GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Peter Arduini: Yes. And the last part, Anthony, is I think from a service standpoint, as we sell these more highly sophisticated products into the installed base, 12 months out, the probability of capturing that for a service contract because of the sophistication of the product and really the limited amount of other folks that can provide the type of services needed for one of these advanced products will then become more reoccurring revenue growth down the road. And so that type of capture rate involved with leading products, it’s an important part of our equation on growth.

Anthony Petrone: Very helpful. And quickly on capital allocation, it’s been dynamic out of the gate here. You did the tuck-in with IMACTIS. We also had the debt recapitalization with the spin. And of course, you’re doing internal investments with contrast, expanded the plant last year. So maybe just high-level comments on capital allocation when we think of internal investment, the debt service out of the gate here post spin, tuck-in M&A and then return to free cash holders? Again congratulations. Thanks.

Peter Arduini: Yes. Thanks.

Helmut Zodl: Yes. Thanks, Anthony. So the way we look at our capital location, first and foremost, we are very happy with our strong investment-grade ratings we received last year. This is important for us access to capital, but it’s also equally important for our customers. I mean, Pete just talked about long-term services contracts. People want a strong financial partner that know €“ they know that’s going to be with them for many years, sometimes decades only. So this is first and foremost very important. Obviously, investing in the business is a key priority. We increased our R&A investment substantially in 2022, it was up more than $1 billion that we spend on R&D now. And going forward, we expect that to really grow with the revenue.

But when you then look at the rest of the capital allocation, obviously, this is a strong cash-generating business. I’m talking about 85% or more free cash flow conversion. And we will use and deploy that cash to continue to invest organically into the business, but also out of the free cash flow inorganic investment. IMACTIS was one example. Pete and I spent a lot of time with our M&A team to look at opportunities because I think it’s important for us to see what is out there and make sure that we have a good transparency and visibility and then make decisions that are going to be very disciplined for such acquisitions if they fit into our portfolio and AI accretive both at the top line growth, but also from a profitability perspective.

Operator: Our next question comes from Ryan Zimmerman with BTIG. Your line is open.

Ryan Zimmerman: Hey, thanks for taking the questions, and I echo everyone else’s sentiments in the first quarter here. So just want to ask about two metrics that you’re giving to The Street? And what is the book-to-bill ratio? I know there’s been a lot of questions on it, but would appreciate some historical context in terms of how to think about that 1.07 ratio and how to think about it on a go forward basis? If you could give us any quantitative perspective from prior quarters on the book-to-bill ratio and just how to think about that? And similarly in that vein, I’ll ask my follow-up is, is there’s about $10 billion in remaining performance obligations, at least as of the filings. And so just if you can, Helmut, elaborate on the length of those obligations, how far those extend out?

How those are realized over the coming quarters? And then how to think about that $10 billion on a go-forward basis? Is that kind of the par level to think about 4G healthcare as we think about going forward? And if you’ll be giving out these kind of metrics going forward? Thank you.

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