NEW YORK, April 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) today reported first quarter 2018 results with revenue of $1,567 million, an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year with growth in every business segment.  Excluding the favorable impact from foreign exchange, revenue increased 6%.

Net income increased 23% to $491 million and diluted earnings per share increased 26% to $1.93 as a result of revenue growth, operating leverage and U.S. tax reform.   Adjusted net income increased 21% to $509 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 24% to $2.00. The adjustments in the first quarter of 2018 were for deal-related amortization.

"We are off to a solid start to 2018 despite weak bond issuance and the return to volatility.  In fact, the volatility led to record exchange-traded derivatives revenue in our Index business. And our Ratings business was able to navigate the weak bond issuance and deliver top-line growth," said Douglas L. Peterson, President and Chief Executive Officer of S&P Global.  "During the quarter, we added to our capabilities for success in the future through the acquisitions of Panjiva and Kensho.  These are examples of unique companies that enhance our strong analytical foundation with world-class talent and cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies."

Margin: The Company's operating profit margin improved by 130 basis points to 45% due to revenue growth and operating leverage.  The adjusted operating profit margin increased 10 basis points to 47%.

Return of Capital: During the first quarter, the Company returned $1.227 billion to shareholders through a combination of $127 million in dividends, $100 million in open market share purchases, and $1 billion in the form of an accelerated share repurchase (ASR) agreement. During the quarter, we received 0.6 million shares from the open market purchases and the initial shares under the ASR of 4.5 million shares.  We expect to complete the ASR during the third quarter and receive additional shares at that time.

Ratings:  Revenue increased 5% to $748 million in the first quarter.  Non-transaction revenue increased 11% to $380 million due to growth in fees associated with surveillance as well as large increases in new entity ratings and Rating Evaluation Service fees.  Transaction revenue declined 1% to $368 million as declines in corporate bonds and public finance were slightly larger than gains in structured products. 

U.S. revenue increased 1% and international revenue, led by gains in EMEA and Asia-Pacific, increased 10%.  International represented 44% of first quarter revenue.  With the exception of U.S. public finance, every major ratings sector delivered revenue growth with the largest gain in structured products.

Operating profit increased by 9% to $408 million. The operating profit margin improved 220 basis points to 55% compared to the first quarter of 2017.  Adjusted operating profit increased 8% to $408 million. The adjusted operating profit margin improved 190 basis points to 55%.  

Market Intelligence:  Revenue increased 9% to $437 million in the first quarter of 2018 with solid gains across Desktop, Data Management Solutions, and Risk Services.  Quarterly operating profit increased 8% to $112 million.  The operating profit margin declined 20 basis points to 26% as increased investments in commercial and technology and increased data costs partially offset revenue gains and a divestiture-related expense in the prior period. 

Adjusted operating profit increased 4% to $129 million.  Adjusted operating profit margin decreased 150 basis points to 30% as increased investments in commercial and technology and increased data costs more than offset revenue gains.

Platts: Revenue increased 3% to $196 million with growth in the core subscription business partially offset by a meaningful decline in Global Trading Services as reduced volatility in key commodity products resulted in lower trading volumes.  Quarterly operating profit increased 9% to $90 million.  The operating profit margin increased 270 basis points to 46% due to an acquisition-related adjustment in the prior period that  was larger than the reduction in Global Trading Services' revenue and the unfavorable impact from foreign exchange rates. 

Adjusted operating profit declined 4% to $95 million.  Adjusted operating profit margin decreased 310 basis points to 48% primarily due to a reduction in Global Trading Services' revenue and the unfavorable impact from foreign exchange rates.

S&P Dow Jones Indices: S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC is a majority-owned subsidiary.  The consolidated results are included in S&P Global's income statement and the portion related to the 27% noncontrolling interest is removed in net income attributable to noncontrolling interests.

Revenue increased 25% to $214 million in the first quarter of 2018 due to a 59% increase in revenue associated with exchange-traded derivatives activity as market volatility led to a surge in ETD activity.  In addition, revenue from asset-linked fees increased 21%.  Revenue from ETFs is the largest component of asset-linked fees, and average ETF AUM associated with the Company's indices increased 28%.

