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Mativ Holdings, Inc. (MATV)

Q4 2012 Earnings Call· Thu, Feb 7, 2013

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Welcome to SWM's Fourth Quarter 2012 Earnings Conference Call. Hosting the call today from SWM is Frédéric Villoutreix, Chief Executive Officer. He is joined by Jeff Cook, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; and Mark Spears, Corporate Controller. Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay beginning at noon Eastern Standard Time. The dial-in for the replay is 1 (800) 585-8367, and enter PIN number 85655319. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Mr. Spears. Sir, you may begin.

Mark A. Spears

Analyst

Thank you, Lori. Good morning. I am Mark Spears, Corporate Controller at SWM. Thank you for joining us to discuss SWM's fourth quarter and full year 2012 earning results. On today's call, Frédéric will share some high-level comments about our fourth quarter performance and priorities. Jeff will then take you through a more detailed review of our financial results and guidance. We will then take your questions. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that comments included in today's conference call constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from the results suggested by these comments for a number of reasons, which are discussed in more detail in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K. Certain financial measures discussed during this call exclude restructuring and impairment expenses, significant reserve adjustments on business tax credits, income tax valuation allowance, changes in the Philippine inventory impairment charge, and are, therefore, non-GAAP financial measures. I will now turn the call over to Frédéric. Frédéric P. Villoutreix: Thank you, Mark, and good morning, everyone. Late yesterday, we released our fourth quarter earnings, and we'll discuss our results in the next several slides. We also announced long-term capital allocation strategy for SWM, and I will provide more details later in this call. In line with that strategy, our Board of Directors has authorized a 100% increase in our quarterly dividend, increasing it from $0.15 per share to $0.30 per share. They had also authorized up to $50 million of share repurchases through December 31, 2013. These actions show our continued confidence in the company's long-term strength and our commitment to progressively increasing shareholder value. Now we comment on our financial results. Overall, 2012 was a record year for operating profit and cash flow. Our performance indicates…

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

Thank you, Frédéric. Moving to Slide 8. Fourth quarter net sales adjusted for constant currency decreased 5.4% versus the prior-year quarter. However, excluding the receipt of initial fees aggregating $12.6 million during the fourth quarter of 2011 on a new royalty agreement, revenue would have exceeded the prior-year period. Full year 2012 net sales adjusted for constant currency increased 5.4% versus 2011, driven by improved product mix. Turning to Slide 9 and our volume trends. Fourth quarter 2012 reconstituted tobacco sales volumes were down 2% compared to the prior-year period, due primarily to timing of orders. However, for the total year 2012, RTL volume is up 6%. Tobacco paper volumes, including CTM, our joint venture in China, increased by 1% versus the fourth quarter of 2011. Volumes at CTM increased 37% versus the third quarter of 2012, which reflects the expected second half improvement in volume we had previously communicated. Total SWM volumes, including China, were up 1% versus both the prior-year quarter and for the total year 2012 over 2011. On Slide 10, you will see that our full year adjusted operating profit increased $17.3 million or 11.6% versus 2011, as growth in LIP and RTL volume more than offset the negative impact of a weaker euro. 2012 pulp cost overall were essentially flat with 2011, as lower NBSK softwood prices have been offset by higher BEK hardwood prices. Our adjusted operating margin at constant currency for full year 2012 rose to 20.5%, up 190 basis points from 2011. As you will see on Slide 11, adjusted operating profit for fourth quarter of 2012 was down 33% from an exceptionally strong fourth quarter of 2011. Absent the impact of $12.6 million in initial fees received on a new royalty agreement in 2011, adjusted operating profit was down 13%. This…

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

Thanks, Frédéric. Slide 18 provides our earnings expectations for 2013. On a constant currency basis, we expect 2013 adjusted diluted earnings per share to be $3.70, an increase of 4.2% over 2012's results. Our guidance assumes steady volumes, as well as continued success in our operational excellence efforts to offset expected inflationary cost pressures. The outlook is also reflective of expected increases in wood pulp prices during 2013 and includes startup cost related to the RTL joint venture in China. In addition, this outlook does not include any impact from potential share repurchases during 2013 and reflects foreign currency exchange rates similar to those seen thus far in early 2013. That concludes our remarks. Lori, please open the line for questions.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Alex Ovshey of Goldman Sachs.

