5/24/2023

speaker
Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the DICOM Industries Incorporated Q1 2024 Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. Then you will hear an automated message advising your hand is ready. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference call is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Steven Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

speaker
Steven Nelson

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for attending this conference call to review our first quarter fiscal 2024 results. Going to slide two. During this call, we will be referring to a slide presentation which can be found on our website's Investor Center main page. Relevant slides will be identified by number throughout our presentation. Today we have on the call Drew DeFerrari, our Chief Financial Officer, and Ryan Ernest, our General Counsel. Now I will turn the call over to Ryan Ernest.

speaker
Drew DeFerrari

Thank you, Steve. All forward-looking statements made during this conference call are provided pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all comments reflecting our expectations, assumptions, or beliefs about future events or performance that do not relate solely to historical periods. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from our current projections. Including those risks described in our annual report on Form 10-K, filed March 3, 2023, together with our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are made solely as of the original broadcast date of this conference call, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Steve? Thanks, Ryan.

speaker
Steven Nelson

Now moving to slide four and a review of our first quarter results. As we review our results, please note that in our comments today and in the accompanying slides, we reference certain non-GAAP measures We refer you to the quarterly report section of our website for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their corresponding GAAP measures. Now for quarter. Revenue was $1.045 billion, an organic increase of 19.3%. As we deployed gigabit wireline networks, wireless wireline converged networks, and wireless networks, this quarter reflected an increase in demand from four of our top five customers. Gross margin was 18.4% of revenue and increased 348 basis points compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2023. General and administrative expenses were 7.9% of revenue, and all of these factors produced adjusted EBITDA of $113.5 million, or 10.9% of revenue, and earnings per share of $1.73 compared to 65 cents in the year-ago quarter. Liquidity was strong at 673.9 million. During the quarter, we repurchased 225,000 shares of our common stock. Now going to slide five. Today, major industry participants are constructing or upgrading significant wireline networks across broad sections of the country. These wireline networks are generally designed to provision gigabit network speeds to individual consumers and businesses either directly or wirelessly using 5G technologies. Industry participants have stated their belief that a single high-capacity fiber network can most cost-effectively deliver services to both consumers and businesses, enabling multiple revenue streams from a single investment. This view is increasing the appetite for fiber deployments, and we believe that the industry effort to deploy fiber high capacity fiber networks continues to meaningfully broaden the set of opportunities for our industry. Increasing access to high capacity telecommunications continues to be crucial to society, especially for rural America. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes over $40 billion for the construction of rural communications networks in unserved and underserved areas across the country. This represents an unprecedented level of support. In addition, substantially all states have commenced programs that will provide funding for telecommunications networks even prior to the initiation of funding under the Infrastructure Act. We are providing program management, planning, engineering and design, aerial, underground and wireless construction and fulfillment services for gigabit deployments. These services are being provided across the country in numerous geographic areas to multiple customers. These deployments include networks consisting entirely of wired network elements and converged wireless wireline multi-use networks. Fiber network deployment opportunities are increasing in rural America as new industry participants respond to emerging societal initiatives. We continue to provide integrated planning, engineering and design, procurement and construction, and maintenance services to several industry participants. Macroeconomic conditions, including those impacting the cost of capital, may influence the execution of some industry plans. In addition, the market for labor remains tight in many regions around the country. Automotive and equipment supply chains remain challenged, particularly for the large truck chassis required for specialty equipment. Prices for capital equipment continue to increase. It remains to be seen how long these conditions may persist. We expect demand to continue to fluctuate amongst customers, including several customers whose deployments are accelerating into the second half of the year, offset in part by two customers whose capital expenditures have been more heavily weighted to the first half of this year. Within this context, we remain confident that our scale and financial strength position us well to deliver valuable service to our customers. Moving to slide six. During the quarter, revenue increased 19.3%. Our top five customers combined produced 65.5% of revenue, increasing 20.7% organically. Demand increased from four of our top five customers. All other customers increased 16.7% organically. AT&T was our largest customer, 21.5% of total revenue, or $224.4 million. Lumen was our second largest customer, 13% of revenue, or $136.4 million. Lumen grew organically 70.4%, excluding operations sold to Brightspeed from the year-ago period. This was our fifth consecutive quarter of organic growth with Lumen. Revenue from Comcast was $120.6 million or 11.5% of revenue. Comcast was DICOM's third largest customer and grew organically 8.4%. Frontier was our fourth largest customer at $103.2 million or 9.9% of revenue. Frontier grew 80.2% organically. And finally, Verizon was our fifth largest customer at $99.9 million, or 9.6% of revenue. Verizon grew 23.4% organically. This was our third quarter of organic growth with Verizon. This is the fourth consecutive quarter where our top five customers grew organically in excess of 20%, and the 17th consecutive quarter where all of our other customers in aggregate, excluding the top five customers, have grown organically. Of note, fiber construction revenue from electric utilities was $83.5 million in the quarter and increased organically 20% year over year. We have extended our geographic reach and expanded our program management and network planning services. In fact, over the last several years, we believe we have meaningfully increased the long-term value of our maintenance and operations business, a trend which we believe will parallel our deployment of gigabit wireline direct and wireless wireline converged networks, as those deployments dramatically increased the amount of outside plant network that must be extended and maintained. Now going to slide 7. Backlog at the end of the first quarter was $6.316 billion versus $6.141 billion at the end of the January 2023 quarter, an increase of $175 million. Of this backlog, approximately $3.482 billion is expected to be completed in the next 12 months. Backlog activity during the first quarter reflects solid performance as we book new work and renewed existing work. We continue to anticipate substantial future opportunities across a broad array of our customers. During the quarter, we received from Frontier a construction and maintenance agreement in Wisconsin, for Charter rural fiber construction agreements in Indiana and North Carolina, and construction agreements in California, Nevada, and Montana, from various rural providers, rural fiber construction agreements in Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Kentucky, and various utility line locating agreements in California, Indiana, and New Jersey. Headcount was 15,375. Now I will turn the call over to Drew for his financial review and outlook.

