Covance Inc. Q4 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

Covance Inc. (CVD) Q4 2008 Earnings Call Transcript January 29, 2009 9:00 AM ET

Executives

Paul Surdez – VP of IR
Bill Klitgaard – SVP and CFO
Joe Herring – Chairman and CEO

Analysts

Randall Stanicky – Goldman Sachs
Jon Wood – Banc of America
Eric Coldwell – Robert W. Baird
Sandy Draper – Raymond James
Greg Bolan – Wachovia
David Windley – Jefferies & Company
John Kreger – William Blair
Todd Van Fleet – First Analysis
Douglas Tsao – Barclays Capital
Ricky Goldwasser – UBS

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to this Covance Fourth Quarter 2008 Investor Conference Call. Today’s call is being recorded. At this time for opening remarks, I would like to turn the call over to the Vice President of Investor Relations, Mr. Paul Surdez. Please go ahead, sir.

Paul Surdez

Good morning and thank you for joining us for Covance’s fourth quarter 2008 earnings teleconference and webcast. Today, Joe Herring, Covance’s Chairman and CEO, and Bill Klitgaard, Covance’s Chief Financial Officer, will be presenting our fourth quarter financial results. Following our opening comments, we will host a Q&A session. In addition to the press release, 22 slides corresponding to the commentary you are about to hear are available on our website at www.covance.com.

Before we begin the commentary, I would like to remind you that statements made during today’s conference call webcast, which are not historical facts, might be considered forward-looking statements. Such statements may include comments regarding future financial results and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Covance’s control. Actual results could differ materially from such statements due to a variety of factors, including the ones outlined in our SEC filings.

Now I would to turn it over to Bill Klitgaard for a review of