EVERTEC Reports Third Quarter 2015 Results

EVERTEC, Inc. (NYSE: EVTC) (“EVERTEC” or the “Company”) today announced results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Third Quarter 2015 and Recent Business Highlights

• Revenue grew 4% to $92.8 million, as compared to the third quarter of 2014
• GAAP Net Income was $13.4 million, or $0.17 per diluted share
• Adjusted EBITDA increased to $46.0 million, a 3% increase versus the prior year, and representing an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 49.6%
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share grew 5% to $0.42 as compared to $0.40 in the prior year
• $33 million returned to shareholders in share repurchases and dividends
• Expansion of merchant services to FirstBank in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in Q4

Mac Schuessler, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated “We continued to deliver solid results in the third quarter and we have made significant progress on our 2015 strategic initiatives. We also executed on our stock repurchase plan, acquiring approximately $25 million of our common stock demonstrating our ongoing commitment to return capital to shareholders.

Schuessler continued, “Additionally, as of October 31, we expanded our merchant acquiring relationship with FirstBank. We continue to target completing the Processa acquisition by the end of the 4th quarter. These transactions are in line with our strategy of making investments in our business that expand our market reach, leverage our scale and increase our future growth potential.”

Third Quarter 2015 Results

Revenue. Total revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 was $92.8 million, an increase of 4% compared with $88.9 million in the prior year.

Merchant Acquiring, net revenue was $20.8 million, an increase of 8% compared with $19.2 million in the prior year. Revenue growth in the quarter was driven primarily by sales volume growth.

Payment Processing revenue was $27.5 million, an increase of 6% compared with $25.8 million in the prior year. Revenue growth in the quarter was primarily driven by an increase in transactions processed over the ATH® debit network and card accounts on file within the card products business.

Business Solutions revenue was $44.5 million, an increase of 2% compared with $43.8 million in the prior year. Business Solutions revenue growth was driven primarily by additional volumes in the core banking business partially offset by a decrease in IT consulting services.

Adjusted EBITDA. For the quarter ended September 30, 2015, Adjusted EBITDA was $46.0 million, an increase of 3% compared with $44.5 million in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA margin (Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of total revenues) decreased 50 basis points to 49.6% compared with 50.1% in the prior year. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily driven by certain non-recurring vendor credits in the third quarter of 2014, as well as higher cost related to increased investment in the Company’s card issuing product initiatives, an increased bad debt reserve and a merchant loss expense in the recent quarter.

Net Income. For the quarter ended September 30, 2015, GAAP Net Income was $13.4 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, compared with $19.1 million or $0.24 per diluted share in the prior year. In the recent quarter, a charge of $5.7 million or $0.07 per diluted share, was recorded for severance expense related to voluntary retirement offers to certain employees accepted in the third quarter.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2015, Adjusted Net Income was $32.4 million, an increase of 3% compared with $31.4 million in the prior year. Adjusted Net Income per diluted share increased 5% to $0.42 in the third quarter of 2015 as compared with $0.40 in the prior year.

Share Repurchase

During the three months ended September 30, 2015, the Company repurchased 1.4 million shares of common stock at an average price of $18.08 per share for a total of $25 million. Through the nine months ended September 30, 2015, the Company repurchased a total of 1.8 million shares of common stock at an average price of $19.07 per share for a total of $35 million. As of September 30, 2015, a total of $40 million remains available for future use under the Company’s share repurchase program. The Company may repurchase shares in the open market, through an accelerated share repurchase program or in privately negotiated transactions, subject to market conditions, business opportunities and other factors.

Expansion of FirstBank’s Merchant Processing Services

As of October 31, 2015, the Company expanded the merchant processing services it provides to FirstBank in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The agreement extends the relationship for 10 years.

2015 Outlook

The Company has updated its financial outlook for 2015 as follows:

• Total consolidated revenue between $370 and $372 million representing growth of 2.5 to 3.0%
• Adjusted EBITDA growth between 1.2 and 2.0% in 2015
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance of $1.68 to $1.69

Earnings Conference Call and Audio Webcast

The Company will host a conference call to discuss its third quarter 2015 financial results today at 5:00 p.m. ET. Hosting the call will be Mac Schuessler, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Peter Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing (877) 407-3982 or for international callers by dialing (201) 493-6780. A replay will be available at 8:00 p.m. ET and can be accessed by dialing (877) 870-5176 or (858) 384-5517 for international callers; the pin number is 13622136. The replay will be available until Thursday, November 12, 2015. The call will be webcast live from the Company’s website at www.evertecinc.com under the Investor Relations section or directly at http://ir.evertecinc.com. A supplemental slide presentation that accompanies this call and webcast can be found on the investor relations website at ir.evertecinc.com and will remain available after the call.

