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Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (GILT)

Q4 2014 Earnings Call· Wed, Feb 18, 2015

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Welcome to Gilat's Fourth Quarter and Year End 2014 Results Conference Call. All participants are at present in listen-only mode. Following the management’s formal presentation, instructions will be given for the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded February 18, 2015. I would now like to turn the call over to Philip Carlson of KCSA to read the Safe Harbor statement. Phil, please go ahead.

Phil Carlson

Analyst

Good morning and good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Gilat's fourth quarter and year end 2014 results conference call. Recording of this call will be available beginning at approximately noon Eastern Time today, February 18 until February 20 at noon. Our earnings press release and web-site provide details on accessing the archived call. Investors are urged to read the forward-looking statements in our earnings releases which state that statements made on this earnings call which are not historical facts may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future financial operating results, involve risks and uncertainties, contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Gilat and which may cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results. Gilat is under no obligation to update or alter our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. We expressly disclaim any obligation to do so. More detailed information about risk factors can be found in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. With that said, on the call today is Erez Antebi, Gilat’s Chief Executive Officer; and Yaniv Reinhold, Chief Financial Officer. Erez, please go ahead.

Erez Antebi

Analyst · Discovery Group. Please go ahead

Thank you, Phil, and good day everyone. I would like to begin with a brief summary of our annual and Q4 results followed by a high level business review. Following my remarks, Yaniv will discuss our financial results in greater detail. I will then summarize and open the call for questions. 2014 ended with a strong fourth quarter showing increased revenues and profitability over the fourth quarter of 2013. Overall, it was a good year for Gilat and a significant improvement over the previous year. Although the $235.1 million in annual revenues for 2014 are similar to the $234.9 million recorded in 2013, we significantly grew our EBITDA which reached $23.4 million or 10% of revenue for 2014 compared to $16.3 million or 7% of revenue in 2013. We improved our profitability primarily in our commercial and defense divisions as a result of higher gross margins and a significant reduction in expenses especially COGS and G&A. Yaniv will discuss the financial results in greater detail afterwards. I will now present a business overview for the year along with some quarterly highlights to emphasize our achievements. Overall, 2014 was a very productive year for Gilat. I’d like to start the discussion by reminding us all of the four major trends in satellite communications industry that we believe will drive growth over the next several years. The first trend relates to lots of supply HTS or High-Throughput Satellite capacity. We believe that the consequent bandwidth price reduction will make many broadband, cellular and mobility applications economically viable over satellite. The second trend is the ever increasing demand for broadband internet worldwide. The third trend relates to cellular coverage. In developing countries, we see the need to increase cellular coverage in rural areas and the resultant growth of the small cell market. In…

Yaniv Reinhold

Analyst

Thanks, Erez, and hello everyone. I would like to remind everyone that our financial results are presented both on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. The GAAP financial results include the effect of non-cash stock options expenses as per ASC 718, amortization of intangible assets, resulting from the purchase price allocation, restructuring costs and net income or loss from discontinued operations. The reconciliation table in our press release highlights this data and our non-GAAP information is presented excluding these items. Comparing 2014 to 2013 although revenues are similar, we significantly improved our loan [ph] profitability because of higher margin deals and significant cost reduction that was implemented. Looking at the quarterly and annual financials, revenues for the fourth quarter of 2014 was $73.1 million compared to $55.7 million for the same period in 2013. Our revenue for the fiscal year of 2014 was $235.1 million, compared to $234.9 million for the same period in 2013. Revenues remain at the same level, mainly due to an increase in our revenue from the Defense and Mobility and Services division, which was offset by a decrease in revenues in our commercial division, due to the NBN project that was not further expanded. Our growth margin for the fourth quarter on a GAAP basis was 35%, compared to 36% in the comparable period last year. Our growth margin for 2014 on a GAAP basis was approximately 36%, as compared to 34% for 2013. The higher gross margin is mainly due to deals with high margins in the commercial division and the cost reduction in COGS. On a GAAP basis, gross R&D expenses for the fourth quarter of 2014 was $6.8 million, compared to $7.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. Gross R&D expenses for 2014 on a GAAP basis were $27.6 million, compared to…

Erez Antebi

Analyst · Discovery Group. Please go ahead

Thank you, Yaniv. Before we turn to your questions, I’d like to summarize a few closing remarks. 2014 saw a significant improvement in profitability over 2013. We believe that our strategy is directly aligned with the growth segments in the market and we believe that we have competitive products and capabilities that support the strategy. Looking forward, we are very optimistic on the growth opportunities for Gilat. We expect that we will continue to grow in 2015 with our management revenue objectives between $250 million and $260 million, and EBITDA between $26 million and $28 million for the year. As was in 2014, we expect the second half of 2015 to be significantly stronger than the first half. This is due to a combination of seasonality in our business and the expected timing of deals. That concludes our review. We would now like to open the floor for questions. Operator, please?

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question is from Gunther Karger of Discovery Group. Please go ahead.

Gunther Karger

Analyst · Discovery Group. Please go ahead

Yes. Good morning everybody. I got it late on the conference call. I couldn’t hear through much. If you’ve covered this already I apologize. The question is the defense business, it would seem to me that given the increased unrest worldwide in the defense area particularly focusing on special forces mobile type operations, why was the defense business not be as robust as had been previously expected?

Erez Antebi

Analyst · Discovery Group. Please go ahead

First of all, good morning, Gunther. I think that the defense business is doing well and it’s growing for us, but I think that what we are seeing is that there is faster growth in the commercial area. Couple of years ago, most airlines were not committed regarding Wi-Fi onboard. That has changed dramatically. So the market simply has shifted now. The defense business continues to grow and we continue to sell there and we’ll continue to work there, but it’s not growing as fast as we see other segments and that’s why while we are not leaving the defense at all, we will continue to sell and work there. We are shifting the emphasis to see where the faster growth is.

Gunther Karger

Analyst · Discovery Group. Please go ahead

Thank you. It sounds like it’s a resource optimization on a location. That’s very good. Thank you so much.

Erez Antebi

Analyst · Discovery Group. Please go ahead

You’re welcome.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] There are no further questions at this time. Before I ask Mr. Erez Antebi to go ahead with his closing statement, I would like to remind participants that a replay of this call is scheduled to begin two hours after the conference. In the U.S., please call 1-888-326-9310; in Israel, please call 03-925-5900; internationally, please call 972-3-925-5900. Mr. Antebi, would you like to make your concluding statement?

Erez Antebi

Analyst · Discovery Group. Please go ahead

Thank you, operator. I’d like to thank everyone for your time today. We appreciate you are joining us on the call. I hope we were able to give you a good understanding of the results that we have and our directions. We appreciate your continued support. So I would like to just say thank you and good afternoon.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. This concludes Gilat's fourth quarter 2014 results conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may go ahead and disconnect.