacted by client growth and price increases, particularly as we continue to focus on adding SaaS-based solutions. HRS service revenue quarterly growth can vary due to the volume of clients and basis points earned on Retirement Services client employees' funds. Basis points fee revenue changes are due to fluctuations in the financial market and the asset value of funds invested. PEO net service revenue, as we mentioned previously, also exhibits greater variability between quarters due to a number of factors, including changes in workers' comp claims experienced. Turning to our investment portfolio. We maintain a fairly conservative investment policy, as you all know. Our goal is to protect principal and optimize liquidity. Our priority has been and will continue to be, as we continually say, to ensure that we can meet all of our cash commitments to clients. On the short-term side, the primary investment vehicle is high-quality variable rate demand notes and FDIC-insured deposit accounts. In our longer-term portfolio, we continue to invest primarily in high credit quality municipal bonds. The interest rate environment remains constrained. Our combined portfolios have earned in average a rate of return of about 1% for the third quarter compared to 1.1% for the same period last year and 1.1% for the 9 months compared to 1.2% for the same period last year. Interest on funds held for clients was flat for the third quarter and decreased 6% for the 9 months to $11 million and $31 million, respectively. The decrease was driven by the decline in the average rate of return, which was offset by increases in average balances of 6% and 4% for the quarter and 9 months, respectively. The average rate of return was also impacted by our allocation of investments to a greater percentage in tax-exempt securities within our short-term portfolio. As our interest on funds held for clients and corporate investment income are reported before taxes, the return appears lower on average with a greater mix of tax-exempt investments. The increase in average investment balances was primarily driven by the expiration of the payroll tax cut holiday, which resulted in higher Social Security withholdings, favorable trends in checks per payroll and wage inflation. Our investment income decreased 11% to $1 million for the third quarter and increased 13% to $5 million for the 9 months. The decrease for the quarter was due to lower average interest rates earned and lower average investment balances as a result of the accelerated dividend payment to shareholders in December 2012. The increase for the 9 months was mainly due to higher average investment balances resulting from investing the cash generated from operations. I'll now walk you through highlights of our financial position. It remains strong with cash and total corporate investments of $798 million as of February 28, and we continue to have no debt. Funds held for clients as of February 28 were $5.6 billion compared to $4.5 billion as of May 31, 2012. Funds held for clients vary widely on a day-to-day basis and averaged $3.6 billion for the 9 months, a year-over-year increase of 4%. Our total available-for-sale investments, including corporate investments and funds held for clients, reflected net unrealized gains of $52 million as of February 28 compared with the net unrealized gains of $60 million as of May 31, 2012. Total stockholders' equity was $1.6 billion as of the end of the quarter, reflecting $477 million in dividends paid during the first 9 months. Our return on equity for the past 12 months was 35%. Cash flows from operations were $606 million for the first 9 months, an 8% increase compared to the prior. The increase was driven by higher net income and timing related to changes in our operating assets and liabilities. Now turning to guidance. We reaffirmed our guidance for fiscal 2013. I'd like to remind you that our outlook is based on current view of economic and interest rate conditions continuing with no significant changes. Payroll revenue growth, 2% to 3% based on anticipated client base growth and modest increases in revenue per check. We anticipate stronger revenue growth in our fourth quarter, consistent with our guidance provided in June 2012. Our HRS revenue growth is expected to be in line with our historical experience, and total service revenue is anticipated to be at the low end of the range of 5% to 6%. We anticipate minimal impact from prior acquisitions, and our operating margin for the year is anticipated to be approximately 37% to 38%. This is slightly lower than the margin experienced in the first 9 months of fiscal 2013, as our margins are historically lower in the second half of the fiscal year due to more spending. We do anticipate a continued increase in the percentage of tax-exempt investments in our short-term portfolio. And investment income net of -- net growth is in a range of 0% to 5%, reflects the impact of anticipated lower investment rates and average cash balances. And now I'll turn it back to Marty.