Earnings Labs

Iron Mountain Incorporated (IRM)

Q4 2007 Earnings Call· Tue, Mar 4, 2008

$123.00

+7.28%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Mr. Golden you may proceed. Mr. Golden you may proceed. [Technical Difficulty] For this is colleagues, we are focused on the year of 2007 rather than the quarter, Brian will give in-depth details, both on the year and quarter. But I thought I will review for you and just try to put some things in context and after Brian goes through the details, I will come back and have a few personal comments on the announcement we made about the shifts and the roles within the company. So let's get started and talk about the year. As you know, hopefully you've seen the press releases and you will see that 2007 was a strong year for us, both in revenue and overall [ph] growth. Revenue were up 16% and that was driven by our internal growth at 10% at the top engine of our forecasted range, plus a very strong acquisition year, which I will comment more about a little later. In addition to that we had strong service growth revenue at 12% internal growth. And that was a combination, as it has been often a lately a strong complementary services in the project space, as well as of course increasing recycled paper prices from our shredding business. But the company serviced, I want to remind you does swing around, it typically represents about 13% of our revenue mix historically and it can move up and down, you will see reflected in our guidance for 2008, a little slower complementary service year that is primarily driven off high comps we are coming over and again we'll give you those details. We're not sending any signals about the business relative to the counting year performance, I think the message you should read in our guidance and what we are today this…

Robert Brennan - Chief Executing Officer

Management

Thanks Richard, good morning everybody. I am on page 3, the agenda slide, just to start Q4 was a solid quarter for Iron Mountain as we finished the year in line with our long term financial goals. Our agenda today is going to begin with the focus of our Q4 and full year P&L results and as part of that review, we'll discuss the key drivers of the Q4 results within the context of our full year performance. We'll also go through cash flow performance, capital spending trends and our year end debt position. And I'll conclude with an update of the preliminary 2008 guidance we provided Investor Day last October and show our outlook for the first quarter. Slide 4, highlights the key messages from today's review, Q4 kept the solid year of financial performance for Iron Mountain. For the full year, we had strong 16% revenue growth with gains across our portfolio supported by 10% internal growth and that is for our major acquisitions. We drove 14% order growth for the year excluding gains on disposition of assets comparable OIBDA grew 15%. We also saw improved capital efficiency in 2007. We're very pleased with this performance which is on track with our long term goals. In terms of our performance in the quarter we achieved strong revenue growth in Q4 above the high end of our guidance range. Total revenue growth of 19% was supported by solid internal growth of 10% including stronger than forecasted product revenues and favorable FX impacts. Additionally $3 million of revenue was contributed by our Stratify acquisition that closed in December. This revenue was not included in our original guidance for Q4 or for the full year 2007. For the quarter OIBDA was within our forecasted range as benefits from revenues upsides were…

C. Richard Reese - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Thank you Bryan and before I go to questions. I and of course Bob's here with me. We will make just a couple of comments about the announcement as we exercised our succession plan with Iron Mountain. First is, held couple of key cashes [ph], what's happening and why right now I'll try to answer those for you briefly. What is happening is Christine Eyre [ph] and I informed the Board that I thought it was the appropriate time that we exercised our succession plan that we build out over time. And that that plan would be is that Bob take on the roll as President, Chief Executive Officer for the company and I would move to a role of the Executive Chairman. The title of Executive Chairman and I will speak to myself is pretty easy to talk about, what Bob's said going to do for everybody's clarity; he will run the company, not me. But as the Executive Chairman, I will be a full time employee of the company. I'm not going anywhere until I hey throw me out. They haven't decided to do that yet. But, I wanted to focus my time and it's hard to be out in the hot seat of the CEO and stay totally focused on the key issues that I think are important that I think I have the most leverage at this stage of the company and this stage of my career to focus on one of these product and in that case embracing and inculcating our products with the 26 years knowledge that our... not just me personally, but by organization has build up and I want to stress this is not just me personally, but I kind of know where all the knowledge, most of the knowledge pockets are…

Bob Brennan - President and Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yes we will more to... it's interesting, sitting here, listening to, we've known each other for five years.

