News Details

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Donnelley Financial Solutions (NYSE: DFIN) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2016.

Highlights:

(1) Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow are non-GAAP measures that exclude the impact of items noted in the reconciliation tables below. See the tables below for amounts and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures.

• Reduced outstanding debt by $49.5 million since the October 1, 2016 spin-off from RR Donnelley
• Company issues full-year 2017 guidance

“Though we experienced strong growth in our Venue, Active Disclosure and Language Solutions offerings, softness in global capital markets transactional activity made 2016 a challenging year,” said Daniel N. Leib, Donnelley Financial’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “While we are encouraged by the post-election improvement in capital markets activity and the corresponding strong activity levels that we have seen in the first two months of 2017, we developed plans to permanently reduce our cost structure with actions having commenced near the end of the fourth quarter.”

Leib continued, “Our focus continues to be on serving our customers and targeting areas for profitable growth, while at the same time aggressively managing our costs. This focus will allow us to invest in adjacent offerings and accelerate growth, while migrating toward our targeted gross leverage range of 2.25x to 2.75x. During 2016, we generated free cash flow of nearly $80 million, and in the first three months as a standalone company, reduced our outstanding debt by nearly $50 million. Further, the proceeds of the $68 million cash payment due from RR Donnelley on April 1, 2017 will be used for additional debt repayment. While this quarter was our first as a standalone company, we are enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead of us.”

Net Sales

Net sales in the fourth quarter of 2016 were $221.0 million, a decrease of $17.6 million, or 7.4%, from the fourth quarter of 2015. After adjusting for changes in foreign exchange rates, organic sales decreased 6.5% from the fourth quarter of 2015, as an increase in the International segment only partially offset declines in the U.S. segment driven by lower capital markets transactions and compliance volume.

GAAP Earnings (loss)

Fourth-quarter 2016 net loss was $0.8 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $23.2 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2015. The fourth-quarter net earnings included pre-tax charges of $8.0 million and $1.4 million in 2016 and 2015, respectively, all of which are excluded from the presentation of non-GAAP net earnings. Additional details regarding the amount and nature of these and other items are included in the attached schedules.

Non-GAAP Earnings

Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2016 was $27.7 million, or 12.5% of net sales, compared to $49.2 million, or 20.6% of net sales, in the fourth quarter of 2015. The decrease in non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to lower capital markets transactions and compliance volume, and an increase in selling, general, and administrative costs driven by the separation from RR Donnelley.

Non-GAAP net earnings totaled $4.1 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to $24.1 million, or $0.74 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2015. Reconciliations of net earnings to non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP net earnings are presented in the attached schedules.

Dis-synergies and Allocation of Costs in Historical Carve-out Accounting

Run-rate dis-synergies related to the separation from RR Donnelley are expected to be approximately $15.5 million, of which approximately $7.0 million was recognized in 2016, with the remaining $8.5 million expected to be recognized during 2017.

In addition, the Company expects to recognize run-rate expenses of approximately $14.3 million for resources that support the business but, based on the carve-out accounting methodology, were in excess of the costs allocated to the Company in 2015. Of this $14.3 million expected run rate, approximately $9.5 million was recognized in 2016, with the remaining $4.8 million expected to be recognized during 2017.

The combination of dis-synergies and recognition of ongoing costs in excess of the costs allocated to the Company in 2015 results in incremental cost of approximately $29.8 million, of which approximately $16.5 million was recognized in 2016 ($6.3 million in the fourth quarter) with an incremental increase of approximately $13.3 million expected in 2017.

2017 Guidance

The Company provides the following full-year guidance for 2017, which assumes a modest recovery in capital markets transactions activity for the full year, the negative impact of the incremental dis-synergies and ongoing costs not fully allocated in the historical periods, as well as the planned cost reduction actions as noted above:

• Revenue of approximately $1 billion, representing organic growth in the range of 1% to 2%
• Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA in the range of $165 - $175 million, including corporate costs in the range of $15 – $20 million
• Free cash flow¹ in the range of $45 - $55 million, which includes an assumption of capital spending in the range of $30 - $35 million

(1) Defined as operating cash flow less capital expenditures

Certain components of the guidance given above are provided on a non-GAAP basis only, without providing a reconciliation to guidance provided on a GAAP basis. Information is presented in this manner, consistent with SEC rules, because the preparation of such a reconciliation could not be accomplished without “unreasonable efforts.” The Company does not have access to certain information that would be necessary to provide such a reconciliation, including non-recurring items that are not indicative of the Company’s ongoing operations. Such items include, but are not limited to, restructuring charges, impairment charges, spinoff-related transaction expenses, pension settlement charges, acquisition-related expenses, gains or losses on investments and business disposals, losses on debt extinguishment and other similar gains or losses not reflective of the Company's ongoing operations. The Company does not believe that this information is likely to be significant to an assessment of the Company’s ongoing operations, given that it is not an indicator of business performance.

Conference Call

Donnelley Financial will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast to discuss its fourth-quarter results today, Tuesday, February 28, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Central Time). The live webcast will be accessible on Donnelley Financial’s web site: www.dfsco.com. Individuals wishing to participate must register in advance at http://www.meetme.net/DFIN. After registering, participants will receive dial-in numbers, a passcode, and a personal identification number (PIN) that is used to uniquely identify their presence and automatically join them into the audio conference. A webcast replay will be archived on the Company’s web site for 30 days after the call. In addition, a telephonic replay of the call will be available for seven days at 630.652.3042, passcode 8403075#.

About Donnelley Financial

Donnelley Financial (NYSE: DFIN) provides software and services that enable clients to communicate with confidence in a complex regulatory environment. With 3,600 employees in 61 locations across 18 countries, we provide thousands of clients globally with innovative tools for content creation, management and distribution, as well as data analytics and multi-lingual localization services. Leveraging advanced technology, deep-domain expertise and 24/7 support, we deliver cost-effective solutions to meet the evolving needs of our clients.

For more information about Donnelley Financial, visit dfsco.com.

Use of non-GAAP Information

Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures as defined under the rules of the SEC. As calculated in the tables below, non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA is defined as GAAP net earnings (loss) adjusted for income taxes, interest expense, depreciation and amortization, restructurings and impairments, acquisition-related expenses, share-based compensation expense, spin-off related transaction expenses and certain other charges or credits; free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures.

The Company believes that these non-GAAP measures, when presented in conjunction with comparable GAAP measures, are useful because that information is an appropriate measure for evaluating the Company’s operating performance. Internally, the Company uses this non-GAAP information as an indicator of business performance, and evaluates management’s effectiveness with specific reference to these indicators. These measures should be considered in addition to, not a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Use of Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of, and subject to the safe harbor created by, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to the business, strategy and plans of Donnelley Financial and its expectations relating to future financial condition and performance. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Donnelley Financial management’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "aims," "potential," "will," "would," "could," "considered," "likely," "estimate" and variations of these words and similar future or conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. While Donnelley Financial believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Donnelley Financial’s control. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend upon future circumstances that may or may not occur. Actual results may differ materially from Donnelley Financial’s current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting the business and risks associated with the performance of the business. These factors include such risks and uncertainties detailed in Donnelley Financial’s information statement, dated September 23, 2016, filed as an exhibit to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 23, 2016 and Donnelley Financial’s periodic public filings with the SEC and in other investor communications of Donnelley Financial’s from time to time. Donnelley Financial does not undertake to and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect future events or circumstances after the date of such statement or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.