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Text: With me is Bruce Caswell, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Rick Nadeau, Chief Financial Officer.
Please remember that such statements are only predictions.
Actual events and results may differ materially as a result of the risks we face, including those discussed in Item 1A of our annual report on Form 10-K.
Management uses this information in its internal analysis of results and believes this information may be informative to investors in gauging the quality of our financial performance, identifying trends in our results and providing meaningful period-to-period comparisons.
And with that, I'll hand the call over to Rick.
Revenue for the first quarter was in line with our expectations.
Our revenue growth was principally driven by new work related to the COVID pandemic response where Maximus continues to play an integral role in contact tracing, disease investigation, vaccination support, unemployment insurance programs and other key initiatives.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2021, our COVID response work contributed approximately $160 million in revenue.
As expected, top and bottom line growth were offset by ongoing impacts of the global pandemic tied to program changes on volume-based contracts that were implemented at the direction of our customers.
As we discussed last quarter, these changes, including halting Medicaid redeterminations in the United States, are designed to ensure that beneficiaries have uninterrupted access to vital government benefits during this global health crisis.
Total company operating margin was 9.3% for the first quarter of fiscal 2021.
Diluted earnings per share were $1.03 per share.
Both operating margin and earnings were in line with our expectations with some variability by segment.
Our operations outside the United States delivered results favorable to our expectations, which offset lower operating income from the U.S. Federal Segment due to the timing of finalizing a contract which will now be recorded in the second quarter.
Let me review segment financial results in our typical order starting with U.S. Services.
First quarter revenue in the U.S. Services Segment increased 23.3% to $384.9 million.
While revenue growth was driven by an estimated $114 million of COVID response work, the operating margin was depressed by temporary program changes and lower revenue from performance based contracts as a result of the global pandemic.
Operating margin for the U.S. Services Segment was 16% for the first quarter.
As discussed last quarter, we continue to experience a significant revenue and profit headwind resulting from lower volumes on some of our largest Medicaid programs.
As a reminder, many state customers are currently utilizing enhanced U.S. federal matching funds for Medicaid.
However, they must adhere to certain conditions, including a pause in Medicaid redeterminations to ensure beneficiaries have continued access to vital healthcare services during a global public health crisis.
Those redeterminations are a significant level of activity within certain programs we operate.
Our full year expectations for the U.S. Services Segment remain unchanged with a 16.5% to 17.5% full year margin predicted.
Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2021 for the U.S. Federal Services Segment increased 10.6% to $405.2 million.
The Census contract contributed $60 million, which was $10 million less than the prior year.
Excluding the Census contract, organic growth for this segment was 13.5% and driven principally by an estimated $46 million of revenue from COVID response work as we continue to provide needed support to government in responding to the pandemic.
This includes work with the IRS supporting the Cares Act, which, as a reminder, is the first time the IRS has used contracted agents on this large of a scale.
The U.S. Federal Services Segment had approximately $4 million of revenue and profit shift out of the first quarter due to a delay in executing a contract.
It has been signed, and we will record the benefit in the second quarter of fiscal 2021.
The operating margin was 7.5%, which was slightly short of our expectations for a strong first quarter in this segment.
Our full year expectations for the U.S. Federal Services Segment remain the same with a 6% to 7% full year margin predicted.
Looking to the second quarter, including the aforementioned $4 million of revenue and profit we will recognize, the segment's margin is expected to step down.
This illustrates how we continue to have more overall variability in results due to the pandemic.
We are pleased to have secured COVID-response work to backfill some of the temporary shortfalls created by reduced volumes, revenue and profit from accretive performance-based contracts.
Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2021 for the Outside the U.S. Segment increased 11.5% to $155.4 million.
Organic growth, excluding the effects of currency, was at 4.8%.
Operating income for the segment in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 was positive $4.5 million for an operating margin of 2.9%.
