Waste Management Clocks 15% Revenue Growth In Q4

Waste Management Inc WM reported fourth-quarter FY21 operating revenue growth of 15% year-over-year to $4.68 billion, beating the consensus of $4.62 billion.
Adjusted EPS improved to $1.26 compared to $1.13 in 4Q20, in line with the consensus of $1.26.
The core price for the quarter was 5.1% compared to 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Total Company volumes improved 2.8%, or 2.3% on a workday adjusted basis, compared to a decline of 2.6% in 4Q20.
Operating Revenues by Line of Business: Total collection $3.01 billion (+11.6% Y/Y), Landfill $1.06 billion (+10.7% Y/Y), Transfer $525 million (+6.5% Y/Y), Recycling $478 million (+55.2% Y/Y) and Others $571 million (+19.2% Y/Y).
Adjusted SG&A expenses were 10.3% of revenue for the quarter compared to 10.4% in 4Q20.
The adjusted operating income increased by 4.7% Y/Y to $739 million, and the margin contracted by 155 bps to 15.8%.
Adjusted operating EBITDA increased by 9.4% Y/Y to $1.25 billion and margin contracted by 140 bps to 26.7%.
For FY21, Waste Management generated cash from operating activities of $4.34 billion, compared to $3.40 billion a year ago. Free cash flow was $2.53 billion.
The company returned $2.32 billion to shareholders, including $1.35 billion of share repurchases and $970 million of cash dividends in FY21.
FY22 Outlook: Waste Management expects revenue growth of 5.8% - 6.2%. Market prices for recycling commodities are expected to average $125 per ton.
It expects Adjusted operating EBITDA of $5.325 billion - $5.425 billion.
The company expects to spend $1.95 billion - $2.05 billion on capital expenditures. Free cash flow is projected to be $2.05 billion - $2.15 billion.
The company intends to increase the annual dividend by $0.30 per share to $2.60, increasing estimated annual dividends paid to shareholders to $1.08 billion.
Price Action: WM shares traded lower by 1.18% at $148.00 on the last check Wednesday.

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