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Zoetis Inc. (ZTS)

Q2 2014 Earnings Call· Tue, Aug 5, 2014

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Welcome to the Second Quarter 2014 Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast for Zoetis. Hosting the call today is John O'Connor, acting Head of Investor Relations for Zoetis. The presentation materials and additional financial tables are currently posted on the Investor Relations section of zoetis.com. The presentation slides can be managed by you, the viewer, and will not be forwarded automatically. In addition, a replay of this call will be available approximately 2 hours after the conclusion of this call via dial-in or on the Investor Relations section of zoetis.com. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to John O'Connor. John, you may begin.

John O'Connor

Analyst · BMO Capital Markets

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to the Zoetis Second Quarter 2014 Earnings Call. I'm joined today by Juan Ramón Alaix, our Chief Executive Officer; and Glenn David, our Senior Vice President of Finance Operations and Acting Chief Financial Officer. Juan Ramón and Glenn will provide an overview of our quarterly results, and then we will open the call for your questions. Before we begin, let me remind you that the earnings press release and financial tables can be found on the Investor Relations section of zoetis.com. We are also providing a simultaneous webcast of this morning's call, which can be accessed on the website as well. A PDF version of today's slides and a transcript of the call will be available on the website later today. Our remarks today will include forward-looking statements, and actual results could differ materially from those projections. For a list and description of certain factors that could cause results to differ, I refer you to the forward-looking statement in today's press release and our SEC filings, including our recent 10-K and 10-Qs. Our remarks today will also include references to certain financial measures which were not prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP adjusted figures exclude the impact of purchase accounting adjustments, acquisition-related costs, and certain significant items, such as the nonrecurring cost of becoming a standalone public company. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures is included in the financial tables that accompany our earnings press release and in the company's 8-K filing dated today August 5, 2014. We also cite operational results, which exclude the impact of foreign exchange. I also want to remind you that beginning last quarter, we realigned our segment reporting with respect to…

Glenn David

Analyst · JPMorgan

Thank you, Juan Ramón. Let me start today with a review of the second quarter results and then discuss our guidance for full year 2015. Turning first to the income statement slide. For the second quarter, revenue was approximately $1.2 billion, an increase of 4% year-over-year. Foreign exchange had a negative impact of 2 percentage points on revenue, primarily due to the impact of currencies in Brazil, Australia, Argentina and Canada, which were partially offset by improvements in the euro and sterling. As a result, operational growth, excluding the impact of currency, was 6%. Reported net income was $136 million or $0.27 per diluted share, and adjusted net income was $189 million or $0.38 per diluted share, representing growth of 6% on a reported basis and 11% operationally. Adjusted net income for the quarter excludes the after-tax impact of $53 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for purchase accounting adjustments, acquisition-related costs, and certain significant items, the majority of which were related to stand-up cost. Certain significant items this quarter also include a one-time charge related to a commercial settlement with customers in Mexico. This settlement is with several of our large poultry customers in Mexico. It is associated with certain shipments from specific lots of poultry vaccine products, and we have moved ahead with a recall of these lots. No other countries or lots are impacted. We have recorded a reserve associated with this issue in the second quarter of $13 million. I will discuss the impact of this settlement on our reported guidance in a few minutes. Let's now turn to our adjusted income statement slide, which I will discuss primarily on an operational basis. Again, operational revenue growth for the second quarter was 6%. In terms of the first half of the year, we reported revenue growth…

John O'Connor

Analyst · BMO Capital Markets

Thank you, Glenn. Operator, first question, please?

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Alex Arfaei with BMO Capital Markets.

Alex Arfaei - BMO Capital Markets U.S.

Analyst · BMO Capital Markets

First, on your vaccine -- on your PED vaccine. Will you have a competitive advantage in getting this vaccine to the market? If you could just give us a better sense as to where the competitors are and what kind of commercial opportunity are we looking at? And a quick follow-up, if I may, I'm not sure if I understand it, Ramón, correctly on APOQUEL. Did I hear you correctly in saying that you expect to have supply to the market, increased supply to the market, later this year? Or is it still a 2015 expectation? Juan Ramón Alaix: Alex, it's Juan Ramón Alaix. So let me start confirming that for APOQUEL, we expect that to normalize supply next year in April. And at that time, I will be able to supply more product to new customers. On the first question, on the PEDv, so we have a program now that we expect to complete soon and to submit that to the FDA, a conditional -- license for conditional approval. And there is one vaccine already in the market covering this disease. And we expect that our vaccine also will cover the needs of swine producers to protect animals against this outbreak and its high significant impact on their herds.

John O'Connor

Analyst · BMO Capital Markets

Operator, next question, please?

Operator

Operator

Certainly. We'll next go to Mark Schoenebaum with ISI Group.