C. Richard Reese - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Yes.

Bob Brennan - President and Chief Operating Officer

Management

We've been working together day and night. Everyday for 3.5 years, we've built up a team together. We refined our strategy and our execution plans together and you've been teaching me the business I'd to learn this from a lot of people, but specifically you, so this is not used --

C. Richard Reese - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

AndI don't for this to our organization that's the message we are getting as we brought started to roll that, starting late last night and into this morning. So I want to stress a couple of message that this is normal succession. I we are doing it for the right time and the right reasons. The question you might ask that why not now why year ago, one is that two years from now, I'll be 62 years old in about a week and a half or two weeks something like that. But I still got more energy than most, but now what I used to have quite candidly, and the speed of the pact is always at the pace of the leader and I can look forward to declining energy because I can look back to I have had declining energy. And this company needs a leader that describes significant energy to take it forward, because the opportunity is just too big, not to go get it and I'm not about to let us miss that opportunity. So right now it's a right time for me, the right time for the company, because I know some significant things that need to be done that I want to focus on and standing. [Technical Difficulty]. We are getting tremendous feedback on our line.

Operator

Operator

Yes sir. Management is hearing that.

C. Richard Reese - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Do you hear that feedback operator?

Operator

Operator

Yes sir.

C. Richard Reese - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Can you do anything about it?

Operator

Operator

I'm trying now sir. [Technical Difficulty].

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Operator can you hear me now? That is like a [indiscernible]. Operator?

Operator

Operator

Yes sir.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

We are going to hang up and dial you right back if you ask the participants to please give them a technical difficulty notice and put them on hold. While I will make sure, can you hear me clearly now?

C. Richard Reese - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

I gather the operator cannot hear us. If there everybody else there can hear us, we're going to hang up and come back. We apologize but not our, [indiscernible]. We will rise [ph] again traffic check. [Technical Difficulty].

C. Richard Reese - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Operator. Okay I've told that you can hear me. I apologize, but we did do it. Let me finish and then we'll get on with it because I realize that time has got long. I thinking we didn't do it. Let me finish and then we will get on with it, because I realize that time is getting long [ph]. I was explaining to you what I was going to do and why and I was explaining to you why timing is now and it's partly for me, personally, but it's mostly about it's the right time for the company and last but certainly not the least as Bob is ready and I do want to spend a second explaining my decision to recommend Bob for this role that probably I didn't make that decision and board did agree, of course. But there is really three ways I'll look at it. Bob is a better executor than I am, it's just that simple and that's what the company needs for the next evolution, because the company is much more complex where it needs a different way of thinking about it. For those who watch this carefully, you'll see that his influence and execution has made us a better company. And I expect he will continue to enhance that. Bob has built out a significant team, because he's good at doing that and we have the right people to go forward. He's learned the business. He's got the intellectual curiosity to learn the business and he has learned it. Does he know it as well as I've known, no and he never will and that's fine. Because it took me 26 years, but he's learned what it takes, he's learned the important side of it. But last and most important, he's…

Bob Brennan - President and Chief Operating Officer

Management

You guys have a couple of comments pictured, thanks to your partnership and fixing your confidence, the confidence of the Board of Directors and the senior team and taking on this role. I do look forward to seeing more, even being more external in this new role. I will be more external with our customers as well as with our investors and working with you in the years to come. What Brian had said what I have said, what Richard said what I want to know more than anything else is that we are capably committed to providing consistent long term financial performance and I will reporting to you on that and working with you in the years to come. Okay with that hopefully the technologies working where we are getting some messages that the, we can't get the operators asking for Q&A and I'm going to turn it over to the operator and help that she ask for your questions. Question And Answer

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions]. And your first question comes from the line of David Gold with Sidoti. Please precede, sir. David Gold - Sidoti & Company, LLIRM: Hi good morning.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Hi David morning. David Gold - Sidoti & Company, LLIRM: ouple of questions for you. First Bob, the plan right now which are due about to maintain the roles of President and COO as well.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

