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Text: Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that Earl joined less than a month ago after the fiscal year end; and although quickly acclimating himself to the business, should you have any questions after today's call, please follow-up with Investor Relations accordingly.
It's hard to believe we're already at the close of 2020 and covering our fourth quarter results.
On the other hand, we're about to discuss only the second full quarter of COVID-19's impact on our financials.
In Q4, we reported revenues of approximately $1.5 billion for the quarter.
This represents a 9.9% decline versus last year and a considerable sequential improvement when comparing to our more than 15% decline in Q3.
Once again, our diversified client base demonstrates the resilience of our business.
Our Technology & Manufacturing industry group grew almost 7% and Business & Industry as well as Education posted revenue results that were only slightly down.
As one would expect, our Aviation segment drove the majority of our organic decline versus last year.
Technical Solutions also saw a large revenue decline and continued to see challenges in site access, which affected churn rates.
Positively, the backlog of committed work in Technical Solutions is healthy and the pipeline for '21 is robust.
So all things considered, it was a good revenue story for the quarter.
From a profit perspective, there was sustained demand for higher margin COVID-related work orders and our enhanced cleaning program, particularly in Business & Industry and Technology & Manufacturing.
Our financial performance was protected by our variable labor model and our ability to dynamically adjust staffing based on demand, and we continue to see profit arbitrage by efficiently managing labor as we scaled and consolidated staff during the quarter.
This has been one of the key contributors of our financial performance through the pandemic.
As a result of all of these factors, we grew earnings on both the GAAP and an adjusted basis versus last year.
Income from continued operations grew to $53.1 million or $0.78 per share.
On an adjusted basis, we delivered $46.7 million or $0.69 per share.
Adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 6.2% versus 5.6% last year.
Even more compelling, these results incorporate a non-cash reserve we took for an entertainment-related project within our Technical Solutions segment.
This was a unique circumstance in client, and not a reflection of our broader project portfolio within Technical Solutions.
This had 120 basis point impact on our adjusted EBITDA margin as well as our earnings.
So even when including this distinctive event, quarter-after-quarter, our performance continues to demonstrate consistent strength and execution.
In so many ways, 2020 will stand out as a pivotal year for ABM.
The pandemic has created a shift in the public mindset as professional Class A janitorial services are now unquestionably viewed as an essential and non-discretionary service.
Facility owners must demonstrate that they are providing clean, healthy and safe spaces that their occupants can trust.
Not only will this be required, but it will be a reflection of their brand.
Our response with our EnhancedClean service, gives our clients the peace of mind that comes with studied protocols and practices that keep facilities safe, and this offering creates even more distance between us and our competitors.
As a company that's been around for more than 110 years, ABM has withstood and grown during many global events.
But 2020 tested us in historic ways and I've never been more inspired by our organization.
I want to take a moment to recap some of our team's accomplishments more specifically.
Since March, we have been on the frontlines battling a pandemic that has disrupted nearly every industry.
While navigating a constantly evolving environment as we learn more about the virus, we prioritized the health and safety of our employees and our clients above all.
And when it came to PPE and our global supply chain, our procurement team did not disappoint when others in our space did, as they couldn't accommodate surging demands.
Also, we partnered with large cleaning contractors to form the Cleaning Coalition of America to represent our industry which played a critical role in restoring our country.
The Coalition plans to press for vaccine priority for our industry and developed a focused campaign on awareness around what differentiates best-in-class providers.
At ABM, we were particularly proud of how we proactively developed our own expert-backed certified programs to answer our client's needs with disinfection protocols, such as specialized training and signage, electrostatic spraying of disinfectant and air filtration.
And all of this is being supported by one of the most comprehensive marketing campaigns we've ever developed.
What shouldn't be minimized is the fact that we mobilized multiple cross-functional task forces across all the critical areas of our business that elevated our adeptness and will endure long past the pandemic.
These task forces led to improved operating procedures for labor management, sales and financial activities.
As an example, our approach to collections led us to generate more than $450 million in cash flow from operations and $420 million in free cash flow, both records for the firm.
This translates to nearly $1 billion of liquidity, including $400 million of cash, which is an extremely powerful position to be in during still uncertain times.
As we move into 2021, our intention is to capitalize on the momentum and shift from defense to offense.
Beginning with our executive team, we recently announced several appointments to further align our internal organizational structure to our business strategies.
