Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and welcome to the Lamar Advertising Company Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I would now like to introduce the first presenter, Kevin Reilly.

Good morning. Welcome to the Virtual Annual Meeting of Lamar Advertising. Thank you for joining us today. I'm Kevin Reilly, Jr., Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. And I would now like to introduce James McIlwain, Secretary of the company, who will conduct the formal portion of the meeting.

Thank you, Kevin. I'll begin by introducing the Lamar directors who are joining us virtually today: Kevin Reilly, Anna Reilly, Wendell Reilly, Tom Reifenheiser, Steve Mumblow, John Koerner, Marshall Loeb, Elizabeth Thompson, Nancy Fletcher. I'm joined today by members of Lamar's management team, including Sean Reilly, Chief Executive Officer and President; and Jay Johnson, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. We're also joined today by representatives of KPMG LLP, our independent public accounting firm: Keith Jenkins, Jon Baker and Thomas Angers. They're also in attendance today. This meeting was called by the Board of Directors of Lamar Advertising Company at a meeting held on February 25, 2021. I have received an affidavit of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., the company's mailing agent, that notice of the meeting was furnished by the company on or about April 9, 2021 to every stockholder of record as of March 22, 2021. The Board of Directors has appointed Vianca Strother as an inspector of election for this meeting. I also have a report of the inspector of election stating that a quorum is present. If you would like to vote your shares during this meeting, you may do so once the polls are open. If you've already submitted a proxy, you need not vote during the meeting unless you wish to change your vote. We do want to call your attention to the rules of conduct for the annual meeting, which are available on the virtual meeting platform. Per the rules of conduct, if you have questions relating to the matters being voted upon during the formal portion of the meeting, you can submit them by typing your questions into the questions box on your screen when I begin reading the proposals. We will review and respond to these questions prior to calling for a vote on such matters, provided they properly relate to the matters being voted upon and comply with the rules of conduct. During the registration process for this meeting, we previously asked that you submit any questions relating to general stockholder matters. Our CEO and President will address those questions at the end of the meeting. We are now ready to proceed with the business of the meeting. There are 2 items of business on the agenda today. I will describe the first item and then call for a vote. I will then describe the second item and again call for a vote. After all the items have been voted on, we will close the polls and the inspector of election will tally the votes, and we will report the results before we adjourn. The first item of business is to elect 9 directors to the Board of Directors of the company. The proposal is as follows: to elect Nancy Fletcher; John E. Koerner, III; Marshall A. Loeb; Stephen P. Mumblow; Thomas V. Reifenheiser; Anna Reilly; Kevin P. Reilly, Jr.; Wendell Reilly and Elizabeth Thompson as directors of the company to serve until the next Annual Meeting of the Stockholders of the company and until their successors are duly elected and qualified or until their earlier death, resignation or removal. The qualifications of the nominees are described on pages 9 through 14 of the company's proxy statement for this meeting. Seeing no questions on this proposal, the polls are now open for anyone who wants to cast a vote or change an earlier vote. [Voting]

The second and final item of business is the ratification of KPMG LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm. The proposal is as follows: to ratify the appointment of KPMG LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2021 fiscal year. Information regarding the audit and tax fees we paid to KPMG LLP in 2020 and 2019 is disclosed on Page 36 of the company's proxy statement. Additional information regarding KPMG LLP is found in the Audit Committee report on Page 35 of the company's proxy statement. Seeing no questions on this proposal, the polls are now open for anyone who wants to cast a vote or change an earlier vote. [Voting]

The polls are now closed. I ask the inspector of election to prepare and submit her report. I have received the report of the inspector of election. The report of the inspector of election indicates that all 9 director nominees have been elected by the appropriate vote and KPMG LLP has been ratified as the company's independent registered public accounting firm. That concludes the formal portion of the meeting. I will now entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. After the adjournment, we will have a report from management and an informal question-and-answer session. Do I have a motion to adjourn?

So move.

Do I have a second?

Second.

The meeting is adjourned. I will now introduce Sean Reilly, CEO and President, who will provide an informal report. Sean?

Thanks, Jim, and welcome all to our 2021 Annual Shareholders' Meeting. I think that you should all be very proud of the way your company performed in 2020. I know that I am. Last year, at this time, we didn't know how it was going to play out, but we came together. And as spring turned into summer and summer turned into fall and fall turned into winter, it became clear to us that we were going to be just fine. As a matter of fact, we exceeded all of our internal goals last year. We performed well above our expectations. A little known data point, in 2020, your company, Lamar, did more in EBITDA than the other 3 global competitors combined, quite a performance in adverse climate. So what about 2021? In 2021, we continue to exceed our expectations. I, in particular, am just stunned at how quickly our business is rebounding and our divisions are marching quickly towards a complete recovery. When we came into the year, we were hoping that we would get back about half of the revenues that we lost in 2020 comp to 2019. It appears that we may actually do it in 1 year instead of 2, and that we may get back to 2019 levels of performance, at least in our billboard division, in 2021. So that it's been very gratifying to see we've got a lot of momentum in our book. We still have some challenged divisions. Our airport division, obviously, is going to take a little longer to rebound, but we're seeing green shoots there. Our Canadian transit division is, likewise, going to take a little longer to rebound, but we are also seeing green shoots there. Virtually, the rest of our divisions, again, as I mentioned, the billboard division, in particular, are really coming on strong. Our customers are happy, healthy. Our verticals are healthy. They are all performing, in my view, ahead of expectations. And so as we continue to open up as a country, Lamar is going to be there for our customers. And certainly, we look forward to a great report next year when we assemble again. So Jim, that's my informal report.

We do have a question from Mary Robles about why we have rejected PETA copy. That's the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Of course, Lamar has a well-established copy acceptance policy, and we invite anyone who wishes to do business with us to, in good faith, adhere to that copy acceptance policy. PETA has a history of not acting in good faith. And until they do, we will continue to reject their copy. And there are no other questions.

For the operator, that completes the call and the meeting.