speaker
Brightspeed

Thanks, Steve, and good morning, everyone. Going to slide eight, contract revenues were 1.045 billion and organic revenue increased 19.3%. Adjusted EBITDA was 113.5 million or 10.9% of revenue compared to 63.7 million or 7.3% of revenue. The adjusted EBITDA percentage increased 359 basis points compared to Q1 23 and this exceeded the midpoint of our expectations by approximately 190 basis points. The drivers of this outperformance compared to our expectations were approximately 110 basis points of gross margin and approximately 80 basis points of G&A expense, resulting from improved operating leverage and performance on the higher level of revenue in the quarter. Gross margin was 18.4% of revenue compared to 14.9% in Q1-23. G&A expense was 7.9% of revenue in line with Q1-23. Net income was $1.73 per share compared to 65 cents per share in Q1 last year. The increase in earnings reflects higher adjusted EBITDA, lower amortization, and higher gains on asset sales partially offset by higher depreciation, stock-based compensation, interest expense, and taxes. Going to slide 9. Our financial position and balance sheet remain strong. We ended Q1 with $500 million of senior notes, $328.1 million of term loan, and no revolver borrowings. Cash and equivalents were $71.4 million and liquidity was strong at $673.9 million. Our capital allocation prioritizes organic growth followed by opportunistic share repurchases and M&A within the context of our historical range of net leverage. Going to slide 10, cash flows used in operating activities were $85.1 million to support the sequential growth in Q1. Capital expenditures were $33.6 million net of disposal proceeds, and gross capex was $42.9 million. During Q1, we repurchased 225,000 shares of our common stock for $20.3 million. The combined DSOs of accounts receivable and net contract assets was 106 days, a reduction of two days sequentially as we had solid collections from customers during the quarter. Going to slide 11, as we look ahead to the quarter ending July 29, 2023, we expect contract revenues to increase mid-single digit as a percentage of contract revenues compared to Q2 of last year, and non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA percentage of contract revenues to increase 50 to 100 basis points as compared to Q2 2023. We also expect 12.2 million of net interest expense, a 26% effective income tax rate, and 29.7 million diluted shares. Now I will turn the call back to Steve.

