Conduent Incorporated (NASDAQ:CNDT) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Stephen Wood: Thanks, Cliff. As we have done in the past, we are reporting both GAAP and non-GAAP numbers. The reconciliations are in our filings and in the appendix of the presentation. Let’s turn to Slide 5 and discuss our key sales metrics. In the fourth quarter, our primary sales metric, new business ACV, was down $42 million versus the prior year at $152 million, roughly flat sequentially against the third quarter and in line with what we expected, absenting the volume of larger deals in the Government segment, which were a feature of our Q4 2022 ACV results when we signed 3 large deals. This quarter did include the signing of another double-digit ACV new logo in our government health care space, comprising a module of our cloud-native Conduent Medicaid suite.

Our Commercial segment is still experiencing longer decision-making cycles and cautious buying behavior, but finished the year stronger than it started, up 35% versus Q4 2022. For the full year, ACV was down 13% as compared to 2022, with most of this impact in the Commercial segment, where ACV was down 29%. And this was partially offset in the Government and Transportation segments, which in aggregate, grew their ACV year-over-year by approximately 8%. New business TCV was strong in 2023, growing 20% as compared to full year 2022. This was primarily due to the $1 billion contract we signed in Q2 with the State of Victoria, Australia, in our Transportation segment, where we began implementing the new account-based ticketing platform in Q3, and took over operations of the legacy system from the incumbent in December.

As a reminder, this is a 15-year contract, generating implementation revenues over the next 3 to 4 years. Our net ARR activity metric, our combined measure of wins, losses, pricing effects and other contractual changes has continued to remain positive. This trailing 12-month measure does not predict the timing of revenue, but is based on the timing of notification. A full definition of this metric is covered in the appendix of our presentation. The Q4 2023 net ARR activity metric was down sequentially, primarily due to the roll-off of a strong ARR performance in Q4 2022 and lighter signings in certain areas of the Commercial segment during 2023. Losses were broadly in line with where we expected. Very briefly on Slide 6, you can see the large renewal quarter that we had in Q4 2023.

Let’s now turn to Slide 7, and discuss our full year 2023 P&L metrics. We finished the year with results coming in slightly stronger than how I messaged in our last earnings update, topping both our Q4 and modified full year guide. Revenue for 2023 was $3.72 billion as compared to $3.85 billion in 2022, down 3.3% or 3.6% in constant currency. We experienced stronger-than-anticipated performance in our Government segment, offsetting some softness in both our Commercial and Transportation segments, which I’ll cover as I discuss the individual segment results later. Adjusted EBITDA was $378 million for the full year in 2023 as compared to $394 million in 2022. And our adjusted EBITDA margin at 10.2% was substantially unchanged compared to 2022.

This was within our original full year guided range and slightly higher than how I laid it out in our last earnings update due to a couple of discrete items that affected the fourth quarter. Let’s now turn to Slide 8 and go over the segment results. For the full year, Commercial segment revenues were $1.93 billion, down 3% as compared to 2022. The incremental BenefitWallet revenue in the year was an approximate $54 million tailwind and nonrepeating items in the prior year were an approximate $30 million headwind. New business ramp and add-on sales fell slightly short of outpacing loss business for the year, primarily due to the soft new business environment in 2023 in certain areas of the Commercial segment. The balance of the impact on revenue was lower volumes from some large clients, predominantly in the CX space in certain industries, including travel, logistics and telecom.

We believe much of this is macro related and therefore, likely temporary. Commercial segment adjusted EBITDA improved 21% year-over-year, and the adjusted EBITDA margin of 14.2% was up 290 basis points year-over-year. Increased BenefitWallet revenue contributed to this margin improvement, along with operational efficiencies, and this was partially offset by lower volumes and nonrepeating items from the prior year. For the Government segment, full year 2023 revenue performed better than expected, declining 4.9% as compared to 2022. The year-over-year impact of the onetime government stimulus volumes in 2022, was a headwind of $42 million. New business ramp, including the 3 large deals we signed in Q4 2022, combined with stronger government payment volumes, drove the better performance, but not quite enough to outrun the known loss business from prior years.

Government segment adjusted EBITDA declined by 1.8% year-over-year, driven by the impact of the onetime government stimulus volumes in 2022 and lost business, partially offset with the benefit from a portion of a legal settlement of $17 million as well as stronger government payment volumes. The adjusted EBITDA margin of 29.7% was up 90 basis points year-over-year. Transportation segment revenues declined 1.8% in 2023 as compared to 2022. Transportation segment results were negatively impacted from transitioning certain clients on large, long-running implementations through go-live. Some of these programs experienced extended completion timelines largely driven by increased or changing client scope and requirements as we near the end of these multiyear implementations.

This caused more of a drag on revenue and margins during the year than we originally anticipated. Transportation segment adjusted EBITDA was $41 million as compared to $84 million in 2022. And the adjusted EBITDA margin of 5.9% was down 590 basis points year-over-year. These extended completion timelines on a handful of our larger implementations caused most of this decline. We continue to focus on implementation and operational discipline and returning the business to more predictable revenue and margin trajectories. Our Q4 Transportation results posted year-over-year revenue growth and a stronger adjusted EBITDA versus Q4 2022. Let’s now turn to Slide 9 and discuss the balance sheet and cash flow. Our total liquidity position remains strong with a combined $1.1 billion in cash and available revolving credit facility.