EXHIBIT 99.2
1st Quarter 2004 Results Conference Call Script
JoAnn Mannise:
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Good afternoon. My name is JoAnn Mannise, and I am the Director of Investor
Relations at HemaCare. I would like to welcome everyone here today to our
first quarter 2004 Financial Results Conference Call. With us here today is
Judi Irving, HemaCare's President and Chief Executive Officer, and Robert
Chilton, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
During this call there will be forward-looking statements on a number of
subjects that are based on the Company's current expectations and are
subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ
materially. Our press releases and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as
well as our other SEC filings, identify factors that could affect those
results. I refer you to those documents. We do not undertake to update
forward-looking statements to reflect later events and circumstances
or actual outcomes.
And now I would like to introduce Judi Irving who will start with our
prepared comments.
Judi Irving:
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Thank you, JoAnn.
Welcome to all of you. Today we announced our financial results for the
first quarter ended March 31, 2004. We reported net income of $246,000,
which represents our second consecutive quarter of profitable results.
Our improved performance reflects our attention to generating increased
sales at our ongoing facilities now that we have eliminated the
distractions associated with our recently closed facilities. As of
January 2004, we successfully completed the restructuring plan that we
began implementing in the third quarter of 2003. We can now dedicate
our full attention to those strategies that generate greater revenue
and improved profit margins for our remaining business activities.
As a result of the implementation of our restructuring plan, and the related
closure of specific business units, revenue declined $195,000 to $6,736,000
in the first quarter of 2004 when compared to the same period in 2003.
However, our remaining blood product collection facilities reported a
sizeable revenue gain of $678,000, or 16.5%, to $4,780,000 compared with
the first quarter of last year. This positive result contributed to the
generation of $246,000 of net income for the quarter compared with $8,000 of
net income for the same period in 2003.
Although we are pleased with our recent results, we continue to work on
delivering consistent operating results. The nature of our business is
such that both seasonal and unpredictable fluctuations in demand and
availability of donor products, may significantly impact our operating
results. Our goal is to strengthen our business model to minimize these
fluctuations in the future. Complicating this objective is the scheduled
termination of our donor center management contract with Presbyterian
Intercommunity Hospital in the second quarter of 2004. However, we
feel confident that we can meet these challenges and continue the
progress we have started.
I would like to now turn the call over to Bob Chilton, who will review
the operating results in more detail.
Bob Chilton:
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Thank you, Judi.
I would like to provide some additional detail information regarding the
financial results we announced earlier today.
As Judi mentioned, HemaCare's first quarter results produced net income
of $246,000, or $.03 per share basic and diluted, compared with $8,000
for the first quarter of 2003. One of the main reasons for this
positive result is the fact that the Company's ongoing facilities
generated $678,000 more revenue, or a 16.5% increase, during the quarter
when compared with the same period in 2003. The Company finished the
quarter with a total decrease in revenue of $195,000 to $6,736,000, or 2.8%,
compared with the first quarter of 2003. As Judi mentioned, this is
mostly attributable to the elimination of the revenue from the blood
products segment produced by the donor centers closed as part of the
restructuring plan implemented in the third quarter of 2003. In addition,
there was a $94,000 decline in blood service revenue during the quarter
compared with last year that was also partially attributable to the
closure of donor centers, but also is a result of reduced therapeutic
apheresis procedure volume primarily from the New York market.
As we have noted in the past, the number of these procedures we
perform can fluctuate from quarter to quarter.
Gross profit from the blood products segment increased $525,000, or 200%,
during the first quarter of 2004 compared with 2003. This was due to
the closure of non-performing donor centers related to the
implementation of management's restructuring plan, and increased
operating efficiencies derived from larger sales volumes at the
ongoing donor centers. During the first quarter of 2003, the
closed donor centers generated operating losses of $194,000. The
closure of these facilities eliminated these operating losses in
the first quarter of 2004. In addition, as a result of
increasing sales volumes at the ongoing donor centers, gross
profits from these centers increased 72.6% to $787,000. The
gross profit percentage for the ongoing donor centers during the
first quarter improved to 16.5%, compared with 11.1% during the
same period in 2003.
General and administrative expenses increased in the first quarter
of 2004 by $199,000, or 20.2%, when compared with 2003. This is
primarily the result of an increase in the bad debt provision
of $124,000, and an increase in insurance expense of $69,000. The
increase in the bad debt provision was the result of management's
assessment that the rate of receivable write offs in the past two
quarters, primarily from closed centers, might continue into
future quarters. The increase in insurance expense was the result
of a substantial increase in professional liability insurance when
this policy was renewed in mid 2003.
The balance sheet as of March 31, 2004 shows cash and cash
equivalents of $911,000 which is comparable to $935,000 as
of the end of 2003. Working capital increased substantially to
$1,763,000 from $1,179,000 as of the end of 2003. The main reason
for this improvement is an increase in net receivables and the
reclassification of $300,000 in notes payable with Comerica Bank
to long-term from current as a result of the execution of an
amendment to the Comerica credit agreement that extended the term
of the line of credit to June 30, 2005. Net accounts
receivable increased to $3,442,000 from $3,128,000 as of
December 31, 2003. The Company has experienced some increase in
days sales outstanding during the quarter. As of March 31, 2004,
this collection statistic stood at 47 days, compared with only
42 days as of December 31, 2003; however, management's efforts
to aggressively pursue outstanding receivables over the first year
has produced positive results since the days sales outstanding
level as of March 31, 2003 stood at 57 days.
As I previously mentioned, the Company recently entered
into an amendment to the existing credit facility with
Comerica Bank. This amendment extended the term of the line of
credit one year to June 30, 2005, and recasts the financial
covenants to levels more favorable to the Company. As a result
of this amendment, the Company was in full compliance with all
of the financial covenants documented in the amended credit facility.
The Company is expected to have sufficient resources to satisfy
working capital requirements and finance operations into 2005.
This concludes my prepared remarks regarding the first
quarter 2004 financial results. I would like to now turn the
call back over to Judi for some concluding remarks.
Judi Irving:
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Thank you Bob.
In closing, we are very proud of the significant progress we
have made over the past year. Today, HemaCare is more efficient
and focused. We have a stronger management team and we are
excited about the future. There are challenges ahead of us and
we must strive diligently to solidify our gains as we build for
the future.
This concludes our prepared remarks.
We are now prepared to open the conference for your questions.
Operator, would you please provide the callers with the
necessary instructions.