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Text: Slides for today's call are posted on our website, and we invite you to follow along.
Participants are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements which reflect management's opinions only as of today, February 26, 2020.
Information on potential factors and risks that could affect our actual results of operations is included in our SEC filings.
The company undertakes no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to the statements made in today's call, other than through filings made concerning this reporting period.
In addition, today's discussion will include references to non-GAAP measures.
Clean Harbors believes that such information provides an additional measurement and consistent historical comparison of its performance.
Starting on Slide 3.
Before discussing our financial results, I wanted to speak to our safety performance.
I'm proud to report that 2019 was the best safety year in our history, with our total recordable incident rate and other key metrics at record lows.
Over the past five years, we've seen our focus on safety drive real positive results for us, and have helped us protect our workforce better and better each year.
And our highest priority at the company is that each employee goes home uninjured every day.
Turning to our financials.
We concluded 2019 with another quarter of profitable growth in Q4, led by our environmental service segment which achieved better-than-expected results on a combination of higher landfill and incineration volumes, project wins and strengthen our field services.
On the top line, the SK branch business, and our field service group, offset some industrial and energy-related weakness and sluggishness in SK oil.
Revenues were up 1% for the quarter, and favorable business mix drove an 8% growth of adjusted EBITDA and a 100-basis-point improvement in margin.
For the full year, adjusted EBITDA grew by 10% on a 3% increase in revenue, and we generated record adjusted free cash flow of $208.5 million.
Credit for our results belongs to our entire team, who not only helped us set some financial records, but did so safely all year.
Turning to our segment results, beginning with environmental services on Slide 4.
Revenues were up modestly as our facilities and field services offset some softness in industrial and energy services.
High single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth fueled a 140-basis-point margin improvement as the segment topped 20% for the third straight quarter.
As it relates to our facilities, it was largely a volume story this quarter.
Incineration utilization increased to 89%, and landfill tonnage was up 40% from a year ago.
We had some sizable projects that fed both our incinerators and landfills.
Our average price per pound for incineration in Q4 was flat with a year ago primarily reflecting the effects of a large project that we did in Q4 2019, that delivered a significant amount of low-price volume.
Average incineration price per pound for the full year rose 11% from 2018, largely due to enhancements at our facilities which can now handle a mix of higher-value waste streams.
While there were no major emergency response events in the quarter, for the full year, we recorded approximately $15 million of ER revenue.
Moving to Slide 5.
Safety-Kleen revenue was up 2% on growth in our SK branch business and pricing of our core services which offset year-end weakness in base oil and blended pricing.
Adjusted EBITDA in the segment dipped 1% and margins declined from a year ago due to a lower pricing in SK oil and a drop in value of certain byproducts in our rerefining process in the early days of IMO 2020.
Parts washer services were up from a year ago, waste oil collection volumes were healthy at 55 million gallons, with a charge for oil rate that was higher than a year ago and above Q3's rate.
Our direct loop volumes grew by approximately 30% in the quarter, and the business accounted for 7% of total volumes sold in Q4.
Total blended product sales in Q4 were up 24% -- were 24%, up from 22% a year ago.
And for the full year, our volumes of direct lube sales grew by nearly 25%.
And we continuously, steadily grow this business.
And we believe we'll, ultimately, reach our long-term goals for blended volumes as the market for sustainable products continues to expand.
Turning to our strategic update on Slide 6.
Our outstanding team of employees is integral to our success and a competitive differentiator for Clean Harbors.
During 2018 and 2019, we made substantial investments in our workforce including greater retirement and healthcare benefits as well as higher employee compensation.
In 2020, we are again raising our 401(k) contributions and absorbing all healthcare cost increases resulting in millions more of incremental spend on our workforce.
In 2020, as we have in prior years, we're pursuing a broad array of cost savings that, we believe, will more than offset these investments.
Profitable growth remains a primary focus for us in 2020.
We've taken significant steps forward over the past three years, and we want to extend that momentum.
Our disposal recycling network will continue to be the cornerstone of our success.
In the coming year, we intend to further leverage our facilities and service locations through pricing and mix initiatives, along with greater project volumes and cross-selling opportunities.
We're also in the early stages of rolling out our new e-commerce platform to enable customers to request our products and some services online.
By taking a next-day delivery approach to delivering our products and services, we intend to make Clean Harbors and Safety-Kleen, much easier to do business with.