Alex Ovshey Ovshey - Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

A couple of questions for you. First, would you be able to provide more color on what actually happened operationally and what the quality issues were and what the impact on the profitability of the business was during the quarter? Frédéric P. Villoutreix: Sure. I think for obvious confidentiality reason, we are not going to close in our specific product nor the customer involved. All I have to say is that while we were not pleased that the incident occurred, I think we have done extremely well responding proactively to the issue. As soon as we discovered the problem, we alerted the clients and solved the issue promptly without major disruptions to their operations. And I think the reason our results were impacted this quarter is because of the fact that we took appropriate steps to solve the issue and protect the customer's end product, and therefore, maintaining our strong relationship. And we also have learned from it, and we made changes to ensure it doesn't happen again. And in terms of the impact on the business for the quarter, it is certainly substantial. We -- I can cite it around $2 million on our guidance GAAP, or about $0.05.

Alex Ovshey Ovshey - Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

Okay, that's helpful. And then on the consulting fees, is the incremental fee just a difference between the corporate expense in the fourth quarter versus what it's really averaged for the first 3 quarters of the year?

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

No, no. There's -- and you'd probably see this when you look at last year's fourth quarter. We always have kind of year end true-ups and different accruals and different expense activities, some of the compensation levels. So no, the year-over-year change you see there, only a smaller portion of that was related to these studies.

Alex Ovshey Ovshey - Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

Okay, Jeff. And then a few more and I'll turn it over. On the royalty side, can you tell us what the income was from royalties in the fourth quarter, and what are you expecting that number to be for 2013? And what's reflected in your guidance for royalties in 2013? Frédéric P. Villoutreix: Yes, I think if you will recall, we had guided for 2012 at least $12 million in royalty income. And I think we are not going to report it precisely, but I'd say we ended 2012 in line with expectations, and 2013 will be about the same.

Alex Ovshey Ovshey - Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

Okay. And then just last thing on the LIP markets. Can you update us on the new markets that you hope will move to LIP over the near future, and how you see that shift playing out over the next couple of years in those markets that you think could potentially move to LIP? Frédéric P. Villoutreix: Okay. Just 2 markets adopted LIP regulation during the quarter of 2012. Now they are small markets, south Africa and Switzerland, but we certainly are pleased with the level of market share we were awarded. The inventory build impacted our second half 2012 results, and we expect steady demand to continue throughout 2013. So it's a small amount of carryover linked to these 2 markets. Now if you recall, there was a WHO, World Health Organization, Conference of Parties that was held in Korea last November. And the Conference of Parties confirmed the strategic importance placed on establishing global LIP standards in line with the strict requirements already in place in North America and the EU. Now no new country has firmed their intentions since that conference, but discussions remain active, and we continue to see additional jurisdictions looking into adopting LIP standards over the next few years, namely Japan, Korea, Croatia, Brazil, Russia, Turkey to name a few. And we are working closely with our customers to ensure readiness and to expand our market presence when decisions are made.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Bill Chappell of SunTrust.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst · Bill Chappell of SunTrust

This is Vijay on for Bill Chappell. I just have 2 questions. The first question is, can you just give us more color on the current spot rates and how you see that affecting EPS guidance going forward?

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Bill Chappell of SunTrust

When you say spot rate, you mean the currency rates?

Unknown Analyst

Analyst · Bill Chappell of SunTrust

Yes, the currency spot rates.

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Bill Chappell of SunTrust

Yes. Now I think if you look at the -- obviously, the euro has the most impact on us. And if you look at where it's been in early -- particularly, earlier in January, kind of the level that which we've used to gauge our 2013 outlook.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst · Bill Chappell of SunTrust

Okay. And then my second question is with regards to pulp pricing, can you just talk about where you see it going forward for the rest of the year? And did you guys take any pricing in the beginning of the year so far?

