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Thryv Holdings, Inc. (THRY)

Q4 2011 Earnings Call· Thu, Mar 1, 2012

$3.83

+4.63%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to Dex One Corporation's Fourth Quarter and Year End 2011 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that today's call is being recorded as well as webcast live over the company's website at www.dexone.com. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Tyler Gronbach. Sir, you may begin.

Tyler D. Gronbach

Analyst

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We will begin this morning with comments from Dex One Chief Executive Officer, Alfred Mockett; and Chief Financial Officer, Greg Freiberg. Following their comments, we will then have time for some of your questions. I would like to remind everyone, certain statements made today may be forward-looking as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. We call your attention to our press release for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, and the company's Form 8-K furnished to the SEC this morning. These documents discuss fourth quarter and full year 2011 results, as well as guidance for 2012. The 8-K also includes the results information package, which provides additional information pertaining to the discussion this morning. We encourage you to review these materials and the company's other periodic filings with the SEC, which set forth important risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in or suggested by any forward-looking statements. Electronic versions of Dex One's SEC filings can be obtained by contacting us or visiting dexone.com or visiting the SEC's website at sec.gov. Copies of the news release and results information package can also be found under the Investor Relations tab at dexone.com. Commencing on February 1, 2010, the company adopted fresh start accounting as required under GAAP, which had a significant impact on the reported results of operations in that year. These reported results were not indicative of our underlying operating or -- and financial performance and are not comparable to any prior or subsequent period presentation. During the call today, we will refer to certain adjusted figures that are non-GAAP financial measures such as expenses, EBITDA, free cash flow and net debt. Some of these exclude items such as impairment charges, stock-based compensation and long-term incentive program expenses, fair value adjustments and the impact of fresh start accounting. Additional information about non-GAAP financial measures as well as a reconciliation between these items and the comparable GAAP measures can be found in the press release and related 8-K furnished to the SEC. One final reminder, this call is the property of Dex One Corporation and any retransmission or broadcast without the expressed consent of the company is strictly prohibited. I would now like to turn the call over to Alfred.

Alfred T. Mockett

Analyst

Thank you, Tyler, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased to share with you our full year and fourth quarter results. Entering 2011, we identified several key areas of focus and we have made significant progress on each of them. First, as part of our effort to establish a 21st century sales force, we completed a major sales refresh by replacing approximately 40% of our sales force, with digitally savvy individuals, who can sell integrated offerings. We established the Dex One Sales Academy with a continuous learning digital curriculum, online training, podcast and other e-learning tools and recruited, trained and deployed digital-only sales teams in our major markets and in 2 pilot markets outside of our footprint. Second, we expanded our partnership network and struck alliances with 11 leading local, social and mobile players. These agreements are helping to support our $200 million additional business with bookings growth of 30% in the fourth quarter, well ahead of the industry peer group. Third, we simplified how we bring solutions to market with the introduction of service bundles that are easy to sell and easy to buy. Customers have responded favorably to this new approach. In just 6 months, we sold 34,000 bundles. And in the fourth quarter, bundles represented 40% of total bookings. Fourth, we continue to exercise prudent financial discipline and reduce costs by more than $120 million in 2011, bringing the 3-year cumulative expense reduction to $420 million. Lastly, we strengthened capital structure by reducing net debt by $385 million. The actions we took during 2011 directly led to today's announcement that we are pursuing amendments to our credit agreements to enable the company to repurchase outstanding loans below par. While we are pleased with our progress, we must stabilize the top line by effectively managing the decline [indiscernible]…

Gregory W. Freiberg

Analyst

Good morning, and thank you, Alfred. My comments today will focus on our full-year results with some discussion of quarterly data where appropriate. During 2011, we met all financial guidance metrics, laid the groundwork for today's announcement regarding the launching of the credit agreement amendments and made significant progress in reducing our cost base. Responding to your requests, we have begun to provide a print and digital breakout on a bookings basis, which means that they are reflective of the changes in contracts signed in the period compared to the prior year. This methodology best captures the productivity and effectiveness of our marketing consultants. It's more aligned with a flexible sales timing and contract length of digital, and is also the most forward-looking top line metric. Net revenue for the year was $1.48 billion, down 17% from 2010 and consistent with guidance. On the expense side, bad debt for the year came in at 3.5% of revenue, consistent with our expectations. Expenses were $852 million, a reduction of $122 million or 13% from 2010, in line with the target we set in July. These savings were primarily generated by lower print-related costs and more focused digital operations. Putting the numbers together, we achieved $629 million of EBITDA, in line with guidance and representing 42% margin. After deducting full-year cash interest of $204 million, CapEx of $28 million, cash taxes of $11 million and $1 million for use of working capital, we generated $385 million of free cash flow, again meeting our guidance target. This represents a cash flow conversion of over 60%. Full-year EBITDA and free cash flow, as reported, were both burdened by a previously announced restructuring initiative, EBITDA by $25 million and cash flow by $32 million. At the end of 2011, net debt was $2.3 billion, leverage…

