Stericycle reports Q2 earnings

Stericycle Inc., Bannockburn, Illinois, reported results for the second quarter on Aug. 6.

Revenues for the second quarter were $672.7 million, an increase of 12.5 percent compared to $598.2 million in the second quarter of 2020, primarily due to more significant COVID-19 pandemic impacts in the second quarter of 2020. The impact of the ongoing economic recovery from COVID-19 and quality of revenue initiatives have been partially offset by the impact of divestitures. Organic revenues increased 14.4 percent when excluding the impact of divestitures and foreign exchange rates. Income from operations was $55.6 million, compared to $24.9 million in the second quarter of 2020. Net income was $29.3 million, or 32 cents diluted earnings per share, compared to a net loss of $4.5 million, or 5 cents diluted loss per share in the second quarter of 2020. Adjusted income from operations was $105.7 million, compared to $85.3 million in the second quarter of 2020. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was 67 cents, compared to 46 cents in the second quarter of last year. Cash flow from operations for the first half of 2021 was $149.8 million compared to $207.3 million for the first half of 2020. Free cash flow for the first half of 2021 was $90.1 million, compared to $132.7 million for the first half of 2020.

Key highlights include:

• The company’s Regulated Waste and Compliance Services (RWCS) organic revenues increased 7.6 percent in the second quarter compared to 2020.
• The company’s Secure Information Destruction (SID) organic revenues increased 34.2 percent in the second quarter compared to 2020 due to the ongoing economic recovery from COVID-19.
• Income from operations as a percentage of revenues improved 410 basis points, or $30.7 million, in the second quarter compared to 2020.
• At the beginning of August, the company launched the North American finance and procurement portions of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and began its phased deployment of its commercial and operational portions for SID.
• Net debt was reduced by $52.4 million in the second quarter, decreasing total net debt to approximately $1.65 billion. The credit agreement defined debt leverage ratio was reduced to 3.06 times as of June 30, compared to 3.89 times as of June 30, 2020.

“We are encouraged to see demand for our services grow, along with the ongoing economic recovery from the impact of the pandemic, as reflected in our 14.4 percent organic revenue growth in the second quarter compared to 2020,” Stericycle CEO Cindy J. Miller says. “Additionally, our team members are fully engaged in the launch of our North American ERP, the next step of our transformation.”