Garry Ridge
Analyst · Jefferies. Please proceed with your question
Thank you, Wendy. Good day and welcome to our fiscal year 2016 conference call. Today, we reported net sales of $97.2 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, which was an increase of 6% from the fourth quarter of last year. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates had an unfavorable impact of $2.8 million on consolidated net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016. So if we removed all currency related impacts, net sales would have increased nearly 9%. Net income was $14.2 million compared to $11.7 million in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year, an increase of 21%. Diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter were $0.99 compared to $0.80 for the same period last fiscal year. For the full fiscal year net sales were $380.7 million, which was an increase of 1% from last fiscal year. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates had an unfavorable impact of $11.7 million on consolidated net sales for fiscal 2016. So if we removed all currency related impacts, net sales would have increased by about 4%. Net income was $52.6 million in fiscal 2016, reflecting an increase of 17%. Diluted earnings per share for the full year fiscal year were $3.64 compared to $3.04 in the prior fiscal year. For the purpose of this call, after discussing our strategic initiatives, we will be focusing primarily on the financial and operating results for the fourth fiscal quarter. For a complete discussion of our full-year’s results for 2016, please refer to the press release we issued earlier today, or our annual report on form 10-K, which we expect to file with the SEC on Monday, October 24. So let’s start with a discussion about strategic initiatives. Strategic initiative number one is to grow WD-40 Multi-Use Product. Our most important strategic initiative is to take the blue and yellow can with a little red top to more places, for more people, who will find more uses more frequently. We believe we can grow WD-40 Multi-Use Product to approximately 600 million globally in revenue by the end of fiscal year 2025. In the fourth quarter, global sales of Multi-Use Product were up 7% compared to last year, which includes the growth in all three trading blocks. We have many exciting things planned for the blue and yellow with a little red top during fiscal 2017. We will begin expanding the distribution of our newest innovation, WD-40 EZ Reach Flexible Straw to other geographies beginning with Australia early in 2017. In EMEA, we will increase the rate of converting European end users from – to our more innovating – innovative Smart Straw delivery system. Strategic driver number two is to grow the WD-40 Specialist product line. Our goal under this initiative is to leverage the power of the Shield to develop new products and categories within identified geographies and platforms. In the fourth quarter, sales of WD-40 Specialist were 6.3 million, bringing Specialist sales to 21.5 million for the fiscal year. This represents a 14% increase in fiscal 2026 compared to last year. We continue to add new category extensions to the Specialist product line in various geographies around the world. In fiscal 2026, we launched WD-40 Specialist Spray & Stay Gel Lubricant, which solves one of our end users biggest pain points by providing no-drip, no-mess lubrication. We are currently distributing this new product in all major trade channels in the United States. We have many exciting things planned for WD-40 Specialist in fiscal 2017, including a new line of industrial strength cleaners and degreasers, and a full line of greasers designed to simplify lubrication through superior performance. Building on this success we’ve had in EMEA, WD-40 Specialist Motorbike, the United States is introducing a line of WD-40 Specialist motorcycle products. We are optimistic about the long-term opportunities for WD-40 Specialist’s product line, and continue to believe we can grow WD-40 Specialist to approximately $125 million in revenue by the end of fiscal year 2025. Still, there will still be some volatility in sales levels along the way due to the timing of promotional programs, the launch phasing of new products and offerings, and the building of new distribution. Strategic initiative number three, broaden product and revenue base. Our goal under this initiative is to leverage the recognized strengths of WD-40 Company to derive revenues from new sources and brands. Strategic initiative number three includes maintenance products like 3-IN-ONE, WD-40 BIKE, GT85 and we’ve made much progress in evolving these three in the last 12 months. In fiscal year 2017, we will launch a new line under the 3-IN-ONE brand in the United States designed for recreational vehicles, which will appeal to the passionate hobbyists who enjoy creating positive lasting memories with their second home on wheels. Strategic initiative number four is to attract, develop and retain outstanding tribe members. Our long-term target under this initiative is to our grow employee engagement to greater than 95%. At the end of this fiscal year, we had 445 tribe members globally. In 2006, we made an important decision that we believe will help us reach our long-term employment engagement target. We decided to buy a new building that will house both our corporate and Americas tribe members, and last month we closed – we did close escrow on our new facility. We are currently in the progress or process of renovating the property and we expect to move into our new office in San Diego in July 2017. We expect to make a capital investment of approximately $15 million during fiscal year 2017 for the building. Building our company’s bench strength for future success is a top priority. At WD-40 Company succession planning isn’t just a box that we check. We are weaving a complex tapestry, succession planning is a thoughtful and deliberate process, which ultimately results in a clear leadership roadmap. It is my opinion that the most neglected step when it comes to succession planning is preparing for what happens after the successor is named. As a learning and teaching organization, we understand that much support must be provided. To that end, we are making some leadership changes I would like to share with you. Mike Freeman, the President of the Americas will begin to transition to a new role of Chief Strategy Officer. In his role, Mike will continue to report to me and his responsibilities will be to research and understand industry and consumer trends and behaviors that will affect our Company over the next five to seven years. During the transition period, one of Mike’s responsibilities will be to mentor his successor, Steve Brass. Steve will be appointed to the new role of Division President of the Americas in December 2016. Steve has been with our Company for 25 years and has served in various roles during that time. In the most recent role, Steve was the commercial director responsible for the oversight of our EMEA direct markets. We are very excited that Steve and his