Mark J. Schoenebaum - ISI Group Inc., Research Division

Analyst

My question on the business is maybe on use of cash, if I may. In your last slide, where you kind of summed up the 3 big priorities, I suppose, for the next 5 years. The last one is to find profitable investment opportunities and return excess capital to shareholders. So I was wondering, we haven't seen a lot of M&A yet at Zoetis. So I'm wondering why that is? And if we should expect the pace to pick up? And then the follow-up on that is the dividend. I don't think we've seen much of a dividend raise since you guys have spun out of Pfizer. So I was wondering if just philosophically, you could talk to us and maybe help set expectations, what we should expect about the rate of dividend increases. Juan Ramón Alaix: Mark, on the first question on M&A, so in 2013, that it was the first year of Zoetis as an independent company. We were focused on standing up our operations and then, we decided that maybe it was not the right time for us to consider on M&A activity. We are now that -- we have, in most of the cases, completed our infrastructure, with the exception of IT. We think that we can now consider M&A opportunity that the market brings to us. And we'll be active pursuing these opportunities. We know that because of our size and our market share, we may face some challenge in terms of antitrust. This will incorporate it in our analysis, but definitely, we will consider any opportunity that will match our strategic objective, and also will provide the return on the investment.

Glenn David

Analyst · JPMorgan

Mark, related to your question on dividends. So today, we have increased our dividend. And subject to board approval, we do expect to grow the dividend at a rate that is equal to or faster than our growth in adjusted net income.

John O'Connor

Analyst · BMO Capital Markets

Operator, next question please?

Operator

Operator

Certainly. We'll take a question now from Chris Schott with JPMorgan. Jessica M. Fye - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division: It's Jessica Fye on for Chris. A question on gross margin, just as we're starting to think about next year. Can you just remind us how much of your manufacturing Pfizer still does? And how we should think about the impact of that, I think there's some manufacturing royalty kicking in for the product they supply you with next year? And then maybe also just following up on Mark's question on M&A. We're seeing a number of tax inversion transactions across the space and just would like to hear your views on whether that will be of interest to Zoetis. Juan Ramón Alaix: So in terms of M&A, also, this tax inversion opportunity, we will continue to exploring any opportunity that will provide reduction in terms of effective tax rate, something that definitely we will see the opportunities the market -- that exist in the market. And we will decide based on these opportunities. On the gross margin, I will ask Glenn to respond to your question.

Glenn David

Analyst · JPMorgan

So in terms of gross margin for 2015 and specifically to the impact of the Pfizer MSA. So when we looked at the potential impact of the Pfizer MSA, that it might have in 2015. Based on 2013 costs and volumes, we expected it to have about a $30 million negative impact on cost of goods going into 2015. We've taken a lot of actions to minimize that impact, and those actions have resulted in reducing that exposure by about 1/2. However, since then, a number of those products, APOQUEL being one of them, have had growth in volume. So it will limit our ability to bring the $30 million down fully, but we have taken many actions to minimize the impact.

John O'Connor

Analyst · JPMorgan

Operator, next question, please?

Operator

Operator

Certainly. Our next question comes from Kevin Ellich from Piper Jaffray.

Kevin K. Ellich - Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division

Analyst · Piper Jaffray

First off, we've seen some pretty strong livestock trends, especially in the U.S. Just wondering if you can keep up kind of the high single-digit, low double-digit growth in the U.S.? And then second, regarding your operating cost, and you have a direct sales model, especially in the U.S. Just wondering if there's any ability for you guys to leverage the operating cost by maybe laying on distributors and using some of the national distributors more to minimize or drive some more leverage in the model. Juan Ramón Alaix: On the performance on livestock, definitely on the second quarter, we reported very strong growth. We see that the demand for animal proteins remained very strong in the worldwide market. We also see that the profitability of livestock producers -- it's now very high. They have high price of the meat, low prices for input, which increases significantly the profitability. And this is also driving the willingness of livestock producers to increase the herd, to supply all the market demand. We don't see any change in the near future, so we expect that the livestock market will continue growing in the future. In terms of our direct sales model, so we are convinced that the demand generation model that we have, which means that our own field force and also our own group of veterinarians are interacting directly with customers. And this interaction is generating very strong demand and very strong support to our portfolio. In the U.S., we combined our direct efforts with partnership with distributors, for those customers that we don't have the reach because of economical conditions. And we see that this model is working very well, and we'll continue supporting our product portfolio through this direct interaction, and also with the combination and partnership with some of our distributors that will reach these smaller customers.

John O'Connor

Analyst · Piper Jaffray

Operator, next question, please?

Operator

Operator

Certainly. Our next question comes from Louise Chen with Guggenheim.