The COO positions David will not be back really because we feel about the team we feel very good about the TNL leaders that we have in the America's, Europe, digital Asia-Pac, Latin America's seems to build out.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Yeah. In fact we created if you go back and remember in time Bob was President of North America and then I ask him to step in the COO specifically created that role to putting him in a position of they tested him quite frankly with more importantly for him to learn and he's certainly passed the test and he certainly learned but that was not a long-term load in our remarks. David Gold - Sidoti & Company, LLIRM: I see as far as President keeping that.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

He will be the President and Chief Executive Officer; I'll be the Executive Chairman. David Gold - Sidoti & Company, LLIRM: Perfect and then question probably for Brian. On the first quarter margins were off better than the guidance, I guess if I look at the year guidance implies goal with 25 and I'll say 26.5%, 27% margin for the first quarter, looks like you're implying 22% to 24%. Just curious if you can sort of add in I mean Stratify hits you little bit but it doesn't seem like its should hit you that much if a, you can some color on that what specific for the first quarter dragging you down. And then b, a sense of presumably the expectation would for ramp-up throughout the rest of the year to get to the guidance.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Yes we will try to talk a bit about this on the call but there is some normal seasonality in the business where in the first quarter you have things like over higher impacts from energy cost or mix of business is more labor cost intensive and you have things like the full impact of IT accruals and payroll taxes so there is normal seasonality that goes on. And this year year-on-year as well we do have a impact of a couple of over factors, one is they dilute impact of acquisitions not just Stratify, the some other acquisitions that we completed after Q1 last year, and we do have some carryover investments spend that we initiated some investments in Q4 and we'll see some of those impacts carrying over into Q1. One other one time item of know to which we highlighted in the call we do expect that $3 million charge in Q1 related to a sale of the building. So some of those all go up and that I will spend in the Q1 number we are very much committed to delivering strong full year performance, that's what we are focused on and we are committed to deliver result in that range. David Gold - Sidoti & Company, LLIRM: Okay and I mean I guess, specifically Stratify was first quarterish, in year-on-year adjustment seasonality is basically significantly down year-to-year and from the acquisition front and presumably if we expect it to make some decent progress for the year.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

We are just down to $3 million one time loss and really the balance of the delta is the comp some total of acquisition impacts and some of the carry over investments fronts effect. David Gold - Sidoti & Company, LLIRM: Okay and just one other, in the fourth quarter, the year end comp benefit adjustment presumably overtime, we think that would be end of every year factor and I guess just curious, have there been changes in compensation particularly this year or was it just particularly good year and we didn't accrued as much as direct the [indiscernible]

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

It was one I want to be clear it wasn't one adjustment, it was a number of smaller adjustments in a variety of areas. It's not unusual for us to make year end drop to these estimates. It just happen as the adjustments of all kind of moved to one... in one way and they sum to a meaningful numbers, so this was a different kind of forecast it was $5 million without that we wouldn't have been behind it, the year remains, we were surprised by that if you will but its not any an issue within the business, its just the sum total of the number of adjustments that were made at year end. David Gold - Sidoti & Company, LLIRM: Fair enough. Thank you all.

Operator

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Michel Morin with Merrill Lynch. Please proceed.

Michel Morin - Merrill Lynch

Analyst · Michel Morin with Merrill Lynch. Please proceed

Yes good morning, couple of quick questions. First the minority interest was large this quarter. In fact the first loss in a very long time, is that a result of some of the recent investments that are being made in investments something we should assume or continue for the foreseeable future?

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

We are investing in our international growth and we do expect some negative impacts from those investments as we build out, this is as Richard's thought. Quite a bit of [indiscernible], it's a long term build for storage and we will see a consumer yield from that with those investments over time so I think what you're seeing is just some of that impact.

Michel Morin - Merrill Lynch

Analyst · Michel Morin with Merrill Lynch. Please proceed

Okay and then similar kind of, and asset disposition usually those of head and tail gains, is there anything specific here that makes this one of it different than others? I'm talking about the Q1 and the plan that singled out?

