Establishes fiscal year 2024 guidance driven by organic growth from core business tailwinds

Maximus (NYSE: MMS), a leading provider of government services worldwide, reported financial results for the three months and year ended September 30, 2023.

Highlights for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2023 include:

• Full year revenue increased 5.9% to $4.90 billion, compared to $4.63 billion for the prior year. Organic growth was 7.1% and driven by higher volumes on key programs in the U.S. segments. Fourth quarter revenue grew 7.0%, or 7.4% on an organic basis.
• Full year diluted earnings per share were $2.63, and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $3.83. Fourth quarter diluted earnings per share were $0.96, and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.29. Excluding the previously disclosed cybersecurity incident, adjusted earnings per share were $4.18 and $1.38 for the full year and fourth quarter, respectively, of fiscal year 2023.
• Record contract backlog of $20.7 billion at September 30, 2023, or 4 times trailing twelve months revenue, and signed contract awards totaling $6.1 billion in fiscal year 2023.
• A quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share payable on November 30, 2023, to shareholders of record on November 15, 2023.

"We are proud of the team for an excellent finish to the year and demonstrating a healthy core business operating at its true potential," said Bruce Caswell, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We kick off fiscal 2024 with strong visibility to our guidance targets, carrying forward the momentum of the last quarter.

Caswell continued, "As a provider of tech-enabled services to mission-critical government programs, we can remain confident in our outlook, even with a temporary U.S. federal government shut-down remaining a potential scenario during fiscal 2024. We would expect nearly all of our U.S. Federal Services programs to be designated essential which insulates our business during periods of government budget uncertainty."

Consolidated Fiscal Year 2023 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

Revenue for the full fiscal year 2023 increased 5.9% to $4.90 billion, compared to $4.63 billion for the prior year. Organic growth was 7.1% over the prior year. Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year grew 7.0% to $1.26 billion, or 7.4% on an organic basis. Both periods benefited from volume growth on expanded programs in the U.S. Federal Services segment. The U.S. Services Segment had new programs operating in the year and Medicaid redeterminations made a full period contribution in the fourth quarter.

For the full fiscal year 2023, the operating margin was 6.0%, and the adjusted margin operating margin was 8.0%. This compares to margins of 7.0% and 9.0%, respectively, for the prior year, which had benefited from profitable, short-term work.

Diluted earnings per share were $2.63 and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $3.83. This compares to $3.29 and $4.37, respectively, for the prior-year period. The company's definition of adjusted earnings is expanded to include gains or losses resulting from a divestiture or other charges arising in preparing a business for sale. As with prior reporting periods, the definition retains adjustment for intangibles amortization expense.

Divestiture-related charges for the full fiscal year 2023 totaled $0.06. The previously-disclosed cybersecurity incident is not included in the definition and had a $0.35 and $0.09 per share impact to the full year and fourth quarter, respectively, of fiscal year 2023. Adjusted diluted earnings excluding the incident were $4.18 and $1.38 per share for the full year and fourth quarter, respectively, of fiscal year 2023.

U.S. Federal Services Segment

U.S. Federal Services Segment revenue for fiscal year 2023 increased 6.4% to $2.40 billion, compared to $2.26 billion reported for the prior year. All growth was organic and driven predominantly by the continued ramp of volumes on the Veterans Affairs Medical Disability Exams (VA MDE) contracts, which comprise the VES business, as the overall program grows to meet client expectations.

The segment operating margin for the full fiscal year 2023 was 10.4%, as compared to 10.4% reported for the prior year. For the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, the segment operating margin was 12.4% and was supported by a higher run-rate of volumes on the VA MDE contracts.

U.S. Services Segment

U.S. Services Segment revenue for fiscal year 2023 increased by 12.7% to $1.81 billion, compared to $1.61 billion reported in the prior year. All growth was organic and driven by new work wins across multiple categories, including eligibility support, multi-year contracts for unemployment insurance assistance, and assessments for long-term care.

The segment operating margin for fiscal year 2023 was 10.1% compared to 11.3% reported for the prior-year period which benefited from residual short-term work with higher profit margins. The fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 benefited from a full period of resumed Medicaid redeterminations, delivering a 11.6% margin for the segment.

Outside the U.S. Segment

Outside the U.S. Segment revenue for fiscal year 2023 decreased 9.8% to $689.1 million as compared to $763.7 million reported for the prior year, which was net of a 4.6% currency headwind. The remaining reductions were lower volumes on employment services contracts and the effect of divestitures during fiscal year 2023.

The segment realized an operating loss of $9.1 million for fiscal year 2023, compared to an operating loss of $15.2 million in the prior year. The effect of lower volumes on employment services contracts negatively impacted segment profitability both years. The segment broke even in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

The company recently announced another divestiture of employment services businesses, including in Canada, Singapore, and Italy, as it executes on further optimization of the Outside the U.S. portfolio to deliver consistent profitability and improve alignment with the broader Maximus strategy.

