CVS Health Corp (CVS) 2013 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the CVS Caremark Q4 2013 earnings conference call.

(Operator Instructions)

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded on Tuesday, February 11, 2014.

I would now like to turn the conference over to the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, Ms. Nancy Christal.

Please go ahead.

Thank you, Frank.

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us.

I'm here this morning with Larry Merlo, President and CEO, who will provide a business update; and Dave Denton, Executive Vice President and CFO, who will review our fourth-quarter 2013 results and 2014 guidance.

Jon Roberts, President of the PBM; and Helena Foulkes, President of the Retail Business are also with us today, and they'll participate in the question-and-answer session following our prepared remarks.

During the Q&A, please limit yourself to no more than one question with a quick follow up, so we can provide more callers with a chance to ask a question.

Please note that just before this call, we posted a slide presentation on our website that summarizes the information you'll hear today as well as some additional facts and figures regarding our operating performance and guidance.

Additionally, please note that we filed our annual report on Form 10-K this morning and is currently available on our website.

During this call, we'll use some non-GAAP financial measures when talking about our Company's performance including free cash flow and adjusted EPS.

In accordance with SEC regulations, you can find the definitions of these non-GAAP items as well as reconciliations to comparable GAAP measures on the investor relations portion of our website.

And as always, today's call is being simulcast on our website and it will be archived there following the call for one year.

Now before we continue, let me read the Safe Harbor Statement.

During this presentation, we'll make certain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially.

Accordingly for these forward-looking statements, we claim the protection of the Safe Harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

We strongly recommend that you become familiar with the specific risks and uncertainties that are described in our SEC filings, including the risk factors section of our most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K.

And now I'll turn this over to Larry Merlo.

Okay.

Thank you, Nancy, and good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today.

I'm very pleased with our fourth-quarter results with adjusted earnings per share coming in at the high end of our guidance at $1.12 per share, capping off a terrific year.

For full year 2013 we delivered strong growth in revenues, gross margin, operating margin and earnings across the CVS Caremark enterprise.

Excluding one-time benefits in both 2012 and 2013, adjusted earnings per share increased nearly 16%, with PBM operating profit increasing nearly 15% year over year and Retail operating profit growing 10%.

And Dave will discuss our financial results and guidance in greater detail during his financial review.

So with that, let me provide a brief business update highlighting our progress since we met at Analyst Day in December.

As you know, last week we announced our decision to exit the tobacco category, a category which we believe is inconsistent with our growing role in the changing healthcare marketplace.

Simply put, this was the right decision at the right time.

There is a far greater focus emerging on health outcomes, managing chronic disease, and reducing costs, and exiting the tobacco category more closely aligns us with the goals of patients, clients and providers, positioning our Company for future growth.

It's also important to recognize that we're doing this from a position of stress.

The response to date has been overwhelmingly positive across an array of key constituents, including customers, clients, both current and prospective, benefit consultants, legislators and policymakers, and public health and Medicaid officials, all of whom see the health benefit as well as the role that pharmacy can play in advancing smoking cessation and better managing product disease.

Again, this decision puts us in full alignment with the goals of not just our clients and patients but others across the healthcare delivery chain to include physician practices and hospital systems.

Since our announcement, we are already hearing increasing dialogue about the concept of quality or outcomes-based pharmacy networks.

And as we move forward, we believe quality and outcomes will be important measures of success in the rapidly evolving healthcare marketplace.

Now one of the questions that frequently has been asked over the past week is, what about the other products we sell?

Well, let's be clear.

You cannot compare a bar of chocolate or a bag of chips to a pack of cigarettes.

Those products used in moderation will not harm one's health.

The same cannot be said about tobacco.

There is no amount of tobacco use that's considered safe.

As we stated last week the decision to exit the tobacco category does not affect our 2014 segment operating profit guidance, our 2014 earnings per share guidance or our five-year financial targets provided at Analyst Day.

Our business is strong and we have near-term offsets to the profitability impact of this change.

We strongly believe this decision will further strengthen our position as a healthcare leader, further differentiate us from competitors and better position the Company for growth going forward.

And Dave will touch further on the financial implications during his financial review.

Now let me turn to some early observations about the impact of the Affordable Care Act.

While we all know enrollment on the public health care exchanges was slow and bumpy at the outset, all signs point to improvements in the enrollment process and increasing awareness among eligible consumers.

The latest data now shows 3 million exchange enrollees, but it's still pretty early to say definitively what the impact from the public exchanges will be in the short term.

With regard to Medicaid expansions, there are positive signs that enrollment is increasing.

In January, HHS reported that December Medicaid determinations were up 73% over a three-month baseline period in states expanding Medicaid, obviously a positive indicator.

Now although it remains to be seen how many people ultimately gain coverage this year, we are encouraged by the recent progress and we believe CVS Caremark is well positioned to serve these new customers across our enterprise assets.

Furthermore, we are well-positioned as an enterprise to support our health plan partners.

We offer a variety of capabilities that help them engage, educate, enroll and manage the care of individuals and exchange products.

Our strong relationships with health plans have allowed MinuteClinic to be broadly included in exchange products and for CVS pharmacy to be part of many limited and preferred pharmacy network relationships across the country.

So overall, we're happy with the progress that we're seeing and we continue to expect a modest net positive benefit from health reform this year.

I also want to touch briefly on our recently announced 10-year agreement with Cardinal Health to form the largest generic sourcing entity here in the US, the world's largest generic drug market.

We're bringing together two of the most knowledgeable and experienced generic sourcing teams in the world, teams with a track record of working collaboratively to drive results.

The structure will be simple and it's designed to be flexible to marketplace changes and easy to do business with through centralized decision making.

And with our combined volume and capabilities, this venture will help spur innovative purchasing strategies with generic manufacturers that create value while enhancing supply-chain efficiencies.

And as we stated previously, we're excited about this venture, our teams are already hard at work with the goal of being operational by July of this year.

Moving on to an update on the PBM business.

Since Analyst Day in December, our results for the 2014 selling season have not materially changed.

With nearly 90% of our renewals complete, client net new business totals $2.4 billion with our retention rate at 96%.

And remember that this net new business excludes the impact from attrition in our Med D PDP business.

As Jon referenced at Analyst Day, we lost $1.3 billion in 2014 revenues related to last year's CMS sanction.

And as you're also aware, we are pleased that CMS lifted the sanction at the end of December.

