John D. Sheehan
Analyst · Goldman Sachs
Thanks, Rajiv. Today, I'm going to be referring to financial metrics that have been prepared on an adjusted basis. These are non-GAAP financial measures, and I refer you back to Kris's 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 second quarter financial results, which, as Heather indicated, is in line with our expectations from the beginning of the quarter and as stated at the time when we announced the date of this call. These results represented yet another strong quarter for our company with contributions from all regions. Our Q2 results were achieved as a result of a strong performance at our Specialty segment, where revenues increased by over 20% in the current quarter and by our continued double-digit constant-currency revenue growth in our Rest of World region, driven by our Indian operations. In addition, our North American Generic business continues to generate solid results despite continued delays in key product approvals in the United States. Starting at the top of our income statement. Total revenues for the quarter were $1.8 billion, an increase of approximately 8% when compared to revenues of $1.7 billion in the prior year. Our revenue growth in the second quarter was the result of a 22% increase in our Specialty segment, driven by the strength of EpiPen. For the 6 months of 2014, total revenues increased to approximately $3.6 billion as compared to $3.3 billion in the first 6 months of 2013, an increase of 8% on a constant-currency basis. The Generic and Specialty segments contributed equally to the revenue growth in the year-to-date period, and we now expect our total revenues for 2014 will be in the range of $7.8 billion to $8 billion. Looking at our operating profitability measures. Adjusted gross margin for the second quarter of 2014 was a very strong 50%, up over 100 basis points from the same prior year period despite the lack of significant new product launches in North America. Our strong margins are the result of growth in our EpiPen Auto-Injector, combined with the benefits and efficiencies of our vertically integrated operating platform. For the 6 months ended June 30, adjusted gross margins remained relatively constant at approximately 50% when compared to the prior year. Adjusted operating income was $410 million for the second quarter, down slightly from the prior year, primarily as a result of investments we've made in R&D and support infrastructure during the second quarter. Adjusted operating income for the 6 months ended June 30 increased to $806 million as compared to $797 million in the prior year. R&D expense on an adjusted basis was $139 million for the second quarter or approximately 8% of total revenues and near the upper end of our guidance range. As I indicated during our first quarter earnings call, we expected R&D spending to increase throughout the year as we continue to invest in our biologics and respiratory programs. For the 6-month period, adjusted R&D expense was $256 million or approximately 7% of revenues, and our guidance range for adjusted R&D expense for the full year remains between 7% and 8% of total revenues. At the same time, SG&A, also on an adjusted basis, was $374 million for the second quarter and $727 million for the 6-month period. While adjusted SG&A for both the quarter and year-to-date period were at the upper end of our guidance range of 18% to 20% of total revenues, we do expect to be within the range for the full year. The growth in SG&A and R&D demonstrated our continued investment in important drivers of our business, including our direct-to-consumer advertising related to EpiPen and the anticipated new product launches within North America, including the planned launches of Copaxone and Celebrex. Adjusted EBITDA for the 3 months ended June 30 was $488 million, an increase of 6% when compared to the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the 6 months ended June 30 was $948 million, a slight increase when compared to the prior year. And we continue to forecast adjusted EBITDA to be between $2.2 billion and $2.4 billion for the full year. Adjusted interest expense for the second quarter was $64 million and $128 million for the 6-month period. Adjusted interest expense was essentially flat when compared to the prior year quarter and year-to-date period, despite approximately $1.9 billion of additional borrowings in 2014 as compared to 2013. We continue to benefit from low short-term interest rates, which has offset the increase in interest expense from higher long-term debt. As of June 30, 2014, the average rate on all of our outstanding borrowings was slightly below 4%. Second quarter adjusted net income was $273 million or $0.69 per share, a slight increase from our Q2 2013 adjusted diluted EPS of $0.68 per share and in line with our expectations. For the 6-month period, adjusted net income was $534 million or $1.34 per share. As Heather indicated earlier, we've narrowed our EPS guidance range for the year to $3.25 to $3.45 per share, with a midpoint of $3.35 per share. This guidance range includes Q4 launches of Copaxone and Celebrex. Our assumptions for Copaxone take into account the patient conversion to Teva's new formulation and assumes an additional generic competitor in the market at market formation. In terms of the quarters, we expect Q3 EPS to be between $0.90 and $0.95 per share. This implies Q4 EPS of over $1 per share, which is driven by seasonally strong results in certain markets, as well as the launch of Copaxone. Furthermore, even without the launch of Copaxone in the fourth quarter, we would still expect to be within our guidance range for the year. Turning to our cash flow and liquidity metrics. Year-to-date cash flow from operations on an adjusted basis was $559 million, which is up 98% from our 2013 comparative amount of $283 million, leaving us with unrestricted cash and cash equivalents at June 30 totaling $194 million. We're still forecasting our full year 2014 adjusted operating cash flow to be within our guidance range of $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion. Capital spending for the 6 months ended June 30 was $153 million as we continue to invest in our strategic growth drivers, and we expect full year capital expenditures to be within a range of $350 million to $400 million. At the end of the quarter, our gross debt to EBITDA leverage ratio is approximately 3.3:1. We continue to have ample borrowing capacity and financial flexibility and remain committed to our 3:1 long-term target for gross leverage, which represents an investment-grade credit profile. Further, as Heather stated earlier, we continue to be active in the M&A space and remain committed to our stated M&A parameters that any transaction would be accretive to earnings and maintain our long-term gross leverage targets. As you are aware, our financial flexibility will be significantly enhanced through the proposed Abbott transaction, which opens up even more opportunities to create additional value for our shareholders. To summarize, our second quarter was strong and provides yet another example of our ability to effectively and efficiently manage our business while producing solid results for our shareholders. That concludes my remarks, and I'll turn the call back over to the operator for Q&A. Operator?