North American Computrace Sales Continue to Fuel Growth in Commercial Sales Contracts and Cash from Operating Activities
Vancouver, Canada: May 14, 2015 – Absolute® Software Corporation (TSX: ABT), the industry standard for persistent endpoint security and data risk management solutions for computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones, today announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2015. All financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and are reported in U.S. dollars.
Q3-F2015 Highlights:
Sales Contracts
- Total Sales Contracts of $21.2 million, representing 3% year-over-year growth
- Commercial Sales Contracts of $20.4 million, a 4% year-over-year increase
- North American commercial Sales Contracts of $18.1 million, up 9% compared to Q3-F2014
- Computrace Sales Contracts up 9% year-over-year, with Computrace Data Protection(4) Sales Contracts up 13% year-over-year and Computrace Theft Management(5) Sales Contracts up 8% year-over-year
Operations and Corporate
- Revenue of $24.1 million, consistent with Q3-F2014
- Adjusted EBITDA of $6.8 million, up from $5.2 million in Q3-F2014
- Cash from Operating Activities of $5.3 million, an increase from $3.8 million in Q3-F2014
- Paid $2.5 million in dividends (CAD$0.07 per common share) during the quarter
- Named former McAfee Chief Technology Officer, Christopher Bolin, as Chief Product Officer
Technology
- Partnered with worldwide mobile device manufacturers, Prestigio and YEZZ, and Latin American manufacturer, Lanix to integrate Persistence® technology
- Expanded partnership with Getac to make Persistence® technology available on Getac’s global suite of rugged mobile solutions, including notebooks and tablets
- Announced agreement with HP to install Persistence® technology in a new suite of Education Edition mobile devices
- Launched a self-service portal for end-users with the release of Absolute Manage® 6.7.1
“These results demonstrate the progress we are making in our key strategic areas of focus,” said Mr. Geoff Haydon, CEO of Absolute. “We delivered consistent growth in our North American business including the expansion of sales from existing accounts. Our Computrace Data Protection product line achieved double-digit growth and our business within the corporate and healthcare verticals continued to expand. We also maintained our position as a dominant player in the education market.”
“Our growing success in the corporate and healthcare segments reflects the magnitude of the security and compliance issues faced by our customers, and the extent to which Absolute is able to help them overcome these challenges.” Mr. Haydon added.
Q3-F2015 and YTD F2015 Financial Review
Sales Contracts
Q3-F2015 Sales Contracts of $21.2 million represented an increase of 3% compared to Q3-F2014, while YTD F2015 Sales Contracts of $72.4 million represented an increase of 9% over the prior year period.
Sales Contracts to commercial customers of $20.4 million increased 4% in Q3-F2015 compared to Q3-F2014, and Sales Contracts to commercial customers of $69.5 million for the year-to-date period increased 11% year-over-year. Q3-2015 Sales Contracts for the combined education and government verticals declined 1% compared to the prior year. For YTD F2015, education and government Sales Contracts increased 15%. The combined Sales Contracts for the corporate and healthcare verticals increased 10% for the quarter and 7% for the year-to-date period.
Commercial Sales Contracts for North America increased 9% to $18.1 million in Q3-F2015 and increased 17% to $61.1 million for the year-to-date period. Commercial Sales Contracts outside North America were down 24% to $2.3 million for the quarter and down 19% to $8.3 million for the year-to-date period. International commercial sales represented 11% of total Sales Contracts for the quarter and 12% of total sales contracts year-to-date.
Computrace Sales Contracts were $17.6 million in Q3-F2015, representing an increase of 9% year-over-year and were $61.2 million for the year-to-date period, representing a 13% year-over-year increase. Within this product category, Sales Contracts for Computrace Data Protection products and services were up 13% in Q3-F2015 as compared to Q3-F2014, and improved 15% on a year-to-date basis. This increase was driven by continued strength within the corporate and healthcare verticals. Sales Contracts for Computrace Theft Management products and services increased 8% in Q3-F2015 compared to Q3-F2014, and were up 11% on a year-to-date basis, reflecting the growth in the Company’s North American commercial business.
Sales Contracts for Endpoint Management and Service (Absolute Manage and Absolute Service) products and services were $2.8 million in Q3-F2015, representing a year-over-year decrease of 20%, and reflective of the Company’s increased emphasis on its Computrace product line and lower sales of perpetual license products. For YTD-F2015, Commercial Sales Contracts for Endpoint Management and Service products and services increased 2% to $8.3 million.
Sales Contracts for consumer solutions for Q3-F2015 were $0.8 million (4% of total Sales Contracts), down slightly from $0.9 million (5% of total Sales Contracts) in Q3-F2014. YTD F2015 Sales Contracts for consumer solutions were $2.9 million (4% of total Sales Contracts) down from $4.1 million (6% of total Sales Contracts) for the same period in F2014.
Revenue
Revenue in Q3-F2015 was $24.1 million, in line with $24.1 million in Q3-F2014, reflecting a higher proportion of non-recurring license sales in Q3-F2014. Q3-F2015 Sales Contracts included 95% recurring licenses and services (term licenses and annual maintenance contracts) versus 91% in Q3-F2014. YTD F2015 revenue was $70.3 million, up 4% compared to the same period in F2014. Indicative of the Company’s prepaid Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model, revenue primarily represents the amortization of deferred revenue balances from recurring term license sales from both the current and prior periods.