And now that we're out of sanction, we are once again able to enroll new choosers who age into the program, which is expected to help offset any ongoing natural attrition.

And then later this spring, we look forward to also enrolling low income subsidy auto assignees as defined by the CMS process.

We currently have about 3 million lives in our PDP and we see significant opportunity to grow the business over the long term.

And with the changes that we've made to strengthen the Med D management team along with the remediation steps we've taken, we believe that our long-term growth goals in the Med D space are very achievable.

As for the 2015 selling season, still too early in the season for a substantive update.

But I can tell you that the marketplace is active and we are very well positioned to both retain business and gain share with our unique suite of capabilities and strong service record.

Now, as you know, we currently provide retail mail and specialty PBM services to the federal employee health benefit program, many refer to it as FEP, and those contracts are up for renewal for 2015.

At this point in the process, there is nothing to report in regard to these contracts, other than to note that we are very happy with our FEP relationship as well as the service and value we are providing to FEP and their members.

And we expect to know the results of the RFP process sometime during the first half of this year.

Let me update you on our progress related to our long-term strategic agreement with Aetna.

The migration of Aetna's commercial business to the CVS Caremark platform has been completed and we've been working with the Aetna sales team to ensure that their clients now have access to CVS Caremark's differentiated offerings.

Programs such as Maintenance Choice and Pharmacy Advisor are currently being offered to their clients to help them save money while improving member health and our joint efforts have been successful to date.

In addition, we're also working with Aetna to implement and administer their exchange offerings and other Government programs resulting from the Affordable Care Act.

Turning to our Specialty business, growth remained strong in the fourth quarter as revenues were up approximately 22% year over year.

The growth was driven by direct price inflation, utilization, new product launches and new clients.

And as we noted at Analyst Day, we expect to see significant growth in the Specialty Pharmacy space and we are well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity.

Last month we completed the acquisition of Coram, a market leader in specialty infusion services and enteral nutrition.

This provides us with a new set of capabilities to manage not just the cost of infused drugs but also to reduce the length of hospital stays and to help patients move from higher cost sites of service, like hospital outpatient centers, to more cost-effective locations, such as the patient's home or a physician's office.

No other organization brings the range of Specialty assets, the depth of experience or the integration of care that the combination of CVS Caremark and Coram is now able to deliver.

In addition, our new Specialty Connect offering remains on schedule for its 2014 rollout.

The Specialty offering, think of it as being analogous to our Maintenance Choice program for traditional maintenance medications.

Specialty Connect integrates our mail and retail capabilities, providing both choice and convenience for members, while preserving the central clinical expertise that leads to better health outcomes.

And we're looking forward to having this fully implemented this year and are excited by its prospects.

And finally, the acquisition of Novologix last year has provided us with an unmatched claims editing technology.

And through Novologix, plans can manage drugs paid under their medical benefit with the same level of precision that is routinely expected for PBMs, leading to significant cost savings for the plans.

We're now reviewing thousands of claims daily for our largest Novologix client, using this unique technology, and we expect to be able to assist many more clients as we work towards a broader rollout.

So I think you can see why we're very excited about all the ways we are raising the bar in Specialty, as we develop innovative offerings that capitalize on our unique ability to optimize cost, quality and access in the Specialty pharmacy arena.

Now moving onto the Retail business, we had another solid quarter.

Total same-store sales increased 4%, while Pharmacy same-store sales increased 6.8%.

Q4 volumes were muted, given a slow start to the flu season compared to strength in the prior year with flu-related scripts down nearly 10% year over year.

In Q4, Pharmacy same-store sales were also negatively impacted by about 230 basis points, due to recent generic introductions, and that's a 90 basis point decline from the impact we saw in Q3.

Pharmacy same-store scripts increased 3.8% on a 30-day equivalent basis, and the growth in our Maintenance Choice program continues to result in a greater than historical rate of conversion from 30- to 90-day scripts.

Now as you know our past goal this 2013 was to retain at least 60% of the scripts we gained during the impasse between Walgreens and Express Scripts, and I'm pleased to report that we exited 2013 with a retention rate ahead of our expectations.

Our numbers have held steady now for several quarters and we expect no further loss as a result of the impasse's resolution.

And given that these scripts are now part of our base business, there will be no need to provide updates going forward.

As for the front store business, comps decreased 1.9%, reflecting a decline in traffic, partially offset by an increased basket size.

And recall that we're comping against a very strong cough and cold season we experienced in December of 2012 and our cough and cold business was down about 5% in the quarter.

As far as the seasonal business goes, we had a very good Halloween season while Christmas was roughly flat to last year, keeping in mind that we had one less shopping week between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And on a two-year stacked basis, our front store comps were 2%, notably better than the 1.1% two-year stacked front store comp performance we saw in Q3.

Our front store margins were up slightly this quarter.

And with our ExtraCare loyalty card, we continue to drive engagement among our members through personalized value across all channels.

And as you've heard us say many times, with 15 years of testing, refining and fine-tuning, we are better able to optimize our promotions and drive profitable sales.

Overall roughly 85% of our front store sales and 70% of our front store transactions use ExtraCare.

And today despite almost universal availability of loyalty programs, customers continue to rate our program substantially above the rest and have significantly higher engagement levels.

Now one of the many ways we offer value to our customers while driving profitable sales, is by using ExtraCare to drive trial usage of our store brands.

For the 2013 year, store brands represented about 17.8% of our front store sales and our goal is to move that to more than 20% over the next few years with opportunities identified across a number of categories.

Customer acceptance continues to grow and our store brand quality has never been better and we continue to innovate to meet our customers evolving needs.

Turning to our new store program, we opened 77 new or relocated stores.

We closed 2 during the fourth quarter resulting in 58 net new stores in the quarter.

And for the year, we opened 247 new or relocated stores, closed 13, resulting in 156 net new stores and that equates to 2.4% square footage growth.

Let me briefly touch on MinuteClinic which delivered more than 10% growth in revenues this quarter despite the tough comparisons with the strong flu season in 2012.

We opened 74 net new clinics in the quarter, including clinics in new states and markets, such as New Hampshire and the San Francisco/San Jose/Bay Area.

We reached a milestone, ending the year with 800 clinics across 28 states and the District of Columbia.

And as our President of MinuteClinic, Andy Sussman, noted on Analyst Day, we plan to open at least 150 new clinics this year.

And our long-term goal is to create a national platform that supports primary care by providing integrated high-quality care that is convenient, accessible and affordable.