speaker
Steven Nelson

Thanks, Drew. Moving to slide 12. This quarter we experienced solid activity and capitalized on our significant strengths. First and foremost, we maintained significant customer presence throughout our markets. We are encouraged by the breadth in our business. Our extensive market presence has allowed us to be at the forefront of evolving industry opportunities. Telephone companies are deploying fiber to the home to enable gigabit high-speed connections. Increasingly, rural electric utilities are doing the same. Dramatically increased speeds for consumers are being provisioned, and consumer data usage is growing, particularly upstream. Wireless construction activity in support of newly available spectrum bands continues this year. Federal and state support for rural deployments of communications networks is dramatically increasing in scale and duration. Cable operators are increasing fiber deployments in rural America. Capacity expansion projects are underway. Customers are consolidating supply chains, creating opportunities for market share growth and increasing the long-term value of our maintenance and operations business. As our nation and industry navigate economic uncertainty, We remain encouraged that a substantial number of our customers are committed to multiyear capital spending initiatives. We are confident in our strategies, the prospects for our company, the capabilities of our dedicated employees, and the experience of our management team. Now, operator, we will open the call for questions.

speaker
Operator

Thank you. As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone. Again, we also ask that you please wait for your name to be announced before you ask your question. First question will come from Steven Fisher of UBS. Your line is open.

speaker
Steven Fisher

Thanks. Good morning, and congratulations on a very nice result in the quarter. Steve, what do you make of some of these customers' front-end loading versus some that are accelerating into the second half? To what extent do you think this is all just very idiosyncratic to each of these customers? versus there being any particular message implied about confidence in the overall outlook for investment?

speaker
Steven Nelson

Sure, Steve. I think for those that are moderating into the second half of the year, both have spoken recently at conferences and talked about how much work they were able to get done in the fourth calendar and first calendar quarter. I think that they were pleased with the amount of work that they were able to do. and so they have a somewhat more moderate outlook going into the second half of the year. I think that's offset by the number of customers who were ramping in the first half of this year with aggressive goals for increases year over year where the activity is picking up. One thing, Steve, that perhaps to give you a little more granularity is if you exclude those two customers from the rest of the customers and take a look at sequentially the growth in the rest of the customers, it's in line with what we saw or maybe even a little bit better than what we saw last year. So I didn't use the word idiosyncratic, but there are always factors that are going to cause some customers to vary around the trend line in a program that's or in a theme that's this big and of such an extended duration.

speaker
Steven Fisher

Okay, so it doesn't necessarily change your view of what's still to come, just a little bit of near-term shift in timing, it sounds like.

speaker
Steven Nelson

I mean, in both cases, I think that, you know, those customers have reiterated their commitment to plans, have talked about what they'd like to get done next year, and I think we'll see a more normalized spending pattern next year. I mean, the weather last winter caused a little bit of change of seasonality, depending on where a particular customer was in the ramp up of their program.

speaker
Steven Fisher

Okay. And then just to follow up in terms of the margins, are there any specific drags that you're anticipating or already seeing in Q2? And how likely are these drags to sustain into the second half of the year? I know there's some debate about what the right consensus numbers are, but it seems like the consensus is already showing 160 basis points of improvement You're here in Q3. And so, you know, if we're running at 50 to 100 for Q2, you know, is that sort of the way we should be thinking about what the potential is? Or, you know, so are there any, you know, near term drags to be aware of? And how does that kind of factor into the second half thinking at this point?

speaker
Steven Nelson

Sure. So, Steve, again, because we've had in the near term, we've had this moderation with a couple customers that we've got to work our way through. As the other customers are growing, we're taking a prudent view on the current quarter. I mean, we looked at the EPS consensus this morning. It looked achievable for Q2. And, you know, we're hopeful that as we work through this little bit of fluctuation that you know, the earnings power of the company is improving. If you looked over the last four quarters, adjusted EBITDA was 10.5%. That was the first time since 2019. We're working hard to improve it from there. But we do think we're on a path to greater earnings power as we put some headwinds that we've been dealing with for a while behind us.

speaker
Drew DeFerrari

Thanks, Steve. Appreciate it.

speaker
Operator

Thank you. One moment while we get ready for the next question. And again, as a reminder, please wait for your name to be announced before you proceed with your question. And the next question is coming from Alan Paulheimer of Thompson Davis. Your line is open.

speaker
Alan Paulheimer

Hey, good morning, guys. Great quarter. Good morning, Adam. Thanks, Steve. I wanted to ask first on Brightspeed, was there any project revenue in the Q1 sales figure, or was that all maintenance that would have been done by Lumen?

