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Operator
Good morning and welcome to the DLH Holdings Fiscal 2022 Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your question from the queue, please press star then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Whitty, Investor Relations Advisor. Please go ahead.
Chris Whitty
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. On the call with me today is Zach Parker, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Catherine John Bull, Chief Financial Officer. The company's earnings release and PowerPoint presentation are available on our website on the page. I would now like to provide a brief safe harbor statement, which is also shown on slide two of the presentation. This call may include forward-looking statements that relate to the company's outlook for fiscal 2023 and beyond. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from these statements. Please refer to the risk factors contained in the company's annual report on Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements. On today's call, we will be referencing both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our reported GAAP results is included in our earnings release and in the investor presentation on DLH's website. President and CEO Zach Parker will speak next, followed by CFO Catherine Johnbull, after which we'll open it up for questions. With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Zach. Please go ahead, Zach.
Zach Parker
Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our fiscal year 2022 fourth quarter conference calls. Earlier this morning, we posted our quarter and year-end earnings. I am pleased to report that the end of the fiscal year came with record results that position us very well for the future. I must say that the employees, the leadership, and partners of DLH have remained incredibly focused and committed to our clients' missions to allow us to achieve these results. Beginning with slide three, I will first provide a high-level overview of the quarter and year, starting with the top-line results. During Q4, we grew revenue by 3 percent year-over-year to 67.2 million, reflecting organic growth and increased overall demand for our diverse range of programs and services. For the full fiscal year, revenue climbed to $395.2 million, reflecting the COVID-19-related FEMA contracts in Alaska they completed earlier in 2022. The fiscal year was certainly a standout one in terms of top-line performance, yet we are most excited by the numerous opportunities which still lie ahead. I will discuss the outlook more in a moment. We posted fourth quarter operating income of 4.7 million, or 7 percent of sales, and for the full year, 33.4 million, or 8.4 percent of sales. EBITDA was 6.6 million for Q4 and 40.9 million for fiscal 22 as a whole, while we reported EPS of 24 cents per share for the fourth quarter and $1.64 for the year. In addition, we paid down $6.5 million of debt during the quarter, ending the year with $22 million outstanding. Our backlog entering fiscal 2023 was $482.5 million, reflecting seven new multiple award IDIQ wins and three strategic recompete during the year. Turning to slide seven, I wanted to show our track record of performance over the past 10 years. While fiscal 2022 benefited from the contribution of our turnkey FEMA contracts in Alaska, the growth and consistency of our EBITDA margins speak for themselves. I am so proud that we have such a talented, dedicated workforce which leveraging our in-demand advanced technology services and solutions has driven DLH to the high level of operating results that we now enjoy. In addition, the future continues to look bright. If you look at slide five, it provides an overview of current market conditions, which we believe bode very well for the company going forward. It's reassuring to note that our programs and the agencies that we serve, focusing on public health, Department of Defense, veterans, and digital transformation services, continue to enjoy solid, longstanding support in Washington on both sides of the aisle. So while the government is still operating under a continuing resolution, which we expect to be extended, We do not anticipate any major changes to the outlook for FY23. There have been an obvious shift from COVID to Ukraine-related activities for our federal government during the year, as well as expanded regulatory reporting requirements. However, we are confident that this demand, that the demand within our core markets remain very, very strong. There continues to be a commitment throughout the federal government for technology upgrades and overall modernization of agencies and programs within them. This includes, for example, digital transformation and a focus on cloud computing, incorporating cybersecurity, and particularly with regard to health-related information and the Department of Defense. Federal clients are looking for exactly the type of services in which we have been strategically aligned, agile-based innovation and cost-effective solutions to enhance science, research and development, and policy deployment to support critical missions for our nation. While the outside world has had to deal with additional challenges this year, including supply chain constraints and inflationary pressures, the government market for our services has remained quite stable. There has been an increased focus on equitable adjustments leading to higher competition and greater use of multiple award contract IDIQ vehicles. We are effectively managing through these minor headwinds well. and winning new contracts in tandem. In addition, while the tight labor markets continue, we have in place and continue to attract top-notch research and engineering talent to the company. Of this, I am especially proud. I'd like to talk a bit more about the opportunities which lie ahead for DLH. While the federal government's fiscal 2023 budget has yet to be finalized. As we mentioned, we feel confident due to the fact that historically our work has proven to be strong bipartisan support programs. Our business solutions align well with spending priorities in Washington with increased funding expected for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Health and Human Services. Importantly, During the past year, DLH was selected as a competitor for future task orders across seven domains of three multiple award IDIQ programs, a $665 million ceiling with the VA, one with a $320 million ceiling with the National Institute of Health, and a large 10-year, $10 billion ceiling omnibus program with the Department of Defense and its health agency. These give us a seat at the table for some very attractive opportunities in the future for which we expect to be bidding during FY23. Such awards with multiple participants are not included in our backlog number, but provide us with meaningful paths to accelerate growth in the quarters to come. So even without affordable budget in place, we remain very optimistic about FY23's continued growth and beyond. At the same time, we have a solid pipeline of strategically aligned M&A transactions that could further improve our market position and offer up new pathways for capability expansion and profitability growth. Our balance sheet remains strong due to the company's robust cash generation and ability to pay down debt, providing the financial flexibility needed for our future success. And yes, while we continue to enjoy excellent free cash flow. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Catherine Johnwell. Catherine?