We've always been forward-thinking company as it relates to technology in our industry, and we think e-commerce holds great promise for us.
And in addition, we're rolling out our -- the use of our AI technology to have our customers more directly interface with our waste profile systems to expedite the approval and acceptance process for hazardous waste disposal services.
Customers will be able to use our e-commerce platform to schedule their own waste pickups.
The customer experience will be much more improved and our ability to manage orders with delivery services will be enhanced as well.
Another key strategy for this year is capitalizing on the shifting market conditions brought on by IMO 2020.
We've already seen the rule drive changes in the value of high-sulfur fuel oil as well as low-sulfur fuel oil.
However, the crude oil and base oil markets, today, remain in a state of flux, with pricing disruptions caused by the global coronavirus impacts.
While the IMO regulation took effect in January 1, ships have until March to come into compliance with the rule, so we don't think any one will have any real clarity on the impact from IMO 2020 for another couple of months.
In the interim, we're aggressively managing our spread.
With the decline in high-sulfer fuel oil that began late last year, we're continuing to push for increasing charge for oil rates on our used motor oil and maximizing our collection volumes.
In addition, in 2020, we expect to pursue emerging growth opportunities, such as PFAS and take full advantage of the growing market acceptance of our sustainability offerings.
And as I outlined on our Q3 call, we provide a broad array of sustainability-focused services that go beyond, are being the largest collector and recycler of waste oil.
Sustainability is core to our brand which is why we made it central theme of our recent marketing campaign.
Sustainability is part of Clean Harbors' DNA for 40 years and we expect it to only become a larger part of our story in years ahead.
Turning to Slide 7.
We continue to regularly evaluate all four elements of our capital allocation strategy.
In 2019, we invested just over $200 million in capital assets, added two successful bolt-on acquisitions, divested a small non-core business in Western Canada and repurchased our shares.
In terms of our debt, we refinanced the final tranche -- large tranche that was due in 2021, reducing our overall borrowing cost.
And as Mike will cover in his remarks, we enter 2020 with a strong balance sheet -- strong cash balance, and we'll look to generate our highest level of returns with that capital.
In summary, we achieved record adjusted EBITDA, adjusted free cash flow and TRIR in 2019.
The underlying dynamics in both our operating segments remain positive, and we anticipate a strong 2020 which also happens to be our 40th anniversary as a company.
And for me, personally, it's something that I'm really proud of, and we have lots of plans to celebrate that exciting milestone with the teams this year.
Turning to Slide 9, in our income statement.
As Alan indicated, we delivered good profitable growth in Q4.
We increased revenue by $12.8 million which represents 1% growth from the prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA grew by $10.3 million.
This reflects the mix of business we experienced in the quarter, pricing initiatives and operational efficiencies.
From a gross profit perspective, we saw a decline in Q4 on both an absolute dollar and percentage basis from a year ago due to business mix including the project work associated with the 2008 California wildfires and higher costs related to labor, insurance and healthcare expenses.
Just to touch on insurance for a moment, like many companies, we are seeing costs in nearly every type of insurance rising, particularly property, auto and excess casualty.
We'll continue to drive our cost-saving initiatives to offset these higher insurance costs as well as to continue to focus on safety to lower incidents and incident severity.
On a full-year basis, gross profit increased by approximately $30 million, with gross margin essentially flat year over year.
SG&A expenses were down significantly in the quarter compared with a year ago, declining by $18.4 million which drove a 240-basis-point improvement in percentage terms.
In Q4 of 2018, we had a significant bad debt charge associated with the customer bankruptcy.
Even after that onetime item, we had a considerable improvement driven by higher revenue within both operating segments and lower corporate costs due to a series of cost-saving initiatives, moving employees to lower-cost jurisdictions and reduced incentive compensation compared with a year ago.
On a full-year basis, SG&A expenses were down 110 basis points.
For 2020, using the midpoint of our guidance range, we would expect SG&A to be up in absolute dollars from the prior year and slightly up on a percentage basis, given the onetime benefits we experienced last year.
Depreciation and amortization in Q4 was down slightly to $77.4 million.
While it was up slightly for the full year as a result of some assets we've added from tuck-in acquisitions and capital spending.
For 2020, we expect depreciation and amortization in the range of $290 million to $300 million which is consistent with the past two years.
Income from operations in Q4 increased 26% to $52.3 million reflecting the combination of our revenue growth and improved SG&A spend.
