Amounts in $CAD unless otherwise noted
- Element grew 2021 net revenue 1.1% year-over-year as reported and 5.8% in constant currency to
$974 million - 2021 income before taxes grew 37.4% year-over-year; and adjusted operating income grew 2.1% year-over-year as reported and 7.2% in constant currency, highlighting the profitability of net revenue growth atop the Company’s scalable operating platform
- Q4 EPS was
$0.21 ; and Q4 adjusted EPS was also$0.21 , down 2 cents per share from Q4 2020 as reported and1 cent in constant currency. Q4 2021 adjusted EPS was flat quarter-over-quarter both as reported and in constant currency - Q4 free cash flow per share was
$0.29 , up5 cents per share from Q4 2020 and2 cents quarter-over-quarter, each in constant currency - Element received the highest quarterly volume of Orders in its history in Q4, growing the Company’s global Order backlog 46% from Q3 to a record
$2.9 billion at year’s end - Element returned
$644 million cash to common shareholders in 2021 through dividends and share buybacks
Element grew 2021 net revenue 1.1% year-over-year as reported and 5.8% in constant currency, to
The Company’s Q4 EPS was
Element’s Q4 free cash flow per share2 was
“Element as a whole continues to perform better than ever,” said
“We are making significant progress in our pivot to profitable growth,”
_____________
1 Please refer to the Descriptions of Non-GAAP Measures section of Element's Management Discussion & Analysis for the year ended
2 Please refer to the Glossary of Terms section of the MD&A for a description of this non-GAAP measure.
Global Order backlog3
Element received
The
_____________
3 The volumes in this section exclude Armada assets.
Profitable revenue growth
Element achieved 5.8% annual net revenue growth in constant currency in 2021 – at the high end of the Company’s 4-6% target range – by generating
Net revenue growth in 2021 was driven by net financing revenue growth of 7.7% or
Element's 2021 net revenue growth was demonstrably profitable as income before taxes and AOI growth both outpaced net revenue growth for the year. Element grew income before taxes 37.4% or
Element's 2021 pre-tax income margin expanded 124 bps year-over-year to 47.0% and adjusted operating margin1 expanded 51 bps year-over-year as reported and 66 bps in constant currency, to 52.6%.
A capital-lighter business model
Syndication - the non-recourse sale of Element fleet assets to a third party - and services revenue growth are the two main thrusts of the Company’s capital-lighter business model. Both revenue streams made significant contributions to Element’s 2021 performance.
The Company’s sale of fleet assets to financial buyers with a lower cost of capital advances several aspects of Element’s profitable growth strategy:
- Syndication generates a highly profitable, recurring revenue stream for the Company. In 2021, Syndication contributed
$64.4 million in revenue (6.6% of net revenue), the vast preponderance of which falls to AOI; - Syndication also accelerates revenue recognition (without compromising economics), improving the velocity of cash flow; and
- Syndication facilitates a capital-lighter business model. Selling these assets alleviates the need for Element to take on additional leverage – and set aside additional equity – to fund the assets on the Company’s balance sheet. This has allowed Element to significantly lower its tangible leverage ratio4 and – at the same time – return
$644 million cash to shareholders in 2021.
Element advanced its capital-lighter business model in Q4 by transacting on $504 million of fleet assets with the Company’s robust pool of syndication investors, generating
Individual syndication transactions are predominantly in respect of fleet assets leased by a single Element client. Over the course of 2021, Element added 68 client names to its syndication program, meaning certain fleet assets leased to each such client were syndicated for the first time in 2021. The Company also completed 3 portfolio transactions in 2021; multiple clients' assets were pooled and syndicated en bloc to a single buyer. This portfolio approach has had a positive impact on syndication revenue yield and efficiencies.
The second pillar of Element’s capital-lighter strategy is growing services revenue, which has a relatively low funding requirement – the net working capital position of procured services such as fuel and maintenance – compared to net financing revenue.
