West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Eric Green: Yes. Paul, that’s a good question. So the first part is that when we think about the COVID, it’s — we’re looking about right now, approximately $85 million for 2023 is relatively kind of evenly spread. We can’t get any more granular than that at this point. But as you know, we were much higher than that last year. So we do have the capabilities to manufacture accordingly. In regards to the prefilled syringe, when you think about our investments, particularly in the last couple of years and working with some of the launches in anticipation around plungers, which obviously supports the prefilled syringe space is actually — we’re anticipating higher growth in that area. And that is — equipment is coming online as we speak.

I mentioned a little bit in my prepared remarks about Kinston, a lot of the additional equipment in there is really geared around plungers. And so I’m excited to build support that part of the market as we see the prefilled syringe market continue to expand with high growth. So we’re going to play in that, and we’re prepared for it, and that’s where investments are really focused on today.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Derik De Bruin, Bank of America.

Derik De Bruin: So can you talk a little bit about sort of like pricing? You got about 4% in 4Q. How should we think about that in ’23? Are you — I know you were debating taking some higher pricing. You’re looking at your pricing dynamics as things are going forward. And I guess, have you done that? And are you — have you seen any pushback from your customers?

Eric Green: Yes. Thanks for the question. So you’re right. We have implemented in the fourth quarter of 2022, obviously, discussions with our customers about the 2023 calendar year. Our net price increase will go up in 2023, and that is obviously for all the right reasons, particularly with some of the inflationary challenges and so forth that I think all industries are being faced with. So I think the team responded appropriately. I believe we took a very — very well-balanced approach. We do have certain customers on contracts, so we did have some limitations. However, overall, with the new pricing team and strategy we put in place a couple of years ago, we’re starting to see that pay off. So that will be rolling out as we speak and already this quarter and will be rolling throughout 2023. But Bernard, do you want to provide more color on that?

Bernard Birkett: Yes. So our — I think in the fourth quarter, we said we did about 3.8% of pricing. We’re targeting 5% to 6% on price as we move through 2023. So it is a bit of a step up. And part of that is to take into account the inflationary cost pressures that we’re also seeing. But as Eric said, you can see the trajectory and our price increases over the last number of years and how we’re approaching that. That’s also been on the increase.

Derik De Bruin: Great. Just a little bit of an accounting question. What was the tailwind from stock-based comp in ’22? And your initial tax rates are never what you end up being with for the full year. So is it comparable to think — is it reasonable to think you get a comparable benefit in ’23?

Bernard Birkett: We guide without it because it’s very hard for us to estimate it. If you look at — last year, it was about $0.22, I believe. So it’s — we guide without it for a reason because it is so hard for us to predict that’s kind of outside of our control.