The better-than-expected results for the quarter was primarily due to job placement activities in Australia, driven by a seasonal spike in demand for qualified job seekers.
As Australia started to emerge from the pandemic during our first quarter, employers needed to quickly fill many retail and travel-related jobs during the busy holiday and travel season.
The Australian team did an extraordinary job in successfully managing this influx of demand, but we view this seasonal spike as unique to the first quarter of fiscal 2021.
We continue to see strong demand for employment services in all of our international operations.
We have had positive developments since our last earnings call related to increasing demand and rising volumes for employment services.
We anticipate that volumes from current programs, most notably in Australia, and supplemented by new work, will drive revenue growth in the second half of fiscal 2021.
It is important to note that the new work consists of outcomes-based arrangements for employment services.
They are designed to ensure that contractors can be held accountable and incentivized to achieve the job placement and retention outcomes that matter to government.
This new employment services work drives our revenue estimates upward, but these programs are expected to generate losses in their early stages.
However, we target operating margins within our desired corporate average over the life of such programs.
We presently estimate that these start-ups will put the Outside the U.S. Segment in a loss position in the second quarter with steady improvement through the remainder of the year.
We now expect that the segment will be approximately breakeven for fiscal 2021.
Maximus enjoys a long history, strong reputation and demonstrated success in delivering employment services.
We believe the investment required will position us for favorable economics over the life of the contracts, which outweighs the temporary adverse impact in profit for the remainder of fiscal 2021.
We believe such programs are a good avenue to create substantial long-term shareholder value.
Let me turn to cash flow items and the balance sheet.
We had no draws on our corporate credit facility at December 31, 2020, and $132.6 million of cash and cash equivalents.
Cash from operations and free cash flow of $98.1 million and $89 million, respectively, were strong and contributed to our already strong balance sheet.
DSO was 75 days at December 31, 2020, compared to 77 days at September 30, 2020.
Let me touch briefly on capital allocation.
While we generally operate under an essential provider designation, we remain aware of budget pressures impacting our customers.
However, with our corporate credit facility and the aforementioned strong cash flows and balance sheet, liquidity is not a concern.
We continue to have a bias toward M&A as a means to drive long-term organic growth.
Our M&A program continues to evaluate prospects while we remain prudent stewards of capital and selective in our evaluations.
Our strong balance sheet and good cash from operations provides us good access to capital to fund acquisitions.
We remain committed to future quarterly cash dividends and share repurchases will continue to be made opportunistically.
While it is still early in the year, recent awards, scope increases and contract extensions have provided us with cautious optimism as we consider our full year guidance.
As a result of these positive developments, we are raising our full year guidance for fiscal 2021.
For the full year, we expect revenue will now range between $3.4 billion and $3.525 billion for fiscal 2021, driven by new work in support of government's ongoing response to COVID.
Additionally, we expect diluted earnings per share will range between $3.55 and $3.75 for fiscal 2021.
Our fiscal 2021 cash from operations are projected to now be between $350 million and $400 million and free cash flow between $310 million and $360 million.
Our expectations for our effective income tax rate is between 25.75% and 26.50% and for weighted average shares to be between 62.1 million and 62.2 million.
As we have long said, we often experience fluctuations in our quarterly financial results, which has only been exacerbated by the pandemic.
However, the management team aims to provide as much transparency into our work as reasonably possible.
So based on what we know today, we still expect a decrease in revenue and earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 compared to the first quarter.
Current second quarter consensus estimates show revenue of $773 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.73.
At the present time, we expect to be above consensus revenue and earnings estimates for the second quarter.
Consequently, fourth quarter consensus revenue of $875 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.02 are above our current expectations.
While the new COVID-response work is providing a short-term positive tailwind, it has shorter periods of performance than our core contracts.
As we have cautioned previously, there is no assurance that the tailing off of the positive impacts of the COVID-response work will coincide with the return of our core contracts to previous volume and performance levels.
