Full Press Release Details
Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2018 Results, Issues First-Quarter
and Full-Year 2019 Guidance
of $2,688 million for the fourth quarter and $10,412 million for the
EBITDA of $583 million for the fourth quarter and $2,224 million for
Diluted Earnings per Share of $0.34 for the fourth quarter and $1.24
Diluted Earnings per Share of $1.50 for the fourth quarter and $5.55
quarter of R&D Solutions contracted services Net New Business,
resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 1.7x for the quarter
contracted services Net New Business growth of 28.9 percent,
contributing to total backlog of over $17.1 billion
million of share repurchase completed during the fourth quarter; $1.4
billion of share repurchase completed in 2018; authorization increased
2019 revenue guidance of $10,900 million to $11,125 million, Adjusted
EBITDA of $2,375 million to $2,425 million and Adjusted Diluted
Earnings per Share of $6.20 to $6.40
DANBURY, Conn. & RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February
14, 2019--IQVIA Holdings Inc. ("IQVIA") (NYSE: IQV), a leading global
provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions, and contract
research services to the life sciences industry, today reported
financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2018.
On January 1, 2018, IQVIA adopted ASC 606 "Revenue from Contracts with
Customers" as required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.
Under this standard, IQVIA recognizes revenue in the Research &
Development Solutions segment on a percentage of completion basis.
Additionally, ASC 606 requires that service revenue and reimbursed
expense revenue be consistently presented as one line on the income
statement. Unless stated otherwise, all financial information that
follows has been provided under ASC 606.
This will be the last reminder of the accounting change, as following
the fourth quarter, IQVIA has passed the anniversary of ASC 606
adoption, which will be the basis for all reporting going forward.
Fourth-Quarter 2018 Operating Results
Revenue for the fourth
quarter of $2,688 million increased 6.6 percent on a reported basis and
8.1 percent at constant currency, compared to the fourth quarter of
2017. Technology & Analytics Solutions (TAS) revenue of $1,127 million
grew 8.8 percent reported and 10.9 percent at constant currency.
Research & Development Solutions (R&DS) revenue of $1,368 million grew
7.8 percent reported and 8.7 percent at constant currency. Contract
Sales & Medical Solutions (CSMS) revenue of $193 million declined 10.6
percent reported and 8.8 percent at constant currency.
Fourth-quarter 2018 Adjusted EBITDA of $583 million increased 10.8
percent reported and 9.7 percent at constant currency, compared to the
fourth quarter of 2017. GAAP net income was $69 million and GAAP diluted
earnings per share was $0.34. Adjusted Net Income of $307 million grew
17.6 percent, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share of $1.50 grew 23.0
"We closed 2018 with a strong quarter, and delivered results at the high
end of, or above our financial targets, capping a year of outstanding
performance," said Ari Bousbib, chairman and CEO of IQVIA. "Our clinical
development team had another record quarter of contracted net new
business, and our technology team continued to add impressive new client
wins for our OCE SaaS platform. As we enter the third year of our merger
integration, we are pleased to see the beginning of top line
acceleration in both our R&DS and TAS businesses. We are also encouraged
that our CSMS business is showing positive signs of stabilization as we
head into 2019. Across all our businesses, the IQVIA team is building
momentum to further accelerate growth beyond 2019."
Full-Year 2018 Operating Results
Revenue of $10,412 million
for the full year of 2018 increased 7.3 percent reported and 6.8 percent
at constant currency, compared to the full year of 2017. TAS revenue of
$4,137 million grew 12.4 percent reported and 12.1 percent at constant
currency. R&DS revenue of $5,465 million grew 7.1 percent reported and
6.5 percent at constant currency. CSMS revenue of $810 million declined
11.5 percent reported and 12.2 percent at constant currency.
R&DS contracted backlog, including reimbursed expenses, was $17.13
billion at December 31, 2018. The company expects approximately $4.8
billion of this backlog to convert to revenue in the next twelve months.
For comparability during 2018, IQVIA is reporting R&DS net new business
on a contracted basis excluding reimbursed expenses. Under this
approach, R&DS contracted net new business of $5.85 billion for the
twelve months ended December 31, 2018 grew 28.9 percent compared to the
twelve months ended December 31, 2017. R&DS contracted net new business
for the quarter ending December 31, 2018 was $1.7 billion, representing
a contracted book-to-bill ratio (excluding reimbursed expenses) of 1.7x
for the fourth quarter of 2018.
For the full year of 2018, Adjusted EBITDA of $2,224 million increased
10.6 percent reported and 9.9 percent at constant currency, compared to
the full year of 2017. GAAP net income was $259 million and GAAP diluted
earnings per share was $1.24. Adjusted Net Income of $1,156 million for
the full year of 2018 grew 14.0 percent, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings
per Share of $5.55 grew 22.0 percent.
As of December 31, 2018, cash and cash
equivalents were $891 million and debt was $11,007 million, resulting in
net debt of $10,116 million. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2018,
IQVIA's Gross Leverage Ratio was 4.9 times, and Net Leverage Ratio was
4.5 times, trailing twelve month Adjusted EBITDA.
The company repurchased $604 million of its
common stock during the fourth quarter of 2018, including a repurchase
of $247 million from IQVIA's remaining private equity sponsors towards
the end of the quarter. Full-year 2018 share repurchases totaled $1.4
On February 13, 2019, the IQVIA board approved an increase of the share
repurchase authorization by $2.0 billion, bringing remaining
authorizations to approximately $2.3 billion.
Full-Year 2019 Guidance
IQVIA expects full-year 2019 revenue
between $10,900 million and $11,125 million, Adjusted EBITDA between
$2,375 million and $2,425 million and Adjusted Diluted Earnings per
Share between $6.20 and $6.40. Full-year 2019 segment revenue guidance
| ($ millions) | Guidance (1) | VPY% CFx (1) | VPY% AFx (1) | |||
| TAS | $4,350 - $4,425 | 6.7% - 8.6% | 5.1% - 7.0% | |||
| R&DS | $5,750 - $5,900 | 6.0% - 8.8% | 5.2% - 8.0% | |||
| CSMS | ~$800 | ~flat | ~(1.2)% | |||
| Revenue | $10,900 - $11,125 | 5.8% - 7.9% | 4.7% - 6.8% | |||
| 1. Guidance dollars are at actual foreign currency exchange rates. CFx is constant currency, AFx is actual currency. |