Efrain Rivera
Analyst · Oppenheimer
Thanks, Marty. Let me start with the customary legal disclosures. You should be aware that certain written and oral statements made by us constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. As Marty indicated, Paychex delivered solid results in fiscal 2013 with improving metrics. Here's some of the key highlights for the quarter and fiscal 2013. I'll provide greater detail in certain areas and wrap with a review of our 2014 outlook. Total service revenue grew 6% for the fourth quarter and 5% for the fiscal year. Interest on funds held for clients decreased 7% for the fourth quarter and 6% for the fiscal year to $10 million and $41 million, respectively. This result was a byproduct of the low interest rate environment that prevailed during the year and was partially offset by increase in average investment balances. Expenses increased by 5% in the fourth quarter and 3% for the fiscal year. We continue to invest at a higher rate in leading-edge technology. For the full year period, this was partially offset by increased productivity within operations. Operating margin was 35.1% for the fourth quarter and 37.8% for fiscal 2013. Operating income, net of certain items, increased 9% to $202 million for the fourth quarter and 7% to $864 million for fiscal 2013. In the fourth quarter, we increased our tax provision for the settlement of a state income tax matter for the fiscal years 2004 to 2011. This additional provision reduced earnings per share by approximately $0.04 per share for both the fourth quarter and the fiscal year. We do not expect this to have an impact on our effective tax rate going forward. Net income growth, due to factors just discussed, was flat at $124 million for the fourth quarter and grew 4% to $569 million for the fiscal year. Diluted earnings per share were again flat at $0.34 per share for the fourth quarter, including the tax matter we just discussed, and increased 3% to $1.56 per share for fiscal 2013, including the effect of the increased tax provision. Payroll revenue. Payroll service revenue increased 4% for the fourth quarter and 2% for the fiscal year. We benefited from increases in checks per payroll and revenue per check. Checks per payroll increased about 1% for the fourth quarter and 1.6% for the fiscal year, moderating from their respective prior year periods. Revenue per check was positively impacted by price increases, partially offset by discounting. We have been experiencing positive growth in revenue per check through the pricing of our core products and related ancillary. Fiscal 2013 payroll growth was modestly affected by events from earlier quarters, including the impact of Hurricane Sandy and 1 less payroll processing day overall due to the leap year in the prior year. HRS. HRS revenue increased 13% to $193 million for the fourth quarter and 10% to $746 million for the fiscal year. HRS revenue growth reflects favorable trends in client growth and price increases. Some highlights of the contributions to HRS revenue growth include: Retirement services revenue, which benefited from growth in clients, price increases and an increase in the average asset value of retirement services client employees' funds. Paychex's HR Solutions revenue was positively impacted by growth in client and client employees and price increases. The rate of growth was tempered by lower average client employees within our PEO. During the second half of fiscal 2013, our PEO business stabilized and improved as the year progressed. Insurance services revenue continues to improve as a result of growth in health and benefit services applicants, though at moderating rates, and higher revenue from other insurance policies. Growth also resulted from increases in premiums in workers' compensation insurance services. We expect that health care reform will impact our insurance service revenue in the form of rate pressure. However, we see a number of opportunities in assisting our clients in navigating the complexities of the Health Care Act. Our eServices revenues were positively impacted by client growth and price increases, particularly as we continue to focus on adding SaaS-based solutions through product development and acquisition. Now let's look at investments and income. We maintain a fairly conservative investment policy. As you know, our goal is to protect principal and optimize liquidity. On the short-term side, our primary investment vehicles are high-quality variable rate demand notes, VRDNs, and bank demand deposit accounts. In our longer-term portfolio, we invest primarily in high credit quality municipal bonds. The interest rate environment remained at historically low levels for much of the year, despite the recent uptick. Our combined portfolios have earned an average return of 0.9% for the fourth quarter compared to 1% for the same period last year and 1% for fiscal 2013 compared to 1.1% for the same period last year. Our average rate of return was also impacted by our allocation of investments to a greater percentage in tax-exempt securities within the short-term portfolio. Investment income decreased 20% to $1 million for the fourth quarter and increased 4% to $7 million for the fiscal year. The increase for the quarter was due to lower average interest rates earned. This was due to a change in mix in the corporate portfolio, with more invested in short-term securities compared to the prior year. I would now walk you through our -- the highlights of our financial position. It remains strong. Cash and total corporate investments totaled $875 million as of May 31, 2013, and of course, we had no debt. Funds held for clients as of May 31 were $4.1 billion compared to $4.5 billion as of the same period last year. Funds held for clients vary widely on a day-to-day basis and averaged $3.7 billion for the fiscal year, 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 $35 million as of May 31, compared to $60 million in the prior period. The decline in net unrealized gain position was driven by the recent uptick in market yields. Total stockholders' equity was $1.8 billion as of the end of the year, reflecting $477 million in dividends paid during the fiscal year. Return on equity was 34%. Cash flows from operations were $675 million for the fiscal year, a modest decrease compared to the prior year. The decrease was driven mainly by fluctuations in operating assets and liabilities, partially offset by higher net income adjusted for noncash items. Fluctuations in our operating assets and liabilities between periods were primarily related to the timing of collections from clients and payments for compensation, PEO payroll, income tax and other liabilities. Settlement of the state tax matter had a related effect on our federal tax liability, which had an impact on accrued income taxes at fiscal year end. Now turning to 2014 guidance. I'd like to remind you that our outlook for fiscal year ending May 31, 2014 is based on our current view of economic and interest rate conditions continuing without significant changes. Our guidance is as follows: Payroll services revenue projected to increase in the range of 3% to 4% compared to fiscal 2013. This projected growth rate is based on anticipated client base growth and increases in revenue per check. HRS revenue is expected to be in the range of 9% to 10% in line with recent experience. Total service revenue expected to increase in the range of 5% to 6%. Interest on funds held for clients is expected to decrease in the range of 7% to 9%. Based on projected rates, we will revisit this assumption during the year. Operating income, net of certain items, as a percent of service revenue is expected to be approximately 38% for fiscal 2014. Investment income net is projected to increase in the range of 0% to 5%. And net income is expected to increase in the range of 8% to 9%. This growth assumes and incorporates the impact of the settlement of the state income tax matter in fiscal 2013. The effective tax rate for fiscal 2014 is expected to be in the range of 36% to 37%, as we don't expect the state income tax matter to impact our future effective income tax rate. As you know, we don't provide guidance on a quarterly basis. However, we do anticipate that payroll revenue growth in the first quarter of 2014 will be at the low end of our full year guidance due to timing of payroll processing in that quarter. From an earnings perspective, we anticipate that the first half and the second half earnings in fiscal 2014 will be comparable.