Now those of you who attended our Analyst Day probably remember Andy's video that highlighted our new TeleHealth and MinuteClinic pilot program.

I'm happy to note that we have now launched 28 sites in L.A., San Diego and Orange County California.

And our California nurse practitioners are now providing patient care remotely through sophisticated video technology and audio equipment with licensed vocational nurses assisting patients.

And we plan to expand this exciting pilot to a second state later this year and we look forward to the results.

So with that, let me turn it over to Dave for the financial review.

Thank you, Larry, and good morning, everyone.

Today I'll provide a detailed review of our 2013 fourth-quarter results and review our 2014 guidance.

And as I typically do on these calls, I want to begin with a wrap up of last year's capital allocation program and how we've been using our strong free cash flow to return value to our shareholders.

In the fourth quarter, we completed the accelerated share repurchase program that we began in October and repurchased approximately 26.6 million shares for $1.7 billion.

So for all of 2013, we repurchased approximately 66 million shares for $4 billion, averaging just over $60 a share.

We have $693 million remaining on our 2012 share repurchase authorization in addition to the $6 billion our Board authorized in December of last year.

Additionally, we paid $268 million in dividends in the quarter, bringing our total for the year to $1.1 billion.

We finished the year with a payout ratio of 23.9%.

And our strong earnings outlook this year, combined with the 22% increase in the dividend we announced at Analyst Day, puts us on track to achieve our targeted pay out ratio of 25% at some point during 2014, more than a year ahead of our schedule.

So between dividends and share repurchases, we've returned approximately $5.1 billion to our shareholders throughout 2013.

Our expectation is that we will return more than $5 billion to our shareholders again in 2014 through a combination of dividends as well as share repurchases.

We generated $1.3 billion of free cash flow during the fourth quarter and approximately $4.4 billion for all of 2013, down $771 million from 2012 levels.

The decrease in 2013 was driven by an increase in accounts receivable, due to the timing of payments from CMS in connection with our Medicare Part D business, partially offset by improved inventory management, as well as strong earnings growth.

We had mentioned on our last call that 2013 free cash flow might fall short of our expectations, and in fact, we did end the year short of our goal.

This was driven by the timing of certain cash receipts being delayed from late 2013 into early 2014.

And as a result of this timing shift, we are raising our 2014 free cash flow guidance by $400 million to a range of $5.5 billion to $5.8 billion.

Aside from these timing items within receivables, we made great strides in improving our cash cycle through better management of payables and inventory, especially within the Retail segment.

Our Retail cash cycle improved by nearly 1.5 days in 2013 and we remain committed to further improvements as we move forward.

For the year, our net capital expenditures were $1.4 billion.

This included $2 billion of gross CapEx, offset by $600 million in sale leaseback proceeds.

This level of CapEx was more or less in line with prior-year spending levels.

As for the income statement, adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations came in at $1.12 per share, at the high end of our guidance.

GAAP diluted EPS was $1.05 per share.

The quarter was somewhat atypical, as you know, largely due to the timing of Med D profits as well as the timing of break open generics relative to 2012.

But our operating segments each performed near or above the high end of expectations.

Now let me quickly walk down the P&L.

On a consolidated basis, revenues in the fourth quarter increased 4.6% to $32.8 billion.

In the PBM segment, net revenues increased 5.2% to $19.6 billion.

This growth was attributable to drug price inflation, particularly in our Specialty business, as well as new Specialty clients and products.

Partially offsetting this growth was an increase in our generic dispensing rate which grew 110 basis points versus the same quarter of LY to 81.1%.

In our Retail business, revenues increased 5.6% in the quarter to $17.2 billion driven primarily by strong pharmacy same-store sales growth.

As far as gross margin, we reported 19.3% for the consolidated Company in the quarter, a contraction of approximately 75 basis points compared to Q4 of 2012.

Within the PBM segment, gross margin declined 100 basis points again versus Q4 of 2012 to 6.2%, while gross profit dollars decreased 9.2% year over year.

The decline in profit dollars was primarily attributable to the shift of Med D profitability from Q4 into Q3 as expected and previously discussed.

Also contributing to the gross profit dollar decline were fewer claims in Medicare Part D due to the loss of lives.

Partially offsetting these drivers was the improvement in GDR.

Gross margin in the Retail segment was 30.7%, down approximately 55 basis points over last year.

This decline was largely driven by continued pressure on reimbursement rates, partially offset by the 110 basis point increase in Retail GDR to 81%.

Additionally our private label sales increased 50 basis points as a percent of front store volume to 18.6% in the quarter.

Total operating expenses as a percent of revenues moderately improved from Q4 of 2012 to 12.6%.

The PBM segment's SG&A rate was essentially flat at 1.6% while SG&A as a percent of sales in the Retail segment improved approximately 55 basis points to 21%.

Within the Corporate segment, expenses were up approximately $16 million to $198 million.

Our continuing efforts with respect to cost control once again allowed us to deliver very good results across the enterprise.

Operating margin for the total enterprise declined approximately 60 basis points to 6.8%.

Operating margin in the PBM declined approximately 95 basis points to 4.6% while operating margin at Retail was essentially flat at 9.7%.

For the quarter, we exceeded our estimates for operating profit growth in both the Retail and PBM segments.

Retail operating profit increased a solid 5.8%, exceeding expectations by approximately 135 basis points, reflecting better generic performance.

PBM operating profit declined 13%, some 200 basis points better than our guidance range.

The PBM benefited from favorable purchasing economics and better than expected Specialty growth.

Going below the line on the consolidated income statement, net interest expense in the quarter decreased approximately $25 million from last year to $135 million due primarily to lower average interest rates.

Additionally, our effective tax rate was 39.2%.

Our weighted average share count was 1.2 billion shares, only slightly higher than anticipated.

Before turning to guidance, I want to call your attention to an immaterial accounting correction that was disclosed in our filings today.

It relates to how we recognize revenue in the Retail segment and it had a minor impact on our prior-period financial statements.

And historically, we've recognized revenue from the sale of prescription drugs in our pharmacies at the time the prescription was filled as opposed to when the prescription was picked up by the customer as required by GAAP.

For substantially all prescriptions, the fill date and the pickup date occur in the same reporting period and the effect on both revenue and income from recording prescriptions upon fill as opposed to delivery is immaterial.

During the fourth quarter of 2013, we began recognizing revenue when the script is picked up by the customer.

