Earnings Labs

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (EBS)

Q3 2017 Earnings Call· Fri, Nov 3, 2017

$8.17

+1.68%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Q3 2017 Emergent BioSolutions Earnings Conference Call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session and instructions will follow that time. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to the company. Please go ahead.

Bob Burrows

Analyst

Thank you, Anna. And good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bob Burrows, Vice President of Investor Relations for Emergent. Thank you for joining us today, as we discuss our third quarter and first nine months of 2017 financial and operational results. As is customary, today's call is open to all participants, and in addition, the call is being recorded and is copyrighted by Emergent BioSolutions. Participating on the call with prepared comments will be Dan Abdun-Nabi, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Bob Kramer, the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A Q&A session will follow at the conclusion of our prepared comments, and other members of senior management will be available to participate, if need be. Before beginning, I'm compelled to remind everyone that during today's call, either on our prepared comments or the Q&A session, management may make projections and other forward-looking statements related to our business, future events, our prospects for future performance. These forward-looking statements reflect Emergent's current perspective on existing trends and information. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Please review our filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K for more information on the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. During our prepared comments as well as during the Q&A session, we may also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures that involve adjustments to GAAP figures, in order to provide greater transparency regarding Emergent's operating performance. Please refer to the tables found in today's press release regarding our use of adjusted net income and EBITDA and the reconciliations between our GAAP financial measures and these non-GAAP financial measures. For the benefit of those who may be listening to the replay of the webcast, this call was held and recorded on November 2, 2017. Since then, Emergent may have made announcements related to topics discussed during today's call. Emergent BioSolutions assumes no obligation to update information in today's press release or as presented on this call, except as may be required by applicable laws or regulations. You're once again encouraged to refer to our most recent press releases and SEC filings, all of which may be found on the Investors home page of our website. With the introduction, I would now like to turn the call over to Dan Abdun-Nabi, Emergent BioSolutions' President and CEO. Dan?

Dan Abdun-Nabi

Analyst

Thank you, Bob. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. As you can see from today's announcement, we had a very strong performance in the third quarter as well as year-to-date across all aspects of the business – operational, financial and business development. We look to continue that strong performance through to the end of 2017 and into 2018. Looking at the latest quarter, the performance of the core business was strong across the key metrics of total revenue, net income and EBITDA. Operationally, we completed two acquisitions on schedule, we secured several contracts that support the development of a number of our products, addressing serious public health threats and we successfully enhanced our financial position through a new $200 million credit facility that has the flexibility to increase to $300 million with a better cost of capital, less stringing covenants and a stronger bank syndicate. Overall, 2017 is shaping up to be a foundation strengthening year for the company as we diversify our business, execute on our growth strategy and drive towards achieving our 2020 goals. With that overview, I will now summarize the key developments for each of our four business units. As a reminder, these four units are Vaccines and Anti-infectives, Antibody Therapeutics, Devices and Contract Manufacturing. Each unit has its own technologies, market opportunities and growth potential that uniquely contributed to the growth of our overall business and drive us towards our 2020 goals. I'll begin with an overview of the Vaccines and anti-infectives business unit led by Adam Havey. Early this year, we received German regulatory approval to market BioThrax produced in Building 55. This positions us to pursue licensure in additional countries within the European Union, based on the mutual recognition procedure. Our current plan is to file for regulatory approval in…

Bob Kramer

Analyst

Thanks, Dan. Good afternoon, everyone and thank you for joining the call. For my prepared comments today, I'm going to review the financial results for both the third quarter and the nine months of 2017 compared to last year, walking through the P&L as well as select elements from our balance sheet. I'll then finish up with our revised 2017 guidance and the basis for the upward revision. Before I begin, and as a reminder, we continue to present our comparative 2016 financials on the basis of continuing operations, which excludes the operations of our Biosciences business, which was spun off last year into a separate publicly traded company, Aptevo Therapeutics. Now to our results. Let me first focus on the quarter. Overall the third quarter was another period of solid performance for the company. Total revenues were $149 million, approximately $7 million above the same period last year and well above the guidance range, which was between $115 million and $130 million. The favorable performance, compared to our guidance range, was primarily the result of higher-than-expected BioThrax shipments, plus higher other product sales in the quarter. Compared to the same period in 2016, the Q3 revenue comparisons are as follows: first, for product sales, product sales during the quarter were $114 million, nearly 20% above 3Q of 2016. The increase is attributable to expanded other product sales, specifically the timing of BAT deliveries to the SNS and RSDL shipments to DoD, along with international sales of VIG and TROBIGARD. BioThrax sales came in at $84 million, lower on a year-over-year basis due to timing of deliveries under current CDC and BARDA procurement contracts. Second, CMO services. Contract manufacturing revenues were approximately $19 million or $4 million higher than 2016. The increase reflects higher fill/finish, bulk manufacturing services and development…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Jessica Fye with JPMorgan. Your line is now open.

Yuko Oku

Analyst

Hi. This is Yuko on the call for Jessica. Thank you for taking our question. Acknowledging you announced a couple of deals already this year, are you still seeking additional business development opportunities? And if yes, what are the key metrics you're focused on when evaluating strategic fit for the company?

