John D. Sheehan
Analyst · David Risinger from Morgan Stanley
Thank you, Rajiv, and good morning, everyone. Today, I'm going to be referring to financial metrics that have been prepared on an adjusted basis. These are non-GAAP financial measures. I refer you back to Kris' comments at the beginning of today's call regarding our use of adjusted measures. I'd like to begin today by walking you through our first quarter financial results, which, as Heather indicated, was a great start to what we believe will be another strong year for our company. I'll also provide an update on our capital structure and our liquidity position. Our Q1 results were slightly above our expectations. The growth in adjusted diluted EPS was achieved through constant currency revenue growth of over 40% by our Indian operations, specifically within our antiretrovirals business, and strong result at our North American Generics business even despite of the delays in product approvals in the United States. Total revenues for the quarter were $1.7 billion, an increase of approximately 5% when compared to the first quarter revenues of $1.6 billion in the prior year or approximately 7% on a constant currency basis. We continue to expect that our total revenues for 2014 will be within our previously disclosed guidance range of $7.8 billion to $8.2 billion. Looking at our operating profitability measures. Adjusted gross margin for the first quarter of 2014 was a very strong 50%, up over 100 basis points from the same prior year period. Our strong margins are primarily the result of an improved mix within our diverse product portfolio of our North American Generics business. Additionally, our margins continue to benefit from the efficiencies of our vertically integrated platform. We continue to expect our full year 2014 gross margins will be between 51% and 53%, with Q2 being very similar to Q1's margins, before increasing in the second half of 2014. Adjusted operating income was $396 million for the first quarter of 2014, up slightly from the prior year, primarily a result of the improvements in gross margin. R&D expense on an adjusted basis was $117 million or approximately 7% of total revenues. Our guidance range for R&D expense for the full year is between 7% and 8% of total revenues. The timing of certain R&D spending principally amounts related to our biologics and respiratory platform is expected to occur in later periods of the current year, with no impact on the timing of the programs themselves. And we continue to expect that the full year spend will be within our guidance range and that the spending in the second quarter will be at the upper end of our guidance range. At the same time, SG&A, also on an adjusted basis, was $352 million or approximately 20.5% of total revenues, slightly above our full year guidance range of 18% to 20%. However, on a sequential basis, SG&A expense was flat when compared to Q4 of 2013, and we continue to expect to be within the guidance range for our SG&A for the full year. Adjusted EBITDA for the 3 months ended March 31, 2014, was $460 million, an increase of 4% when compared to the prior year and remains forecasted to be between $2.2 billion and $2.4 billion for the full year. Adjusted interest expense for the first quarter of 2014 was $63 million, essentially flat when compared to the prior year. We continue to benefit from low short-term interest rates, which have offset the increase in interest expense from higher long-term debt. As of March 31, 2014, the average rate on all of our outstanding borrowings was slightly below 4%. First quarter adjusted net income was $260 million or $0.66 per share, a 6% increase from our Q1 2013 adjusted diluted EPS of $0.62 per share and slightly above our expectations. Our guidance range for adjusted diluted EPS for 2014 remains at $3.25 to $3.60 per share, irrespective of any one product approval. Turning to our cash flow and liquidity metrics. Cash flow from operations on an adjusted basis was $286 million. Our debt cash flow from operations for the current quarter was approximately $268 million, leaving us with unrestricted cash and cash equivalents totaling $243 million. The first quarter is historically the heaviest in terms of the usage of cash as a result of this timing of certain payments, including taxes, interest and incentive compensation. And we are still forecasting our full year 2014 adjusted operating cash flow to be within our guidance range of $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion. First quarter capital spending was $72 million, as we continue to invest in our business. And we expect full year capital expenditures to be within our guidance range of $350 million to $450 million. At the end of the quarter, our gross-to-EBITDA leverage ratio is approximately 3.4:1. We continue to have ample borrowing capacity and financial flexibility and remain committed to our 3:1 long-term gross leverage ratio target, which represents an investment-grade credit profile. Further, we remain committed to our stated M&A parameters that any transaction would be accretive to earnings and maintain our long-term low gross leverage target. To summarize, our first quarter provided a strong start to 2014 and provides yet another example of our ability to manage our business through a variety of industry and market headwinds, while producing top and bottom line growth for our shareholders. With respect to the second quarter of 2014, we expect adjusted diluted EPS in the range of $0.67 to $0.70 per share, excluding Copaxone. I would like to again emphasize our commitment to our full year guidance ranges. We are confident in our targets for 2014, and we look forward to updating you on our long-term outlook at our Investor Day this summer. That concludes my remarks. And I'll turn the call over to the operator for Q&A. Operator?