Revvity, Inc. (RVTY) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone. I am Joel Goldberg, PerkinElmer's General Counsel and Secretary. Thank you for attending PerkinElmer's 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which we are again holding on a virtual basis. We appreciate your taking the time to log in this morning, and we hope that everyone is staying safe. I would like to introduce the President and Chief Executive Officer of PerkinElmer, Inc., Prahlad Singh.

Good morning. Welcome to our 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which, as Joel mentioned, is being conducted via live audio webcast. Before proceeding to the formal business of this meeting, I would like to briefly describe the qualifications of the members of our Board of Directors in addition to myself who are standing for reelection. Peter Barrett. Peter is a partner in the life sciences group at Atlas Venture, an early stage life sciences venture capital fund, and was first elected to serve on our Board in 2012. Samuel R. Chapin. Sam is the retired Executive Vice Chairman of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and joined our Board in 2016. Sylvie Grégoire. Sylvie is the Co-Founder and Executive Chair of EIP Pharma, Inc., a central nervous system-focused therapeutics company based in Cambridge, and has served on our Board since 2015. Alexis Michas. Alexis is the founder and managing partner of Juniper Investment Company, LLC, an investment management firm; has been a member of our Board since 2001 and currently serves as our Nonexecutive Chairman. Michel Vounatsos. Michel is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Biogen Inc. and has served on our Board since 2020. Frank Witney. Frank is the former Chief Executive Officer of Affymetrix and joined our Board in 2016. Pascale Witz. Pascale is the Founder and President of PWH Advisors and joined our Board in 2017. I would also like to note that joining us this morning is Joe Apke, a partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Joe is available to answer any questions you may have regarding his firm's function as the company's auditors. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Now to the formal business of our meeting. This is the 2021 Annual Meeting of the shareholders of PerkinElmer, Inc. The Annual Meeting is held on the fourth Tuesday in April of each year, and the Board of Directors has fixed the close of business on March 1, 2021, as the record date for determining shareholders entitled to vote at this meeting. If any shareholder has not voted and would like to do so or has voted and would now like to change their vote, please follow the instructions on the web portal. In order to conduct this meeting, we are required to have a quorum. Mr. Goldberg, do we have a quorum?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. Holders of approximately 101 million shares or 90% of the common stock of the company entitled to vote are present or are represented by proxy at the meeting and constitute a quorum. I would also like to present, as part of the formal records of this meeting, the minutes from the 2020 Annual Meeting of shareholders.

The first proposal to be voted on at this meeting as set forth in our proxy statement is to elect 8 Directors to the Board of Directors, each for a term of 1 year. Mr. Goldberg, do you have a formal proposal relating to the election of the Directors?

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I move that: Peter Barrett, Samuel Chapin, Sylvie Grégoire, Alexis Michas, Prahlad Singh, Michel Vounatsos, Frank Witney and Pascale Witz each be elected as a Director of PerkinElmer, Inc., for a term of 1 year, that term to expire at the Annual Meeting of this company in 2022.

Do I hear a second?

Second.

Are there any further nominations? I hear none. So nominations are now closed. The nominees are as identified by Mr. Goldberg. Unless there are any questions or comments relating to this proposal, we shall proceed. If anyone wishes to submit a vote on this proposal for the first time or change a vote previously submitted, please follow the instructions on the web portal. Voting is now closed, and the proxies are voted as authorized. Mr. Goldberg, do you have preliminary results?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. Based upon votes submitted as of the start of this Annual Meeting, the proposal to elect the 8 nominees to the Board of Directors for terms of 1 year each has been passed. Each nominee has received the affirmative vote of at least 97% of the votes cast. Exact votes will be reflected in the official minutes of this meeting.

The second proposal to be voted on at this meeting as set forth in our proxy statement is to ratify the Audit Committee selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as our independent auditors for the coming fiscal year. Mr. Goldberg, do you have a formal proposal relating to the ratification of the selection of auditors?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. I move to ratify the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as PerkinElmer's independent registered public accounting firm for the current fiscal year.

Do I hear a second?

Second.