family have moved to San Diego from the UK, and we wish both Steve and Mike the best in their new roles. Strategic initiative number five is operational excellence. Our goal under this initiative is best summarized by one of our core values here at WD-40 Company, make it better than it is today. We are continuously focused on optimizing resources, systems and processes, as well as applying rigorous commitment to quality assurance, regulatory compliance and intellectual property protection. We measure ourselves against the operational excellence initiative by executing against our 55/30/25 business model, and by making improvements to the processes and systems while still safeguarding the blue and yellow can with the little red top. During the fiscal year, we continued to make progress on several initiatives. These included completing the transition to a lower VOC formula in the United States, making distribution changes in our German market, and nearing the completion of the upgrade of our ERP system in EMEA. That completes the update on our strategic initiatives so let’s move on to the details of the fourth quarter results starting with sales. As I mentioned before, consolidated net sales were $97.2 million in the fourth quarter, up 6% versus last year. As you know, we focus our time, talent, treasure and technology on growing our maintenance products. In the fourth quarter, sales of maintenance products were nearly $87 million, which is an 8% increase from last year. In the fourth quarter, we generated approximately 40% of our sales in currencies other than the U.S. Changing foreign currency exchange rates continue to be a headwind for us. If we were to remove all foreign currency exchange rates, our consolidated revenue would have been about $100 million, up nearly 9% compared to the fourth quarter of last year. Consolidated net sales were reduced by about $5.7 million due to the impact of the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the functional currencies of our subsidiaries. What is referred to as translational-related exposure, or constant currency, and it impacts reported results from Canada, Australia, China and the EMEA segment. This reduction in sales was partially offset by $2.9 million in transaction-related impacts in EMEA due to the strengthening of the euro and the U.S. dollar against the pound sterling. Now we can take a closer look at what happened into the individual segments during the fourth quarter. We will start with the Americas. Consolidated net sales in the Americas, which included the United States, Latin America and Canada, increased by 7% to $51.6 million, sales of maintenance products increased by 11% in the Americas primarily due to strong sales in the U.S. and Canada. In U.S. maintenance products sales increased by about 13% due to higher levels of promotional activities for maintenance products and the added distribution of the WD-40 EZ-REACH Flexible Straw. In Canada maintenance products sales were up 7% during the quarter driven by a high level of promotional activities for the WD-40 Multi-Use Product. Maintenance products sales in Latin America were flat in the fourth quarter when compared to last year. Our maintenance products do exclude our home care and cleaning products. We continue to consider our home care and cleaning products, particularly those in the U.S., as harvest brands that continue to generate meaningful contributions and cash flows, but are generally expected to become a smaller part of the business over time. Sales of our home care and cleaning products in the Americas during the fourth quarter decreased 10% from last year. Now over to EMEA. Consolidated net sales in EMEA, which include Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India, increased to $34.6 million in the fourth quarter, up about 4% from last year. If we take both translation and transaction currency impacts into consideration, sales in EMEA would have been $36.8 million, an increase of 11% when compared to the prior year. As you know, we sell into EMEA through a combination of both direct operations as well as through marketing distributors. Net sales in our EMEA direct markets, which account for 66% of the region's sales, declined 4% during the quarter to $22.7 million in U.S. dollars. It is also helpful to look at our results in local currencies in which we conduct sales transactions in direct markets. In the United Kingdom, our pound sterling-based direct market, sales decreased only 1% in the fourth quarter. In euro-based markets, sales in euros increased 1% in the fourth quarter. Now, turn to our EMEA distributor markets which accounted for 34% of EMEA sales during the quarter, distributor market sales increased 23% in the fourth quarter to $11.9 million, primarily due to improved market conditions in Eastern Europe, particularly Russia. Although market conditions have begun to stabilize in Russia, we would like to remind investors that the political and economic instability in the region makes it difficult for us to predict what level of sales we will have in the future. Now on to Asia-Pacific. Consolidated net sales in Asia-Pacific, which includes Australia, China and other countries in the Asian region increased to $11 million in the fourth quarter up 4% from last year. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates had an unfavorable impact on sales. On a constant currency basis, sales in Asia-Pacific would have been $11.5 million, an increase of about 8% compared to last year. In Australia, net sales in U.S. dollars were $4.6 million in the fourth quarter, up 9% compared to last year, in its functional currency the Australian dollar, sales increased 13% in the quarter. The growth was primarily due to a high level of promotional programs in the region and continued growth of our base business. In China, net sales in U.S. dollars were $4.1 million in the fourth quarter, up 12% compared to last year, in its functional currency the Chinese RMB, sales were up 22% in the quarter. The growth was primarily driven by an increase in promotional activities. We are also excited to be celebrating our tenth anniversary of having opened a direct distribution operation into China. Over the last 10 years we've sold over $100 million worth of maintenance products into China and we continue to believe there's a significant opportunity in the country for many years to come. We remain optimistic about our long-term opportunities in that region although we expect a lot of volatility along the way due to the timing of promotional programs, the building of distribution, shifting economic patterns and the varying of industrial activities. In Asian distributor markets net sales were $3.2 million for the quarter, down 18% compared to last year. This decline was primarily due to timing of customer orders and promotional activities. Our Asian distributor markets are not impacted by currency translations since we sell our product in U.S. dollars in these markets. I will take break now and I will hand over to Jay, and I will ask him them to review the financials in a little more depth. Thanks Jay.