Earl is a seasoned finance executive joining us from Best Buy, a leading Fortune 500 provider of consumer technology products and services with 125,000 employees in North America.
Earl held several executive positions across finance and most recently he was responsible for leading enterprise capital project planning plus transformation and procurement as well as supporting digital and technology and global real estate.
During his tenure at Best Buy, Earl also spearheaded several strategic initiatives targeting labor and logistics.
Earl joined less than three weeks ago but is quickly immersing himself in our business.
I'm also excited that Rene Jacobsen has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer and will lead all of our client-facing industry groups.
Since joining ABM eight years ago, Rene has consistently driven our operational performance and service excellence and his leadership was unquestionably instrumental in our successful navigation of 2020.
As COO, he will provide strategic guidance for our operations and drive our financial results across all of our platforms.
Rene will also continue to work with Sean Mahoney our new President of Sales and Marketing.
Since Sean's arrival in ABM in 2017, we've broken sales records each succeeding year and we achieved another record in 2020 with new sales at $1.2 billion, an amazing accomplishment for any year but especially in a year when so much of the economy was paused.
With both Rene and Sean's leadership, our operations and sales teams proved to be a powerful combination in 2020 and will undoubtedly exceed our expectations in 2021.
Speaking of 2021, later in the year, we will be sharing our refresh business strategy which builds on the positive changes and the acceleration we saw with our 2020 vision.
At that time, we will be reviewing our technology plan and path toward a digital platform for our employees and clients.
In fact, just as I discussed last quarter, some of our near-term investments are reengagements of IT projects that were put on hold due to the pandemic, like our ERP system and data management roadmap.
Other investments will be new given the opportunities that arose as a result of the pandemic such as EnhancedClean and the associated build of that program.
On that front, from a payback standpoint, we concluded the year with over $300 million in sales for our EnhancedClean program and COVID-related activities.
And we have some really exciting sales and marketing plans lined up over the next few months to continue accelerating and differentiating ourselves in the marketplace.
Of course, we will be responsible for our investment approach given how smooth the operating environment is but we recognize that we must plan for the long-term while also keeping our maniacal focus on what the near term may bring.
There's no doubt that conditions remain uncertain, particularly as we operate over the winter months.
COVID cases continue to rise throughout the country and I'm sure you've seen or experienced various stages of closures in your own communities.
Unfortunately, the operating environment isn't any more predictable than it was last quarter.
Clients are still generally managing for the shorter term as they react to resurgences, which caused occupancy volatility and they don't yet have the ability to predict when the workforce at large will return.
While vaccine news is encouraging, the widespread availability and use is also unknown today, which could impact the timing of recoveries and reopenings.
Therefore, our visibility remains limited and, as you would expect, we are not providing guidance for the full fiscal year in 2021.
However, we are going to share our near-term expectations for the first fiscal quarter.
This is the only time we anticipate guiding to such a short-term view, given the uniqueness of the moment.
For the first quarter, we expect GAAP earnings per share of $0.53 to $0.58 in earnings per diluted share or adjusted earnings per share of $0.60 to $0.65 per diluted share.
These ranges compare to last year's $0.41 and $0.39 respectively, both considerable increases on a year-over-year basis.
We also expect adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 6.1% to 6.4%, expanding from 4.3% last year.
At this time, we believe we may have seen the bottom in revenue compression as a result of COVID-19.
Sequentially, we could see similar to slightly better organic declines than what we saw in Q4.
We also anticipate good demand for pandemic-related work orders and EnhancedClean to continue throughout Q1.
The investments I discussed earlier should also continue into Q1, which you will see in both our segment profit and corporate lines.
In general, investments will continue throughout fiscal 2021 but the magnitude and cadence will be determined by both our long-term strategy and where we see the broader recovery going.
Earl will go through more detail on some of the assumptions for the quarter and year, which is obviously still dynamic.
Should we have better line of sight for the full year by Q2, we would anticipate providing full year guidance at that time.
This purpose has never meant more than it does today.
Our value to clients has risen because our teams have been the ambassadors of our brands and demonstrated the operational excellence that sets ABM apart from our competitors.
Nine months ago, we couldn't have imagined how 2020 would culminate for ABM.
We not only exceeded our pre-COVID expectations, but actually accelerated into a long-term EBITDA margin range of 5.5% to 6%.
Our 2020 vision journey has come to a climactic transition, leading us into the next phase of growth and excellence and building on a strong foundation to propel us into the future.
