CKFR 4/25 ($35 rise $40) Earnings Down, Subscribers Up, market shrugs off downgrades
By Jay Wrolstad, www.CRMDaily.com
Despite increased revenues, e-commerce billing services firm CheckFree Corp. (Nasdaq: CKFR - news) on Tuesday reported a third-quarter pro forma loss of US$3.5 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.1 million, or 4 cents per share, for the same period in 2000.
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Total revenues for the quarter rose 42 percent from last year to reach $113.1 million compared with $79.7 million a year ago, the company said. On a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis, the company reported a loss per share of $1.17, compared with a loss of 7 cents per share in the third quarter of fiscal 2000, reflecting the impact of acquisition-related intangible amortization and a charge for the decline in value of investments in equity instruments.
Subscriber Total Reaches 4.8 Million
CheckFree reported quarterly subscriber growth of 9 percent, bringing the total subscriber count at the end of the quarter to about 4.8 million. The company said this increase reflects the broader availability of electronic billing and payment in states served by Bank of America, and some increase in localized marketing by financial services organizations.
Nearly 300 sites are now live with full electronic billing and payment, up from nearly 275 at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2001 and compared with just over 150 at the close of the third quarter of fiscal 2000, the company reported.
E-commerce Transactions Rise
CheckFree said it had signed deals for electronic billing and payment with 23 clients in the third quarter, bringing to 245 the total roster of bills that will be available on the Internet, up from 121 at the close of the third quarter of fiscal 2000.
CheckFree distributed some 350,000 bills over the Internet in March, reflecting a steady increase from about 210,000 bills in December and 62,000 bills in March of 2000. This represents a run rate of more than 4 million bills per year, the company said.
Some 21 million e-business transactions were processed by the company in March, up from about 18 million transactions in December, and CheckFree achieved an electronic payment rate of 62 percent, up from 60 percent in December.
Investing in Software
The company's e-commerce division reported revenue of $79.9 million for the quarter, a 43 percent increase over 2000, but posted a pro forma operating loss of $2.5 million, compared with a loss of $3.8 million a year ago. Investment services reported revenue of $17.9 million for the quarter, a 28 percent increase over last year's figures, and pro forma operating income for the quarter was $5.2 million, a 36 percent increase from the third quarter of fiscal 2000.
CheckFree's software businesses reported revenue in the quarter of $15.3 million, up more than 54 percent over 2000, with a pro forma operating loss of $400,000, down from operating income of $3.3 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2000. This loss reflects continued investment in CheckFree's i-Solutions e-billing and e-statement software and services unit, the company said.
Conservative Projections
CheckFree projects fourth-quarter revenues of $116 million to $121 million, with a pro forma loss per share of 1 to 3 cents. Subscriber growth is expected to continue in the range of 7 to 9 percent, the company said.
"Our overall sequential quarterly subscriber growth rate of 9 percent was at the high end of our expectations, and continues to be distributed across the range of financial services organizations and portals that offer electronic billing and payment," said CheckFree chief executive officer Pete Kight.
CheckFree, based in Atlanta, Georgia, designs, develops and markets services that enable nearly 5 million consumers to receive and pay bills over the Internet or electronically through a variety of bill aggregation points, including banks, brokerage firms, portals and interactive content sites on the Internet, and personal financial management (PFM) software. |
