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Smith & Nephew plc (SNN)

Q4 2016 Earnings Call· Thu, Feb 9, 2017

$31.04

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Transcript

Veronika Dubajova - Goldman Sachs International

Management

Great. Good morning. Veronika Dubajova from Goldman Sachs. I have two questions, please. Olivier, the first one is a strategic one. I think you have previously said that you believe that this business can grow at around 5% organically. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Yes.

Veronika Dubajova - Goldman Sachs International

Management

I guess, can you give us your thoughts on how long until we see that 5%? Is that a question of 2018 or further than that? And related to that, how should we be thinking about operational leverage in that kind of environment? What would be the margin improvement that would come with that 5%? And then my second question and that may be more for Ian than for you, Olivier, is do you have any general thoughts on the impact of any tax changes in the U.S. corporate tax rate system, either just an overall lowering of the tax rate and what'd that mean for you or a border adjusted tax rate? Thank you. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Thank you, Veronika. Can you hear me? Yes. Thank you for your questions. So, on the first question, do I believe that this business can go to a 5% growth and when? Yes, I do believe this business could reach 5% growth. And there is no doubt, I mean, we have to have some luck with the market, obviously. And I think that what we can do in terms of growth is our organic business development will help us to reach this figure. When? I don't know. I mean, we gave you the guidance for next year which is 3% to 4%. Is it in 2018, is it in 2019? I don't know, and I'm not going to give you any views on this. But, yes, I believe we can do that. I'd tell you, I did underestimate, and I have to be very honest about this, the disruption generated by the changes, big changes that we did in the company. It took us five years to make this happen. Why? Because I think it would have…

Operator

Operator

Okay. Thank you. We will take our first question today from Mr. Cooper from Jefferies. Please go ahead, Chris.

Chris Cooper - Jefferies International Ltd.

Analyst

Morning. Thank you. Just firstly on the Wound business in China, perhaps you could just confirm my understanding here. I believe you're now saying the weakness is expected to continue through the first half. If I'm correct, I believe you were (36:45) by the first quarter. Can I just confirm my understanding there, and if there has been a change, can you confirm why. And I'll come back to the second question, if that's okay. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Okay. Well, in China, we have said that, first of all, the business is showing significant improvement in China in general. We still have too much stock in the Advanced Wound Care business in the region. So, we expect this to remain as it is for the next four months, five months, six months and then to come back on a normal growth rate.

Chris Cooper - Jefferies International Ltd.

Analyst

Okay. Just on manufacturing for the next one, can you just confirm how significant the new site in Costa Rica will be, and whether we can expect any meaningful cost advantages here? And how does any sort of proposed change in the U.S. tax legislation impact your plans there? Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Well, this has not been driven by U.S. tax. The move to – Costa Rica is a very important site for us. We have more than 1,000 employees in Costa Rica. This site comes from the acquisition of ArthroCare. It's a Sports Medicine site, which is state-of-the-art. We are transferring, it is true, some activities from the Boston area to Costa Rica. And again, this has for us a very positive impact. I mean the capacity that we have there is huge. We are going to do the WEREWOLF COBLATION System in Costa Rica in the future.

Chris Cooper - Jefferies International Ltd.

Analyst

Okay. Thanks. I'll get back in the queue. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Thank you. Are there question from the phone?

Operator

Operator

Yes. Our next question comes from Michael Jüngling from Morgan Stanley. Michael K. Jüngling - Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc: Yes. Thank you and good morning. I have two questions. Firstly, on the optimization program, what will be the incremental EBITA benefit that you have in 2017 over 2016? Second question is on RENASYS II. What are your expectations for a speed to recovery of the lost sales that you had previously? Are you able to collect 20, 30, (39:11) in recovered sales from that product? Thank you. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Sorry, Michael. On the RENASYS, could you – I mean, are you talking about the U.S. here? Michael K. Jüngling - Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc: Yes. I'm talking about the U.S, because... Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Okay. Michael K. Jüngling - Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc: ...in the past, I think you highlighted you lost around $40 million in sales. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Yes. Michael K. Jüngling - Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc: And therefore the question is, as RENASYS II is rolled out in the United States, what is your ability to recapture those sales? Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Okay. Well, first, let me remind you that our negative pressure wound therapy strategy is driven by the market expansion of the portable negative pressure in the world, and not really on the traditional negative pressure. We have now received the regulatory approval of two devices, the RENASYS TOUCH and the RENASYS GO. And we're launching, actually, these products. We expect to have a launch which will not be an aggressive launch. The idea is not to get back on the competitors on this one, but…

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Gunnar Romer from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Gunnar Romer - Deutsche Bank AG