Tyler D. Gronbach

Analyst

Thank you, Greg. Before we open the lines up for Q&A, we want to point out there is a lender call later today to address specific questions regarding the amendment, and we would like to focus this morning's Q&A on the fourth quarter and full-year results. Operator, we are now ready to take questions.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Donna Jaegers, DA Davidson. Donna Jaegers - D.A. Davidson & Co., Research Division: I was just curious if you could comment a little. Obviously, you've added a lot to your sales force and you've done a lot of training with them as well, can you talk about how long, what's the ramp in productivity is for the new salespeople?

Alfred T. Mockett

Analyst

Yes, in fact, we've shortened that ramp. Probably, I'd say 3 months up to full productivity. We're really leveraging the online training tools and online certification. They're doing training in the car with audiotape. They're doing podcast at home. They're doing computer-based training for home, and we really shortened the face-to-face classroom from probably what was 8 weeks initially now to probably 2 to 4. But it does give them a lot more days in the field, more face-to-face selling. That's what it's all about. Donna Jaegers - D.A. Davidson & Co., Research Division: And when should -- I mean, so how long do you give them now to make their quota? What's the timing on between when they're fully trained and then when you expect them to make quota?

Alfred T. Mockett

Analyst

Well, they're going to be on pace to make quota within the first 4 to 5 months. Donna Jaegers - D.A. Davidson & Co., Research Division: Great. And any -- can you give us just sort of a range of what the quota typically? [ph]

Alfred T. Mockett

Analyst

It depends. Face-to-face sales is going to be $1 million plus and telesales, probably about half of that. Donna Jaegers - D.A. Davidson & Co., Research Division: Great. And that's on a monthly basis or...

Alfred T. Mockett

Analyst

That's annual.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from Chad Quinn, [ph] Bennett Management. [ph]

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

I saw on one of the slides that there was a $6 million restructuring expense in the fourth quarter. Is that included in the EBITDA of $150 million that you reported?

Gregory W. Freiberg

Analyst

Hi Chad, it's Greg. Yes, $6 million in the fourth quarter, that's primarily upfront severance cost. And EBITDA, as reported, is burdened by that $6 million, so consistent with how we've reported it all for 2011.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Right. Just wanted to double check that. And you also just commented that the net leverage was 3.5x. You said you have the ability to repurchase the bonds. I thought that was subject to a leverage test of 3x. It would seem that you don't need that test. Could you comment on that?

Gregory W. Freiberg

Analyst

Absolutely. So there was an ability to use what's known as the borrower's portion of excess cash flow to buy back the Dex One Corp. bonds if the leverage was below 3x. That's what you referenced. That's not the clause we're going to use. There was also a clause that's set for cash already up at the Dex One Corp. We could begin doing those buybacks after the expiry for 2 years, and that 2 years expired on January 30. So cash is sitting up at Dex One Corp. We're now are able to go ahead and commence with buybacks.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Okay. And how much cash is out there?

Gregory W. Freiberg

Analyst

At the end of 2011, we had $28 million of the Dex One Corp.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Okay. And just one final question. What percentage of the revenue for the quarter and year was from digital?

Gregory W. Freiberg

Analyst

Right. So digital percentage in the quarter and the year, we're running -- it's $200 million that Alfred mentioned, the $1.481 billion for the year. So that gives you about 13% or so for the full year. And it's obviously higher in the quarter as we've been accelerating. I'm sorry, let me correct myself, fourth quarter is about 19%. So you can see it's accelerated quite a bit from the full year results.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And next question comes from Hado San [ph], Cedars Capital. [ph]

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

In terms of rolling out the digital strategy, where are you in terms of geography? And how quickly do you think you're going to go nationwide? Or what's the pacing for that at this point?

Alfred T. Mockett

Analyst

Okay. Well, first of all, the digital strategy is rolled out, footprint wide, throughout our 28-state patch. We have 2 pilots running at the moment, one in Philadelphia, one in Atlanta. And we're going to need a quarter or 2 under our belt to evaluate those results before we extend the rollout.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Got it. And Alfred, can you talk a little bit about the number of partnerships you made in progress? And just tell us specifically what they allow you to do in terms of marketing to your customer? What kind of products and leverage they allow to give you to make a more compelling sales pitch?