This immaterial correction is reflected retrospectively in the historical financial statements that are presented in the Form 10-K that we filed this morning so you can find all the details there.

Now, let me switch gears an update you on our guidance.

You can find all the details in the slide presentation that we posted this morning on our website, but I'll focus on the highlights here.

I want to start with the first quarter as we were revising our EPS ranges upward to reflect a stronger quarter in the Retail segment than we previously anticipated.

We now expect consolidated revenues to increase 4.25% to 5.5% in the first quarter, adjusted earnings per share of $1.03 to $1.06 per share and GAAP diluted EPS of $0.97 to $1 per share.

This is $0.07 higher than our previous guidance and equates to adjusted EPS growth of 24.25% to 28.25%.

Now about half of the $0.07 upward revision is simply a profit timing adjustment versus our original plan.

Additionally, strong underlying trends in our Retail pharmacy business are continuing into our 2014 outlook, especially as it relates to generic performance.

The ongoing strength in our core Retail pharmacy business will help offset the loss from our decision to exit the tobacco category, which I'll talk more about in just a moment.

As a result, while we are maintaining our Retail revenue growth guidance of 3% to 4.5% for the first quarter, we are increasing our operating profit growth guidance to 14.5% to 16.5%.

Our first quarter guidance for the PBM segment remains unchanged with operating profit growth of 21.25% to 28.25%.

As you know, last week we announced our planned exit from the tobacco category.

On a 12-month basis, we estimate that we will lose $2 billion in revenues, about $1.5 billion directly from tobacco sales and another $0.5 billion from the rest of that shopper's basket.

That equates to approximately $0.17 per share on an annual basis.

Given the expected timing for implementing this change, it will cost $0.06 to $0.09 per share in 2014, almost entirely a back half of the year impact.

Now let me switch gears and speak about our first -- our full-year outlook.

For the full year, including the impact from exiting the tobacco category, we are able to maintain the Company's previous earnings and segment operating profit guidance.

This is due to the strength of our core business trends noted earlier, as well as other profit enhancing initiatives, which we expect to offset the $0.06 to $0.09 shortfall.

Within Retail, we're lowering our 2014 top line expectations to reflect the elimination of the tobacco category throughout the year.

For the year, we now expect Retail revenue growth of between 0.75% and 2%, a reduction of approximately 125 basis points related to tobacco.

And comp growth is now expected to be down 0.25% to up 1%.

Comp script growth remains unchanged.

As we exit the tobacco category, we will break out the impact to our reported comps on a quarterly basis until we cycle through this change so you can see our underlying performance.

We continue to expect retail operating profit growth for the year of 7% to 8.75%.

PBM guidance remains unchanged and I'll point out that with a strong top line finish in 2013, the jump off point has moved up.

So maintaining revenue growth guidance of 7.25% to 8.5% means that the dollar range actually shifted up by about $275 million.

PBM operating profit is expected to be up 6.75% to 10.75%.

Given the top line changes I just noted, we expect full-year consolidated net revenue growth of 4.25% to 5.5%.

We have fine-tuned the yearly guidance for revenue eliminations and now expect the percent of segment sales eliminated to be approximately 10.6%.

We also continue to expect consolidated operating profit margins to expand 15 to 25 basis points.

We still expect adjusted EPS to be between $4.36 and $4.50 a share.

This reflects strong year-over-year growth of 10.25% to 13.75% if you exclude the impact of a legal settlement from the third quarter of 2013.

GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations is expected to be in the range of $4.09 to $4.23 per share.

We remain confident with these ranges, despite our decision to exit the tobacco category by October 1, and we remain committed to utilizing our strong free cash flow performance to enhance shareholder value.

And with that, I'll turn it back over to Larry.

Okay, thanks, Dave.

And as you've heard this morning, we had a strong finish to 2013 and we're having a strong start to the new year.

And I just want to acknowledge and applaud the efforts and hard work of our more than 200,000 colleagues who were responsible for that.

So that said, let's open it up for your questions.

(Operator Instructions)

John Heinbockel, Guggenheim Securities.

Larry, a quick question on tobacco.

It's pretty easy to quantify the negative part of this.

As you guys made this decision, how did you try to get your arms around the positive piece, i.e., share that Caremark or Retail might pick up because of the stand you took?

Were you able to do that -- I mean, you're not going to say it publicly, but were you able to get your arms around what that shared benefit could be?

Yes, John.

Good morning, thanks for the question.

John, I think as you heard us talk last week and we reiterated it this morning, this decision is about CVS Caremark playing a growing role in our health care system.

So if you go back to Analyst Day, we talked a lot about our strategy to gain share of a growing pie.

And we believe that this decision positions us to do that as we move forward, recognizing that you think about the retail customer, you think about whether it's the client, be it the employer, health plan, but there's also a new customer emerging: provider groups and hospitals.

And I think that the decision that we made to acquire Coram, I think puts an exclamation point on that in terms of the role that we'll play with hospitals in terms of delivering care.

Okay.

And then I guess as a follow up on your first quarter guidance, so the Retail business performing at a much better rate than what you had talked about in December.

So a lot of that is generic.

It sounds like Retail gross margin rate is substantially better than you would have though; but you also mentioned timing issues being half of the benefit.

Where's the timing coming from?

Yes, hi, John; this is Dave.

I think, as I said in my prepared remarks, about half of the raise of the $0.07 is essentially a shift, if you will, or a cadence shift, if you will, around the quarters from our profit plan.

And quite frankly, as we exited 2013 and we reassessed our forecast for the balance of the year, some of the profits that we thought were going to happen later in the year actually happened a little sooner.

So we readjusted our plan.

So you'd expect half of that is just the shift.

The other half is underlying strength in our business, driven primarily by I'll say generics within our business.

Okay.

Thank you.

Scott Mushkin, Wolfe Research.

So wanted to understand a little bit.

I think, Dave, you said you raised the first quarter by about $0.07.

We have a $0.06 to $0.09 headwind from tobacco.

But it seems like you're being pretty conservative with your full-year outlook given the strength in the first quarter.

I mean, is there something -- the strength in the first quarter is something you think is going to end?

I'm trying to understand a little bit why you're looking to take a little bit more conservative view on the full year.

Yes, Scott, this is Dave.

Here we are on February 11.

We've got a lot of time ahead of us.

I think as we've said, our core businesses are performing nicely.

We continue to manage the business at a very detailed level to deliver both topline and bottom-line results.

And this is our best estimate for the balance of the year, and we'll see how it plays out.