Analyst

Gunnar Romer, Deutsche Bank. Thanks for taking my questions. The first one on PICO again. I think you said you almost doubled sales, I was wondering whether you can put an absolute number behind that and also share a bit your thoughts on the outlook in 2017 and how the competitive landscape is evolving. Then secondly, on execution, I was wondering whether you can provide some more concrete examples around the pricing strategy and the sales force excellence that you've initiated. Thank you very much. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Look, I'm going to answer pricing and the sales force excellence and maybe, Mike, you want to take the – Mike wanted to do both, but we'll share. So, I wanted to answer both, but I'm sure Mike will do a better job in answering the PICO question. Go ahead, Mike. Michael G. Frazzette - Smith & Nephew Plc: On PICO? < A – [063GWK-E Olivier Bohuon]>: Yes. Michael G. Frazzette - Smith & Nephew Plc: I guess, the short answer on PICO is we don't provide the granular data on PICO. We do expect us to continue to grow. It's not a giant base, so doubling the (45:43). It's a good result for us. We expect to continue to grow at a pace similar to that. The competitive landscape, I mean, while we are very respectful of our competitors, we haven't seen anybody with a product in single-use disposable negative pressure that can compete with ours with PICO. We've got a pretty good pipeline of products. We're in limited commercial release right now of our 2.0 product. And we expect to launch that either at the end of this year or early next year, which will give us a whole another platform to launch many more…

Gunnar Romer - Deutsche Bank AG

Analyst

Very comprehensive answer. Thank you. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Thank you. Question from the – yes. And then (53:21) and then it's you.

Lisa Clive - Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd.

Analyst

Hi. Lisa Clive from Bernstein. Could you give us an update on the U.S. traditional Wound market? What do you think the U.S. AWC market is growing roughly today given the broader trends towards (53:37)? And what is the interest in some of the risk-sharing initiatives you've put in place around preventable readmissions? Second question on Syncera, we haven't heard about that in a while. The model itself is a pretty radical transformation, so perhaps not entirely surprising that the uptake has been perhaps more hesitant than you originally thought. But is it spurring other conversations around cost control? Is there more actual uptake signed contracts today? Just how does that overall influence the outlook for your U.S. Hip and Knee market? Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Thank you, Lisa. So, Mike, do you want to answer this question? Michael G. Frazzette - Smith & Nephew Plc: Sure. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Yes. Michael G. Frazzette - Smith & Nephew Plc: Lisa, thanks. I'll answer Syncera, and then maybe, Phil, you can talk to some of the Wound dynamic. So, our Syncera model we still believe in. You're right, it is a disruptive model. We continue to make progress. We have not seen the inflection point that we'd planned when we first launched it and we've talked about that over the last several quarters. But we continue to make progress, and we did again in the fourth quarter. We captured some more business. Some more accounts moved our way. I think at the end of the day, we're just ahead of the curve on this model. It's a lower-cost model. It doesn't meet 100% of the patient population, but it does help deliver a health system a substantial savings if they're willing to…

Operator

Operator

Okay. Thank you. Our next question comes from Julien Dormois from Exane. Please go ahead.

Julien Dormois - Exane SA

Analyst

Hi. Good morning, gentlemen. Thanks for taking my question. It's actually about Blue Belt. Sorry if it's been answered already, but I joined the call lately. I was just wondering if you could give us more granularity about the performance of Blue Belt in 2016, for example, the level of sales or the number of systems that you have placed, typically in the U.S.? And maybe also on how the number of procedures per system is evolving? Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Thank you, Julien. We don't disclose precise numbers. What I can tell you is that we grew at 50%-plus, actually, the Blue Belt acquisition. We also have had the approval of the Total Knee, and you remember that we have started the year with Uni Knee only, and the Total Knee business obviously opens us a much bigger market than the Uni Knee. So, we are confident of the fact that this product and these robots will have a big success in the future. So we are – what we have seen so far is really good. Mike, you want to add a few things or... Michael G. Frazzette - Smith & Nephew Plc: Well, I mean, the integration is going well. We've hit all of our milestones that we set out to hit. We've accomplished the financial results, as Olivier said, that we shot for in our board plan. We received a modification to our 510(k) for Total Knee after a very successful limited commercial release. So, we're on track to launch Total Knee a little later in the year, as we suggested. I think, relatedly, the ZUK Uni that we acquired from Zimmer if you recall, when Zimmer acquired Biomet, they disposed of their ZUK Knee. That's also performing quite well, and it's performing well in concert with Blue Belt. Because if you recall, Blue Belt robotics' first order of business was to help drive the Uni space. So, again, good progress. We got a long ways to go. We're up against a very tough competitor in Stryker. But we like the market development that they're doing. It's helping educate the masses. And we think, going head-to-head, that we've got a favorable product. As more procedures move from high-cost hospitals to lower-cost ambulatory surgery centers, they're going to look for mobile robotics, which we have. They're going to look for a lower cost, which we have. And they're going to look for something that isn't tied to other types, other modalities like CT scans, et cetera, which, again, we have. So, again good progress, we've got long ways to go, but we're making good headway. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: But having said that, Julien, I think it's also important to note that we are not changing our guidance on Blue Belt, so we still have a dilution expected in 2017 as I said before. So, we have another question from the phone? Anyone there? Who?