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Nothing unusual we do see a gain and we'll see a book losses on asset disposition as well. Its normal activity in terms of changing our where we're locating our facilities and we're going to see a book loss related to a move that we're going to make over next year. Early this year.

Michel Morin - Merrill Lynch

Analyst · Michel Morin with Merrill Lynch. Please proceed

Okay. And in terms of the planned building moves that you also talked about in the release. Is that also associated with the acquisition, the recent acquisition?

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

No, that was your referring to some of the higher DNA and Q4 and that wasn't specific acquisitions for just the some adjustments, we made our depreciation and amortization related to some of those numbers.

Michel Morin - Merrill Lynch

Analyst · Michel Morin with Merrill Lynch. Please proceed

Okay, thanks very much.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Andrew Steinerman with Bear Stearns. Please proceed. Andrew Steinerman - Bear, Stearns & Company: Hi, gentlemen. Its little of the same subject of how do we connect out of full year margins of being steady, first quarter margin being dragged by those three things, seasonality, dilution for acquisition and investment. If you could just sort of quantify which pieces of those will start going away in the second, third, fourth quarter. I think it would be a little clear and I thought I heard because investment part will continue to carry forward.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

I think we are just in context we are focused very much on our full year objectives Andrew and I think the, some of the impacts that we will see through the year we will start to get through some of the lapping of the diluted acquisitions that were done later in the year, I think we'll see relatively bigger impact from investments and growth year-on-year early in 2008, those will be the factors contributing but we are comfortable with our full year outlook and very much committed to delivering in that range. Andrew Steinerman - Bear, Stearns & Company: Right to make a full year of steady margins with margins being down so much in the first quarter, you really have to kind of get margin ramping pretty much so I think right after the first quarter.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Yes, we are comfortable with what our full year outlook implies and we are committed to delivering the number. Andrew Steinerman - Bear, Stearns & Company: Okay and just one more clarification. When we are talking about gross margins, I heard next day in the press release that sort of net, when it gets the company sliding shredding in DMC, are those businesses really big enough that buy themselves the faster would be so significant in terms of gross margins.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

I think the, they are reasonably significant parts of our business and in terms of the relative mix and what we had on the year-on-year basis we continue to see that stronger service growth as bigger services bigger part of mix relative to storage and that had some dilutive impact on our gross margin in Q4. Andrew Steinerman - Bear, Stearns & Company: I though that international growth would have been more important next factor than shredding growth for we are just thinking about gross margins.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Okay while we had our strong service growth in international markets as well, that effect will be. Andrew Steinerman - Bear, Stearns & Company: Okay thanks for all the clarification. I appreciate it.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Thank you Andrew.

Operator

Operator

And your final question comes form the lines of Scott Schneeberger, with Oppenheimer. Please proceed. Scott Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co.: Hey good afternoon. Could you, you guys keep alluding to these increased investments? Could you give a little bit of color better impact a fourth quarter and in the first something, it sounds like things are taper off in second half as you've mentioned but you could us a little more color in what they are in?

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

We talked a bit about this as we on a last call talking about some of the things that we are advancing in terms of our phase in for Q4 but we are investing an increase systems capability including support of whole lot of oracle financials in international markets. We are rolling out time and attentive systems to been the manager. Our labor cost, we got investments since operating systems to improve or mange in the transportation and chain of custody and we are continued to invest against our security capability to meet our customer requirements. So you know sum total those are the big themes, we had talked that we are going to do some phasing into Q4, this year some that is carrying over to Q1, that's impacting our outlook.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

And we are investing heavily in security because we believe that our investors will all our competitors combined and that we will be able to expect value for that in the obvious once those specimens are made. Scott Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co.: Okay, thanks in the starting business, could you speak to what your expectations are for used paper prices year-over-year and with whatever granularity you can provide us. Obviously we are working for something that serve here we're going to comparison and then as a follow up to that how is the competitive environment and do you believe that you can get pricing on servicing if you see a slide in the newspaper prices. Thanks.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