And clearly, we do have a headwind from tobacco; and we're working to manage that offset.

I think the team's rallied around this cry to get that done, and we're working to get that.

Okay.

And then I had one that's a little bit more strategic.

Obvious in your new flagship store in Columbus Circle with your updated format and understanding strategically with Helena there and where you see maybe the remodels going, where you see Retail going?

One thing not talked about, you're taking tobacco off; maybe something else is going to go there.

So I want to more strategically understand the plans for the Retail segment and trying to get those comps back positive.

It seems like there's an enormous amount of opportunity there.

Yes, Scott, it's Larry.

I'll start; and then Helena can jump in with her thoughts as well.

Obviously, when you look at that 8 to 12 feet that tobacco demands today, there'll be something replacing that space.

And to be clear, it's not going to make up $2 billion in revenues; but it will be something.

And there are some things that are being tested as we speak, and we'll make a decision on that over the next several weeks.

But I'll turn it over to Helena and she can share her thoughts, especially with her being new in her role.

Okay.

Thanks, Scott.

I guess just stepping back a little bit, I've been in the role for about six weeks.

I think in general what I'm seeing is, as you heard today, the business is fundamentally strong; and our focus is on executing and accelerating growth for the future.

We're certainly focused on building on our foundation of Pharmacy strengths, and they're focused even more on differentiating our service where we can leverage our enterprise assets.

We're seeing this tobacco decision as an opportunity to connect even more with consumers as an expert in health and beauty and to build our loyalty with them.

And as we focus specifically on the front store, it's really around driving what we'll call smart growth.

And I think there it has three elements.

The first is taking extra care to the next level.

The second is focusing on our core strength in health and beauty.

And the third is driving our store-brand penetration.

All right, perfect.

Thanks for taking my questions.

I really appreciate it, guys.

Frank Morgan, RBC Capital Markets.

I appreciate your comments, Larry, about the near-term offsets that are available for you out there.

But I was hoping you might be able to prioritize the offsets, things like the new generic joint venture; the Coram; the SilverScript; the accelerated buyback.

How would you prioritize the order of those in terms of their ability to offset this and actually still offset an upside, rather than just filling the hole from the tobacco?

Frank, this is Dave.

Maybe I'll start with that.

I think first and foremost, as you can see, is our underlying business is performing at the moment at a very solid level.

I think without going into a series of programs that we have in place, because there's not one silver bullet around the offset here, is we're working across multiple levels to either manage sales, margin and expense to, I'll say, fill the hole that from a profit perspective that has been generated from the reduction of tobacco sales.

I will tell you is that we're not using share repurchase to offset that.

We're trying to fill the hole at the operating profit line.

We're not using share repurchase to fill the hole from an EPS perspective.

So we're focused on the operating profit line from that perspective, Frank.

Okay, thanks.

One in a different direction on the Novologix, is this an incremental revenue opportunity for you?

Or is this just a value-added service that you're making available to your existing clients?

And if it is a revenue opportunity, can you talk a little bit about what the potential is there?

Thanks.

Yes, Frank, this is Jon.

So I think you should think of Novologix as being a value-added capability that enables us to help plans manage their Specialty spend on the medical side.

And we believe that this capability will lead to our growth in Specialty fulfillment of drugs that are built under the medical benefit.

So we think it's synergistic to our overall Specialty strategy.

So, Frank, I'd describe it as an enabler that allows us to win more business in the marketplace.

Okay.

Thank you.

David Larsen, Leerink Partners.

Hi, guys, congratulations on a good quarter.

Can you give us your latest thoughts on exchange-based plans and the profitability around those scripts?

Are you actually seeing any volumes and any thoughts there?

Thanks.

Yes, David, I'll start; and then I think the others will jump in here.

It's very easy early, and I think as we had discussed I think a few months ago as this question came up, we see the profitability similar to our health plan business.

And recognizing that difference in the health plan business of the past, we believe there'll be an opportunity going forward to introduce many more of the cost-management tools that had been widely accepted in the employer space but not as accepted in the health plan space.

And we see that tide beginning to turn.

Okay, great.

And then one more.

I think on the Retail side, 6.8% same-store pharmacy growth, that looked very good.

I think that was the best growth rate in six quarters.

What drove that?

Dave, I don't know that there was any single item that drove that.

It was disproportionate to other quarters.

I think it reflects the ongoing growth in our Maintenance Choice product and the adoption of that.

And nothing out of the ordinary.

Great.

Okay, thanks a lot.

Lisa Gill, JPMorgan.

Larry, you made a comment earlier where you talked about outcome-based pharmacy networks.

Can you help me to understand how that will work?

Is that going to be more of a risk-based relationship?

Is there an opportunity for upside, for incremental profits based on keeping the patient adherent to the drug?

How should we think about that?

Lisa, it's a great question and one that we have given a lot of thought to in making the decision about tobacco products.

And I'll give you two examples of where we think the decision will make a difference.

You look at ACOs and physician practice groups today; they're increasingly focused on outcomes because more and more of it is being linked to their reimbursement rates.

And a key area that ACOs are focused on is the role that tobacco plays in exacerbating a lot of chronic conditions that are driving costs up in the healthcare system.

So many of these ACOs have developed a number of metrics to track this.

The result is their programs take aim at smoking cessation and, again, the use of these products as part of their reimbursement models.

You think about all the different ways that we serve millions of customers each and every day through our Retail pharmacies, our MinuteClinics, our patient and pharmacy counseling, through Caremark channels.

And we see our decision more fully aligning with outcomes-based reimbursement models taking root.

And we think that we'll become a pharmacy of choice for these entities and physicians.

And I think another example is what I had alluded to earlier in one of the early questions about the role that hospitals play and the fact that with the Coram asset now, that creates a different dialogue with hospitals and their physicians.

And, Larry, it's only been a week since you made the announcement.

Obviously, I applaud you for making this decision as a healthcare provider.

Can you talk about -- has there been any change in the last week as far as patients recognizing this, customers recognizing this?

I know you said you've had good feedback from -- whether it's your customer or the benefit consultants et cetera.

But have you actually seen any increase in volume on the Pharmacy side from this, or is it just too early to tell?

Lisa, I think it's way too early to tell.

Obviously, the news was well-publicized across the country in a variety of channels and a variety of stakeholders weighing in, in support of the decision.

Everything that we have at this point is really anecdotal that we've heard from our store teams and our field teams across our Retail and PBM businesses.

