Paychex, Inc. Reports Second Quarter Results

SECOND QUARTER FISCAL 2015 HIGHLIGHTS

• Total service revenue increased 10% to $665.9 million.
  • Payroll service revenue increased 4% to $411.2 million.
  • Human Resource Services revenue increased 21% to $254.7 million.
• Total revenue increased 10% to $676.3 million.
• Operating income increased 9% to $270.2 million.
• Net income and diluted earnings per share both increased 9% to $173.0 million and $0.47 per share, respectively.

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Paychex, Inc. (“Paychex,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) (NASDAQ:PAYX) today announced total service revenue of $665.9 million for the three months ended November 30, 2014 (the “second quarter”), an increase of 10% from $606.4 million for the same period last year. Net income and diluted earnings per share both increased 9% to $173.0 million and $0.47 per share, respectively.

Martin Mucci, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our results for the second quarter reflected growth and progress against key initiatives. We have experienced strong demand for our comprehensive suite of human resource outsourcing services, while payroll services revenue continues to advance. During the second quarter, we introduced Paychex Flex, an industry-leading solution that streamlines workforce management through innovative technology and flexible choice of service. This cloud-based platform with mobility applications offers powerful capabilities in a simple user experience that responds to the needs of our clients across the human capital management spectrum.”

Payroll service revenue increased to $411.2 million for the second quarter, driven primarily by growth in revenue per check and client base. Revenue per check growth was the result of price increases, net of discounts, together with the impact of increased product penetration.

Human Resource Services (“HRS”) revenue was $254.7 million for the second quarter, an increase of 21% compared to the same period last year. HRS revenue growth was positively impacted by a new product offering within our professional employer organization (“PEO”), a minimum premium plan health insurance offering for our PEO clients and worksite employees, which was introduced in the second half of the fiscal year ended May 31, 2014. This new product offering accounted for approximately 7% of HRS revenue for the second quarter. In addition, HRS revenue reflects strong growth in clients and worksite employees served within our Paychex HR Services, which includes our administrative services organization and our PEO. Retirement services revenue reflected pricing and growth in the number of plans served, and also benefited from an increase in the average asset value of participants’ funds. Our online HR administration services contributed to growth through sales success for our software-as-a-service solutions.

Total expenses were $406.1 million for the second quarter, an increase of 10% compared to the same period last year. Compensation-related expenses increased 6% due to higher employee-benefit-related costs, primarily medical costs, along with higher sales headcount and performance-based compensation costs. In addition, costs relating to the new minimum premium plan health insurance offering within our PEO were approximately 4% of total expenses for the second quarter.

For the second quarter, our operating income was $270.2 million, an increase of 9% from the same period last year. Operating income and operating income, net of certain items, are summarized as follows:

⁽¹⁾ Refer to Note 1 on page 3 for further description of this non-GAAP financial measure.

Interest on funds held for clients was $10.4 million for the second quarter, an increase of 4% compared to the same period last year. This was driven primarily by an increase in average investment balances of 4%, resulting from wage inflation along with growth in client base.

Average investment balances and interest rates are summarized below:

YEAR-TO-DATE FISCAL 2015 HIGHLIGHTS

The highlights for the six months ended November 30, 2014 are as follows:

• Total service revenue increased 9% to $1.3 billion.
  • Payroll service revenue increased 4% to $824.0 million.
  • HRS revenue increased 19% to $498.5 million.
• Total revenue increased 9% to $1.3 billion.
• Operating income increased 7% to $537.7 million.
• Net income and diluted earnings per share both increased 7% to $344.3 million and $0.94 per share, respectively.

Our financial position as of November 30, 2014 remained strong with cash and total corporate investments of $927.5 million and no debt. Our primary source of cash is generated from our ongoing operations. Historically, we have funded our operations, capital purchases, business acquisitions, share repurchases, and dividend payments from our operating activities. Our positive cash flows have allowed us to support our business and to pay substantial dividends to our stockholders. It is anticipated that cash and total corporate investments as of November 30, 2014, along with projected operating cash flows, will support our normal business operations, capital purchases, share repurchases, and dividend payments for the foreseeable future.

Cash flows from operations were $404.7 million for the second quarter, a slight increase of 1% compared to the prior year period. The impact of higher net income on cash flow from operations was offset by fluctuations in working capital. Working capital fluctuations resulted in $59.9 million of outflows in the second quarter, compared to $37.8 million of cash outflows in the same period last year. This was largely related to timing of collections from clients and payments for compensation, PEO payroll, and income taxes.

In May 2014, our Board of Directors (the “Board”) approved a stock repurchase program to purchase up to $350 million of Paychex common stock, with authorization for this program expiring in May 2017. During the six months ended November 30, 2014, we repurchased 1.3 million shares of common stock for a total of $52.5 million. In addition, in July 2014, the Board approved a 9% increase in the quarterly dividend to shareholders to $0.38 per share from $0.35 per share.

OUTLOOK

Our outlook for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2015 (“fiscal 2015”) is based upon current market, economic, and interest rate conditions continuing with no significant changes. Our expected full year fiscal 2015 payroll revenue growth rate is based upon anticipated client base growth and increases in revenue per check.