But when I take the first one, and then I ask, let Bob comment on the competitive environment but you know the paper prices are turning in the $200 type range and we've seen that quite often a bit. We are basically projecting a, a maintenance of those kind of levels going and the balance of the year end and so we will see less benefit from growth and paper prices this year and that had a meaningful benefit to our 2007 growth rate. So that's some of the explanation in terms of where the, the complimentary revenue growth won't be as sizeable this year. And the paper price market of, the paper market itself is undergoing structural changes, that are good for a long, that are bit long term and truth is we have never been through recession under the solid new structure then. Structure changes is enormous amount of volume now in the recycle paper markets going offshore to China as the mills over there and it is their primary source [indiscernible]. So, it used to be five years ago, when we were already, I guess seven years ago, with as far as the business go like that. In majority the paper stake in the U.S. demand at the paper. But lot of it goes off shore and because of that its just driven the prices up because there's a worldwide shortage of fiber. What our recession will do with that if we have such recession and it remains on the, we're just trying to be conservative and not certainly and certainly considering going higher. On your other question about paper prices come down, the services prices go up, historically what we've seeing there is yes, because we have seen service prices come down as paper prices going…

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Our energy cost are basically in the range of 2% to 3% of our revenues and so there that can have an impact I mean we do have some ability to recover changes cost through things like fuel surcharges with our customers but we think a reasonable outlook on energy cost, that's factored into our sides [ph].

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

And can you give you me some sense, of Bob there is rough numbers for about half our energy cost goes to rolling side of transportation and about half of it goes towards our building so forth in. As Brian said everyone in the world but we are getting there but certainly North America we've been rolling this out, we've got quite within place over the last year or so as when you renew contracts and so forth and energy I guess hedged against prices up and down its fair deal for the customers from the transportation side. Scott Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co.: Alright thanks very much.

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Okay thanks.

Operator

Operator

And you have a follow-up from the line Michel Morin with Merrill Lynch. Please proceed.

Michel Morin - Merrill Lynch

Analyst · Merrill Lynch. Please proceed

Yes thanks for taking the follow-up question. Richard I think in your comments you mentioned that you're seeing another rounds, rounds to for role up in U.S., can you elaborate a bit more on that. Is this coming from private equity investors and you seem to think that it's a net positive for you and I struggle a little bit to understand how that can be?

Unidentified Company Representative

Management

Well look that is competitors of the local gas. There is nobody tougher than a last period. Okay nobody, so the more there is take out better competitive data is quite [ph] once driving it, it's a great business there, there is yes its private equity. There is this four groups that will probably come at a leverage fees, companies I would expect there will be to drive good returns. The more intelligent capital that comes into business that returning, the better it is for everybody and so that we see that it is already around, don't just respect and this competitors as always. That's that I am going to say is that private owners are always a tougher competitors. Scott Schneeberger - Oppenheimer & Co.: Alright thanks very much.

Operator

Operator

At this time there are no further questions. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Richard Reese for closing remarks.

C. Richard Reese - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Thanks Michael for early, [indiscernible] wanted to ask a question. We got a strange communication platform right here.

Operator

Operator

Yes sir, he remains off from the line.

C. Richard Reese - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Okay sorry to do that but just want to make sure by heading of. First I apologize for being long I committed sometime ago to keep this call an hour. I broke my commitment. I apologize that we did have a loss recover given in the announcements and given the year end. Just to the summary business is running well, I understand you want to look in the numbers everything else. We are committed to running this business. To hit our annual targets and hit our long term targets. I have never seen the business and the better position last few day, I am pleased for operating, I'm happy with what we are doing and we are making real progress strategically. We are well positioned to the year 2008 and we are committed to delivering in the result and I think we have the thing to do it. So I do appreciate your support. I want to relate one more last time though I'm still planning to be around so, hopefully I will see many of you, you will see me missing out from the shareholder. I can't avoid it for have a little around that so, look forward to see you occasionally, less often but occasionally and thank you for your support and I will talk to you next quarter. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the presentation; you may now disconnect and have a great day