Adjusted Operating Expenses(7)
Adjusted Operating Expenses for Q3-F2015 were $17.3 million, down 9% from $18.9 million in Q3-F2014, primarily reflecting a positive impact from a weakening Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar. The Company also benefited from adjustments to its previously recorded investment tax credit estimates within R&D, due to the acceptance of certain historical claims. For YTD F2015, Adjusted Operating Expenses were $55.3 million, a 1% decrease from $55.6 million in the same period of F2014. As a percentage of revenue, Adjusted Operating Expenses decreased to 72% in Q3-F2015 from 79% in Q3-F2014, and 79% for YTD F2015 compared to 82% for the same period in F2014.
Adjusted EBITDA & Net Income
Absolute generated Adjusted EBITDA of $6.8 million in Q3-F2015, up 32% from $5.2 million in
Q3-F2014. For YTD F2015, Adjusted EBITDA was $15.1 million, a 25% increase over $12.0 million for YTD F2014.
Absolute recorded net income of $2.8 million, or $0.06 per share, in Q3-F2015, compared to net income of $1.4 million, or $0.03 per share, in Q3-F2014, primarily reflecting improvements in gross margin, lower Adjusted Operating Expenses and a reduction in foreign exchange losses. YTD F2015 net income was $5.3 million, or $0.12 per share, up from $2.8 million, or $0.06 per share, for the same period in F2014.
Corporate Outlook
Management remains confident in Absolute’s market opportunity. For F2015, management expects Sales Contracts and Cash from Operating Activities to increase over F2014 levels.
Quarterly Dividend
The Company’s Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.07 per common share on April 20, 2015. The $0.07 per share dividend is scheduled to be paid on May 27, 2015 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 6, 2015.
Quarterly Filings
Management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”) and interim condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for Q3-F2015 can be obtained today from Absolute’s corporate website at www.absolute.com. The documents will also be available at www.sedar.com.
Notice of Conference Call
Absolute Software will hold a conference call to discuss the Company’s Q3 and YTD F2015 results on Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. ET. All interested parties can join the call by dialing 647-427-7450, or 1-888-231-8191. Please dial-in 15 minutes prior to the call to secure a line. The conference call will be archived for replay until Thursday, May 21, 2015 at midnight. To access the archived conference call, please dial 416-849-0833, or 1-855-859-2056 and enter the reservation code 39865133.
A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available at www.absolute.com and http://bit.ly/1bZ3m0O. Please connect at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be required to join the webcast. An archived replay of the webcast will be available for 365 days.
Non-IFRS Measures and Definitions
Throughout this press release, we refer to a number of measures which we believe are meaningful in the assessment of the Company’s performance. All these metrics are non-standard measures under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), and are unlikely to be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Readers are cautioned that the disclosure of these items is meant to add to, and not replace, the discussion of financial results or cash flows from operations as determined in accordance with IFRS. For a discussion of the purpose of these non-IFRS measures, please refer to the Company’s Q3 Fiscal 2015 MD&A on SEDAR at www.SEDAR.com.
These measures, as well as their method of calculation or reconciliation to IFRS measures, are as follows:
- Sales Contracts
See the “Subscription Business Model” section of the MD&A for a detailed discussion of why we believe Sales Contracts (also known as “bookings”) provide a meaningful performance metric. Sales Contracts are included in deferred revenue (see Note 7 of the Notes to the Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements), and result from invoiced sales of our products and services. - Basic and diluted Cash from Operating Activities per share
As a result of the nature of our revenues (please refer to “Subscription Business Model” in the MD&A), we use Cash from Operating Activities as a measure of profitability. Accordingly, we believe that Cash from Operating Activities per share is a meaningful indicator of profitability per share. Cash from Operating Activities per share is calculated by dividing Cash from Operating Activities by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period (basic), or the fully diluted number of shares using the treasury stock method (diluted). - Adjusted EBITDA
Management believes that analyzing operating results exclusive of significant non-cash items or items not controllable in the period provides a useful measure of the Company’s performance. The term Adjusted EBITDA refers to earnings before deducting interest and investment gains (losses), income taxes, amortization of acquired intangible assets and property and equipment, foreign exchange gain or loss, share-based compensation, and restructuring charges and post-retirement benefits. The items excluded in the determination of Adjusted EBITDA include share-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangibles, amortization of property and equipment, and restructuring charges and certain post-retirement benefits. - Data Protection products
Management defines the Company’s Data Protection product line as Computrace products that do not include an investigations and recovery services component (for example, Computrace Data Protection). - Theft Management products
Management defines the Company’s theft management product line as Computrace products that include an investigations and recovery services component. - Endpoint Management and Service products
Management defines the Company’s Endpoint Management and Service products as Absolute Manage and Absolute Service. - Adjusted Operating Expenses
A number of significant non-cash or non-recurring expenses are reported in our Cost of Revenue and Operating Expenses. Management believes that analyzing these expenses exclusive of these non-cash or non-recurring items provides a useful measure of the cash invested in the operations of its business. The items excluded in the determination of Adjusted Operating Expenses are share-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, amortization of property and equipment, and restructuring charges and certain post-retirement benefits. For a description of the reasons these items are adjusted, please refer to the Q3 Fiscal 2015 MD&A.