Bob Kramer

Analyst

Yes, Thanks, Yuko. Thanks for joining the call today. Thanks for the question. We are pleased to have the two transactions announced and now closed, and integration activities underway. But we do continue to look at opportunities and the criteria are very much the same criteria that we've communicated to you and others in the investment community. We're targeting revenue generators that fit within our core competencies, things that we can leverage. We're looking for products in the public health threat space, and so CBRN, explosives, emerging infectious diseases. We're looking to enable growth on the top line as well as be accretive to earnings within 12 months of acquisition. So the two transactions are certainly, as I think about it, real bull's-eyes along the criteria that we previously announced. And we continue to have a very healthy funnel and pipeline of opportunities that fit those criteria. But M&A transactions are difficult to conclude, as you know. It takes time and it takes an awful lot of effort. And so it happens sporadically, it's hard to predict exactly when those transactions might occur, if ever.

Yuko Oku

Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Our next question is from Keay Nakae with Chardan. Your line is now open.

Keay Nakae

Analyst

Yes, thanks. Question on NuThrax. As you prepare to position for 2018 clinical study, is there any clinical past items that need to be completed, before you're ready to advance into this study? And can you give us any further color on how much of the grant revenue could be realized in 2018 associated with that?

Dan Abdun-Nabi

Analyst

Yes, thanks for the question. Thanks for joining the call. So there are the normal and traditional customary activities that need to get underway in order to commence the trial and then subsequently file for Emergency Use Authorization. So you've got to be able to manufacture the material, you have to release it appropriately under the assays that are required. And, you know, I have to set up the clinical trial sites and the lights – nothing that would be out of the ordinary or unusual or unexpected. And that continues apace, and we do remain on track to initiate that study next year. In terms of contributions for next year, that will be embedded within our guidance when we issue our guidance early next year.

Keay Nakae

Analyst

Okay. And then for ACAM, are you anticipating a fairly straightforward review and approval? And then at what point do you start renegotiating the contract?

Dan Abdun-Nabi

Analyst

Yes, two good questions. So the approval path for ACAM is really very similar to the approval path we had in Building 55. Since this a facility approval, and so an application has been submitted. So you have your typical – there'll be an inspection of the facility by the FDA, there'll be interactions with the FDA to address any issues or concerns that they may have. And after that traditional back-and-forth, we would expect to be in a position to secure that license and then commence deliveries of products. We expect all of that to happen in 2018, is our current thinking and our current timeline. In terms of negotiating the follow-on contract, so we have a number of doses remaining to be delivered under the existing contract. And as we think about next steps, probably – we're envisioning a no-cost extension to allow for the completion of the delivery of doses under the existing contract. And as we get close to completing the deliveries that are currently in that contract, we'll begin discussions with the CDC as to what might be the proper time for the follow-on. But we'll learn a lot more as we engage with the CDC in the coming months regarding the contract and the future for the contract. So stay tuned, we'll keep you posted as time goes on.

Keay Nakae

Analyst

All right. Thanks.

Operator

Operator

Our next question is from Laura Christianson with Cowen. Your line is now open.

Laura Christianson

Analyst

I'm wondering about some of the details of your plans with TROBIGARD. I know you're planning on initiating some human factor studies to get the FDA approval by – I'm wondering if you have any more clarity on the exact pathway and how long it'll take to get that approval and start selling in the U.S.?

Dan Abdun-Nabi

Analyst

Yes, thank you for the question. So we're actually quite excited about working with the DoD to develop a device which really addresses their specific concerns. So the human factor studies that I noted were really – it's a new device, which is specifically being designed according to specifications that the DoD has shared with us. And those studies are now intended to enable DoD to assess the designed features of that prototype, and then ultimately downselect to a final design that they would determine to be acceptable. So that's really the first step. So I just wanted to make sure that you understand that process. And I think it's premature, at this point, to give expected FDA timeline for review and approval. We'll have much better clarity as we move forward with the DoD on what that design specification might look like.

Laura Christianson

Analyst

Got it. Okay, thank you.

Operator

Operator

Our next question is from Lisa Springer with Singular Research. Your line is now open.

Lisa Springer

Analyst

Thank you. With the big jump in revenue from other products, I was wondering at what point you might start breaking out the other products separately?

Bob Kramer

Analyst

Sure, Lisa. This is Bob. Thanks for the question. Thanks for being on the call. We'll continue to evaluate that, Lisa. We haven't made a call one way or the other. So we'll balance the potential need for having greater transparency as we go forward. Right now, we're only calling out BioThrax.

Lisa Springer

Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question is from François Brisebois with Laidlaw. Your line is now open. François Brisebois: Hi, thanks for taking the question and congrats. I was actually – it's just been answered. I was just wondering how the other – Biodefense had a nice jump? And I was just wondering, kind of, any clarity you can give on what to expect from there going on out? But I guess, you guys probably won't be…

Dan Abdun-Nabi

Analyst

Yes, Frank. Again, thanks for joining the call. I think what you all can probably do that will be most productive is just look at the general trend of the last several years, in terms of what percentage the other product revenue has been compared to total, and I would anticipate that those trends will continue. And as we talked about earlier this year that we had the occurrence where some back revenue was moved from one quarter to another, which provided a bit of a lump. We had a similar but smaller opportunity with one of the products in Q3. So again, I think the best thing is just look at either on a trailing 12-month basis or an annual basis. François Brisebois: All right. That’s helpful. Thank you, that’s it for me.

Operator

Operator

And I'm showing no further questions. I would now like to turn the call back to Bob Burrows for any further remarks.