Unknown Speaker

Analyst

Anymore in the room? Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: In the room? So – Veronika, what did we say? Two questions. Go ahead.

Veronika Dubajova - Goldman Sachs International

Management

Just following up on, actually, NAVIO. Mike, can you talk about the, I guess, the (64:56) to the total new rollout commercially? How much training you have to do? What's the capital investment required for the robot to upgrade it to have the Total Knee capability? Your competitor was also coming out with a Total Knee this year. They've been doing a huge amount of training over the past 12 months. Do you imagine you're going to have to spend the next 12 months training before you actually are fully commercial? If you can just talk about that broadly, that would be great. Michael G. Frazzette - Smith & Nephew Plc: I'll give you some really high level thoughts on it. I mean, it does require training because like any type of Enabling Technology or new Enabling Technology, at first, it's inefficient. And so, if it's going to slow down procedures and chew up OR (65:37) time, that's not good. So, it does require the training. When I hear that coming from the other guys, I can relate. So, we've got to invest in that. But the overall outlays for an account is far less with NAVIO than it is with our competitor. So, we think it's an attractive offering from an economic standpoint. And in terms of the rest of the instrumentation, it's not too different than typical in (66:06) reconstruction. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Any more question from the room or the phone? If not, we will conclude.

Operator

Operator

Okay. We actually do have a question from Ines Silva. Sorry about that. Ines, you can go ahead.

Ines Duarte Silva - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Analyst

Thank you. I would just like to ask if you could highlight for 2017 what you feel are the most important products that are going to help drive growth, excluding whatever positive impact we get from Emerging Markets? And then secondly, just coming back quickly on the (66:46 – 67:00)? Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: I'm sorry. We could not hear your second part of the question. I mean, I can talk to you about the products, but the second part of the question, is it the CJR? What do you ask, please, if you don't mind to come back on the question?

Ines Duarte Silva - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Analyst

Sure. I just asked if you think that the CJR is going to continue to be a theme in 2017 when you have your pricing discussions with hospitals. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Yes.

Ines Duarte Silva - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Analyst

Or if that's less of a theme now that maybe the program is not going to get expanded with Tom Price leading the HHS. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Okay. Well, let me first answer the first question, and thank you because actually you helped me for my conclusion; I wanted to rebound on this thing, why do we believe that 2017 will be a good year for Smith & Nephew. Obviously, the product are number one in the list. And where do I believe that we are going to do good things, definitely in Sports Medicine, whether it is in Joint Repair where we are continuing high growth or in Enabling Technologies with the addition of two products I was mentioning: the WEREWOLF and the LENS, both products having shown a super adoption. INTERTAN is also in Trauma will give us also a lot of satisfaction. We expect obviously to capitalize again on the JOURNEY II platform with the launch of the JOURNEY II XR, which is also a new addition to our JOURNEY platform. So, the Knee business as a whole should be good. We expect also that the REDAPT Revision System in Hip will help us to fill the gap that we have in our portfolio and come back at a normal market growth in the Hip business. I expect PICO to continue to be a strong level of growth this for the product. And I'm expecting Europe to be back on track. We have two issues again this year in Europe. Slight issues linked to management, linked to the reorganization, linked to the fact that in the UK and in Germany, we have moved all the sites. As you know, we have closed Marl in Germany and moved everything to Hamburg. In the…

Unknown Speaker

Analyst

CJR. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Yes. CJR. So, do we see a modification in the CJR or are things changing? Mike, you want to take this? Michael G. Frazzette - Smith & Nephew Plc: Well, we have – as we've said several times in the past, we haven't seen any significant impact to the business. We've experienced a lot different conversations with the customers, but it hasn't gotten to the point to impacting our business today. And we've got a very small but good team in Washington for government affairs, that keeps us abreast to this and stays engaged with policymakers. And we'll continue to do so. We'll see how it takes shape in the coming weeks and months. Olivier Jean Bohuon - Smith & Nephew Plc: Yes.