Again, all positive.

So we'll see how that plays out going forward.

Thank you.

Robert Jones, Goldman Sachs.

Wanted to follow up on Specialty.

You mentioned new clients in Specialty helping drive sales in the quarter.

Was wondering if you could share any more details on where you're winning in the Specialty space?

And then, I guess, can you give us any sense of your expectations for Specialty Connect and how that could increase penetration in your PBM client base this year?

Yes, this is Jon.

It's interesting as we're moving forward with this selling season and we're off to a pretty strong start, we're actually seeing an increase in standalone specialty RFTs.

And we think we're extremely well-positioned to take advantage of that.

And so as we think about the strength of Specialty, I think it's not any single capability; but it's our suite of capabilities that are leading to our growth in this segment.

As we also think also about the rollout of Specialty Connect, which is now underway, you see a lot of patients actually walking into retail stores today that end up getting turned away.

It can be 20%, 25% of specialty prescriptions that start in a retail store.

We will now have the ability to take care of those customers and fill those prescriptions by connecting our Specialty back into clinical capabilities with our Retail asset.

And it is interesting, customers with Specialty Connect have an option to either have that prescription mailed to their home or office or mailed to their local CVS and pick it up at a CVS.

And we see, very similar to Maintenance Choice, about half the customers want it sent to their local CVS where they pick it up; and the other half want it sent to their home or office.

So we're very bullish on this opportunity.

It's differentiating in the marketplace; it's resonating with clients; and it's resonating with patients.

Hi, Bob; it's Larry.

I'll tag on with one other point, and it goes back to something that we had talked about at Analyst Day.

And the fact that clients are seeing high double-digit growth in Specialty.

Their appetite to do something different is much different today than it was in the past.

And recognizing that the patients that are on a specialty med, they're dealing with some complex issues.

But the fact that these costs are growing 17%, 18%, 19%, people are more willing to entertain programs that can bend the cost curve than they have in the past.

And to Jon's point and in our prepared remarks, we feel that we're very well-positioned to serve the client needs in a variety of ways.

I think that all makes sense.

To follow up on the selling season, and I know it's really early, but any anecdotal things you can share with us as far as what clients are asking for?

Is there anything that's resonating more this year, whether it be restricted formularies in our networks?

And then just generally, how would you characterize pricing so far as you've gone through renewals and they're early in the RFP cycle?

Robert, this is Jon.

I'll take that.

And it's interesting in our client forum that we had in the fall of last year, I asked -- and these were large employer clients -- what was their number one priority as far as us helping them manage their drug spend?

And it was unanimous that Specialty is their top priority and they are looking for help to manage those escalating costs that Larry referred to.

And our capabilities now enable us not to just command a Specialty under the pharmacy benefit, but we've expanded our capabilities to manage under the medical benefit.

So I think that's what's different as we move into the selling season.

People are very focused on Specialty and the capabilities.

I would characterize the selling season as off to a strong start.

We're seeing activity early on from health plans and government, state governments or government entities.

We expect the employer activity to be strong.

And if you remember, this past selling season, we said RFP activity was down slightly.

It appears to be returning to a more normalized level.

And as far as the pricing environment, I would say it's very consistent with what we've talked about over the last several years.

It's very competitive but continues to be rational.

We think we're well-positioned with our size of scale and capabilities in differentiated products to be very successful in the marketplace.

Great.

Thanks so much.

Charles Rhyee, Cowen and Company.

Wanted to ask a follow up on a question on Specialty.

As we think about in the market, where you're starting to have, particularly in the biotech space, the introduction of oral medications.

Particularly as I'm thinking about Hep C here.

Can you talk about how that is being dispensed through Caremark and also in the Retail channel?

And how do you envision this as you think about other medications that are coming out, these high-cost drugs that are no longer injectable?

How are you treating this?

Do you see this is a big opportunity in the Retail space for you?

And then how do you approach that with payers as well?

Thanks.

Yes, Charles, this is Jon again.

There have been some new oral drugs that have been introduced in the Hep C space; so Sovaldi and Olysio are two examples.

If you look at the treatment cost to treat these patients, either over a 12-week or 24-week period, it's somewhere between $80,000 and $90,000 and up to over north of $100,000.

So these are very expensive drugs that still require big investments in inventory, clinical expertise and follow up.

We need to make sure these patients on these very expensive therapies actually take the medications over the course so that investment actually results in a favorable outcome.

So our approach is these are specialty drugs for Hep C. We do have the capability with Specialty Connect to service these patients in our retail stores.

So even though the route of administration may move from injectable to oral, we don't see a significant shift in how these specialty drugs are going to be handled.

And with Hep C specifically, the current drugs obviously are combined with drugs like interferon that require special handling and are injectable.

So that's an example of why we think it'll continue to be treated as Specialty.

That's helpful.

And as a follow up, are you seeing any pushback from payers at this point around these, given the cost?

Well, the cost about --

I guess particularly since the patient population is big.

Yes, I talked about from a cost perspective, these high-cost drugs and therapies are our clients top priority.

And so when clients start on these therapies, they are very interested in making sure that the patients are appropriately managed and that they complete their therapy and they get the desired results.

And Hep C is a great example of that.

So that's why the special handling and capabilities we have in Specialty serve the needs of our clients with these very expensive treatments.

Great.

Thank you.

Tom Gallucci, FBR.

A couple of follow ups.

Dave, on the generic strength in the Retail business, just curious what the underlying drivers are there?

Are you thinking it's stronger volume or better purchasing?

And I guess where I'm going with it is, does any of this leak over and benefit the PBM side of the business as well?

Hi, Tom, this is Dave.

Good question.

I think, as you know, we work hard and focus a lot of energy on managing generic profitability.

It's very important to us, and there are a lot of efforts underway to do that.

I would say there's a combination of not just one thing that's improving our performance here; it's a combination of many things.

And you touched upon them a little bit.

One, clearly continuing to drive generic utilization, shifting obviously branded drugs into the generic equivalents and actually even where we have a generic brand or a generic product available, actually pushing GDR even further there.

We're always very focused on figuring out how to lower the cost of goods sold in those generic products, and our procurement efforts are focused against that.

And I think later in the year, as we have our joint venture up and running, but we're not really thinking about that at this point in time.

And then finally, establishing win-win arrangements between payers and ourselves to figure out how we reduce both pharmacy costs and lower overall healthcare costs by driving utilization in generics.

So all three of those components are playing important roles as we think about it.

