SEC Company Response from MAXIMUS, INC. (MMS) (CIK 0001032220) (MMS) — Aug 6, 2010
MAXIMUS, INC. (MMS) (CIK 0001032220)
Date: Aug. 6, 2010 · CIK: 0001032220 · Accession: 0001104659-10-042610
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CORRESP 1 filename1.htm MAXIMUS 11419 Sunset Hills Road Reston VA 20190 July 29, 2010 United States Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Corporate Finance — Mail Stop 3010 Washington DC 20549 Dear Ms. Monick, In response to a telephone call from Howard Efron, we have been asked to provide further examples of analysts’ reports from fiscal year 2008, focusing on the unusual and infrequent events which occurred in that year and the charge of $2.2 million disclosed and recorded in the first quarter of that year. In addition, we acknowledge that: · The Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filing; · Staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to staff comments do not foreclose the Securities and Exchange Commission from taking any action with respect to the filing; · The Company may not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission or any person under the federal securities laws of the United States. There were no significant, unusual events during the first quarter of fiscal year 2008. However, during the quarter, the Company did record a pre-tax charge of $2.2 million ($1.3 million after tax) reflecting the correction of an understatement of stock compensation expense in 2006 and 2007. As previously noted in our letter of June 18, 2010, this item was mentioned in our earnings call and was the subject of questions at the time. Following the call, reports were prepared by a number of analysts, including the following: · CJS Securities, whose report is included in Appendix 1. This report mentions the $2.2 million charge on page 1, “normalizing” EPS for the effect of the charge. In addition, there is no evidence that CJS Securities considered the charge so significant that it affected their understanding of the Company’s results in any of the years between 2006 and 2008. 1 · Jefferies & Co (Appendix 2). This report mentions the charge on page 1 and summarizes it (along with a temporary increase in tax rates) as “transitory”. The charge is excluded in preparing a pro forma calculation of EPS. · UBS and GARP Research & Securities published reports, but did not mention the charge. The GARP report is included at Appendix 3. The Company recorded some legal expenses in the second and third quarter and a gain on sale of a building in the third quarter. However, the most significant unusual events occurred in the fourth quarter, where the Company recorded a $7.5 million pre-tax ($4.6 million after-tax) goodwill impairment charge and a $37.5 million pre-tax ($23.2 million after-tax) legal and settlement charge related to the settlement with Accenture over the Texas subcontract. At the time of the Company’s initial earnings call on November 13, 2008, the details of the legal settlement were not known. However, all analysts’ reports focused either on EBITDA (excluding the impairment charge) or “pro forma” results with the impairment charge reversed out. We believe this is significant evidence that the analysts are focused on adjusted income. For example, in Appendix 4 we have included the report of Stifel Nicolaus. We note that: · The report acknowledges the goodwill impairment charge on page 2; · The report prepares an analysis of fourth quarter EBIT margin, which excludes goodwill impairment and legal expenses. Following settlement of the Accenture matter, Stifel Nicolaus released a follow-up note on December 15 ,2008, included as Appendix 5. This note focuses on the legal and settlement charge, in itself a reflection of the nature of this charge to the analyst community. As well as analyses similar to those performed in the previous note, this report also includes a section called “FY08 EPS Restated From Prior Periods” which mentions pro forma EPS of $0.71 for the quarter and $2.83 for the fiscal year. These pro forma numbers are consistent with those used by the Company in its press release of December 12, 2008 and include adjustments for legal and settlement expense, goodwill impairment and the sale of the building. It remains our opinion that the error in stock compensation expense is immaterial to the Company both in the aggregate and within each year affected. This is based upon the magnitude of the adjustment, the nature of