Next year, we'll also mark our 50th anniversary on the New York Stock Exchange and we look forward to celebrating this milestone at ABM's history.
So, while last year was certainly a memorable one for our organization, I'm now looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead and I am more excited than ever.
Now, to Earl, who'll cover our financial results.
I am so excited to be part of the ABM team.
I recognized early on that the culture here is so special and unique.
Even in just my first few weeks here, I have witnessed an exceptional drive to collaborate and execute that clearly sets ABM apart.
As I spend the next several months diving into the business, I look forward to developing and sharing my perspectives on our financial strategies over future calls.
Now, onto our quarterly results.
Revenue for the quarter were $1.5 billion, a total decrease of approximately 9.9% compared to last year, reflecting our second full quarter of COVID-19 revenue declines, particularly in the Aviation and Technical Solutions segment.
Partially offsetting this revenue decline was continued demand for higher margin work orders that we have been providing for our clients through the pandemic, particularly within business and industry and technology and manufacturing.
GAAP income from continuing operations was $53.1 million or $0.78 per diluted share compared to $48.1 million or $0.71 last year.
These results reflect the continuation of favorable claims trend related to health insurance reserves.
We saw a benefit of $21.3 million in self-insurance adjustments, of which $6.2 million was related to the current year.
On an adjusted basis, income from continued operations for the quarter increased to $46.7 million or $0.69 per diluted share compared to $44.7 million or $0.66 last year.
Similar to the third quarter, our GAAP and adjusted earnings growth versus last year was driven primarily by a significant increase in higher margin work orders as clients respond to COVID-19 as well as the continued management of direct labor to align with the demand environment for legacy services.
Partially offsetting these results was a $17.6 million reserve for notes receivables for a project related to a unique family entertainment customer within the Technical Solutions segment.
We are currently working with the client to resolve this issue.
In addition, operational investments in such areas as our EnhancedClean program continued, which was embedded in our operating segment results.
We also reengaged certain corporate projects such as investments in IT, that were previously put on hold as we prioritized business continuity during the pandemic.
This amount was approximately $10 million for the quarter.
On a year-over-year basis, the fourth quarter also experienced one less workday which equates to approximately $6 million in labor expense savings.
I'll speak about the cadence of our working days for fiscal 2021 later in the call.
But the number of days in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 will be comparable at 65 days.
Our overall performance during the quarter led to adjusted EBITDA of approximately $92.5 million at a margin rate of 6.2% compared to $93 million or 5.6% last year.
Now, for a discussion of our segment results.
As a reminder, these results reflect the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on revenue.
Operating profit reflects the mix shift toward higher margin work orders, labor modulation on legacy service demand, as well as operational investments such as EnhancedClean.
B&I revenues were $794.3 million, down just 1.6%.
We're encouraged by the sequential top line improvement compared to a decline of 6.3% last quarter.
The pandemic's negative impact on our parking and sports and entertainment business continued this quarter, similar to Q3.
Offsetting this COVID compression and the loss of some lower margin business, we had consistently strong demand for higher margins pandemic-related work orders.
This led to a more favourable mix of B&I business that led to operating profit growth of more than 65% to $84.7 million with a margin rate of 10.7%.
Another very resilient segment for us during the pandemic has been our T&M business.
Revenues were $245.5 million for the quarter, up 6.7% versus last year.
Operating profit grew more than 30% to $23.5 million for an operating margin of 9.6%.
This segment is particularly comprised of essential service providers such as biopharma, logistics and industrial manufacturing.
As a result, demand has been driven by work order and EnhancedClean work, more than offsetting any COVID-related and other account losses throughout the year.
In education, we reported revenue of $212.2 million, reflecting the new school season and the adoption of hybrid models across our K-12 and higher education portfolios.
Operating profit of $15.1 million or 7.1% margin reflects labor-related savings as a result of modified staffing at site locations during the pandemic.
As many of us are likely experiencing today with our own children, there remains a great deal of variability in this segment as different cities respond to resurgences, particularly ahead of the holiday season.
We continue to monitor developments and partner with our clients to address both day-to-day cleaning and disinfection needs, as well as longer term budget constraints, where our technical solutions offering can be compelling.
Aviation reported revenues of $141 million, and an operating profit of $3.5 million, clearly demonstrating how the pandemic continues to have a dramatic impact on the industry.
