Dive Brief:
- Phoenix, AZ-based Republic Services has reported its 2015 fourth quarter earnings. The waste management company earned $172.3 million in the quarter ending Dec. 31, up from $50.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Revenues for the waste management company also improved 2.7% to $2.29 billion.
- Republic notes that improved pricing, lower fuel costs, and expanded productivity efforts such as the use of CNG and automated trucks, have all attributed to the successful quarter.
- Republic CEO Don Slager reported that looking into 2016, the company expects an annual revenue growth of 2.5% to 3%, and a volume growth of 1% to 1.5%. "During 2016, we will continue to deliver on our promises to our key stakeholders and remain focused on managing the business to create long-term value by executing our strategy of profitable growth through differentiation," he said.
Dive Insight:
Republic Services' successful fourth quarter and year as a whole are attributed to initiatives that were designed to grow the business, enhance the quality of revenue, improve customer experience, and reduce cost, according to Slager.
The initiatives reflect growing trends in the industry, such as the switch to natural gas and automated fleets. "16% of our total fleet now operate on natural gas, 72% of our residential fleet is currently automated and 78% of our total fleet has been certified under our One Fleet maintenance program, up from 60% a year ago," explained Slager. "These initiatives require investment, but the payback is compelling and our financial performance reflects the benefits we are seeing."
The enhancement on customer service has also proven successful for Republic. Recently, the company announced a board reorganization in which it will consolidate the company's structure and merge its 100+ customer service locations into three Customer Resource Centers.
"The savings from the realignment are funding the investments we are making in our customer focused initiatives in 2016 and 2017," Slager explained in the call. "Our ability to make these organizational changes is a natural evolution and logical next step for our Company. As a result of developing standardized processes with rigorous controls, we are further leveraging our scale to continually improve our service offerings."