Operating profit increased 28% to $147 million and the operating profit margin improved 160 basis points to 69%.  Adjusted operating profit increased 28% to $149 million and the adjusted operating profit margin improved 160 basis points to 69%.  Operating profit attributable to the Company increased 27% to $107 million.  Adjusted operating profit attributable to the Company increased 27% to $109 million.

Unallocated Expense:  Unallocated expense includes corporate center functions and certain non-allocated items such as excess real estate. Unallocated expense increased 28% to $46 million due to a $20 million contribution to the S&P Global Foundation that was previously disclosed.  This expense was partially offset by lower executive department expenses and reduced professional fees.

Provision for Income Taxes:  U.S. tax reform has had an immediate and meaningful impact on the Company's effective tax rate.  The Company's effective tax rates in the first quarter of 2018 and 2017 were 21.6% and 29.5%, respectively.  The Company's adjusted effective tax rate decreased to 21.7% in the first quarter of 2018 compared to 30.3% in the prior period.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow: Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter were $1.8 billion. In the first three months of 2018, cash provided by operating activities was $360 million, cash used for investing activities was $87 million, and cash used for financing activities was $1,316 million.  Free cash flow was $277 million, a decrease of $29 million from the same period in 2017 primarily due to legal settlement payments and the $20 million contribution to the S&P Global Foundation.  Free cash flow, excluding the after tax payment of legal settlements, was $299 million.

Outlook:  As part of  the Kensho acquisition announcement on March 6, 2018, the Company reduced its GAAP diluted EPS guidance by approximately twenty cents to a range of $7.95 to $8.10 and left its adjusted diluted EPS unchanged with a range of $8.45 to $8.60.  Today, the Company reaffirms this guidance.

Comparison of Adjusted Information to U.S. GAAP Information:  The Company reports its financial results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"). The Company also refers to and presents certain additional non-GAAP financial measures, within the meaning of Regulation G under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These measures are: adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted net income, adjusted operating profit and margin, organic revenue, adjusted unallocated expense, adjusted effective tax rates, adjusted diluted EPS guidance, free cash flow and free cash flow excluding certain items. The Company has included reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP on Exhibits 5, 7, 8 and 9. The Company's non-GAAP measures include adjustments that reflect how management views our businesses. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful supplemental information that, in the case of non-GAAP financial measures other than free cash flow and free cash flow excluding certain items, enables investors to better compare the Company's performance across periods, and management also uses these measures internally to assess the operating performance of its business, to assess performance for employee compensation purposes and to decide how to allocate resources. The Company believes that the presentation of free cash flow and free cash flow excluding certain items allows investors to evaluate the cash generated from our underlying operations in a manner similar to the method used by management and that such measures are useful in evaluating the cash available to us to prepay debt, make strategic acquisitions and investments, and repurchase stock. However, investors should not consider any of these non-GAAP measures in isolation from, or as a substitute for, the financial information that the Company reports.

Conference Call/Webcast Details:  The Company's senior management will review the first quarter 2018 earnings results on a conference call scheduled for today, April 26, at 8:30 a.m. ET.  Additional information presented on the conference call may be made available on the Company's Investor Relations Website at http://investor.spglobal.com.

The Webcast will be available live and in replay at http://investor.spglobal.com/CustomPage/Index?KeyGenPage=1073751596&event=20195.  (Please copy and paste URL into Web browser.)

Telephone access is available. U.S. participants may call (888) 391-6568; international participants may call +1 (415) 228-4733 (long distance charges will apply). The passcode is "S&P Global" and the conference leader is Douglas Peterson. A recorded telephone replay will be available approximately two hours after the meeting concludes and will remain available until May 26, 2018. U.S. participants may call (866) 481-6886; international participants may call +1 (203) 369-1567 (long distance charges will apply). No passcode is required.