However, as discussed last quarter, our goal was to achieve a breakeven position or better by the fourth quarter.
We are pleased to have closed the year in a profitable position.
And now onto Technical Solutions, which reported revenues of $123.1 million compared to $175.5 million last year.
As a reminder, this segment experienced phenomenal growth last year, exceeding 25% during Q4 of fiscal '19.
In addition to tougher compare, site access has been disrupted by the pandemic.
Backlog remains in our healthy zone, which we've historically defined as above the $150 million.
We are actively monitoring our ability to churn through these projects.
The operating loss of $3.6 million was driven by a reserve of notes receivables related to a single entertainment customer and associated with the client increasing credit risk resulting from the pandemic, which we continue to pursue.
Turning to cash and liquidity.
During the quarter, we generated a record $198.7 million in cash flow from operations and free cash flow of $189.6 million for the quarter.
This led to $457.5 million in cash flow and $419.5 million of free cash flow for the year.
As a reminder, these results include $101 million in deferred U.S. payroll taxes as a result of the CARES Act, which will be due in 2021 and 2022.
Even excluding this, these are records for the year.
Due to our strong cash position, we ended the quarter with total debt, including standby letters of credit of $883.4 million and a bank adjusted leverage ratio of 2.1 times.
Additionally, we ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $394.2 million.
During the quarter, we paid our 218th consecutive quarterly cash dividend for a total distribution of approximately $12.3 million.
Now, for a quick recap of our annual results.
Total revenues were approximately $6 billion, a decrease of 7.9% versus last year.
The decrease in revenues was attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on business operations, predominately during the third and fourth quarters of this year.
Our GAAP income from continuing operations for fiscal 2020 was $0.2 million.
On an adjusted basis, income from continuing operations for the year was $163.5 million or $2.43 per diluted share.
Adjusted EBITDA for the year increased 6.6% to $361.9 million and we ended the fiscal year with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 6%.
Now, turning to our guidance outlook.
We are providing guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2021.
At this time, we expect GAAP earnings per share to be in a range of $0.53 to $0.58 and adjusted earnings per share to be in a range of $0.60 to $0.65.
Adjusted EBITDA margin is anticipated to be between 6.1% to 6.4%.
This guidance outlook assumes organic growth will be sequentially flat to slightly improved versus the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020.
We anticipate a higher margin work orders and labor efficiencies to continue into the first quarter.
And as Scott discussed extensively, we are planning to invest in fiscal 2021.
The first quarter will see the same level of investments that we saw during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 of approximately $10 million.
The first quarter will also have one less working day versus last year, which could lead to approximately $6 million in lower labor expense.
However, we are preparing for the potential for higher payroll taxes beginning in January for SUI, FUI, as well as federal taxes such as FICA.
With respect to interest, based on our operating expectations for the first quarter and our current cash position, we do not anticipate an increase in borrowings compared to the fourth quarter.
Therefore, sequentially, interest expense should decrease slightly due to the continuing amortization of our term loan.
The tax rate for the quarter is anticipated to be approximately 30%.
This rate excludes discrete tax items such as the work opportunity tax credit and a tax impact of stock-based compensation awards, the total impact of which we currently expect will be under $1 million in Q1.
With respect to cash flow, we assume government-related benefits in the U.K. and U.S., such as the CARES Act, will not recur.
This should be considered when ascertaining free cash flow for the new fiscal year.
However, we drove higher free cash flow as a result of sharper operational practices in response to the pandemic.
And we intend to continue to uphold these standards and disciplines.
Lastly, related to taxes, in fiscal '20, our full-year impact for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit was $4 million, reflecting the pandemic's impact on traditional hiring practices.
Currently, WATSI [phonetic] is expected to expire on December 31 of this calendar year.
However, we are actively monitoring Congress for related action, including an extension on WATSI.
On the heels of such strong results for 2020, I look forward to sharing more with you over the coming quarters.

user
q4 adjusted earnings per share $0.69 from continuing operations.
q4 gaap earnings per share $0.78 from continuing operations.
q4 revenue $1.5 billion versus refinitiv ibes estimate of $1.43 billion.
sees q1 adjusted earnings per share $0.60 to $0.65 from continuing operations.
sees q1 gaap earnings per share $0.53 to $0.58 from continuing operations.
expects its on-going operational and corporate investments will extend into fiscal 2021.

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