Louise Alesandra Chen - Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division

Analyst · Guggenheim

So first question I had was on SG&A leverage. What is your ideal level of SG&A leverage and when do you expect to get there after you finish this Pfizer separation? And then second question I had was, we've seen a number of development-stage, companion animal health companies starting up. I'm just curious, your thoughts on the unmet needs these companies address and if there's potential partnership opportunities here?

Glenn David

Analyst · Guggenheim

So this is Glenn. I'll address the SG&A question. In terms of the SG&A leverage, so the way we think about this is, in 2014 in particular, we have indicated that we do have incremental expenses related to building up our corporate functions, and that is increasing the level of growth we expect in SG&A this year. However, over the long term, we do expect to grow SG&A in line with inflation, while being able to grow our revenue at a pace faster than the market, which will continue to improve our margins going forward. Juan Ramón Alaix: Okay, the other question was about these biopharma companies and potential partnerships. Well, I think it's -- we have already the infrastructure, also the reach to customers. And we have developed, over time, a very strong model in terms of direct sales to customers. And we are convinced that this model also can benefit smaller companies that will have maybe problems that will be covering and managing [ph] the market, but without the infrastructure to reach customers. So we will consider this kind of partnership with these companies.

John O'Connor

Analyst · Guggenheim

Operator, next question, please?

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from John Kreger with William Blair. John Kreger - William Blair & Company L.L.C., Research Division: I think you mentioned on the call that your parasiticide class within companion animal saw some pressure in the quarter. Can you just expand on that a little bit? Did it actually decline? And if so, maybe you could quantify it? And do you have anything in your pipeline that might cause this trend to be able to reverse in the coming year or so? Juan Ramón Alaix: Well, our parasiticide franchise in companion animal didn't decline in the quarter, but the growth was affected by the entrance of new competitors. There have been 2 new competitors launching new parasiticides, oral parasiticides, and we have seen that the market dynamics in parasiticides are changing, and moving from the traditional parasiticides that there were topical to more attention to oral parasiticides. We also have programs in this area and we expect to launch these products, oral parasiticides for companion animals, in the future.

John O'Connor

Analyst · William Blair

Operator, next question please?

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Robert Willoughby with Bank of America.

Erin E. Wilson - BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division

Analyst · Bank of America

This is Erin Wilson in for Bob. Follow up to the SG&A expense question and the leverage of that metric going forward. What can be addressed or corrected near term or can be considered one-time in nature? And outside of some of those items, can you call out where you have made progress on this line as it relates to your separation from Pfizer? And I guess the second question then, similar would be -- can you just speak to the competition in U.S. companion animal in light of the increased promotional spending that you've called out. Why is it such a light trend in companion animal?

Glenn David

Analyst · Bank of America

Sure. So in terms of the SG&A and items that might be considered one-time in nature, I think the key item is what we've been highlighting in terms of the buildup of our corporate enabling functions and the timing of which that ramped up and when those costs were most debited in the P&L. So in 2013, in the first half of the year, we were not running at our full cost base for our enabling functions and that corrected in the second half, and that's driving the difficulty in comparison year-over-year. Some of the areas that you have seen have significant improvement though year-over-year, I think when you look at the growth in our regions and our segments, you've seen very strong IBT growth or income growth in those regions, demonstrating continued focus on managing -- or on our expenses. Juan Ramón Alaix: Maybe a comment on the competition in the U.S. and also details on the promotional activities that we conducted in the second quarter. Definitely, as I said during my remarks and also the remarks of Glenn, we have seen introduction of new parasiticides, also introduction of new vaccines and the introduction of generic competition to a product which is important in our portfolio, which is RIMADYL. And in terms of the additional investment in promotional activities in the quarter, I think it's only a question of pacing. If you take year-to-date, you would see that the investment in the year has been in line with our projections of growing promotional activities below the growth in terms of revenues.

John O'Connor

Analyst · Bank of America

Operator, next question, please?

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Jami Rubin with Goldman Sachs.

Christopher J. Benassi - Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

This is Christopher Benassi on behalf of Jami Rubin with Goldman Sachs. Since the IPO, investors have believed in the story of continued improvement in Zoetis' margins. However, we are curious as to where you might see room for further margin improvement, possibly in SG&A, R&D or maybe even across the board.

Glenn David

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

In terms of where we see continued improvement. So R&D, I think, is one item that you've highlighted. We've seen growth in R&D that's been sort of in the low-single digits, while we still continue to be very effective with our R&D productivity. From an SG&A perspective, as well as a cost of goods perspective, we do continue to see areas for improvement. So as I mentioned, SG&A, we do expect to grow in line with inflation. And cost of goods, we're clearly focused on continuing to find areas to improve our cost of goods and expect incremental improvements in COGS going forward.

John O'Connor

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

Operator, next question, please?