Sales and Pipeline

Year-to-date signed contract awards at September 30, 2023, totaled $6.1 billion, and contracts pending (awarded but unsigned) totaled $878 million. These awards include the previously announced IDIQ for the Federal Student Aid office valued at more than $2 billion and the Functional Assessment Services contract in the United Kingdom valued at $1 billion. The book-to-bill ratio at September 30, 2023, was 1.2x on a trailing twelve-month basis.

The sales pipeline at September 30, 2023, was $37.1 billion (comprised of approximately $1.2 billion in proposals pending, $0.97 billion in proposals in preparation, and $34.9 billion in opportunities tracking). New work opportunities represent approximately 76% of the total sales pipeline.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flows

At September 30, 2023, cash and cash equivalents totaled $65.4 million, and gross debt was $1.26 billion. The ratio of debt, net of allowed cash, to pro-forma EBITDA for the full year ended September 30, 2022, as calculated in accordance with our credit agreement, was 2.2x. This reflects debt pay downs of approximately $60 million in the most recent quarter and compares to 2.5x at June 30, 2022. The company's target leverage range is 2x to 3x, with a bias towards the lower end.

For fiscal year 2023, cash flows from operating activities totaled $314.3 million, and free cash flow was $223.6 million. This compares to $289.8 million and $233.7 million, respectively, in the prior year. As expected, fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 cash flows were strong at $144.6 million cash flows from operating activities and free cash flow of $112.8 million.

As of September 30, 2023, DSO were 60 days and at the bottom of the target range of 60 to 70 days.

On October 6, 2023, our Board of Directors declared an increased quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 for each share of our common stock outstanding, which compares to the previous quarterly cash dividend of $0.28 per share. The dividend is payable on November 30, 2023, to shareholders of record on November 15, 2023.

Fiscal Year 2024 Outlook

Maximus is establishing fiscal year 2024 guidance. The company expects revenue to range between $5.05 billion and $5.2 billion. Adjusted operating income is expected to range between $488 million and $513 million, which excludes an estimated $88 million of expense for amortization of intangible assets. Adjusted diluted earnings per share is expected to range between $5.05 and $5.35 per share.

The midpoint of revenue guidance implies organic growth of approximately 5% over fiscal year 2023. The midpoint of adjusted operating income implies an adjusted operating margin of 9.8% as compared to the midpoint of revenue guidance.

Free cash flow is expected to range between $290 million and $340 million for fiscal year 2024. The company forecasts interest expense of approximately $70 million, an effective income tax rate between 24.5% and 25.5%, and weighted average shares outstanding between 62.2 million and 62.3 million shares for fiscal year 2024.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Maximus will host a conference call tomorrow, November 16, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. ET. Shareholders are invited to submit questions for management’s consideration by emailing IR@maximus.com up to one hour prior to the call.

The call is open to the public and available by webcast or by phone at: 877.407.8289 (Domestic) / +1.201.689.8341 (International)

For those unable to listen to the live call, a recording of the webcast will be available on investor.maximus.com.

About Maximus

As a leading strategic partner to governments across the globe, Maximus helps improve the delivery of public services amid complex technology, health, economic, environmental, and social challenges. With a deep understanding of program service delivery, acute insights that achieve operational excellence, and an extensive awareness of the needs of the people being served, our employees advance the critical missions of our partners. Maximus delivers innovative business process management, impactful consulting services, and technology solutions that provide improved outcomes for the public and higher levels of productivity and efficiency of government-sponsored programs. For more information, visit maximus.com.

Non-GAAP Measures and Risk Factors

This release refers to non-GAAP measures and other indicators, including organic growth normalized for the effects of COVID-19 response work, free cash flow, operating income, and EPS adjusted for amortization of intangible assets and divestiture-related charges, pro-forma EBITDA, and other non-GAAP measures.

A description of these non-GAAP measures, the reasons why we use and present them, and details as to how they are calculated are included in our earnings presentation and forthcoming Form 10-K.

The presentation of these non-GAAP numbers is not meant to be considered in isolation, nor as alternatives to cash flows from operations, revenue growth, or net income as measures of performance. These non-GAAP financial measures, as determined and presented by us, may not be comparable to related or similarly titled measures presented by other companies.

Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the company’s confidence and strategies, and the company’s expectations about revenues, results of operations, profitability, future contracts, market opportunities, market demand, or acceptance of the company’s products are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

These risks could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. A summary of risk factors can be found in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2023, expected to be filed shortly with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Company's SEC reports are accessible on maximus.com.

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