This is the same story with the full year as our annual income from operations also rose 26%.
On a GAAP basis, earnings per share was $0.43 in Q4 versus $0.29 a year ago.
Our adjusted earnings per share was $0.42.
For the full-year 2019, earnings per share was $1.74 versus $1.16 in the prior year, and adjusted earnings per share rose 50% to $1.86 from $1.26 in 2018.
Turning to the balance sheet on Slide 10.
Cash and short-term marketable securities at year-end totaled $414.4 million, up more than $85 million from September and in line with our expectations.
For the full year, we increased cash on the balance sheet by $135 million.
Our current and long-term debt obligations at year-end were about $1.56 billion, down $11 million from the prior year -- from a year ago primarily due to mandatory payments under our term loan.
Our weighted average cost of debt is about four and a half percent through a healthy mix of fixed and variable debt.
We concluded the year with a strong balance sheet, and we sit at 2.1 times levered at year-end on a net debt basis.
Turning to cash flows on Slide 11.
Cash from operations in Q4 was up slightly to $128.5 million.
capex, net of disposals, was $39.1 million, up from a year ago resulting in adjusted free cash flow in the quarter of $89.4 million.
From an annual perspective, we ended 2019 with net capex spend of $204.7 million, and adjusted free cash flow was $208.5 million, in line with our free cash flow guidance.
For 2020, we expect net capex of $195 million to $215 million which, at the midpoint, is essentially flat with the prior year.
This number excludes the capital spend of $20 million to $25 million related to the purchase of, and investments to be made in our corporate headquarters in 2020.
Given the expansion plans we have in this property, it made economic sense to make this onetime purchase of our headquarters as it recently came on the market.
During the quarter, we repurchased 59,000 shares of our stock at an average price of $84.28 a share for a total of $5 million.
For the full year, we bought back 299,000 shares at an average price of $71.65 a share for a total of $21.4 million.
We remain committed to returning capital to our shareholders through our buyback program, and we'll continue to be opportunistic based on the stock price.
Moving to guidance on Slide 12.
Based on our 2019 results and current market conditions, we expect 2020 adjusted EBITDA in the range of $545 million to $585 million.
The midpoint of that range represents a 5% increase from 2019.
Looking at our guidance from a quarterly perspective, we expect growth in Q1 adjusted EBITDA to be in line with the full year with steady growth in the business, pricing gains and operational efficiencies.
Here's our full-year 2020 guidance translates from a segment perspective.
In environmental services, we expect adjusted EBITDA to increase by a low single-digit percentage in 2020.
This growth will be driven by continued higher value weight gains in our facilities, pricing gains, projects and increases in various lines of business across multiple regions.
For Safety-Kleen, we anticipate adjusted EBITDA growth in the mid- to high-single-digit range.
We expect to see steady profitability growth in the SK branch business due to pricing and operational efficiencies.
We expect an expansion in Safety-Kleen Oil based on more effective spread management and continued increase in blended sales.
Our guidance today does not include any favorable impact from IMO 2020, as it is too early to determine its impact.
Our corporate segment -- in our corporate segment, we now expect negative adjusted EBITDA to grow by a low-single-digit percentage from 2019 due to increases in benefits as we continue to make investments in our workforce.
Based on our current guidance and working capital assumptions, we expect 2020 adjusted free cash flow in the range of $210 million to $240 million.
In summary, Q4 was a solid conclusion to 2019.
Overall, the company delivered an excellent year as we met or exceeded our guidance in all four quarters.
Margin performance and cash flow generation throughout the year were strong and consistent with our goal to deliver on our promises and hit our targets.
As Alan outlined, our core lines of business entered 2020 with healthy momentum and some favorable trends.
We expect another profitable year -- another profitable growth -- another year of profitable growth for Clean Harbors in 2020.
And finally, I wanted to mention that in addition to our normal full slate of more than a dozen conferences and investor events, we intend to host an Investor Day in the back half of this year.
We are currently targeting mid-September, but we'll issue a save-the-date announcement once we finalize a date and location.
At this event, we will showcase our broad management team strength, outline our strategies for growth for each business and provide some longer-term targets for the company.

user
compname reports q4 earnings per share of $0.43.
q4 earnings per share $0.43.
q4 adjusted earnings per share $0.42.
provides 2020 adjusted ebitda guidance of $545 million to $585 million.
adjusted free cash flow guidance of $210 million to $240 million for 2020.

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