I would say in the very short term, a lot of the -- I'll say the outperformance -- in generics are happening in generics that are more likely dispensed in the retail locations as opposed to the mail locations.

So that at the moment, the profitability beat is being funneled more into the Retail dispensing channels.

Okay, great.

Hope that's helpful.

Yes that's great, thanks, Dave.

The other question I had, Larry, I know you touched on a little bit more your earlier remarks around outcome-based pharmacy networks.

Some of the idea behind the Caremark CVS integration was adding this value to the payer, Pharmacy Advisor and whatnot.

Do you see yourselves as retailers contracting as a preferred provider on a value-based sort of a basis anytime soon?

And what sort of metrics do you think would be included in contracts like that?

Well, Tom, that's another great question.

And the answer to that is, yes, Tom.

I think that there are a variety of metrics that could be included in that, from something as simple as dispensing the low-cost therapy whenever possible --largely generics --to keeping people adherent on their medications, something we've talked a lot about.

And we talked about that at Analyst Day.

You can define that by a medication possession ratio.

So, yes, I think that that's the direction that Pharmacy needs to go.

And we're certainly prepared to move on that.

Okay.

Thank you.

David Magee, SunTrust.

First question on the generic side.

As you look at the convergence planned over the balance of the year, has the timing with regard to that and the benefit -- has that changed in your thinking?

No.

Dave, this is Dave.

Not substantially.

As you know, the break-open generics are pretty modest in 2014.

So we have not changed our expectation about that or timing of that.

And then secondly, more of an intermediate-term question.

With regard to ACA, if you think about that over a three-year period, how would you rank the impacts on your business from all the change there?

Maybe, Frank, maybe I'll start; and I'll ask the others to jump in there.

The biggest one is obviously the Affordable Care Act is really about driving new members into the healthcare pool.

So over the next several years you're going to have something like 35 million Americans who enter some form of health coverage.

And with health coverage, we'll drive utilization within our channels.

So I do think that you'll see that.

And you'll see that expansion happen really in two areas, both in the exchange market, whether that be mostly the public exchange, but also in Medicaid.

As the level of availability for Medicaid increases, you'll see that expand as well.

And, Dave, consistent with what we've said in the past, we think we see a more immediate benefit coming from Medicaid expansion than we do the growth and exchange population occurring more over time.

And I do think that the second piece of that is that the next evolutions we've talked about earlier today from a strategic perspective is as the healthcare system evolves -- again, back to outcomes and performance metrics -- you're going to see reimbursement focus on those in networks being driven by those who can perform well and effectively in managing care and managing costs down.

And I think we're very well-positioned to take advantage of that over time.

Great.

Thank you.

Ricky Goldwasser, Morgan Stanley.

This is Zack Sopcak in for Ricky.

I wanted to ask, Larry, you had mentioned the positive feedback you had gotten on the tobacco decision.

And one of the sources was the Federal Government.

You've heard from HHS and from the Administration as well.

Was just curious if you anticipate any kind of a positive impact to your government business as you're going out to bid this year from that?

Well, yes, it's a great question.

I mean, obviously, as we've discussed, we think that our decision creates even further alignment with our clients.

So I would think that all things being equal, that this certainly gives us another check next to our name.

But I think that we still have to be priced correctly, and we still have to serve the client correctly.

So this decision doesn't take the place of the basic blocking and tackling element that we work hard to serve our clients each and every day.

Okay.

Great, thank you.

And I was wondering if you could give any incremental color on the tobacco shopper and if that profit contribution has declined in recent years or been flat or up?

And then also, if that shopper tended to be a utilizer of prescription services as well?

Yes, I'll take the first -- let me start and then I think Helena will jump in as well.

We do not see this decision having any negative impact on our Pharmacy business.

And its quite plausible it can have a positive impact, recognizing the response from the healthcare community in terms of this action.

I think the tobacco business at CVS Pharmacy is one that has largely been convenient space.

As a matter of fact, if you look at tobacco transactions, about 97% of those transactions are pack unit sales, not carton sales.

So there is a convenience element of that purchasing that will go away.

And maybe I'll ask Helena just to comment on the related sales associated with the tobacco purchase.

Sure.

So as Larry said, we are not a destination for the category.

The other data point that I would add to that is if you look across the whole industry, only 4% of cigarettes are even sold in all of drugstores.

So it's never been an important part of the overall category sale.

So we think that we've done our job in terms of estimating the sales that come along with those, and you see those in the estimates.

But in general, that, I think, is isolated around the front-store impact.

It's very hard to tell what other impact there will be.

Certainly the feedback in the last week has been overwhelmingly positive.

People really feel like this is the right thing to do, positioning at us as a healthcare leader.

And there's been really been significant passion among consumers and our employees and a lot of stakeholders.

So all of that makes us feel somewhat optimistic.

Great.

Thank you.

Robert Willoughby, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Larry, Dave, in the past you had a slide that did show the CVS share of Caremark accounts.

Can we get that on a quarterly basis?

Do have the metric for the quarter where that has trended to?

Well, Bob, you're right; we have shown that.

We showed that at Analyst Day at about 30%.

And we'll take your feedback under advisement, and more to come.

If we're forecasting that though, Larry, can I give you a point a quarter; or is that just too aggressive?

(Laughter)

We're not going to answer that one today, Bob.

I'll ask tomorrow.

(Laughter) Thank you.

Ajay Jain, Cantor Fitzgerald.

Actually most of my questions have been asked already.

But I had a housekeeping question on cigarettes and if that business is already excluded at this point for your comp base, based on how you're reporting front end comps both for 2014 and for all the corresponding periods last year?

No, it's not excluded.

That business -- those sales are in our comp base.

What will happen as we cycle into the back half of this year, we produce comps; and we will give you the impact of this on our comps so you can get a sense of our underlying true performance in front store.

Okay.

So based on how they're going to be reporting, so then your front-end comps could be somewhat understated for the next couple of quarters since the sales impact would have been higher from a year ago.

Is that the right way to look at?

When we get to the back half of the year, yes, that's true.

Because right now we said we'd exit by October 1. So it's really more of a back-half 2014 dynamic than it is the first-half of 2014 dynamic.

Okay.

Thank you.

Edward Kelly, Credit Suisse

A couple of follow ups for you, first on tobacco.

Could you tell us what percent of your most loyal customers end up purchasing tobacco?

I know for the US in total, it's like 20%.

But it's less for women, and then it's less again for the elderly.