Chris
Thank you, Zach, and good morning, everyone. We're pleased to report another quarter of solid results and a great end to fiscal 2022. Turning to slide eight, we posted revenue of 67.2 million for the three months ended September 30th, 2022, versus 65.2 million in the prior year's fiscal quarter. The 3% increase year over year reflects higher demand for services across many of our existing programs. Excluding the 1.7 million derived from FEMA contracts in Q4 of fiscal 2021, revenue increased 6% year over year. Given high bidding activity levels in our current backlog, we are optimistic about solid organic growth heading into fiscal 2023 and beyond. Moving to slide nine, income from operations was 4.7 million for the quarter versus 4 million in the prior year period. And as a percent of revenue, the company reported an operating margin of 7% in fiscal 2022 versus 6.2 in fiscal 2021. The increase in margins resulted from a higher portion of our revenue in fiscal 2022, deriving from contracts with stronger margins. Interest expense was 0.5 million in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2022 versus 0.8 million in the prior year period, reflecting lower debt outstanding. DLH recorded a provision of .8 million and .3 million for tax expense during the fourth quarters of fiscal 2022 and 2021 respectively. We reported net income in the fourth quarter of approximately 3.4 million or 24 cents per diluted share versus 2.9 million or 21 cents a share last year. As a percent of revenue, net income was 5.1% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 versus 4.4% for the prior year period. Turning to slide 10, EBITDA for the three months ended September 30th, 2022 was approximately 6.6 million versus 6 million in the prior year period, or 9.8% and 9.3% of revenue respectively. A reconciliation of GAAP net income to EBITDA is provided in our earnings statement at the back of this presentation. Slide 11 gives an updated snapshot of our debt position at the end of the year. As of September 30th, we had approximately $22 million of debt outstanding under our credit facilities versus $46.8 million at the end of fiscal 2021. And our leverage ratio remains well under one time. We continue to use our substantial cash generation to pay down debt and de-lever the balance sheet, leaving us in a strong position for any future opportunistic transactions during fiscal 2023. This concludes my discussion of the financial statements. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to our operator to open for questions.
Operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then 1 on your touch-tone phone. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw from the question queue, please press star, then 2. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Today's first question comes from Joe Gomes with Noble Capital. Please go ahead.
Joe Gomes
Good morning, Zach and Catherine. Nice end to the fiscal year. Hey, Joe. Thank you, Joe. Thanks for joining. So I wanted to follow up. You know, Zach, you talked about, you know, obviously the potential M&A and having a nice backlog of potential opportunities. And one of the things you talked about was capability expansion. Just wanted to give us a little more color on, you know, what kind of capabilities would you be looking at, you think, to expand into through some M&A?
Zach Parker
Yes, as you know, we've talked a lot, at least Catherine and I, while we've been on the road this year, around having really established pretty much a well-rounded platform across the three market focus areas once we completed the full integration of M&A. of the IBA team. And so our emphasis going forward has been really to focus on the digital transformation and cybersecurity aspects of delivering greater value propositions for our current customers, as well as our clients in areas supporting our scientific research, research and development, and other systems and engineering work. So they'll largely continue to find good opportunities in both the health IT component, Department of Defense, and other clients that really emphasize our digital transformation and cybersecurity capabilities.
Joe Gomes
Okay, thanks for that. And kind of a follow-up, you talked about obviously the government's operating under continuing resolution. You think that will be extended. Just looking at that, you know, maybe kind of you can refresh our memories in the past when this has happened. You know, what kind of impact, if any, has it had on the company? And do you see this, you know, kind of as the biggest challenge here in the near term, or is there something else that you think is the biggest challenge the company is facing right now?
Zach Parker
Well, I do think across our industry, you know, the continuing resolution generally restricts the amount of brand new programs and new work that will be contracted out. Fortunately, probably 90% or north of 90% of the organic opportunities for new business growth for us are with recurring work, things that there's a current incumbent or multiple parties. for which we'll compete. So we're hopeful that with the acquisition community across the federal government that those will still come forward. I do think that while there's some programs such as our VA New Technology, IDIQ, that are looking for new funding, might slow a little bit of the acquisition pace there. But other than that, we really feel pretty comfortable that the recurring work across the agencies that are well supported by the Hill will continue.
