Ira M. Birns
Analyst · Kevin Sterling from BB&T Capital Markets
Thanks, Mike, and congratulations to the San Francisco Giants. Before I review our third quarter financial performance, I will ask you to please note that when I compare sequential results versus the second quarter of 2014, second quarter results will exclude the onetime charge related to the executive nonrenewal expense of $4.8 million, which is $3 million after-tax or $0.04 per diluted share. Consolidated revenue for the third quarter was $11.7 billion, up 3% sequentially and 12% year-over-year. The year-over-year increase was related to increases in volume across all 3 of our segments, offset by a decrease in average fuel prices. Our aviation segment generated revenue of $4.7 billion, that's an increase of 5% sequentially and 12% year-over-year. The year-over-year increase was a result of increased volume, also offset by lower average fuel prices. Our marine segment revenue was $3.7 billion, up 6% sequentially and 4% year-over-year. Approximately 85% of the year-over-year increase was related to increased volume and the remainder was related to the increase in fuel prices in marine. And finally, the land segment generated revenue of $3.3 billion, down 2% sequentially but up 21% year-over-year. The year-over-year increase was principally related to volume from acquired businesses. Our aviation segment sold a record 1.5 billion gallons of fuel during the third quarter, an increase of 110 million gallons or 8% sequentially and 210 million gallons or 16% year-over-year. Our aviation segment has now reached an annual run rate of 6 billion gallons. The vast majority of growth in our aviation segment's volume has come from our core commercial reselling business, contributing to a 22% compound annual growth rate in volume over the past 5 years. Volume in our marine segment for the third quarter was 6.5 million metric tons, up 400,000 metric tons or 7% sequentially, and 220,000 metric tons or 4% year-over-year, representing the first sequential increase in marine segment volume since the second quarter of 2013. Our land segment volume in the third quarter was a record 1.1 billion gallons, up 40 million gallons or 4% sequentially and 220 million gallons or 24% from the third quarter of 2013. Consolidated gross profit for the third quarter was also a record of $215 million, an increase of $23 million or 12% sequentially and $28 million or 15% compared to the third quarter of last year. All 3 of our business segments realized increases in sequential and year-over-year gross profit this quarter, contributing to our record results. In the aviation segment, aviation contributed a record $96 million of gross profit in the third quarter, that's an increase of $14 million or 18% sequentially and $6 million or 7% compared to the third quarter of last year. As forecasted on last quarter's call, we experienced a seasonal increase in our core reselling businesses in North America, Europe and Asia. Our general aviation business also posted solid results this quarter, aided by strong contract fuel activity in both our existing business as well as Colt, which we acquired on July 30. Our self-supply model's jet fuel inventory position was approximately 154 million gallons or $417 million at the end of the third quarter, up from 131 million gallons or $365 million at the end of the second quarter. Inventory increased to support the volume growth we experienced during the third quarter. And inventory-related results were positively impacted by a few million dollars in the third quarter related to inventory average costing. The marine segment generated gross profit of $49 million, which is an increase of $600,000 or 1% sequentially and $9 million or 23% year-over-year. While the marine market remains sluggish, our team continues to deliver consistent results and solid returns, while focusing on opportunities to expand relationships with customers, suppliers and the overall industry. Our land segment delivered gross profit of $69 million in the third quarter, that's an increase of $8 million or 13% sequentially and $13 million or 22% year-over-year. The increase in gross profit this quarter was attributable to increased profitability in our fuel distribution businesses in both the United States and United Kingdom as well as the modest improvement in our Brazilian operations. Fuel-related gross profit in our land segment this quarter represented approximately $57 million of the overall $69 million gross profit reported. Operating expenses in the third quarter, excluding our provision for bad debt, and approximately $600,000 of onetime charges related to recent acquisitions, were $139 million, that's up $14 million or 10% sequentially and $18 million or 16% year-over-year. The sequential increase in operating expenses this quarter, principally related to the record gross profit achieved during the quarter, impacted compensation accruals as well as 2 months of the recently acquired Colt business, which was not included in our results last quarter. As we look forward to the fourth quarter, I would assume overall core operating expenses will be between $140 million and $144 million. This