the charge and the comprehensive disclosure of the correction by management in the Company’s Form 10-Q in the first quarter of 2008. We feel that the review of the analyst reports in 2008 confirms this view as: · The focus of the analysts appears to be on an earnings figure adjusted for unusual events, such as the legal and settlement charge or the goodwill impairment. As a consequence, any adjustments must be viewed in the context of a net income based upon a larger earnings figure than that recorded under GAAP; 2 · Unlike the goodwill impairment or legal and settlement expense, which are greater in scale and significance to the Company, analysts did not place a significant amount of interest in the stock-compensation correction, with some analysts omitting mention of it entirely. · We are not aware of any shareholder viewing the correction of the error as a materially misleading adjustment, notwithstanding the disclosure of the adjustment in the financial statements, earnings call and certain of the analyst reports. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need further information or clarification. Sincerely /s/ David N. Walker David N. Walker Chief Financial Officer 3 Appendix 1 CJS SECURITIES 50 MAIN ST WHITE PLAINS NY 10606 Telephone (914) 287-7600 MAXIMUS MARKET OUTPERFORM FEBRUARY 7, 2008 (MMS-$39.91:NYSE) P-TARGET:$49 COMPANY UPDATE · GOOD START TO THE YEAR, EPS EX-CHARGE $0.07 BETTER THAN EXPECTED · STRONG MARGINS IN OPERATIONS SEG. MORE THAN OFFSET WEAK SYSTEMS · ECONOMIC DOWNTURN NOT EXPECTED TO IMPACT CO. AS EVIDENCED BY GROWING BACKLOG · EPS GUIDANCE RAISED TO ACCOUNT FOR BUYBACK ACCRETION · RAISING FY09 ESTIMATES, REITERATE MKT. OUTPERFORM RATING The core operations business continues to drive solid results at MAXIMUS making up for poor results in its systems segment. Overall top line sales of 202mm were 1mm shy of our model for FQ1 08 but again can be attributed to the troubled systems unit which was over 2mm below our estimate. Operating margins were 90bps better than expected as the operations unit delivered nearly 300bps higher profitability. Consulting was 80bps above our model and Systems showed a loss of $3mm vs our just above break even expectation. The company has struggled to turn this unit around as it appears software development costs have been mounting and a couple of contracts may be operating at a loss. While MMS tries to rework these contracts this segment remains a drag on earnings, masking the strong performance of its core health and human services business and it now appears that systems will not be profitable this year. Despite this the other businesses are more than making up for this shortfall and we are maintaining our prior estimates for the year. Excluding a $2.2mm charge for the forfeiture of options EPS would have been approximately $0.07 better than our estimate. Cash flow from operations was strong at $20.8mm and FCF was $16.7mm. The company has done an excellent job focusing on reducing DSOs, which were 77 days in the quarter within the targeted 75-85 day range. Guidance for FY08 CFFO remains at $50-60mm with FCF expected to be $30-40mm. Overall guidance for sales remains unchanged at $850mm to $880mm but EPS guidance is now higher at $2.60 to $2.85 (was $2.40 to $2.65 Financial Metrics GAAP Earnings Per Share Current Price $35.82 Cash $(MM) $62 FY (Sep) 2008e was 2009e was 52 Week Range $26.65 - $48.33 Total Debt $(MM) $0 Q1 Dec $0.51 a $0.50 Shares Out FD (MM) 19.0 Net Debt/Cap 0% Q2 Mar $0.62 Float (MM) 19 Return on Equity -2% Q3 Jun $0.78 Average Daily Vol. 405 K Est. 3-5 yr Rev growth 10-15% Q4 Sep $0.85 Market Cap ($MM) $681 Est. 3-5 yr EPS growth 13-17% Year $2.75 $3.30 $3.15 Enterprise Value ($MM) $618 Dividend Yield 1% P/E 13.0X 10.9X Mgmt/Director Ownership 1.6% Book Value per Share $18.49 EV/ EBITDA 27.7 X 5.5X Charles Strauzer cstrauzer@cjs-securities.com PLEASE REFER TO THE LAST PAGE OF THIS REPORT FOR IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES, ANALYST CERTIFICATION AND PRICE CHART. but excluded the buyback) given the previously announced $150mm accelerated share repurchase and will likely net more shares given the lower share price. Backlog continues to grow even though there are some investors who may have the perception that a tough economic climate will impact MMS. The total pipeline now stands at $1.5bln vs. 1.3bln in FY07. There are several reasons we believe MMS can weather a challenging economic environment; · 60% of