Our bottom line continues to be somewhat tempered by unfavorable headwinds related to the pandemic and the temporary changes on mature core programs, most notably in the United States and United Kingdom.
The result has been a reduction in accretive revenue, which continues to temper operating income margins and diluted earnings per share.
We anticipate that as we emerge from the pandemic, many of these programs will begin to return to historical volume levels.
Factors such as the end of the Public Health Emergency declaration in the United States and when we resume face-to-face assessments in the United Kingdom are particularly important to the pattern of expected recovery.
The effects of budget challenges, further relief packages and other changes in policies or legislation are some, but not necessarily all, factors that can impact our assumptions for fiscal 2021 and beyond.
I would like to end by saying that Bruce and I are proud of the team at Maximus for remaining on track to deliver solid performance this fiscal year.
Following the outbreak of COVID, there were many unknowns that we had to work through.
Unknowns remain, and we are not free from the impacts of the pandemic, but we have a solid footing, which gave us the confidence to raise guidance.
Last month, Maximus announced the planned retirement of our friend and trusted colleague, Rick Nadeau.
David Mutryn, Senior Vice President of Finance, will assume the role of CFO effective December 1, 2021.
I look forward to working with both Rick and David over the next nine months as we continue to execute our corporate strategy.
With the election of President Biden, we're cautiously optimistic regarding the stated policy initiatives from the administration and the potential favorable tailwinds that may be created for companies like Maximus.
The administration has already taken actions to increase access to affordable insurance for Americans through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid.
Over the course of the administration, we will likely see a meaningful increase in funding for social welfare programs and, of course, public health programs.
Improving access to affordable healthcare is a top priority of the Biden administration, and the President has advocated building upon the Affordable Care Act, among other measures, to broaden coverage options for Americans.
Additionally, as we navigate through the pandemic, we believe we will see further policy initiatives that strengthen the public health infrastructure and a corresponding effort to more broadly support vulnerable populations.
President Biden has already expressed intent to tackle these challenges, and indeed, many of his early executive orders look to expand the public health workforce to provide vital services to individuals.
While it's still early days in the Biden administration, we're cautiously optimistic that the areas we have seen emphasized thus far will be reflected in subsequent budget and legislative priorities that set the stage for capitalizing on opportunities to partner with government in helping to achieve their policy initiatives.
Our COVID response work is a prime example of the demonstrated value of our services and the relationships we've developed with our clients.
In a time of unprecedented challenges, we are grateful to have earned the opportunity to provide needed assistance.
These contracts have served as a revenue driver, offsetting some of the unfavorable impacts on operations that are experiencing a pandemic-related temporary slowdown or pause.
Initially, our COVID work centered around more immediate pandemic-driven needs, such as contact tracing, disease investigation and unemployment insurance programs.
Our work has expanded as government demand has increased into new areas.
We launched efforts to support states in responding to public questions about vaccination registration, scheduling and administration quickly, efficiently and equitably.
We have hired several thousand employees to support these state and local efforts.
At the federal level, as you know, we also operate the CDC help line, known as CDC Info.
We recently added another 150 individuals as we scale up our operations yet again to answer questions regarding vaccinations.
Supporting several states and the CDC, we are the most experienced government partner in the market to provide vaccine administration citizen services.
Additionally, our U.S. Federal Services Segment scaled up to 3,200 agents from 1,500 to support the IRS with the next round of the economic incentive payments.
Further, in order to improve the user experience and drive efficiency, we implemented our interactive virtual agent system in response to the increased demand.
As Rick noted, we are also experiencing increased demand for our employment support services around the globe.
The economic impacts of the global pandemic have left many unemployed and in need of vital support in finding work.
It's important to remember that the pace at which different countries are emerging from the pandemic varies widely.
Some countries have progressed further in managing the spread of the pandemic and are now turning their attention to tackling the many residual challenges, including the economy and unemployment.
