GAAP cash from operations during the quarter was $31 million while free cash flow was $18 million. In comparison to the prior year, free cash flow decreased primarily due to the timing of accounts payable and accrued liability payments, as well as the lower net income. During the quarter, the Company used cash to pay down $150 million of debt, pay $35 million in dividends to shareholders and $7 million for restructuring payments.
Debt Management
During the quarter, the Company issued $400 million of 3.875 percent 5-year fixed rate notes. The Company used a portion of these proceeds to repay a $150 million term loan in the second quarter. The Company intends to use the remaining proceeds, together with cash on-hand and other financing options, to repay the $385 million notes that come due in September.
Second Quarter 2017 Business Segment Reporting
The Company’s business segment reporting reflects the clients served in each market and the way it manages these segments. The reporting segment groups are the SMB Solutions group; the Enterprise Business Solutions group; and the Digital Commerce Solutions group. The segment results for the quarter and prior year may not equal the subtotals for each segment group due to rounding.
The SMB Solutions group offers mailing and office shipping solutions, financing, services, and supplies for small and medium businesses to help simplify and save on the sending, tracking and receiving of letters, parcels and flats. This group includes the North America Mailing and International Mailing segments.
The Enterprise Business Solutions group includes the global Production Mail and Presort Services segments. Production Mail provides mailing and printing equipment and services for large enterprise clients to process mail. Presort Services provides sortation services to qualify large mail and parcel volumes for postal worksharing discounts.
The Digital Commerce Solutions group includes the Software Solutions and Global Ecommerce segments. Software Solutions provide customer engagement, customer information and location intelligence software. Global Ecommerce facilitates global cross-border ecommerce transactions and domestic retail and ecommerce shipping solutions.
SMB Solutions Group |
||||||||||||||||||
($ millions) | Second Quarter | |||||||||||||||||
Y/Y |
Y/Y |
|||||||||||||||||
Revenue |
2017 |
2016 |
Reported |
Ex Currency |
||||||||||||||
North America Mailing | $341 | $343 | (1 | %) | - | |||||||||||||
International Mailing |
95 |
108 |
(11 |
%) |
(7 |
%) |
||||||||||||
SMB Solutions | $436 | $451 | (3 | %) | (2 | %) | ||||||||||||
EBIT | ||||||||||||||||||
North America Mailing | $121 | $147 | (18 | %) | ||||||||||||||
International Mailing |
14 |
12 |
12 |
% |
||||||||||||||
SMB Solutions | $135 | $159 | (15 | %) | ||||||||||||||