Joe Gomes
Great. Thanks for that, and I will get back in queue.
Zach Parker
Thank you, Joe.
Operator
The next question today comes from Brian Kinslinger with Alliance Global Partners. Please go ahead.
Brian Kinslinger
Hi, guys. Thanks so much for taking my questions. The first question I had, I'm hoping you can give some more detail regarding the pipeline and maybe plan submissions over the next 12 months versus the trailing 12 months as I'm trying to gauge your ability to accelerate or sustain organic growth.
Zach Parker
Great question, Brian. As we featured in our discussion, You know, we've been waiting for a few of these multiple award IDIQs for, you know, a couple of years now. It was great to see that they were competed in FY22, and even more importantly, that we were successful on the awards that we did secure. Every expectation is that we will start to see task orders IQ2 across, you know, these agencies, the Defense Health Agency, you know, has expressed indication that they are going to be having opportunities to compete. The other one which we've talked about is with the National Institute of Health, in particular the National Cancer Institute. We expect to see those this year. And then as we alluded to, the VA one, which is largely new technology innovations, great and important strategic win for us might slip a bit before we start to see those task orders. Outside of those multiple award contracts, we do still continue to have a pretty strong pipeline of new business opportunities, both single awards, which deliver immediate revenue, as well as a couple of more major IDIQs that we've had our sights on. You know, we've talked quite a bit around the CIOSP for now two years. The government has continued to see more than a dozen protests against that opportunity. So it's continued to slip it to the right. We're hopeful of seeing some success and rewards on that during this fiscal year, which will create opportunities hopefully late in the fiscal or certainly launch us into a pretty good position going forward into FY24.
Brian Kinslinger
Great. And then my follow-up. Kind of similar, Catherine, you mentioned high number of bids awaiting, sorry, high bid submissions in your prepared remarks. Can you say either what bids awaiting adjudication, the value of that is? And if you can't share that number, can you talk about how it compares maybe to a year ago, excluding anything that includes FEMA, that particular FEMA award?
Chris
Sure, of course. So the trend does continue to reflect forward momentum as we've talked about the process of adding a corporate or chief growth officer and really getting our full access to the three market sets that we completed at the end of fiscal 20. We believe all of that helps to provide the momentum that allows us to engage on a broader set of opportunities and to increase the level of opportunities that we're submitting. From our perspective, we believe there's reason to be optimistic about our ability to continue to compete favorably on a growing set of opportunities.
Brian Kinslinger
And just one last follow-up, sorry. You mentioned a chief growth officer. As you guys have looked at the business, the market opportunity, is there a need for more business development folks? Is there a planned... hires coming to add to the business capture team?
Zach Parker
Great question. Yes. You know, we made that move strategically because we were – it was very important for us first to be able to have a vision and a view of an integrated 1DLH, right? And we didn't really have that when we had both our existing heritage business development team as well as those as the new capabilities across our newly acquired companies. So the CGL really allowed us to look across the enterprise. And that was, quite frankly, extremely instrumental in our ability to win both of the domains that we bid for the Defense Health Agency. And during this year, we have committed to in the past year to growth in our growth organization. It includes business development, capture, and proposal operations. We have a good budget going into this year to continue expansion there because that organic growth is now continuing to be a very, very top priority for us. So, yes, you'll see a fair amount of continued expansion in our investment for organic growth.
Brian Kinslinger
Okay. Thank you.
Chris
Thanks for joining.
Operator
As a reminder, if you have a question, please press star, then 1. Our next question comes from Deborah Fiacas with Crystal Equity Research. Please go ahead.
Deborah Fiacas
Thank you. And thank you. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I would like to perhaps return again to the pipeline question that was asked previously and maybe take a look at it from a little different vantage point. We had a very good organic growth rate, if you want to call it that, the growth rates excluding the FEMA contract this last year. And I wonder, do the bidding opportunities and the programs that you've been talking about this morning, do they provide for that same pace of growth, higher, lower?
Chris
Thanks for joining us, Deborah. It's good to have you join the crowd of interested parties for DLH. Those pipeline opportunities do help. They are a channel for organic growth. Of course, the easiest and first channel for us is to grow our presence on our existing set of contracts, and we actively work that path of organic growth every day as we interact with our customers and look for additional opportunities to be of service and support for them. But in addition to that, of course, these pipeline opportunities really provide an opportunity significant and accelerator to organic growth because they're additive to the base of contracts that we have in hand presently. And so while we are enjoying, as you said, an industry very competitive to the industry, organic growth rate, it is deriving mostly from expansion on current contracts and some meaningful incremental awards. But our expectation is that the pursuit of these additional awards that are in our pipeline are going to really accelerate that meaningfully, particularly, as Zach mentioned earlier, leveraging those IDIQ vehicles that we've recently secured as task orders start to flow underneath those IDIQs.
