David H. Hannah
Analyst · JPMorgan
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Reliance achieved solid growth in 2014, and we're pleased with our strong operational execution throughout the year. Our annual sales surpassed $10 billion for the first time in our 75-year history and were up 13.3% from 2013. Operating income increased 34% on a FIFO basis compared to 2013, reflecting another strong performance by our managers in the field, and our net income of $371.5 million was up 15.5% in 2014 compared to 2013. Demand in the fourth quarter reflected the normal seasonal slowdown caused by fewer shipping days due to holiday season closures and holiday-related closures by many of our customers. However, with the exception of the energy markets, underlying demand momentum in the fourth quarter remains strong. Reliance's sequential quarter, 5.3% reduction in same-store tons sold, outperformed the MSCI Industry average decline of 7.6% in the quarter. Reliance also significantly outpaced the industry for the full year, with a 6.1% increase in same-store tons sold in 2014 compared to the MSCI Industry average of 4.2%. Our outperformance of the industry reflects our commitment to customer service, as well as our continued investments in organic growth and acquisitions resulting in increased market share. Although metals pricing was generally stronger in 2014 than in 2013, fuel pricing was constrained by historically high levels of imports, supported in part by a strengthening U.S. dollar. This, plus the effects of significant decreases in the price of scrap and other steelmaking raw materials during the 2014 fourth quarter, resulted in falling steel prices that have continued into 2015 and have negatively affected our gross profit margins. Reliance average price per ton sold was up 0.4% for the 2014 year compared to 2013, but our 2014 fourth quarter average selling price was relatively flat, down 0.1% from the prior quarter. Although we were able to maintain our average selling price through the fourth quarter, steel pricing continues to deteriorate, and we expect continuing downward pressure on pricing in the 2015 first quarter. Despite significant competitive pressures in the marketplace, we maintained gross profit margins of 25.1% and an operating profit margin of 5.9% for the 2014 year. Our consistent execution reflects our commitment to remain highly focused on managing all aspects of the business that are within our control, which continues to mitigate much of the impact from challenging market conditions. Fourth quarter net income attributable to Reliance was $92.3 million or $1.18 per diluted share. Earnings per share as reported were down 2.5% from $1.21 in the previous quarter, but up 49.4% from $0.79 in the fourth quarter of 2013. Our 2014 fourth quarter net income attributable to Reliance included certain one-time items, with benefits from a $12.7 million pretax gain related to the sale of some noncore real estate and an $11.4 million pretax gain from the acquisition of additional interest in our toll processing joint venture in Mexico. These gains were offset by certain acquisition-related charges and other miscellaneous settlement costs for a total nonrecurring net gain of $13.2 million after-tax or $0.17 in earnings per diluted share, resulting in 2014 fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings of $1.01 per diluted share, which were up 7.4% from the fourth quarter of 2013. Other items impacting the quarter that were not anticipated at the time of our fourth quarter guidance included a LIFO charge or expense of $24.5 million, which was higher than we had estimated by $14.5 million pretax or $0.11 per share. This was offset by lower-than-anticipated income tax expense of $4.8 million or $0.06 a share. Considering these items, our non-GAAP earnings per diluted share would've been $1.06, solidly in our guidance range of $1 to $1.10 per diluted share. Since our IPO in 1994, we've completed a total of 59 acquisitions, including 3 in 2014. During the fourth quarter of 2014, we completed the acquisition of Fox Metals and Alloys, a Houston, Texas-based steel distributor, specializing in alloy, carbon and stainless steel bar and plate products, primarily servicing OEMs and machine shops who manufacture or support the manufacturing of equipment for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Over the years, Fox has built a reputation for providing outstanding customer service and being a trusted supplier in the Houston and Gulf Coast region when critical supplies are needed on a timely basis. Fox had 2013 annual sales of approximately $50 million and fits nicely into our portfolio of complementary companies servicing the oil and gas markets. Going forward, accretive acquisitions will remain an important part of our overall growth strategy. We expect to continue to be a consolidator in our highly fragmented industry by making strategic acquisitions of well-managed metal service centers and processors, with end-market exposures that support our diversification strategy. And acquisitions are not the only aspect of our strategy to grow our business and return value to shareholders. During 2014, in addition to funding the acquisitions, we spent $190 million for capital expenditures to support organic growth initiatives. We repurchased $50 million of our common stock and paid regular dividends of $109 million to our shareholders. In February 17, 2015, our Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.40 per common share of stock, an increase of 14%. The dividend is payable on March 27, 2015, to shareholders of record as of March 13, 2015. Reliance has paid quarterly dividends for 55 consecutive years, and we've increased the dividend 22x since our initial public offering in 1994. In October of 2014, our Board of Directors approved an extension of our existing share repurchase program to December 31, 2017. During the fourth quarter, we repurchased a total of 759,800 shares for about $50 million on an average price of $65.80 per share. As of December 31, 2014, we had approximately 7.1 million shares or about 9% of our total outstanding shares available for repurchase under our share repurchase plan. We generated $356 million of cash flow from operations in 2014, and although pleased with our overall financial position, we see opportunity to reduce our current inventory levels. Our healthy balance sheet and confidence in our operational execution provide a strong foundation for us to continue to invest in the growth of our business, while at the same time returning value to our shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, especially given our current share price. As part of our commitment to strong corporate governance practices, last month, we announced that Mark Kaminski, a member of Reliance's Board of Directors, was elected as our independent Lead Director effective January 15, 2015. Mark succeeds Doug Hayes, who will remain a member of Reliance's Board. I'm pleased to welcome Mark as our new Lead Director and thank Doug for his outstanding past service. Turning to our outlook. For the first quarter of 2015, we expect the U.S. economy to continue to improve throughout the year. Despite current pressure on the portion of our business directly servicing the energy market, estimated at about 8% to 10% of our total sales, lower fuel prices and energy costs are expected to drive overall improvement in the U.S. demand. The historically high levels of metal being imported into the U.S. are expected to continue, given the strong U.S. dollar and weaker economies in other parts of the world, which will continue to put downward pressure on steel prices. Due to the normal seasonal trends, as well as the improving demand environment, we currently expect higher tons sold in the first quarter of 2015 than in the fourth quarter of 2014, but lower average selling prices and margins, resulting in non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1 to $1.10 for the quarter ending March 31, 2015. As we've noted in the past, Reliance has a broad range of products, significant customer diversification and a wide geographic footprint. We've achieved industry-leading operating results on a consistent basis, and we remain confident in our ability to continue our track record of success going forward. I'll now hand the call over to Gregg to comment further on our operations and market conditions. Gregg?