Maximus has a proven track record in delivering employment services and an earned reputation as a trusted long-term partner who delivers outcomes that matter.
Our continued investments support our position as a partner of choice over the long term, outweighing any temporary and short-term profit impacts in fiscal year 2021.
While the COVID work itself is comparatively short-term in nature, crisis support itself has a longer trajectory.
While this pandemic was certainly unprecedented, this is not our first nor our last call to action in a time of public health or economic crisis.
We will continue to be there to support our clients and citizens in times of need with critical services and solutions.
Our work is portable, adaptable from agency to agency and department to department, whether it's the IRS, CDC, FEMA, state health departments or others around the world.
We adapt from crisis to crisis, whether a global health pandemic, a natural disaster or economic challenges.
Along with the launch of Maximus Public Health, we view our capabilities in contingency planning for our government customers and the rapid implementation of citizen assistance services as a core competency and elemental to the long-term relationships that underpin our business.
Looking outside of the pandemic, I have previously talked about our solutions that are authorized under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP.
Our FedRAMP certifications meet the most stringent security requirements of federal agencies as we aim to deliver innovative and cost-effective cloud-based solutions that support mission objectives and provide the highest quality of citizen services, thereby transforming the user experience.
We fielded a survey of government technology leaders across federal, state and local agencies to gain insights about where agencies are in their cloud adoption journey and how they perceive the use of FedRAMP authorized cloud solutions to support their modernization and transformation initiatives.
The vast majority of respondents recognized benefits from moving to a FedRAMP authorized solution beyond adhering to mandates.
This survey further affirmed our solid positioning to provide a range of FedRAMP secured cloud solutions as well as our clients' demand for this service.
I will now turn to new awards and pipeline as of December 31.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2021, signed awards were $594 million of total contract value at December 31.
Further, at December 31, there were another $1.14 billion worth of contracts that had been awarded but not yet signed.
Let's turn our attention to our pipeline of addressable sales opportunities.
Our total contract value pipeline at December 31 was $31.6 billion compared to $33.0 billion reported in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020.
Of our total pipeline of sales opportunities, 71.1% represents new work.
I want to reiterate the continued difficulty in predicting the impact that the global health pandemic may have on our pipeline, timing of new work and return to previous operational levels.
However, our strong reputation, flexibility and agility has cemented our position as a go-to partner for government.
We have navigated administration transitions for decades, and we firmly believe that the foundation is laid for continued opportunities to assist governments through these extraordinary times.
I wanted to wrap up my comments today reflecting on the events and protests that occurred in January at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. and in other areas of the country.
Like many of you, I was shocked and saddened by these events.
Maximus engages in the bipartisan political process in order to better understand our government clients' long-term goals.
Our Board's Nominating and Governance Committee has oversight of the company's policies pertaining to political contributions and compliance.
We remain committed to the fundamental principle of our engagement in the political process, which is, and will continue to be, to never support or fund candidates or elected officials who encourage or support violence against the Government of the United States.
The macro trends for our business remain unchanged.
As the pandemic has underscored, governments around the world need better solutions to deliver on policy priorities that can change rapidly.
Social welfare programs that reflect long-term societal commitments and priorities, increasingly face rising demand, shifting demographics and unsustainable program costs.
Maximus is well positioned to address these challenges and be a transformative partner.
We offer scalable, cost-effective and operationally efficient services for a wide range of government programs.
We continue to believe our portfolio mix of core business, new adjacencies and new growth platforms will allow us to achieve a healthy growth trajectory for years to come.
And with that, we will open the line for Q&A.

user
q1 earnings per share $1.03.
raises fiscal 2021 guidance due to covid-response work.
fiscal 2021 revenue expected to range between $3.400 billion and $3.525 billion.
sees fiscal 2021 diluted earnings per share to range between $3.55 and $3.75 per share.
fy cash from operations are expected to range between $350 million and $400 million.
sees fy free cash flow between $310 million and $360 million.

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