And where I'm going with this is, is there any risk that you could possibly lose the non-tobacco trips of that customer?

And how is that factored into the $2 billion that you talked about?

Yes, Ed; it's Larry.

Ed, we've done a lot of analysis with all the information available to us.

And as you've seen in the numbers, based on that work, we believe the related businesses account for about, on an annualized basis, about $0.5 billion.

So you could think of it for every tobacco dollar that we forego, there is a companion sale of about, call it $0.30, on that tobacco dollar that moves along with it.

And we've estimated that that would be part of the loss sales.

And is that companion dollar?

Is that what's in that tobacco basket or --?

Yes, it is.

Tobacco shopper, yes.

Okay.

So I guess you'll have to monitor what goes on with those non-tobacco trips of those customers, I guess, right?

That's right.

Okay.

Great, thank you.

We're going to take two more calls, Frank.

Meredith Adler, Barclays.

Obviously, a lot of my questions have been asked.

But I would like to talk a little bit about Specialty Connect and just to understand a little bit better how it would actually function at the store.

I think you said you would connect a Specialty customer who walks in with a new script with somebody at the Specialty Pharmacy.

Is that something you do at the moment, or do you have a follow up afterward?

And then I'm assuming that the pickup, if it's done at a store, is in a temperature-controlled packaging as if it would have gone to their home.

It isn't handled as product by the stores.

Am I getting that right?

Meredith, it's Larry.

Let me start and then I'll ask Jon to pick up where I leave off.

There's one imported premise, Meredith, with that Specialty customer today.

And there are many, many examples where that customer goes into a retail environment to get their specialty med filled and they can't.

And the pharmacist cannot help them; they turn them away.

And it has to do with all the complexities.

It's much more than just the fact that it's that particular pharmacy may not stock a high-cost product.

So it starts with that premise, and then I'll let Jon pick it up from there.

Yes, and then, Meredith, all this is powered by technology that connects the retail store with our Specialty platform.

And it guides the store staff through the on-boarding process of this patient.

And I think that really is the differentiator here.

A lot of these products, retail pharmacist just don't see -- they aren't familiar with.

And so enabling this through technology, connecting it back to Specialty, providing a pathway for the clinicians to speak to that patient around either special training or questions or follow up that needs to be -- needs to occur.

And if you talk to our Specialty patients, they actually talk about their pharmacists.

They talk about the retail pharmacists and they talk about the specialty pharmacists.

And they view that as a care tam that's taking care of them and giving them the flexibility to get their medication in the way that's most convenient for them.

So you don't envision this person bringing in a specialty script as dealing with a one-time situation of filling it and then somehow completely turning over the relationship to the Specialty pharmacy, but it would continue to be a partnership?

Is that right?

Yes, right.

Meredith, that's exactly right.

It's going to be a team that is helping this patient.

The Retail team will be able to answer some questions and the Specialty team will answer other questions for that patient.

One of the challenges for Specialty patients, it's a challenge for the physician and it's a challenge for the patient.

And because we're now opening up 7,600 points of access, as opposed to what we have now, which is really just Specialty mail, it's going to make it much easier for the physician.

And it's going to actually get that patient on that therapy sooner.

And that care will happen through that team, and it's all connected and powered by the technology platform that we have seen that now we can see that patient -- this enables us to see that patient across our enterprise in all our platforms.

And a real quick follow up to that, are you planning to train the technicians?

My interaction at a CVS store is mostly with the technician, not with a pharmacist.

So are they in this loop, or do you plan to keep it just with the pharmacist?

Sure, Meredith.

Yes, this is Helena.

Yes, we're rolling this out across the chain as we do any Retail program.

We've got full training for pharmacists and technicians.

And I think the beauty of the technology that Jon just described is from a store team perspective, this looks like filling any other prescription that they fill.

And so it's not a completely new process to them.

It looks very much like filling a normal prescription, so to speak.

And that's been one of the things that has given us the most positive reaction so far from our store teams.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Okay last question, please.

Ross Muken, ISI Group.

Maybe I thought I'd start first on the MinuteClinic.

What have we seen in terms of the types of things folks are coming into the store for?

Are we seeing a broadening out maybe of the types of treatment people are seeking?

And I'm curious from like a capacity utilization perspective in some of the older stores that have been -- or the sites that have been in place.

How fast do we see them get up in terms of the newer ones to some of the Legacy levels?

Yes, Ross; it's Larry.

I think what we're seeing is a heightened awareness and consumer acceptance which, if you look at the earlier markets, as we have been able to increase the number of clinics within that market, obviously there's a halo effect to the older clinics.

And I think that our MinuteClinic team is working on broadening the scope of services provided, and that is in development.

And that's in development with the 30-some hospital affiliations that we have established, acknowledging that we are triaging patients from MinuteClinic to the institution and vice versa.

I think the other important point is the fact that MinuteClinic is seen as a value-added benefit by our PBM clients.

And many of those are adopting MinuteClinic programs that offer reduced or in some cases zero co-pays, and that too has driven utilization.

So I think it's an evolving story that as we move to the future, you will see us expand our scope of services.

But we'll do that in collaboration with our care partners.

Great, thanks, Larry.

And maybe a quick one for Dave.

You're still carrying a pretty good amount of balance sheet capacity.

You have done a great job of tuck-ins the last few years, Coram is obviously the most recent.

How would you characterize the tuck-in M&A environment in terms of activity, the number of assets out there that potentially you could be interested?

Obviously, can't talk about specifics.

But I'm trying to get a sense for tone because it feels like in general the M&A market has gotten a little bit more active to start the year.

Yes, Ross, this is Dave.

I don't know that I can comment too much on that.

I would say that, as we have been very clear, is that we do generate a substantial amount of cash flow; that we're putting that cash flow to use first in dividends and share repurchases.

But just as importantly, putting that cash to use on the M&A side.

I think if you look across our business, I don't think we see any holes as far as an asset complement that we need to be successful in the marketplace.

Having said that, I do think there are opportunities for us to continue to do bolt-on acquisitions, harness the synergies, increase our scale, and continue to deliver superior service to either our existing customer base or reaching new customers.

So I think --

Great, thanks, Dave.

And congrats, guys, on a number of great announcements.

So wrapping up, again, let me thank everybody for your time this morning and your continued interest in our Company.

And Nancy and her team, as always, are available for any follow-up questions that you might have.

Thanks again.

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the conference call for today.

We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

Have a great day, everyone.