As noted above, the Company’s 2021 services revenue declined 1.9% or
Q4 services revenue of
Healthy services revenue growth is attributable in part to Element’s commercial team’s success improving service penetration and utilization (“share of wallet”) among existing clients in 2021 and, in part, to the gradual increase in client vehicle activity over the course of 2021 – now at or approximating pre-pandemic levels across the Company’s global footprint.
Element’s return on equity improved 440 basis points year-over-year to 10.4% and pre-tax return on common equity5 improved 140 basis points year-over-year to 15.4% for 2021.
_____________
4 Please refer to the Descriptions of Non-GAAP Measures section of the MD&A for a description of this non-GAAP measure.
5 Please refer to the Glossary of Terms section of the MD&A for a description of this non-GAAP measure.
Growing free cash flow per share and the return of capital to shareholders
Element generated
Element generated
Per share growth is aided by Element’s repurchasing of its common shares for cancellation pursuant to the Company’s NCIB. As previously disclosed, the
Also as previously disclosed, the Company announced on
Element returned
Adjusted Operating Results as reported
Three-month periods ended | Twelve-month periods ended | ||||
(in $000’s for stated values, except per share amounts) | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 |
$ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |
Net revenue | |||||
Servicing income, net | 123,716 | 121,075 | 116,758 | 472,465 | 481,854 |
Net financing revenue | 107,245 | 109,328 | 106,455 | 436,945 | 405,687 |
Syndication revenue, net | 14,521 | 13,937 | 23,886 | 64,412 | 75,552 |
Net revenue | 245,482 | 244,340 | 247,099 | 973,822 | 963,093 |
Adjusted operating expenses6 | |||||
Salaries, wages and benefits | 82,112 | 78,493 | 77,518 | 306,884 | 302,757 |
General and administrative expenses | 27,074 | 24,355 | 27,166 | 104,401 | 116,336 |
Depreciation and amortization | 13,735 | 15,866 | 10,357 | 50,537 | 42,491 |
Adjusted operating expenses | 122,921 | 118,714 | 115,041 | 461,822 | 461,584 |
Adjusted operating income | 122,561 | 125,626 | 132,058 | 512,000 | 501,509 |
Provision for taxes applicable to adjusted operating income | 28,189 | 31,419 | 23,969 | 124,313 | 87,604 |
Cumulative preferred share dividends | 8,103 | 8,103 | 8,103 | 32,412 | 40,820 |
After-tax adjusted operating income attributable to common shareholders6 | 86,269 | 86,104 | 99,986 | 355,275 | 373,085 |
Weighted average number of shares outstanding [basic] | 409,175 | 416,353 | 440,253 | 423,070 | 438,571 |
After-tax adjusted operating income per share6 [basic] | 0.21 | 0.21 | 0.23 | 0.84 | 0.85 |
Net income | 94,664 | 84,941 | 78,362 | 356,006 | 287,092 |
Earnings per share [basic] | 0.21 | 0.18 | 0.16 | 0.76 | 0.56 |
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6 Please refer to the Descriptions of Non-GAAP Measures section of the MD&A for a description of this non-GAAP measure.
Adjusted Operating Results in constant currency7
Three-month periods ended | Twelve-month periods ended | ||||
(in $000’s for stated values, except per share amounts) | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 |
$ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |
Net revenue | |||||
Servicing income, net | 123,716 | 121,008 | 113,265 | 472,465 | 457,527 |
Net financing revenue | 107,245 | 108,386 | 103,106 | 436,945 | 391,449 |
Syndication revenue, net | 14,521 | 13,952 | 23,112 | 64,412 | 71,026 |
Net revenue | 245,482 | 243,346 | 239,483 | 973,822 | 920,002 |
Salaries, wages and benefits | 82,112 | 78,275 | 75,323 | 306,884 | 290,082 |
General and administrative expenses | 27,074 | 24,396 | 26,463 | 104,401 | 111,447 |
Depreciation and amortization | 13,735 | 15,797 | 10,040 | 50,537 | 40,819 |
Adjusted operating expenses | 122,921 | 118,468 | 111,826 | 461,822 | 442,348 |
Adjusted operating income | 122,561 | 124,878 | 127,657 | 512,000 | 477,654 |
Provision for taxes applicable to adjusted operating income | 28,189 | 31,231 | 23,170 | 124,313 | 83,446 |
Cumulative preferred share dividends | 8,103 | 8,103 | 8,103 | 32,412 | 40,820 |
After-tax adjusted operating income attributable to common shareholders | 86,269 | 85,544 | 96,384 | 355,275 | 353,388 |
Weighted average number of shares outstanding [basic] | 409,175 | 416,353 | 440,253 | 423,070 | 438,571 |
After-tax adjusted operating income per share [basic] | 0.21 | 0.21 | 0.22 | 0.84 | 0.81 |
_____________
7 Please refer to the Effect of Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Changes section of the MD&A for reconciliations of certain non-GAAP "constant currency" measures to their counterpart IFRS measures as reported.