Our guidance is unchanged from that provided in June 2014 and is as follows:

Our guidance for fiscal 2015 for: interest on funds held for clients; operating income, net of certain items, as a percent of total service revenue; and the effective income tax rate is unchanged from the guidance we previously provided.

Note 1: In addition to reporting operating income, a United States (“U.S.”) generally accepted accounting principle (“GAAP”) measure, we present operating income, net of certain items, which is a non-GAAP measure. We believe operating income, net of certain items, is an appropriate additional measure, as it is an indicator of our core business operations performance period over period. It is also the basis of the measure used internally for establishing the following year’s targets and measuring management’s performance in connection with certain performance-based compensation payments and awards. Operating income, net of certain items, excludes interest on funds held for clients. Interest on funds held for clients is an adjustment to operating income due to the volatility of interest rates, which are not within the control of management. Operating income, net of certain items, is not calculated through the application of GAAP and is not the required form of disclosure by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). As such, it should not be considered as a substitute for the GAAP measure of operating income and, therefore, should not be used in isolation, but in conjunction with, the GAAP measure. The use of any non-GAAP measure may produce results that vary from the GAAP measure and may not be comparable to a similarly defined non-GAAP measure used by other companies.

QUARTERLY REPORT ON FORM 10-Q

Our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (“Form 10-Q”) is anticipated to be filed within the next few days, and will be available at www.paychex.com. This press release should be read in conjunction with the Form 10-Q and the related Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contained in that Form 10-Q.

CONFERENCE CALL

Interested parties may access the webcast of our Earnings Release Conference Call, scheduled for December 19, 2014 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, at http://investor.paychex.com/webcasts. The webcast will also be archived for approximately one month. Our news releases, current financial information, SEC filings, and investor presentation are also accessible at www.paychex.com.

ABOUT PAYCHEX

Paychex, Inc. is a leading provider of payroll, human resource, insurance, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses. The company offers comprehensive payroll services, including payroll processing, payroll tax administration, and employee pay services, including direct deposit, check signing, and Readychex^®. Human Resource Services include 401(k) plan recordkeeping, section 125 plans, a professional employer organization, time and attendance solutions, and other administrative services for business. A variety of business insurance products, including group health and workers’ compensation, are made available through Paychex Insurance Agency, Inc. Paychex, Inc. was founded in 1971. With headquarters in Rochester, New York, the company has more than 100 offices and serves approximately 580,000 payroll clients as of May 31, 2014. For more information about Paychex, Inc. and our products, visit www.paychex.com.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS PURSUANT TO THE U.S. PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

Certain written and oral statements made by us may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by such words and phrases as “we expect,” “expected to,” “estimates,” “estimated,” “current outlook,” “we look forward to,” “would equate to,” “projects,” “projections,” “projected to be,” “anticipates,” “anticipated,” “we believe,” “could be,” and other similar phrases. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding operating performance, events, or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future, including statements relating to revenue growth, earnings, earnings-per-share growth, or similar projections.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict, many of which are outside our control. Our actual results and financial conditions may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance upon any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:

• general market and economic conditions including, among others, changes in U.S. employment and wage levels, changes to new hiring trends, legislative changes to stimulate the economy, changes in short- and long-term interest rates, changes in the fair value and the credit rating of securities held by us, and accessibility of financing;
• changes in demand for our services and products, ability to develop and market new services and products effectively, pricing changes and the impact of competition;
• changes in the availability of skilled workers, in particular those supporting our technology and product development;
• changes in the laws regulating collection and payment of payroll taxes, professional employer organizations, and employee benefits, including retirement plans, workers’ compensation, health insurance (including health care reform legislation), state unemployment, and section 125 plans;
• changes in health insurance and workers’ compensation rates and underlying claims trends;
• changes in technology that adversely affect our products and services and impact our ability to provide timely enhancements to services and products;
• the possibility of a security breach that disrupts operations or exposes client confidential data;
• the possibility of failure of our operating facilities, computer systems, and communication systems during a catastrophic event;
• the possibility of third-party service providers failing to perform their functions;
• the possibility of a failure of internal controls or our inability to implement business processing improvements;
• the possibility that we may be subject to liability for violations of employment or discrimination laws by our clients and acts or omissions of client employees who may be deemed to be our agents, even if we do not participate in any such acts or violations; and
• potentially unfavorable outcomes related to pending legal matters.

Any of these factors, as well as such other factors as discussed in our periodic filings with the SEC, could cause our actual results to differ materially from our anticipated results. The information provided in this document is based upon the facts and circumstances known at this time, and any forward-looking statement made by us in this document speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements after the date of issuance of this press release to reflect events or circumstances after such date, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Paychex, Inc.
Investor Relations:
Efrain Rivera, CFO, 585-383-3406
or
Terri Allen, 585-383-3406
or
Media Inquiries:
Laura Saxby Lynch, 585-383-3074

Source: Paychex, Inc.

Released December 19, 2014