Deborah Fiacas
Okay, thank you. And then if I could just ask that follow-up question, and this is in regard to, again, to the top line, but from the vantage point of the backlog, there seems to be, to me, a pretty significant portion that's not funded. Is this something to be concerned about, or does it speak less to the magnitude of sales and more perhaps to the pace? You have to wait for funding in order to get started on a program? Thank you.
Chris
Yes. It is not something that we're concerned about. It's a required disclosure, but it is really a function of the behaviors of the particular customers we have that Some of them choose to fund annually, and, of course, that's administratively most efficient and effective. Some of them choose to fund on quarterly intervals. And so depending on where they are in that funding cycle and whether they get it done right before the end of the quarter or immediately thereafter, that's what's going to affect how much moves out of unfunded and into funded. But generally speaking, the customer inclination is is to the funding is in support of programs and represents, sorry, excuse me, the backlog, I should say, represents their expectation of the services they need in order to execute the programs. And so it's highly probable that dollars will move from the unfunded bucket to the funded bucket based on whatever administrative cycle they choose to adopt.
Zach Parker
And Debra, we, just a few years, several years ago, we were intentionally conservative on making sure that we published that way because, as Catherine indicated, there are agencies as well as peer companies that will look at the full contract peer performance ceiling, but we wanted to make sure that we were really, really giving the shareholders the funded piece in the most conservative fashion.
Deborah Fiacas
Thank you. I'll get back in the queue.
Zach Parker
Thank you.
Operator
The next question comes from Joe Gomes with Noble Capital. Please go ahead.
Joe Gomes
Thanks. A couple of quick follow-ups here, maybe more directed towards Catherine. So, in the quarter, there was, you know, a pretty substantial, both sequentially year-over-year jump in G&A expenses. One, wondering what was behind that, and two, is that elevated level something you're looking at going forward? Do you think it goes back to a more normalized, you know, percentage of revenue in the out periods?
Chris
Thank you, Joe, for that question. A couple of factors impacting it for the year. Most probably top of that list is just the non-cash costs. stock compensation expense component. And so that is really a function of our having brought on an additional named executive officer and having a stock compensation award to that at a time when our stock price was high enough to cause a pretty significant book charge related to that, non-cash charge related to that. Additionally, and this is a You'll see this in our 10-K as it's filed. We have, for the first time in the company's history, become subject to full review for SOX purposes. So we've always self-certified our internal controls as a public company. But because of the company's success and increase in equity value, we have become subject to the requirements of an external review of our internal controls. And so we did accomplish that for the fiscal year ended 2022, and you can imagine that that took some resources to get through that cycle the first time. And, of course, it's an ongoing requirement, so it will have ongoing incremental resources, but I dare say they won't be as substantial as they were in the first cycle through. And then thirdly, and to the point Brian asked earlier about investments in organic growth, you do see some – some peaking of that requirement in fourth quarter as we were in pursuit of these pipeline submissions that Zach talked about earlier.
Joe Gomes
Okay, thanks for that insight. And then one more, you know, his last couple of years, there's been, you know, going into the first quarter or so, maybe even bleeding into the second, you know, some delay, let's call it, in the accounts receivable getting paid. Just wondering, you know, how comfortable you are where the accounts receivable are today. Is everything kind of up to date or is there any concern there here in the near term on the accounts receivable end? Thank you.
Chris
Sure. I think that I'm certainly comfortable with where we ended up with a quarter ended September. There's a normal congestion that's happened post-year end, as is always the case when the government fiscal year flips over. But exiting fiscal 22, I was satisfied where we were, notwithstanding that we consumed a bit of working capital by growth in receivables. And as we've talked about many times over the years, the nature of our work moves away from The trades-based oriented work that's billing on very favorable terms to a more traditional net 30, our day sales is going to creep up a little bit, but we're still very competitive at a day sales of about 54. So we're converting to cash very quickly, and that doesn't mean I'm done, and it doesn't mean that we're not paying daily attention to looking for ways to kind of still continue to improve that cycle. I don't see anything in the September numbers that gives me any concern, and I'm satisfied with where we are as indicating our ability to generate cash flow.
Joe Gomes
Great. Thanks for taking the follow-ups. Thank you for joining, Jeff.
Operator
At this time, there are no further callers in the queue. I'll turn it back to Mr. Parker for any closing remarks.
Zach Parker
Thank you, MJ. And once again, I'd like to thank you all for your continued interest and support for DLH. We look forward to following up with you as we address our, at the annual meeting of the shareholders and in preparation for the launch of FY23. Thank you all and have a blessed day.
Operator
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.
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