its business are BPO type services which are typically driven and funded by the federal government, · States tend to outsource more in tougher budgetary environments to try and save money, · Focus of services on cost reductions and efficiencies, which is appealing to its customer base during tougher times, · Privatization services typically are attractive during tighter fiscal cycles because MMS can do the same job as government more efficiently and often with less expense. · Lastly case loads usually increase in more difficult times, as there are more people in need of help increasing the need for the work performed by MMS. We are maintaining our FY 08 estimates but raising our FY 09 EPS for continued progress in growing its core operations margins. Our $49 valuation is based on 8X our FY08E EBITDA (below takeout multiples and inline with comparable public company valuations). If MMS can rid themselves of unprofitable businesses it would help further expand margins and could use cash proceeds received to further enhance value. Accordingly, we reiterate our market outperform rating. MAXIMUS Actual vs. Estimates for Q1 12/07e (in MMs except EPS) Year Ago Actual Current Quarter Actual Current Q Estimate Better/ Q1 12/06 % Revs Q1 12/07 % Revs Y/Y Q1 12/07e % Revs (Worse) Segment Revenues Consulting 24.7 15.3 % 22.2 11.0 % -10.1 % 22.2 10.9 % -0.2 % Systems 34.5 21.4 % 34.0 16.8 % -1.6 % 36.3 17.8 % -6.3 % Operations 101.9 63.3 % 145.8 72.2 % 43.0 % 144.8 71.2 % 0.7 % Total Revenue 161.1 100.0 % 202.0 100.0 % 25.3 % 203.2 100.0 % -0.6 % Income from Operations Consulting 2.8 11.4 % 1.2 5.2 % -59.1 % 1.0 4.4 % 16.8 % Systems (1.6 ) -4.6 % (3.1 ) -9.2 % 96.7 % 0.6 1.5 % -661.9 % Operations (16.0 ) -15.7 % 18.7 12.8 % -216.8 % 12.8 8.9 % 46.0 % Consolidating Adjustments 0.5 (0.2 ) -151.0 % 0.5 -146.0 % Total Income from Operations (14.4 ) -8.9 % 16.5 8.2 % -214.9 % 14.9 7.3 % 11.0 % Gross Profit 20.3 12.6 % 52.8 26.1 % 160.2 % 51.5 25.3 % 2.5 % Selling, General & Administrative (34.7 ) -21.5 % (36.3 ) -18.0 % 4.6 % (36.6 ) -18.0 % 0.9 % EBIT (17.4 ) -10.8 % 16.5 8.2 % NM 14.9 7.3 % 11.0 % Interest Income 1.6 1.0 % 1.5 0.7 % -6.9 % 0.3 0.1 % 400.3 % Pretax Income (15.8 ) -9.8 % 18.0 8.9 % NM 15.2 7.5 % 18.7 % Taxes 5.8 3.6 % (7.4 ) -3.7 % NM (5.9 ) -2.9 % -20.1 % Tax Rate 36.9 % NA 41.1 % NA 4.2 % 39.0 % NA -2.1 % Net Income $ (9.9 ) -6.2 % $ 10.6 5.3 % NM $ 9.3 4.6 % 14.5 % EPS (Fully Diluted) $ (0.48 ) NA $ 0.51 NA -205.9 % $ 0.50 NA EPS (Fully Diluted) Ex Items $ 0.57 $ 0.50 Fully Diluted Shares 21.6 NA 20.9 NA -3.4 % 18.7 NA -10.3 % EBITDA (10.9 ) -6.7 % 22.7 11.2 % -308.5 % 21.5 10.6 % 5.5 % Depreciation & Amortization 5.1 3.1 % 5.1 2.5 % 0.0 % 5.5 2.7 % 8.8 % Source: CJS Securities Estimates, Company Documents MAXIMUS, Inc. (MMS) Income Statement All Figures $MM, except per share FY 2004a FY 2005a FY 2006e Q1 12/06 Q2 3/07 Q3 6/07 Q4 9/07 FY 2007e Q1 12/07 Q2 3/08e Q3 6/08e Q4 9/08e FY 2008e FY 2009e Revenue 603.8 647.5 700.9 161.1 179.1 196.6 201.9 738.6 202.0 210.0 226.0 230.1 868.0 950.9 % growth year-to-year 8.1 % 7.2 % 8.2 % -1.0 % -0.4 % 5.3 % 17.5 % 5.4 % 25.3 % 17.3 % 15.0 % 14.0 % 17.5 % 9.5 % Cost of Revenue (427.7 ) (467.6 ) (547.4 ) (140.9 ) (136.2 ) (138.1 ) (146.4 ) (561.6 ) (149.2 ) (153.3 ) (160.8 ) (161.8 ) (625.1 ) (675.5 ) % of Revenue 70.8 % 72.2 % 78.1 % 87.4 % 76.1 % 70.3 % 72.5 % 76.0 % 73.9 % 73.0 % 71.2 % 70.3 % 72.0 % 71.0 % % growth year-to-year 9.2 % 9.3 % 17.1 % 19.4 % 1.3 % -13.0 % 7.5 % 2.6 % 5.9 % 12.6 % 16.4 % 10.6 % 11.3 % 8.0 % Gross Profit 176.0 180.0 136.3 20.3 42.9 58.4 55.5 177.1 52.8 56.7 65.2 68.3 242.9 275.4 Gross Margin 29.2 % 27.8 % 19.5 % 12.6 % 23.9 % 29.7 % 27.5 % 24.0 % 26.1 % 27.0 % 28.8 % 29.7 % 28.0 % 29.0 % % growth year-to-year 7.0 % 2.2 % -24.2 % -54.7 % -5.4 % 449.1 % 55.8 % 29.9 % 160.2 % 32.2 % 11.5 % 23.0 % 37.2 % 13.4 % Selling, General & Administrative (113.0 ) (116.7 ) (129.7 ) (34.7 ) (34.5 ) (35.4 ) (31.1 ) (135.6 ) (36.3 ) (37.8 ) (40.7 ) (41.4 ) (156.1 ) (171.2 ) % of Revenue 18.7 % 18.0 % 18.5 % 21.5 % 19.2 % 18.0 % 18.0 % 18.4 % 18.0 % 18.0 % 18.0 % 18.0 % 18.0 % 18.0 % % Growth Year-to-Year 5.2 % 3.3 % 11.1 % 9.8 % 11.5 % 9.5 % -10.9 % 4.6 % 4.6 % 9.7 % 15.1 % 33.1 % 15.2 % 9.6 % Write off of deferred contract costs (17.1 ) (28.0 ) (6.5 ) 0.2 (2.2 ) Legal Expense 0.0 (7.0 ) (9.4 ) (3.0 ) (6.1 ) (33.0 ) (2.5 ) (44.6 ) 0.0 0.0 Operating Profit 63.0 56.3 (2.8 ) (17.4 ) 2.3 (9.9 ) 21.8 (3.1 ) 16.5 18.9 24.5 26.8 86.7 104.3 % of Revenue 10.4 % 8.7