CEO LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS
My fellow shareholders,
Element as a whole is performing better than ever and, importantly, we have never been better positioned to sustain and build on this success.
Against the backdrop of COVID-19 and the unprecedented global vehicle shortage, our 2021 financial and operating results underscore Element’s resilient business model and the significant progress we are making in our pivot to profitable growth:8
- 5.8% net revenue growth;
- 7.2% adjusted operating income growth; and
- 7.9% free cash flow per share growth.
We continue to advance a capital-lighter strategy that maintains our investment grade balance sheet while reducing our equity requirement, enabling the return of
What headwinds we currently face are atypical, temporary, and gradually beginning to wane.
- Client vehicle activity is at or approximating pre-pandemic levels notwithstanding the Omicron variant, and we continue to expect healthy services revenue growth over the course of this year.
- Unusually low origination volumes are a supply, not a demand issue. OEM production is slowly increasing, and everything we see reaffirms our confidence in a return to normal vehicle availability by mid-2023.
- Having amassed a record Order backlog of nearly
$3 billion (including$1 .9 billion in excess Order backlog, representing$40-65 million of deferred revenue, operating income, and cash flow), we have line-of-sight to our best financial and operating results ever beginning in the second half of next year.
What’s more, inflation impacting vehicle prices will benefit our net financing and syndication revenue streams, while higher parts and labour costs will add to services revenue growth.
_____________
8 Growth rates over 2020 results in constant currency.
Our Clients
Our clients remain the focal point of everything we do and every decision we make at Element.
Our highly engaged and experienced workforce, coupled with our transformed business systems, policies and processes have allowed us to:
- sharpen our value proposition in innovative ways to deliver incremental value for our clients, especially during the most complicated and uncertain periods of the pandemic (the value of which is evidenced by our best-ever Net Promoter Scores); and
- close deals at a rate we have never before experienced – particularly share of wallet wins – and onboard new clients seamlessly, whether they are
- self-managed fleets outsourcing for the first time, or
- clients leaving our competitors for Element’s industry-leading scale advantages and service experience.
- self-managed fleets outsourcing for the first time, or
On the topic of competitors, we view the recent consolidation activities in our industry as a substantial opportunity for us to strengthen our market-leading shares while these fleet management companies labour to integrate disparate operations.
Lastly, our clients and prospects are increasingly interested in electric vehicles. We believe our basic value proposition - “making the complex simple for our clients” - is innately responsive to the challenges of electrification. We recently announced the launch of Arc by Element - our comprehensive, integrated end-to-end EV offering - which builds on our established success in all the markets we serve. As the leader in those markets, Element is best positioned to support our clients and lead our industry through the gradual electrification of automotive fleets. We are excited to bring our full service EV offering to our clients under the single Arc by Element banner, ensuring consistency for our global clients and developing our offering to be seamless across our geographies.
Our Business
We are delivering a consistent, superior client experience every day with the help of our industry-leading operating platform. Our business enjoys streamlined and harmonized systems, policies, and processes that we are continuously improving – through our agility as an organization as we respond to the unforeseen challenges of the pandemic, and through best practice sharing across our global footprint.
