Key Highlights
- FY 2019 Adjusted Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA results in-line with guidance
- Concluded strategic and operational review
- Identified go-forward investment plan to drive growth and improve margins
- Continued progress on growth, quality, and efficiency transformational pillars
FLORHAM PARK, NJ, February 20, 2020 - Conduent (NASDAQ: CNDT), a business process services and solutions company, today announced its fourth quarter and full year 2019 financial results and the conclusion of its strategic and operational review.
Cliff Skelton, Conduent CEO, stated, "We finished the year in-line with the outlook that we set when I began as CEO in August. We have continued to make progress on our Company transformation, focusing on the three pillars of growth, quality, and efficiency. We are building a strong team and are attracting top-tier talent to the organization to help drive change and improve our market positioning."
Skelton continued, "Along with our board, we have also completed our strategic and operational review. As a result, we have identified a go-forward investment strategy to drive revenue stabilization and sales growth, efficiency opportunities, and increased quality, leveraging a diversified and prioritized approach. We considered potential divestitures and given the attractiveness of the businesses in our portfolio, we did not find proposals to be sufficiently compelling at this time. We believe our current portfolio coupled with our transformation efforts and improved leadership, will position us well over time to drive both top-line and EBITDA growth."
Performance Commentary and Strategic Update
FY 2019 results were in line with prior Company guidance, with adjusted revenue near the top end of the guidance range and Adjusted EBITDA near the mid-point of the guidance range. Despite signings for the year being weaker than desired, the Company is seeing strong initial signings performance in Q1 2020. While these early signs of increased client confidence are encouraging, it is still only a preliminary indication.
Since August 2019, the Company has been engaged in a strategic and operational review. Conduent concluded the review resulting in a plan to invest in certain businesses for revenue stabilization, margin expansion and efficiency opportunities in certain offerings and to invest for growth opportunities in other high-potential offerings.
The Company has also established a go-forward transformation initiative to drive growth, quality, and efficiency. The Company developed a standard set of key performance metrics to align with these three pillars and is modifying how it measures and rewards. The Company also continued to make progress in operational improvements, including in IT and delivery performance. Conduent has hired additional key employees in senior-level positions, has launched a client retention program, and is re-defining the brand and go-to-market approach.
Key Financial Fourth Quarter 2019 Results
- Revenue of $1,099 million, down (14.3)% year-over-year.
- Adjusted Revenue, excluding divestitures, down (6.7)% year-over-year, or (6.5)% in constant currency.
- Q4 2019 GAAP net loss of $(581) million compared to $(140) million in Q4 2018.
- Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes the impact of divestitures, was $130 million, down (13.3)% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA margin also excluding divestitures, was 11.8%, down (90) bps year-over-year.
- Pre-tax income was ($635) million compared to ($143) million in Q4 2018. This includes a goodwill impairment charge of $601 million in Q4 2019.
- Diluted EPS from continuing operations was ($2.76) versus ($0.69) in the same period last year.
- The Company reported adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations of $0.18 compared to $0.26 in Q4 2018.
- The Company had cash inflow from operations of $348 million during the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to cash inflows of $253 million in Q4 2018.
Key Financial Full Year 2019 Results
- Full year 2019 revenue was $4,467 million down (17.2)% compared to 2018.
- Adjusted revenue, excluding divestitures, was $4,431 million, down (4.5)% compared with 2018 or (4.0)% in constant currency.
- The Company reported 2019 GAAP net loss of ($1,934) million compared to ($416) million in 2018.
- Adjusted EBITDA for full year 2019, which excludes the impact of divestitures, was $493M, down (7.9)% when compared to the prior full year. Adjusted EBITDA margin, which excludes the impact of divestitures, was 11.1%, down (40) bps Y/Y when compared to the prior full year.
- Pre-tax income was ($2,106) million compared to ($395) million in 2018. This includes goodwill impairment charges totaling $1,952 million throughout the year.
- Diluted EPS from continuing operations was ($9.29) versus ($2.06) in 2018.
- The Company reported adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations of $0.62 compared to $1.05 in 2018.
- The Company had cash inflow from operations of $132 million during the year 2019 compared to cash inflows of $283 million in 2018.
2020 Financial Outlook
Conduent established FY 2020 guidance.
The following guidance ranges do not include incremental growth investment associated with the strategic review:
|
$ in Millions |
FY 2019 Reported |
Completed Divestiture Impact(3) |
Adjusted FY 2019(4) |
FY 2020 Guidance |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue (Constant Currency)(1,2) |
$4.47B |
$(36)M |
$4.43B |
Down (6) - (8)% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adj. EBITDA / Adj. EBITDA Margin(2) |
$494M |
$(1)M |
$493M / 11.1% |
10.5% - 11.5% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adj. Free Cash Flow(2) as % of Adj. EBITDA |
|
|
12% |
15 - 20% |
Note: Please refer to the "Non-GAAP Outlook" in Appendix for certain non-GAAP information regarding outlook.
(1) Year-over-year revenue growth comparison at constant currency.
(2) Refer to Appendix for Non-GAAP reconciliations of revenue, adjusted EBITDA / margin and adjusted FCF and for impact from completed divestitures. FY 2019 adjusted FCF adjusted for Texas-related litigation and other specified items, but does not exclude cash generated from operations of businesses we have since divested.
