RUTLAND, VT — (Marketwire) — 08/29/11 — Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CWST), a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, today reported financial results for its first quarter fiscal year 2012, and reaffirmed guidance for its 2012 fiscal year.
Highlights for the quarter included:
For the quarter ended July 31, 2011, revenues were $127.2 million, up $5.2 million or 4.3 percent from the same quarter last year. Operating income was $10.3 million for the quarter, down $2.4 million from the same quarter last year. Excluding the non-recurring $1.0 million legal settlement charge in the current quarter and the $3.5 million gain on the sale of assets in the previous quarter, operating income was up $2.1 million or 22.8 percent from the same quarter last year.
The company–s net loss available to common shareholders was ($3.1) million, or ($0.12) per common share for the quarter, compared to a net loss of ($2.9) million, or ($0.11) per share for the same quarter last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $28.7 million for the quarter, up $0.9 million from the same quarter last year.
“While much effort was devoted during the last year to divesting the non-core assets and refinancing the balance sheet, we also undertook the challenge of improving how we do business on a daily basis,” said John W. Casella, chairman and CEO of Casella Waste Systems. “Two of the most important aspects of this initiative were our efforts to improve our profitability and to break down the internal cultural barriers to pricing and adjusting it when appropriate.”
“We have made excellent progress, and our improved collection pricing during the first quarter clearly demonstrates that these efforts are paying off,” Casella said. “We have worked to move pricing from an annual event to a core process of our divisional management teams. Our teams are now effectively using our customer profitability tool to better understand the profitability of each individual customer, and more importantly, to intelligently manage yield in their markets. As a result, changes in collection pricing improved from slightly negative in January to positive 2.8 percent in July.”
Fiscal 2012 Outlook
The company confirmed its fiscal year guidance in the following categories:
Revenues between $475.0 million and $487.0 million.
Adjusted EBITDA* between $105.0 million and $110.0 million.
Free Cash Flow* between $2.0 million and $7.0 million.
In addition to disclosing financial results prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the company also discloses earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for accretion, depletion of landfill operating lease obligations, gain on sale of assets, as well as legal settlement charge (Adjusted EBITDA) which is a non-GAAP measure. The company also discloses Free Cash Flow, which is defined as net cash provided by operating activities, less capital expenditures, less payments on landfill operating leases, less assets acquired through financing leases, plus proceeds from the sales of assets and property and equipment, which is a non-GAAP measure. Adjusted EBITDA is reconciled to net income (loss), while Free Cash Flow is reconciled to Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities.
The company presents Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow because it considers them important supplemental measures of its performance and believes they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of our results. Management uses these non-GAAP measures to further understand our “core operating performance.” The company believes its “core operating performance” represents its on-going performance in the ordinary course of operations. The company believes that providing Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow to investors, in addition to corresponding income statement and cash flow statement measures, provides investors with the benefit of viewing its performance using the same financial metrics that the management team uses in making many key decisions and understanding how the core business and its results of operations may look in the future. The company further believes that providing this information allows its investors greater transparency and a better understanding of its core financial performance. In addition, the instruments governing the company–s indebtedness use EBITDA (with additional adjustments) to measure its compliance with covenants such as interest coverage, leverage and debt incurrence.
Non-GAAP financial measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, GAAP in the U.S. Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP in the U.S., and may be different from Adjusted EBITDA or Free Cash Flow presented by other companies.
Casella Waste Systems, Inc., headquartered in Rutland, Vermont, provides solid waste management services consisting of collection, transfer, disposal, and recycling services in the northeastern United States. For further information, contact Ned Coletta, vice president of finance and investor relations at (802) 772-2239, or Ed Johnson, chief financial officer at (802) 772-2241, or visit the company–s website at .
The company will host a conference call to discuss these results on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. ET. Individuals interested in participating in the call should dial (877) 548-9590 or (720) 545-0037 at least 10 minutes before start time. The call will also be webcast; to listen, participants should visit Casella Waste Systems– website at and follow the appropriate link to the webcast. A replay of the call will be available on the company–s website, or by calling (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406 (Conference ID 90088021) until 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 6, 2011.
Certain matters discussed in this press release are “forward-looking statements” intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified as such by the context of the statements, including words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “intend,” “estimate,” “guidance” and other similar expressions, whether in the negative or affirmative. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry and markets in which we operate and management–s beliefs and assumptions. We cannot guarantee that we actually will achieve the plans, intentions, expectations or guidance disclosed in the forward-looking statements made. Such forward-looking statements, and all phases of our operations, involve a number of risks and uncertainties, any one or more of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include or relate to, among other things: the damage to the regional infrastructure caused by Hurricane Irene may impact our ability to service customers; current economic conditions that have adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect our revenues and our operating margin; we may be unable to reduce costs or increase pricing or volumes sufficiently to achieve estimated Adjusted EBITDA and other targets; landfill operations and permit status may be affected by factors outside our control; we may be required to incur capital expenditures in excess of our estimates; fluctuations in the commodity pricing of our recyclables may make it more difficult for us to predict our results of operations or meet our estimates; and we may incur environmental charges or asset impairments in the future. There are a number of other important risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. These additional risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those detailed in Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in our Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2011.
We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contact Information
Ned Coletta
Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations
(802) 772-2239
Ed Johnson
Chief Financial Officer
(802) 772-2241