Alfred T. Mockett

Analyst

Oh my goodness, yes, well, certainly, I'll just go down on the list. Gigya, we're using their tools for social registration, which allows people to use Facebook credentials to log onto DexKnows.com, and bring all their special friends with them. And so that's a big outlook for sales as we start through exploratory work in social media and how to monetize social media. Google is pretty straightforward, so that's the end [ph] partnership, and they're providing leads and clicks for us. Hostopia, they do the website development, the mobile website and the web hosting for our customers. PaperG is a display-appetizing creation. StudioNow got some video services, and xAd is doing the mobile advertising network for us as we extend our reach there, and Yahoo! and Bing are more SEM top players. And if we're looking for best-of-breed and then we ramp that up with the Dex best-of-breed packaging, and so we selectively put these into bundles to provide compelling value propositions, which take all the problems away from the small and medium business in terms of you don't want somebody installing mufflers [ph] during the day and coming by -- coming at home to do sort of ad buys at night, do you?

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Right. And Greg, I know there's going to be a lender call later in the day. I was curious on the comment of $200 billion of debt retirement or buyback, is that over the anticipated 2 year period? Or what's the sense of -- or what's the timing of that amount?

Gregory W. Freiberg

Analyst

Right, so thanks for that. That would actually be the target that we want to commence after receiving approval on the amendment. I hate to look too far ahead because I want to respect that process. But that's the amount we're targeting shortly after we expect to receive approval on that amendment.

Operator

Operator

Your last question is from Jonathan Levine, private investor. Jonathan B. Levine - Jefferies & Company, Inc., Research Division: Just a quick follow-up, the $200 million, was that face?

Gregory W. Freiberg

Analyst

That is correct. That's face value. Jonathan B. Levine - Jefferies & Company, Inc., Research Division: Okay. And then just in terms of your cost reduction plans for this year, can you talk a little bit more detail in terms of timing? And it sounds like you guys are going to continue focusing on the print side?

Gregory W. Freiberg

Analyst

Yes, so thanks for that. I'll take that. That's the amount of expense reduction over the course of the full year. Some of that, we've already got locked in, actually, a fair bit of it, just given the run rate nature of this work if I was still trying to chase it in February. It's hard to land still within the year. So I've got a lot of that locked in already. It is targeting on print-related thoughts. What -- I'll just give you a little more flavor of that production and distribution. And then obviously, the support and admin aspect related to that, but it's what we would expect. Jonathan B. Levine - Jefferies & Company, Inc., Research Division: What percent of that would be kind of headcount?

Gregory W. Freiberg

Analyst

I'm not going into that level of detail because the way we look at this is more on that production side. Jonathan B. Levine - Jefferies & Company, Inc., Research Division: Okay. And then just one last question in terms of the kind of the jump in digital over the last 2 quarters. Can you just give a little bit more color because obviously, fourth quarter last year was a high double-digit kind of trended down. And so if you could just give a little more color on what really kind of drove it?

Alfred T. Mockett

Analyst

Sure. It's -- first of all, it's getting a highly trained and skilled sales force, who knows how to sell digital. Secondly, it's rounding out the product portfolio. Quite frankly, this time last year, you could have characterized the product more. We have a very rich and wholesome portfolio as we brought to market. I mean, this quarter, we're rounding out the proposition with a full-blown SEO product, high-end SEM and digital ad display. And it's getting well-received in the marketplace, and also the bundles are getting us to do some traction. The bundles not only reduce the rates of decline of print, but they also stimulate upsell on the digital side of the house. And then, of course, we get to our ultimate bundle, the Dex Guaranteed Actions bundle, which is -- accounts for more than 10% of the bundles, and that's where we have to lock in with some of the more challenging customers. Well, thank you for all your interest in Dex One and for your questions. I'd like to close with the following observations. Small and medium business has yet to participate in any meaningful economic recovery. Our market conditions are really very challenging. Industry forecasts anticipate print declines to continue at a similar rate to that experienced in recent years. We will address the print declines by taking out an additional $120 million of cost in order to maintain margins. We now have a much more competitive and complete digital product portfolio. Our digital bookings in the fourth quarter grew at 34%, bringing digital bookings to 19% of the total. We anticipate digital will continue to grow over 30% throughout 2012. Print digital bundles have been well-received in the marketplace, are selling well and now account for 40% of bookings. We plan on actively, opportunistically strengthening our balance sheet as evidenced by today's bank amendment announcement. Meanwhile, we enjoy significant near-term liquidity, continue to post industry-leading EBITDA margins and have valuable cash attributes to help deliver excellent free cash flow conversion. Thank you all for joining us.

Operator

Operator

This does conclude today's conference. Thank you for attending. You may disconnect at this time.