Forward-Looking Statements:  This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, which express management's current views concerning future events, trends, contingencies or results, appear at various places in this report and use words like "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "strategy," "target" and similar terms, and future or conditional tense verbs like "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and "would."  For example, management may use forward-looking statements when addressing topics such as: the outcome of contingencies; future actions by regulators; changes in the Company's business strategies and methods of generating revenue; the development and performance of the Company's services and products; the expected impact of acquisitions and dispositions; the Company's effective tax rates; and the Company's cost structure, dividend policy, cash flows or liquidity.

Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements include, among other things:

• the impact of the recent acquisition of Kensho, including the impact on the Company's results of operations; any failure to successfully integrate Kensho into the Company's operations; and any failure to attract and retain key employees; the risk of litigation, unexpected costs, charges or expenses relating to the acquisition;
• worldwide economic, financial, political and regulatory conditions, including conditions that may result from legislative, regulatory and policy changes associated with the current U.S. administration or the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union;
• the rapidly evolving regulatory environment, in Europe, the United States and elsewhere, affecting Ratings, S&P Global Platts, Indices, and S&P Global Market Intelligence, including new and amended regulations and the Company's compliance therewith;
• our ability to make acquisitions and dispositions and successfully integrate the businesses we acquire;
• the outcome of litigation, government and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquiries;
• the health of debt and equity markets, including credit quality and spreads, the level of liquidity and future debt issuances;
• the demand and market for credit ratings in and across the sectors and geographies where the Company operates;
• concerns in the marketplace affecting the Company's credibility or otherwise affecting market perceptions of the integrity or utility of independent credit ratings;
• the effect of competitive products and pricing, including the level of success of new product developments and global expansion;
• consolidation in the Company's end-customer markets;
• the introduction of competing products or technologies by other companies;
• the impact of customer cost-cutting pressures, including in the financial services industry and the commodities markets;
• a decline in the demand for credit risk management tools by financial institutions;
• the level of merger and acquisition activity in the United States and abroad;
• the volatility of the energy marketplace;
• the health of the commodities markets;
• our ability to attract, incentivize and retain key employees;
• the Company's ability to maintain adequate physical, technical and administrative safeguards to protect the security of confidential information and data, and the potential of a system or network disruption that results in regulatory penalties, remedial costs or improper disclosure of confidential information or data;
• the Company's ability to successfully recover should it experience a disaster or other business continuity problem from a hurricane, flood, earthquake, terrorist attack, pandemic, security breach, cyber-attack, power loss, telecommunications failure or other natural or man-made event;
• our ability to adjust to changes in European and United Kingdom markets as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, and the impact of the United Kingdom's departure on our credit rating activities and other European and United Kingdom offerings;
• changes in applicable tax or accounting requirements;
• guidance and information regarding the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act;
• the level of the Company's future cash flows and capital investments;
• the impact on the Company's revenue and net income caused by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; and
• the Company's exposure to potential criminal sanctions or civil penalties if it fails to comply with foreign and U.S. laws and regulations that are applicable in the domestic and international jurisdictions in which it operates, including sanctions laws relating to countries such as Iran, Russia, Sudan and Syria, anti-corruption laws such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, and local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government officials, as well as import and export restrictions.

The factors noted above are not exhaustive. The Company and its subsidiaries operate in a dynamic business environment in which new risks emerge frequently. Accordingly, the Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which it is made, except as required by applicable law. Further information about the Company's businesses, including information about factors that could materially affect its results of operations and financial condition, is contained in the Company's filings with the SEC, including the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.

About S&P Global
S&P Global is a leading provider of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. The Company's divisions include S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Dow Jones Indices and S&P Global Platts. S&P Global has approximately 20,000 employees in 31 countries. For more information visit www.spglobal.com.

Investor Relations:  http://investor.spglobal.com

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Contact:
Investor Relations:
Chip Merritt
Vice President, Investor Relations
(212) 438-4321 (office)
chip.merritt@spglobal.com

News Media:
Jason Feuchtwanger
Director, Corporate Media Relations
(212) 438-1247 (office)
jason.feuchtwanger@spglobal.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOURCE S&P Global