FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the FactSet Fixed Income Investor Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Linda Huber, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining FactSet's Fixed Income Investor Update. This is Linda Huber, Chief Financial Officer at FactSet. Before we begin our discussion, I'd like to direct listeners to the current version of our fixed income investor presentation, which can be addressed via the webcast. It is also available on the Investor Relations section of our website at factset.com or by using the QR code on your screen. I encourage all listeners to review the legal notice found on Slide 2, which explains the risks of forward-looking statements and the use of non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our Forms 10-K and 10-Q for a discussion of risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. In today's call, we'll first provide an overview of our performance as discussed in our earnings call on March 23, 2023. We will then give an update on our credit profile. And finally, we'll spend the remainder of the call on Q&A. Joining me today are Phil Snow, Chief Executive Officer; and Chai Suh, Managing Director, Treasurer and Head of FP&A here at FactSet. I'll now turn the call over to Phil to give you an overview of FactSet's most recent results. Phil?

Thanks, Linda, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. Since our inaugural debt offering in February of 2022, FactSet has continued our track record of consistent, uninterrupted growth while also reducing leverage to our target range of 2 to 2.5x. We ended the second fiscal quarter of 2023 with year-over-year organic ASV plus professional services growth of 9.1%. Our performance resulted in EBITDA of $200 million and adjusted operating margin of 37%. Our subscription-based revenue model provides stable revenue across a diverse client base and sustains our confidence in the medium-term outlook for the business. As the demand for data and technology increases, our position as a proven, trusted partner for our clients creates opportunity. We maintain a long-term view of our business and are successfully capturing more of the addressable market through our focus on building the leading open content and analytics platform. Last year's acquisition of CUSIP Global Services was a significant milestone in our data management strategy. And as we celebrate the first anniversary of the acquisition, I'd like to recognize the team for a job really well done. CGS has exceeded expectations with ASV growth of 8% since the acquisition. CGS's core securities identification capabilities align well with FactSet's data management strategy. And now with the integration complete, we're focused on growth across asset classes, geographies and capabilities. Linda will now walk you through our credit highlights.

Thanks, Phil. We've been very busy over the last year. We integrated CGS into our core business, went to market with our $1 billion principal amount of senior unsecured investment-grade notes and negotiated a new credit facility. With strong top line performance, client retention rates better than 90% and high free cash flow conversion, we've continued to demonstrate that FactSet is an excellent investment. In January 2022, we announced our commitment to reducing our outstanding debt as quickly as possible. We prioritized free cash flow to repay debt, including the suspension of share repurchases, except for minor share repurchases to offset the dilutive impact of stock option grants. We're pleased to report that we have made $500 million in prepayments on our $1 billion, 3-year term loan for the CUSIP acquisition, reducing our gross leverage ratio to 2.4x from 3.9x level, when we initiated the financing of the acquisition. This is well within the 2.5 to 2x gross leverage target range appropriate to maintain our investment-grade rating. Given our reduced leverage levels, we intend to resume share repurchases for the remainder of fiscal 2023. We currently have $181.3 million available for share repurchases under the company's existing authorization and plan to allocate this amount equally in the third and fourth quarters. And with that, we're now ready for questions. Operator?

[Operator Instructions] I'm currently showing no questions at this time. I'd like to hand the conference back to Mr. Phil Snow for closing remarks.

Well, thank you all for joining us today. In closing, FactSet is an investment-grade company with a proven history of consistent, stable growth. We're committed to disciplined expense management and have a solid foundation for the long term. As a mission-critical digital platform for the investment community, we are confident in our strategy and our ability to capture more share of wallet. We appreciate your time today. If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact Kendra Brown, Global Head of Investor Relations. And thank you for joining us. Operator, that ends today's call.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a wonderful day.