Robert Sanchez
Analyst · KeyBanc Capital Markets
Good morning everyone and thanks for joining us. This morning we’ll recap our first quarter 2015 results, review the asset management area and discuss the current outlook for our business. Then we’ll open up the call for questions. With that let’s turn to an overview of our first quarter results. Comparable earnings per share from continuing operations were a record $8 for the first quarter of 2015, up from $0.92 in the prior year. This is an improvement of $0.16 or 17%. Our results came in above our first5 quarter forecast range of $0.95 to $1. The beat was driven by better than expected rental demand and execution on our maintenance productivity initiatives, partially offset by foreign exchange and higher insurance cost. Also contributing the first quarter outperformance was a net benefit of $0.03 from an atypical fuel pure margin benefit and other onetime items as well as $0.02 in plant marketing spending that was delayed to later in the year. First quarter comparable results exclude non-operating pension cost of $0.06, and professional fees of $0.02 associated with cost savings initiative. Operating revenue which excludes fuel and subcontracted transportation revenue was up by 5% to a record $1.3 billion for the first quarter and grew in all business segments. As a reminder beginning this quarter, operating revenue now excludes fuel revenue for all three business segments. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange operating revenue grew at 7% for the quarter. Total revenue declined primarily due to lower fuel cost passed through to customers. Page 5, includes some additional financial information for the first quarter. The average number of diluted shares outstanding for the quarter was consistent with the prior year at 53.1 million. During January we bought 69,000 shares at an average price of $88.84 under a 2 million share anti-dilutive repurchase program announced in December of 2013. To date we purchased 1.4 million shares at an average price of $80.74 under this program. Following January's repurchase activity we temporarily paused additional share repurchase through at least mid-year as our balance sheet leverage is nearing the high end of our target range. We are evaluating the timing for resuming anti-dilutive share repurchased in the second half of the year. Excluding pension cost and other items, the comparable tax rate was 37%, slightly below our prior year. The spread between adjusted return on capital and cost to capital increased 30 basis points to 120 basis points. On a full year basis we now expect this spread to be in the range of 140 to 150 basis points, which is above our prior forecast range of 130 to 140 basis points. I will turn now to page 6 and discuss some key trends we saw in the business segments during the quarter. Fleet Management Solutions operating revenue, which excludes fuel, grew 5%, driven mainly by growth in full service lease and commercial rental. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, FMS operating revenue was up 7%. Full service lease revenue increased 5% or 6% excluding foreign exchange due to higher rates on replacement vehicles, reflecting the higher cost of new engine technology, and fleet growth. One a year-over-year basis the lease fleet grew organically by 4200 vehicles including the planned reduction of 400 low margin trailers in the UK. Excluding the UK trailer impact, the lease fleet grew by 4600 vehicles year-over-year, sequentially from the fourth quarter the lease fleet increased by 2000 vehicles which exceeded our expectations. In addition, we had record first quarter lease sales which provided us with continued momentum for lease fleet growth. Based on the strong sales activity in our pipeline were increasing our full year forecast for lease fleet growth by a 1000 to a 5000 vehicles. Miles driven per vehicles per day on U.S. lease power units were unchanged versus the prior year and continued to run at normal historical levels. The average age of our lease fleet has leveled off as expected following declines over the prior two years. Contract maintenance revenue increased 10%, primarily reflecting the benefit of a significant new contract signed earlier in the year. Our contract maintenance fleet grew organically by approximately 3,700 vehicles from the prior year, reflecting the sales activity. Contract maintenance revenue increased 5% reflecting sales activity from the last year. Our contract maintenance fleet grew organically by approximately 4800 vehicles from the prior year and is up a 1000 vehicles sequentially. Contract related maintenance revenue decreased 5% from the prior year, reflecting lower levels of ancillary and transactional maintenance work. Included in contract related maintenance are 6500 vehicles serviced during the quarter under on-demand maintenance agreements. This number is up 16% sequentially although it declined year-over-year due to less activity with an individual on-demand customer. We continue to see good market receptivity of this service and have good potential for future revenue growth as we further develop activity within already signed accounts. We're finalizing implementation of system and process enablers to support the broader roll out of this product and remain on track for our planned mid-year launch. Commercial rental revenue was up 8% or 10% excluding FX. The increase was driven by higher than expected demand and improved pricing in North America. The average rental fleet grew by 5% from the prior year. Rental utilization on power units was 73.4%, which is consistent with the prior year and reflects ongoing favorable demand trends in rental. Global pricing on power units was up 5% which was above our expectation of 4%. In used vehicle sales we say strong demand and pricing. I'll discuss those results separately in a few minutes. We realize an atypical benefit in fuel margin in the quarter due to the rapid and significant fall in fuel prices as wholesale prices fell more quickly than retail prices. We do not expect a similar earnings benefit in the coming quarters. Overall, FMS earnings increased year-over-year due to strong rental performance, higher full-service lease results and increased fuel margin. Commercial rental performance benefitted from higher than expected demand and higher pricing and a larger fleet. Better lease results reflect residual value benefits and fleet growth. Higher year-over-year earnings were partially offset by one time benefits in the prior year. Earnings before tax in FMS increased 17% reflecting nice leverage on revenue growth. FMS earnings has___ as percent of operating revenue or 10% up a 100 basis points from the prior year and better than expected. I'll turn now to dedicated transportation solutions on page 7. Operating revenue grew by 6% due to new business and higher volumes. Total revenue was down due to lower fuel cost passed through to customers. Operating revenue is being impacted in the first half of the year due to the timing of new sales and the ramp-up period of some accounts. We anticipate operating revenue in the second half will be at or near double-digit levels. DTS earnings increased due to new business in a higher volumes partially offset by higher insurance cost. Segment earnings before tax as a percent of operating revenue were 5.4% down 20 basis points from the prior year. Higher insurance costs negatively impacted EBIT margins by a 100 basis points. Longer term without targeting DTS three tax margins on operating revenue to be 8-9% up from the prior target of 7-8%. We anticipate margin improvement to come from growth and leverage on our infrastructure, opportunities to drive efficiencies in a dedicated model and addressing a handful of low margin accounts. I'll turn now to supply chain solutions on page 8. Operating revenue grew 4% due to new business and higher volumes primarily in technology and the technology in CPG industries. Higher than expected volumes were partially the result of rerouted shipments to the West Coast port disruption. Partially offsetting these increases were lost business from the prior year in and the automotive industry and FX. SCS operating revenue grew 6% excluding foreign exchange. SCS earnings before taxes were up 20%. The increase was primarily due to new business, higher volumes and lower start up costs partially offset by higher insurance cost. Segment earnings before tax as a percent of operating revenue were 5.3% up 70 basis points from the prior year. Page 9, shows the business segment view of the income statement I just discussed and is included here for your reference. At this point, I’ll turn the call over to our CFO, Art Garcia, to cover several items, beginning with capital expenditures.