estimate includes a full quarter of operating expenses related to Colt, as well as approximately another $1 million of onetime expenses related to the Colt acquisition. Our total accounts receivable balance was $2.8 billion at the end of the third quarter, that's down 3% from the second quarter and relates primarily to the decreases in fuel prices during the quarter, which was offset by higher volume in all 3 segments. Our bad debt expense in the third quarter was $1.2 million, which is flat with the second quarter, but down from $1.9 million in the third quarter of last year. Our overall bad debt reserve remains at approximately 1% of total accounts receivable, which we believe and continue to believe to be adequate. Consolidated income from operations for the third quarter was $74 million. Excluding onetime expenses related to the Colt acquisition, consolidated income from operations was $75 million, up $10 million or 15% from the second quarter, and up $11 million or 15% year-over-year. For the quarter, income from operations in our aviation segment was $47 million, up $10 million or 27% sequentially and up $6 million or 15% compared to the third quarter of 2013. Our marine segment's income from operation was $21 million for the third quarter, that's flat sequentially, but up $4 million or 23% compared to the results posted for the third quarter of 2013. And finally, our land segment had income from operations of $19 million, that's an increase of $5 million or 33% sequentially and $4 million or 27% year-over-year. Consolidated EBITDA for the third quarter was a record $93 million. That's an $11 million or 13% sequential increase, and it's up $18 million or 24% year-over-year. Nonoperating expenses, which include interest expense, equity earnings, and foreign exchange gains and losses were $6.2 million for the third quarter, up $3 million compared to the second quarter and up $500,000 compared to the third quarter of last year. The increase in nonoperating expenses in this quarter is principally related to higher interest expense related to increased average borrowings during the quarter and higher average borrowing rates during the quarter. For modeling purposes, I would assume overall nonoperating expenses to be in the range of $4.5 million to $6.5 million in the fourth quarter. Our effective tax rate this quarter was 19.8%, up from 19.5% last quarter and 14% in the third quarter of last year. We estimate that our effective tax rate for the fourth quarter should be between 17% and 21%. Net income for the third quarter was $56 million, an increase of $4 million or 9% sequentially, and $4 million or 8% year-over-year. Non-GAAP net income, which again excludes intangible amortization, stock-based compensation and certain onetime expenses related to recent acquisitions, was $65 million in the third quarter, that's an increase of $7 million or 12%, both sequentially and year-over-year. Diluted earnings per share for the third quarter were $0.78, that's an increase of 8% sequentially and year-over-year. And non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, which we continue to believe to be the best measurement of our results, were $0.91 in the third quarter, that was an increase of 12%, both sequentially and year-over-year. We generated $27 million of cash flow from operations in the third quarter, increasing year-to-date cash flow from operations to $129 million. We have now generated cash flow from operations in each of the past 9 quarters totaling nearly $600 million. We repurchased an additional $10 million of our common stock in the open market this quarter, increasing total repurchases to $45 million since the third quarter of 2013. As I have previously mentioned, the principal objective of our share repurchase program is to offset the dilutive impact of employee stock awards. Net debt was $379 million in the third quarter, that's an increase of $82 million sequentially, principally related to the funding of the Colt acquisition in late July. Our net trade cycle was down slightly at 8 days, and our return on invested capital increased to 10.7%, the highest return that we have achieved since 2013, which is 35% above our cost of capital. We continue to focus on accretive growth opportunities that will generate returns well in excess of our cost of capital in order to drive long-term shareholder value. So in closing, we delivered record results this quarter, highlighted by a 15% year-over-year increase in gross profit, a 24% year-over-year increase in EBITDA and a 12% year-over-year increase in non-GAAP earnings per share. We generated cash flow from operations for the ninth consecutive quarter and increased our overall returns. Despite continued headwinds in certain geographies and lines of business, our team remains focused on driving profitable growth across all of our fuel and related service activities, and our results this quarter reflect the fruits of such efforts. And finally, the strength of our balance sheet provides us with the capital strength to continue investing in growth opportunities across the business. I would now like to turn the call over to the operator to begin our Q&A session. Thank you.