Element has also become a more socially and environmentally responsible business by virtue of our commitment to a thoughtful long-term ESG strategy. We introduced the foundations of this strategy in our inaugural ESG report last year and will update you on its evolution in this year’s report, scheduled for publication in Q2.
The Board of Directors’ exceptional stewardship of our business was recognized by the Globe and Mail in
Our People
Over 92% of our employees completed our annual engagement survey in
- Deep employee engagement, with our global score putting Element in the top quartile of comparable companies.
- Top marks for managerial effectiveness and strategic clarity, which reflects the breadth and tenure of our leadership talent and the continuing maturation of capabilities across our senior leadership team.
- Similar outperformance on measures of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are especially proud of our progress on these fronts.
Throughout the organization, our people now conduct themselves with a quiet confidence forged over the last three years as we transformed our business and overcame the challenges brought by successive waves of the pandemic. We have the proven ability to ensure continuity of care for our clients come what may, and we are deepening those client relationships in the process.
In sum, our people and our business are firing on all cylinders for our clients (and prospects), and we are committed to translating that performance into growing value for you, our shareholders.
Until next quarter,
Jay
Conference Call and Webcast
A conference call to discuss these results will be held on
The conference call and webcast can be accessed as follows:
Webcast: | https://services.choruscall.ca/links/elementfleet20220302.html |
Telephone: | Click here to join the call most efficiently, |
or dial one of the following numbers to speak with an operator: | |
International: +1-604-638-5340 |
The webcast will be available on the Company’s website for three months thereafter. A taped recording of the conference call may be accessed through
Dividends Declared
The Company’s Board of Directors has authorized and declared a quarterly dividend of
Element’s Board of Directors also declared the following dividends on Element’s preferred shares:
Series | TSX Ticker | Amount | Record Date | Payment Date | |
Series A | EFN.PR.A | ||||
Series C | EFN.PR.C | ||||
Series E | EFN.PR.E | ||||
Series I | EFN.PR.I |
The Company’s common and preferred share dividends are designated to be eligible dividends for purposes of section 89(1) of the Income Tax Act (
Normal Course Issuer Bids
On
On
The Company applies trade date accounting in determining the date on which a share repurchase is reflected in the consolidated financial statements. Trade date accounting is the date on which the Company commits itself to purchase the shares.
Non-IFRS Measures
The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the
The Company believes that certain non-IFRS measures can be useful to investors because they provide a means by which investors can evaluate the Company’s underlying key drivers and operating performance of the business, exclusive of certain adjustments and activities that investors may consider to be unrelated to the underlying economic performance of the business of a given period. Throughout this News Release, management used a number of terms and ratios which do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS and are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other organizations. A full description of these measures can be found in the Management Discussion & Analysis that accompanies the financial statements for the quarter ended
Element’s consolidated financial statements and related management discussion and analysis as at and for the year ended
About
This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding Element and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of Element’s management. In some cases the forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “potential”, “estimate”, “believe” or the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, including, among others, statements regarding Element’s enhancements to clients’ service experience and service levels; enhancement of financial performance; improvements to client retention trends; reduction of operating expenses; increases in efficiency; EV strategy and capabilities; global EV adoption rates; dividend policy and the payment of future dividends; creation of value for all stakeholders; expectations regarding syndication; growth prospects and expected revenue growth; level of workforce engagement; improvements to magnitude and quality of earnings; executive hiring and retention; focus and discipline in investing; balance sheet management and plans to reduce leverage ratios; anticipated benefits of the balanced scorecard initiative; Element’s proposed share purchases, including the number of common shares to be repurchased, the timing thereof and TSX acceptance of the NCIB and any renewal thereof; and expectations regarding financial performance. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Element's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. Such risks and uncertainties include those regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, risks regarding the fleet management and finance industries, economic factors and many other factors beyond the control of Element. A discussion of the material risks and assumptions associated with this outlook can be found in Element's annual MD&A, and Annual Information Form for the year ended
Contact:Michael Barrett Vice President, Investor Relations (416) 646-5698 mbarrett@elementcorp.com
Source:
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