(3) Includes all completed divestitures.
(4) Adjusted for completed divestitures referenced in Appendix.
Brian Webb-Walsh, CFO of Conduent, stated, "We ended the year with revenue at the top end and Adjusted EBITDA near the mid-point of our guidance ranges. Our balance sheet remains strong and we expect to generate meaningful operating cash flow in 2020, providing adequate liquidity to invest in the business. We will continue to follow a disciplined approach, investing to drive long-term shareholder value."
Conference Call
Management will present the results during a conference call and webcast on February 20, 2020 at 5 p.m. ET.
The call will be available by live audio webcast with the news release and online presentation slides at https://investor.conduent.com/.
The conference call will also be available by calling 1-877-883-0383 (international dial-in 1-412-902-6506) at approximately 4:45 p.m. ET. The entry number for this call is 7437148.
A recording of the conference call will be available by calling 1-877-344-7529, or 1-412-317-0088 one hour after the conference call concludes on February 20, 2020. The replay ID is 10132433.
For international calls, please select a dial-in number from:
https://services.choruscall.com/ccforms/replay.html
About Conduent
Conduent delivers mission-critical ​services and solutions on behalf of businesses and governments – creating exceptional outcomes for its clients and the millions of people who count on them. Through people, process and technology, Conduent solutions and services automate processes, improve efficiencies, reduce costs and enable revenue growth. It’s why most Fortune 100 companies and over 500 government entities depend on Conduent every day to manage their essential interactions and move their operations forward.
Conduent’s differentiated services and solutions improve experiences for millions of people every day, including two-thirds of all insured patients in the U.S., 11 million employees who use its HR Services, and nearly eleven million traveler transactions through toll systems daily. Conduent’s solutions deliver exceptional outcomes for its clients including $17 billion in medical bill savings, up to 40% efficiency increase in HR operations, and up to 40% improvement in processing costs, while driving higher end-user satisfaction. Learn more at www.conduent.com.
Non-GAAP Measures
We have reported our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). In addition, we have discussed our financial results using non-GAAP measures. We believe these non-GAAP measures allow investors to better understand the trends in our business and to better understand and compare our results. Accordingly, we believe it is necessary to adjust several reported amounts, determined in accordance with GAAP, to exclude the effects of certain items as well as their related tax effects. Management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide an additional means of analyzing the results of the current period against the corresponding prior period. These non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as a substitute for, the Company's reported results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable U.S. GAAP measures and should be read only in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our management regularly uses supplemental non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate our business and make operating decisions, and providing such non-GAAP financial measures to investors allows for a further level of transparency as to how management reviews and evaluates our business results and trends. These non-GAAP measures are among the primary factors management uses in planning for and forecasting future periods. Compensation of our executives is based in part on the performance of our business based on certain non-GAAP measures. Refer to the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section attached to this release for a discussion of these non-GAAP measures and their reconciliation to the reported GAAP measures.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release and any attachments to this release may contain "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “will,” "aim," “should,” "continue to," and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current beliefs, assumptions and expectations and are subject to a number of factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. As with any projection or forecast, forward-looking statements are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Our actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements.
Important factors and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: government appropriations and termination rights contained in our government contracts; risk and impact of potential goodwill and other asset impairments; our ability to renew commercial and government contracts, including contracts awarded through competitive bidding processes; our ability to recover capital and other investments in connection with our contracts; our ability to attract and retain necessary technical personnel and qualified subcontractors; our ability to deliver on our contractual obligations properly and on time; competitive pressures; our significant indebtedness; changes in interest in outsourced business process services; our ability to obtain adequate pricing for our services and to improve our cost structure; claims of infringement of third-party intellectual property rights; the failure to comply with laws relating to individually identifiable information, and personal health information and laws relating to processing certain financial transactions, including payment card transactions and debit or credit card transactions; breaches of our information systems or security systems or any service interruptions; our ability to estimate the scope of work or the costs of performance in our contracts; our continuing emphasis on and shift toward technology-led digital transactions; customer decision-making cycles and lead time for customer commitments; our ability to collect our receivables, including those for unbilled services; a decline in revenues from, or a loss of, or a reduction in business from, or failure of significant clients; fluctuations in our non-recurring revenue; our failure to maintain a satisfactory credit rating; our ability to attract and retain key employees; increases in the cost of telephone and data services or significant interruptions in such services; our failure to develop new service offerings; our ability to modernize our information technology infrastructure and consolidate data centers; our ability to comply with data security standards; our ability to receive dividends or other payments from our subsidiaries; changes in tax and other laws and regulations; changes in government regulation and economic, strategic, political and social conditions; and other factors that are set forth in the “Risk Factors” section, the “Legal Proceedings” section, the “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” section and other sections in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as well as in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements made by us in this release speak only as of the date on which they are made. We are under no obligation to, and expressly disclaim any obligation to, update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or otherwise.
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Media Contacts:
Sean Collins, Conduent, +1-310-497-9205, sean.collins2@conduent.com
Investor Contacts:
Alan Katz, Conduent, +1-973-526-7173, alan.katz@conduent.com
Rebecca Koar, Conduent, +1-862-308-7105, rebecca.koar@conduent.com