Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (SIRO)

F3Q12 Earnings Call

August 3, 2012 8:30 AM ET

Executives

Joshua Zable – VP, IR

Jost Fischer – Chairman and CEO

Simone Blank – EVP and CFO

Analysts

Tycho Peterson – JP Morgan

Ross Taylor – CL King

Brandon Couillard – Jefferies

Robert Jones – Goldman Sachs

John Kreger – William Blair

Steve Beuchaw – Morgan Stanley

Glen Santangelo – Credit Suisse

Jeff Johnson – Robert W Baird

Jeffrey Warshauer – Sidoti & Company

Larry Marsh – Barclays

Presentation

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Third Quarter 2012 Sirona Dental System Earnings Conference Call. My name is Stefani and I’ll be your coordinator for today. (Operator Instructions) Following the prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) As a remainder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes.

I would now like to turn the presentation over to your host for today, Mr. Joshua Zable, Vice President of Investor Relations of Sirona Dental. Please proceed.

Joshua Zable

Thank you and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our third quarter 2012 conference call. I would like to remind you that an earnings slide desk presentation relating to this call is available on our website at www.sirona.com.

Before we begin, please take a moment to read the forward-looking statement on Slide 2 of our earnings slide presentation. During today’s conference call, we’ll make certain predictive statements that reflect our current views about our future performance and financial results. We base these statements on certain assumptions and expectations of future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Our most recent Form 10-K lists some of our most important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from our predictions.

And with that, I will now turn the program over to Jost Fischer, Chairman and CEO of Sirona Dental Systems.

Jost Fischer

Thanks, Josh. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to our third quarter 2012 conference call. Joining me today are Jeffery Slovin, President; and Simone Blank, Executive Vice President and CFO.

I am very pleased to report solid results for the third quarter of fiscal 2012. Our 7% constant currency revenue growth was particularly noteworthy compared to our record-setting third quarter of fiscal 2011. Last year’s third quarter grew 24% constant currency, benefiting from the International Dental Show and numerous product launches. We continue to gain market share. Treatment Centers and CAD/CAM were the strongest performers in the quarter with revenues up 13.3% and 9.5%, respectively, constant currency.

On a regional basis, Sirona’s revenue growth was broad-based. The U.S. grew 7.7% and continued to show sequential improvement up from last quarter’s 4.9% growth rate and first quarter’s 2.0%. International markets were up 6.6% constant currency. While Deutschland was down due to a tough IDS comparison and a very successful Imaging launch last year, we are having our second-best year ever in Deutschland. The rest of Europe was stable for us. Momentum continued in our non-European international markets showing strong double-digit growth lead by Asia-Pacific.

We are particularly proud of our strong sales performance given the difficult comp. It is important to note that our investments in sales and service infrastructure in select international markets continue to yield results. These markets are growing materially above the company’s average rate. Overall, our investments in key markets enable us to compete more effectively today and in the years to come.

During the quarter, we’ve expanded our exclusive distribution agreement with Patterson to include all Sirona products for the U.S. market. This enables us to strengthen our go-to-market approach by increasing the focus on the seamless integration of our best-in-class product offerings and digital solutions, including CEREC, our market-leading Orthophos line and (inaudible). I would also like to note that we have a strong relationship with Henry Schein, who is our largest and most important distributor in Europe.

Let me reiterate the two key pillars of our successful strategy: to expand our outstanding portfolio of high-tech dental products through continuous innovation. We have invested over $250 million in the past six years, which has created new and enhanced products and solutions. To continue building our world-class global sales and service infrastructure, we are active in over 135 countries around the globe. We continue to execute on our strategy, giving Sirona a clear competitive advantage and enabling us to deliver consistent, strong organic growth.

I will now turn the call over to Simone, who will review our third quarter financials.

Simone Blank

Thank you, Jost. In the third quarter, our revenues decreased $2.7 million to $242 million, down 1.1% but up 7% on a constant currency basis. We had a very difficult comp due to the last year’s International Dental Show, and despite foreign exchange headwinds, we were pleased to see revenues grow sequentially. Our revenue growth was driven globally with both for U.S. and international markets growing above market rates. Sirona’s operating income plus amortization decreased 4.4% to $57.8 million due to our planned investment in sales and service infrastructure.

Moving onto a review of our business segments. Revenues in our CAD/CAM segment increased 2.7% to $85.4 million, or up 9.5% on a constant currency basis. CAD/CAM revenues particularly benefited from strong growth in the non-European market and a solid performance in the U.S. Our CAD/CAM segment margin was 69.7%, up 230 basis points compared to the prior-year period. The increase in the quarter was mainly due to foreign currency benefit. Imaging segment revenues decreased 3.4% to $82.1 million but were up 2.8% on a constant currency basis. Growth was mainly driven by the U.S. and the non-European international markets.

Read the rest of this transcript for free on seekingalpha.com

Copyright 2012 Seeking Alpha