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Ross Taylor with CL King. Ross Taylor - CL King & Associates, Inc., Research Division: I just had a couple of questions related to the PEDv vaccine you have in development. But for a conditional approval, what kind of efficacy data do you have to present to the regulators to receive a conditional approval? And I also wondered how much does a conditional approval limit appeal or uptake of this product once it does reach the market? Juan Ramón Alaix: So in terms of the regulatory requirements for conditional approval for a vaccine, so we need to demonstrate safety of the vaccine and also efficacy in certain conditions. And the requirements for efficacy for a conditional license are lower than the efficacy requirements for a full license. In terms of the selling opportunities of a vaccine under conditional approval, I think it's something that, since the vaccine, in this case, will be responding to a real market need, we don't see that this will create any limitations. There will be some limitations in terms of promotional activities, but not limitations in terms of selling the product to the market.

John O'Connor

Analyst · CL King

Operator, next question, please?

Operator

Operator

We now have a follow-up from Kevin Ellich with Piper Jaffray.

Kevin K. Ellich - Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division

Analyst · Piper Jaffray

Following up on the PEDv comments, I'm just wondering, Juan Ramón, in your prepared remarks, you talked about how hog farmers are growing larger animals, even though we've seen, I guess, some pressure on the herd sizes. And I'm just wondering if your new product, ENGAIN, is helping to -- if you've seen some good uptake because of this? And if you could quantify that also? And then Glenn David, the tax rate was lower on a year-over-year basis. Just wondering what we could expect? And I also wanted to clarify, did you say your tax guidance does not include the R&D tax credits? Juan Ramón Alaix: The follow-up question on PEDv, so definitely, ENGAIN, it's helping producers to have a more efficiency in terms of food. So they are reaching feed efficiencies because of this product. This product is also a product that already exists in the market, it's ractopamine. And we think that the product that are released [ph] in the market, together with ENGAIN, is helping the producers to achieve the targeted weight, with lowered cost in terms of food.

Glenn David

Analyst · Piper Jaffray

And in terms of the tax rates. So the tax rate was lower in the quarter at 28.4%. We have reaffirmed our guidance of approximately 29% for the year, and we still believe the full year is the best view of our overall tax rate. And just to emphasize it, that does not include the R&D tax credit, which would lower our rate by approximately 50 basis points.

John O'Connor

Analyst · Piper Jaffray

Operator, next question, please?

Operator

Operator

Next we have a follow-up from Robert Willoughby with Bank of America.

Erin E. Wilson - BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division

Analyst · Bank of America

This is Erin again. A quick follow-up. There has been some recent changes, or recently announced upcoming changes, in the companion animal diagnostics market in the U.S., with IDEXX Laboratories moving to a direct distribution model. Do you see this as an opportunity for you? What -- and just generally speaking, what is your underlying growth rate for your diagnostics business? Juan Ramón Alaix: So we remain committed to diagnostics. We see diagnostics as very complementary to our current business, in both R&D and also commercial. And we are trying to build our portfolio in terms of diagnostics. And the change on IDEXX in terms of direct model, it's something that we will not comment on the strategy of our competitors, but definitely, we'll explore any opportunity that will further penetrate our diagnostic depth into the market.

John O'Connor

Analyst · Bank of America

Operator, next question, please?

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] We'll now go to a follow-up from Alex Arfaei with BMO Capital Markets.

Alex Arfaei - BMO Capital Markets U.S.

Analyst · BMO Capital Markets

Sorry if you addressed this earlier, had to hop off for a minute. But what can we expect for your November Investor Day? If you could just frame that for us. Can we look for something like a 5-year outlook? If you could just give us more color as to what we can see from you. Juan Ramón Alaix: So we're working on the details of the agenda that we will communicate to you in the near future. So one of the objectives that we have during this day is to provide much more details on our strategy. Also have the opportunity to provide this information in terms of commercial, in terms of manufacturing, in terms of R&D, from members of my leadership team, that will go into some detail that may have not been provided until now. And in terms of the outlook, we are considering what should be the details that we will provide in terms of the outlook, and we are still considering different timeframes that will be information that we'll be sharing with you at that time. The other objective is also to go into some additional details on the animal healthcare market, to have much more clarity in terms of projections of the market and also the opportunities for both livestock and companion animals.

John O'Connor

Analyst · BMO Capital Markets

Operator, are there any other questions?

Operator

Operator

At this time, there are no additional phone questions. Juan Ramón Alaix: Well with that, thank you very much for joining us today. Thank you very much for your interest in Zoetis, and we -- I look forward for more interactions with you. I definitely hope to see you at our Investor Day in November 18. Thank you very much.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. The replay of today's call will be available in 2 hours by dialing 1 (800) 374-1216 for U.S. listeners; and (402) 220-0681 for international. Please disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.