speaker
Steven Nelson

You know, there was a lot of growth with both BrightSpeed and Lumen. It's predominantly around their fiber programs. We're working hard to meet their expectations, and they'd like to get a lot of work done.

speaker
Alan Paulheimer

And a question on GigaPower. Is that what's your outlook for that, and would that revenue flow through AT&T, or would you flow that through all other?

speaker
Steven Nelson

I don't know that we have anything to say specifically about that other than to say we're encouraged when there are new sources of capital that are attracted to the industry, and there's lots of capital flowing to support these builds. Okay.

speaker
Alan Paulheimer

Just lastly, on bead funding and timing of spend, do you have any thoughts on that?

speaker
Steven Nelson

The last that I saw, they still expect the map to come out by the end of June. Depending on when that settles, there'll be an allocation of monies to the states. And I think by the end of the year, we'll have much better clarity around timing and I think what's important to note about BEAT, Adam, is it's really just one of a whole host of sources of public capital that's flowing into the business. So you have projects still funded by the CARES Act, which was, I think, April of 2020, ARPA, which was April of 2021, RDOF that came out in the first quarter of 21, and a number of states have pretty substantial broadband funds. And so for us, I think it's just another source of government support for a very big theme that's going to play out over a significant number of years.

speaker
Operator

Great. Thanks, Steve. Thank you. One moment while we prepare for the next question. And please wait for your name to be pronounced before you proceed with your question. The next question will be coming from Alex Riggle of B. Riley. Your line is open.

speaker
Steve

Good morning, Steve. Very nice quarter. Thanks, Alex. In the past, you've talked about the duration of new contracts were shorter than historically. Has this trend continued, and can you discuss the impact on gross margins?

speaker
Steven Nelson

I think what we said when we were seeing lots of price pressures in the general economy, we were somewhat cautious to extend durations on agreements because we wanted to make sure that we didn't put ourselves in a position where because of inflationary pressure, we couldn't deliver for the customer. I think as we talked about last quarter, it's still not an easy environment, but it's not as bad as it was. And so I think as long as we get the appropriate pricing, that our outlook on duration is probably a little more constructive than it was when fuel was $7 a gallon in California and wages were moving up pretty rapidly. Now, labor is still tight. It's a sub-4% unemployment world, but it's a little bit better than it was last summer.

speaker
Steve

And then headcount declined a little bit in the quarter sequentially. Is that a trend that we should expect over the next couple quarters?

speaker
Steven Nelson

It's pretty random, Alex. I think it was down, what, 60 or 70 people sequentially, and revenue was up, you know, well over 100 million. So I don't think it's a lot to read into that.

speaker
Alex

Thank you.

speaker
Operator

Thank you. One moment while we prepare for the next question. And our next question will be coming from Steve Eastman of Key Bank. Your line is open. I'm sorry, Shawn Eastman of Key Bank. Your line is open.

speaker
Steve Eastman

Thank you. Thank you. So I just wanted to make sure we're interpreting the commentary on the several customers. kind of ramping into the second half versus the two that are more first half weighted. You know, it sounds like what you're saying is the former is, you know, the order of magnitude on the former is larger than the two customers that are more first half weighted. So there's still an opportunity for second half revenues to exceed the first half, but maybe the pace of growth is just not going to be able to be sustained versus what we saw in the first quarter. Is that kind of what you're trying to say, Steve?

speaker
Steven Nelson

Well, I mean, I think directionally that's in line, but these programs are accelerating. And when you have programs that are accelerating, once you get a cadence, you can build up some pretty good revenue momentum. We just don't want to get ahead of that as we're seeing this transition from in activity short-term from a couple of customers to a broader set of customers that are growing. And as I said, John, if we look at that broader set of customers sequentially, the growth rate from Q1 to Q2 that we expect for those customers this year will be in line or maybe better than the sequential growth overall was last year from Q1 to Q2.

speaker
Steve Eastman

Okay, that's actually really helpful. And then moving over to the margins, clearly this 360 basis points of improvement in the first quarter is considerably better than the modest year-over-year expansion guidance. So would you be able to get into what's in that year-on-year bridge and just help us understand what we can extrapolate from that performance relative to you know, the balance of the year?