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Bill Chappell of SunTrust

We are seeing some increases. It started probably later in 2012, and the outlook that I gave you does reflect an increase year-over-year. I mean, it's not huge, I mean, but it certainly is an impact on our 2013 outlook. Frédéric P. Villoutreix: In terms of pricing to customers, the business we do with large multinationals, the pulp cost change is embedded in the formula -- in the pricing formula. And we believe there was no price increases in the second half of last year to speak of but will have been reflected in the pricing of January 1, 2013. But again, it's just a 6- to 12-month lag, which we are used to been -- doing these patterns and practices for many years.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Ann Gurkin of Davenport. Ann H. Gurkin - Davenport & Company, LLC, Research Division: I want to start with RTL. The volume decline in the fourth quarter, you said was due to customer timing. Did some of that move either into Q3, or is it moving into 2013? Frédéric P. Villoutreix: Let me take that. I think it's every quarter the same situation. Either we sit here and talk about really great performances or we can show off from the previous quarter, it's the lumpiness of the business. If you go back in time, fourth quarter of 2011 was extremely strong but following a very weak third quarter of 2011. This, in '12, second and third quarter were extremely strong and fourth is down slightly. Maybe most important is the 6% growth in '12 versus '11, which is above our past track record. And our view is that we are entering '13 with steady volume. So we are certainly -- it's not anticipated orders of '13 were produced in last year. It's the fact that we are gaining share with our RTL products, and we expect to continue to remain at that level as we said in my prepared remarks. The next step up clearly for us is the start of our China joint venture in the first half '14. That will allow us to really significantly increase our sales and presence in the largest potential which is China. Ann H. Gurkin - Davenport & Company, LLC, Research Division: So RTL volume outlook for '13 is flat with '12, is that correct? Frédéric P. Villoutreix: The way we build the guidance and at this stage, early in the year, we are looking at that volumes from the highest level we have ever…

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Ann Gurkin of Davenport

In our guidance, Ann, there are some startup costs for CTS that are reflected in the earnings there, so that's probably under $3 million, but there is an impact from that in the 2013 EPS guidance. Ann H. Gurkin - Davenport & Company, LLC, Research Division: Okay. And your decision in Indonesia, does that reflect any change in customer business? Frédéric P. Villoutreix: Not really. I think the decision to divest our Indonesian operation is related to really the infrastructure of the sites and the fact that we could not expand it. And also the primary products of our Indonesian operation is really a unique design for the Indonesian markets, and we work closely with the main customer of the mill to ensure that they are comfortable with the change of ownership, and they are. And so no impact to the global relations we have with that particular customer. Ann H. Gurkin - Davenport & Company, LLC, Research Division: Okay, great. And then finally, in terms of what are you incorporating for cigarette volumes in the EU and also globally in your numbers in '13? Frédéric P. Villoutreix: I think that it's a pretty steady picture from 2012. So the market accretion in Europe is in the range of 3.5%, 4%. Global for the world is flat to 0.5%, but essentially coming from one country, China, growth in China, 3.5% to 4%. And pretty much a continuation of the trends that we have seen in '12 by region into '13. Ann H. Gurkin - Davenport & Company, LLC, Research Division: Great. And then is there any inventory build with your customers either on the cigarette paper side, LIP side, or RTL as we go into '13 that would make quarters lumpy? Frédéric P. Villoutreix: Nothing out of the ordinary, no.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from the line of Kenneth Smith of Lenox Equity Research.

Kenneth Smith - Lenox Equity Research, LLC

Analyst · Kenneth Smith of Lenox Equity Research

A question on your share buyback. Are there any conditions attached to it? You're not including the benefit of it in your guidance. So are you just being conservative because you don't know exactly when it's going to occur, or are there any...

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Kenneth Smith of Lenox Equity Research

Yes, yes, I mean, obviously, when you set those up, you put out parameters on what levels that you want to make the purchases at. So we don't know how much would be acquired this year, so we just -- it would be a wild guess if we try to put anything in our EPS number.

Kenneth Smith - Lenox Equity Research, LLC

Analyst · Kenneth Smith of Lenox Equity Research

Okay. And then on the facilities that you announced, you're closing over in Philippines and Indonesia, the sales from that during the first 3 quarters of 2012, we're going to have to back that out when we do our models. So how much would they have contributed?

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Kenneth Smith of Lenox Equity Research

If you look at total year 2012 between both of the operations, we're probably in revenue-wise around $25 million or so. The Indonesia sale would close sometime in the first quarter, so we'll have some carryover there, but -- about $25 million.

Kenneth Smith - Lenox Equity Research, LLC

Analyst · Kenneth Smith of Lenox Equity Research

Okay. How much do you expect to receive from the sale of that facility? Is it a minor amount?

Jeffrey A. Cook

Analyst · Kenneth Smith of Lenox Equity Research

It's not a real significant amount as far as SWM goes. I mean, it's important to us, but it's not a huge material amount that we felt it was appropriate to disclose at this point.

Operator

Operator

At this time, there are no further questions. I'll now return the call to management for any closing remarks.