About EVERTEC

EVERTEC, Inc. (NYSE: EVTC) is a leading full-service transaction processing business in Latin America, providing a broad range of merchant acquiring, payment processing and business solutions services. The largest merchant acquirer in the Caribbean and Central America - and one of the largest in Latin America - EVERTEC serves 19 countries in the region from its base in Puerto Rico. The Company manages a system of electronic payment networks that process more than 2.1 billion transactions annually, and offers a comprehensive suite of services for core bank processing, cash processing and technology outsourcing. In addition, EVERTEC owns and operates the ATH® network, one of the leading personal identification number (“PIN”) debit networks in Latin America. The Company serves a diversified customer base of leading financial institutions, merchants, corporations and government agencies with “mission-critical” technology solutions. For more information, visit www.evertecinc.com.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This earnings release presents EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Net Income per share information. These supplemental measures of the Company’s performance are not required by, or presented in accordance with, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). They are not measurements of the Company’s financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to total revenue, net income or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP or as alternatives to cash flows from operating activities, as indicators of cash flows or as measures of the Company’s liquidity. We present EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA because we consider them important supplemental measures of the Company’s performance and believe they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in the industry. In addition, the Company’s presentation of Adjusted EBITDA is consistent with the equivalent measurements contained in the Credit Agreement in testing EVERTEC Group’s compliance with covenants therein such as the senior secured leverage ratio. We use Adjusted Net Income to measure the Company’s overall profitability because it better reflects the Company’s cash flow generation by capturing the actual cash taxes paid rather than the Company’s tax expense as calculated under GAAP, and excludes the impact of the non-cash amortization and depreciation resulting from the 2010 merger involving an affiliate of Apollo Global management, LLC (the “Merger”). For more information regarding EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Net Income per share, including a quantitative reconciliation of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income to the most directly comparable GAAP financial performance measure, which is net income, see Schedule 4: Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Operating Results in this earnings release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of, and subject to the protection of, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of EVERTEC to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements preceded by, followed by, or that otherwise include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “projects,” “estimates,” and “plans” and similar expressions of future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would,” “may,” and “could” are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts. Any statements that refer to expectations or other characterizations of future events, circumstances or results are forward-looking statements.

Various factors that could cause actual future results and other future events to differ materially from those estimated by management include, but are not limited to: the Company’s reliance on its relationship with Popular for a significant portion of revenue; our ability to renew our client contracts on terms favorable to us; the effectiveness of our risk management procedures; our dependence on our processing systems, technology infrastructure, security systems and fraudulent-payment-detection systems, and the risk that our systems may experience breakdowns or fail to prevent security breaches or fraudulent transfers; our ability to develop, install and adopt new technology; a decreased client base due to consolidations in the banking and financial-services industry; the credit risk of our merchant clients, for which we may also be liable; the continuing market position of the ATH® network; reduction in consumer confidence leading to decreased consumer spending; the Company’s dependence on credit card associations; regulatory limitations on our activities, including the potential need to seek regulatory approval to consummate transactions, due to our relationship with Popular and our role as a service provider to financial institutions; changes in the regulatory environment and changes in international, legal, tax, political, administrative or economic conditions; the geographical concentration of the Company’s business in Puerto Rico; operating an international business in multiple regions with potential political and economic instability; increased compliance risks associated with operating an international business; operating in countries and counterparties that put us at risk of violating U.S. sanctions laws; our ability to execute our expansion and acquisition strategies; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; our ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; our ability to comply with federal, state, and local regulatory requirements; evolving industry standards; the Company’s high level of indebtedness and restrictions contained in the Company’s debt agreements; and the Company’s ability to generate sufficient cash to service the Company’s indebtedness and to generate future profits.

Consideration should be given to the areas of risk described above, as well as those risks set forth under the headings “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in the reports the Company files with the SEC from time to time, in connection with considering any forward-looking statements that may be made by the Company and its businesses generally. We undertake no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements, to report events or to report the occurrence of unanticipated events unless we are required to do so by law.

1) Predominantly represents reimbursements received for certain software maintenance expenses as part of the Merger.
2) Represents the elimination of non-cash equity earnings from our 19.99% equity investment in CONTADO, net of cash dividends received.
3) Represents non-cash equity based compensation expense of $1.6 million and $3.7 million for the quarter and nine month period ended September 30, 2015 and severance payments of $5.7 million and $6.2 million for the quarter and nine month period ended September 30, 2015. For 2014, primarily represents non-cash equity based compensation.
4) Represents fees and expenses associated with corporate transactions as defined in the Credit Agreement.
5) Represents the elimination of the effects of purchase accounting in connection with certain customer service and software-related arrangements whereby EVERTEC receives reimbursements from Popular.
6) Represents operating depreciation and amortization expense, which excludes amounts generated as a result of the Merger.
7) Represents interest expense, less interest income, as they appear on our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income, adjusted to exclude non-cash amortization of the debt issue costs, premium and accretion of discount.
8) Represents cash taxes paid for each period presented.

1) Predominantly represents non-operating depreciation and amortization expenses generated as a result of the Merger and certain non-recurring fees and expenses.

1) Predominantly represents reimbursements received for certain software maintenance expenses as part of the Merger.
2) Represents the elimination of non-cash equity earnings from our 19.99% equity investment in CONTADO, net of cash dividends received.
3) Represents non-cash equity based compensation expense of $1.6 million and $3.7 million for the quarter and nine month period ended September 30, 2015 and severance payments of $5.7 million and $6.2 million for the quarter and nine month period ended September 30, 2015.  For 2014, primarily represents non-cash equity based compensation.
4) Represents fees and expenses associated with corporate transactions as defined in the Credit Agreement.
5) Represents the elimination of the effects of purchase accounting in connection with certain customer service and software-related arrangements whereby EVERTEC receives reimbursements from Popular.
6) Represents operating depreciation and amortization expense, which excludes amounts generated as a result of the Merger.
7) Represents interest expense, less interest income, as they appear on our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income, adjusted to exclude non-cash amortization of the debt issue costs, premium and accretion of discount.
8) Represents cash taxes paid for each period presented.

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