Unless there are any questions or comments relating to this proposal, we shall proceed. If anyone wishes to submit a vote on this proposal for the first time or change a vote previously submitted, please follow the instructions on the web portal. Voting is now closed, and the proxies are voted as authorized. Mr. Goldberg, do you have preliminary results?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. Based upon votes submitted as of the start of this Annual Meeting, the proposal to ratify the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as PerkinElmer's independent registered public accounting firm for the current fiscal year, it has been passed with an affirmative vote of approximately 98% of the votes cast. Exact votes will be reflected in the official minutes of this meeting.

The third proposal to be voted on at this meeting as set forth in our proxy statement is to approve by nonbinding vote, PerkinElmer's executive compensation. Mr. Goldberg, do you have a formal proposal relating to the approval of PerkinElmer's executive compensation?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. I move that the compensation paid to the company's named executive officers as disclosed pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the compensation discussion and analysis, the compensation tables and any related material disclosed in our proxy statement is hereby approved.

Do I hear a second?

Second.

Unless there are any questions or comments relating to this proposal, we shall proceed. If anyone wishes to submit a vote on this proposal for the first time or change a vote previously submitted, please follow the instructions on the web portal. Voting is now closed, and the proxies are voted as authorized. Mr. Goldberg, do you have preliminary results?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. Based upon votes submitted as of the start of this Annual Meeting, the proposal to approve by nonbinding vote, PerkinElmer's executive compensation has been passed, with an affirmative vote of approximately 95% of the votes cast. Exact votes will be reflected in the official minutes of this meeting.

Thank you. That takes care of the formal business of today's meeting. So before I move on to answer any additional questions, I hereby declare that the 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders is adjourned.

Okay. We have actually received a couple of questions. So what we will do in this format is that I will read the questions and then we will answer them. So the first question we received, I will read this again, is from the Carpenter Union. Mr. Chairman, the Carpenter Union pension funds holds a collective ownership position of 87,200 shares of the company's stock. We commend the Board, the senior executive team and company employees for outstanding performance during a very challenging year. We believe the executive compensation plans should be designed to drive the successful execution of the company's strategic business plan. We support the company's plan as it sets reasonable pay targets, combines a range of financial performance metrics and uses a variety of equity instruments. The short-term incentive plan uses 3 financial performance metrics with committee consideration of strategic metrics. Could you or the Chair of the Compensation Committee speak to the rationale for not structurally including the strategic nonfinancial metrics more formally in the calculation of the short-term incentive plan payout? Thank you. I will ask Peter Barrett, who's the Chair of our Compensation Committee and is on the line to answer the question.

Yes. Thank you, Joel. Yes, as mentioned, in addition to the financial metrics that we use to measure short-term performance, the committee thinks it's really important to look longer term into strategic initiatives that will affect the long-term performance of the company. And as a result, at the beginning of every year, we put specific items in place for each of the executives for that year that we believe that will enhance the strategic future of the company. And at the end of the year, we look at performance against those and depending upon the performance, we would either increase or decrease the overall payout to that individual. The committee also uses this as an opportunity to look at unusual results. And clearly, this year, given the pandemic and the company's performance is a clear case of such a case. Thank you.

Okay. The second question we have also comes from the Carpenter Funds, separate group. And I will again read the question. Mr. Chairman, the topic of stakeholder capitalism as an alternative to shareholder capitalism has received considerable attention recently. As long-term pension fund investors, the Carpenter Funds appreciate the sentiments embodied in the stakeholder capitalism perspective, but feel that execution could be complicated. Could you discuss the Board's perspective on the concept of stakeholder capitalism and what principles the Board would use to balance the interests of varied stakeholders as it develops and implements the company's long-term business strategy. Thank you.

Thank you for the question. PerkinElmer has always been committed to both running a successful business and delivering strong returns for shareholders, but doing so in an ethical, respectable and responsible way. This is even more critical today as we all are facing global challenges, including the current pandemic, climate change and racial and social justice. Like many other responsible companies, we are spending time, energy and thought as to how we can both run a successful company that improves health around the globe and also improves the communities in which we live and work and also the world at large. Thank you. If there are no further questions, the meeting is concluded. Thank you for attending our virtual Annual Meeting of the Shareholders and for your continued support of PerkinElmer. Stay healthy and stay safe. Thank you.

Thank you, operator. We will sign off.