EARNINGS NEWS FROM IDC: (Copied from Yahoo News) SEE FULL RELEASE ON IDC LINK OR ALSO ON YAHOO.
Interactive Data Corporation Completes a Strong Year of Growth with Full Year Revenue Up 10.3% and EBITDA Up 15%
Thursday February 6, 8:31 am ET
BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 6, 2003--Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC - News)
Fourth Quarter Revenues Increase 11.5%, EBITDA Increases 8.5% and Diluted EPS Rises to $0.18 from a Loss of $0.01 in
Last Year's Fourth Quarter
Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC - News) today announced results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2002.
In the fourth quarter, revenues increased 11.5% to $96.5 million from $86.5 million in last year's same period. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter increased 8.5% to $35.0 million from $32.3 million in the earlier period. Net income for the quarter rose to $17.0 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, from a loss of $1.0 million, or $0.01 per diluted share.
EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2001 included a one-time recovery of previously written-off debt from Bridge Information Systems Inc. following the completion of its liquidation process. Without this recovery of approximately $2 million, EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2002 would have grown by 15.6% from last year's comparable period.
On January 1, 2002, the company adopted Financial Accounting Standard No. 142, "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets" ("FAS 142"). As a result, the company did not record any goodwill amortization expense in the fourth quarter of 2002 as compared to $9.2 million in the same period last year. For 2001, the company recorded $37.5 million in goodwill amortization expense for the full year, whereas the company did not record any goodwill amortization expense in 2002.
Stuart Clark, president and chief executive officer commented, "Our strong growth in revenue and profitability in the fourth quarter is continued testament to the resiliency of Interactive Data's business and its ability to generate growth in difficult market conditions.
"During the quarter, our institutional business grew by 13.7% (or 11.9% before the effects of foreign exchange), with most of this increase driven by our data content division, FT Interactive Data, which grew by 14.8%. Contributing to this growth was revenue from the Securities Pricing Service (SPS) business we acquired from Merrill Lynch at the end of January 2002. Also within the institutional segment, our CMS BondEdge analytics division grew by approximately 3.0%. The institutional segment now represents 89.7% of all Interactive Data Corporation's revenues.
"Revenues within our retail business segment declined 4.3%, or $449,000, due to the continued and expected decline in broadcast revenues. Within this segment, eSignal revenues grew for the second quarter in succession, giving us modest but creditable overall growth for eSignal for the year.
"Operating expenses for the fourth quarter rose by 13.3% primarily due to the inclusion of SPS-related expenses and the fact that the 2001 quarter's selling, general and administrative expenses, or SG&A, benefited from a $2 million recovery of previously written off debt."
Looking at some of the business highlights from the quarter and year, Clark commented, "Renewal rates in our institutional business continued to be high, running at the 95% plus level, and we virtually completed the integration of the SPS business into FT Interactive Data. Our Fair Value Information Service was implemented by three mutual funds, and overall sales for FT Interactive Data's North American component were very strong. Europe was our most challenging business region in 2002, with lower sales and higher service cancellations resulting in a small decline in revenues. Asia once again delivered high single digit growth, driven by strong sales in Australia and Japan. Our CMS BondEdge division generated good new sales this year, but growth was limited by cancellations arising from cost-cutting at customers. Within our retail segment, eSignal subscriber numbers grew in every month during 2002, leading to the very creditable revenue growth of this component. Per average subscriber rates dropped during the year as higher cost broadcast products were replaced by lower cost Internet-delivered versions.
"For 2003, we have an exciting mixture of new initiatives within all our divisions, augmented by the recently announced proposed acquisition from Standard & Poor's of the ComStock business, a worldwide provider of real-time market datafeeds covering approximately 180 stock exchanges. We expect this acquisition to open up new opportunities for Interactive Data. We will be able to offer ComStock's content and product to our several thousand institutional customers worldwide, many of whom we know have an interest in receiving real-time data. We intend to offer ComStock's real-time content with our own unmatched reservoir of end-of-day and historical data, which will enable us to create new and enhanced solutions for our customers. These combined opportunities offer the potential for many significant revenue and operational synergies, which will once again allow us to deliver exceptional growth in revenue and profitability, despite the prospect of continued difficult market conditions."
2003 Outlook
Interactive Data Corporation's guidance for 2003 assumes the ComStock acquisition announced on January 16, 2003 closes as anticipated at the end of February 2003. For the year, management expects that Interactive Data's institutional revenues will increase in the range of 20% to 23%, while retail revenues will be flat compared to 2002's results. Overall, revenues are expected to increase 18% to 21%, while EBITDA is expected to increase 14% to 18%. The effective tax rate is expected to be 38% to 39%. Earnings per share are expected to increase 15% to 19% compared to 2002's results. The company expects capital expenditures for 2003 to range between $21 million and $23 million.
Twelve Month Results
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2002, Interactive Data reported revenues of $375.0 million versus $340.0 million for 2001, an increase of 10.3%. Operating expenses rose 7.9% or $17.9 million during the same period. As a result, EBITDA for the period rose 15.0% from $114.3 million, or $1.24 per diluted share, to $131.5 million, or $1.40 per diluted share. Net income for 2002 totaled $60.7 million, or $0.65 per diluted share, compared to $4.3 million, or $0.05 per diluted share for 2001.
As of December 31, 2002, Interactive Data Corporation had no outstanding debt and had cash of $153.2 million. $115 million of this amount is earmarked for the ComStock acquisition. Under the previously announced 1 million share buyback program, the company has repurchased a total of 100,000 shares at an average price of $13.77 per share.
Conference Call Information
Interactive Data Corporation's management will conduct a conference call Thursday, February 6, 2003 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the fourth-quarter 2002 results and additional matters. The dial-in number for the call is 703-871-3029; no access code is required. Investors and interested parties may also listen to the call via a live web broadcast available through the Investor Relations section of the company's web site at www.interactivedatacorp.com and through www.StreetEvents.com.
To listen, please register and download audio software at the site at least 15 minutes prior to the call. A replay will be available on both web sites shortly after the call. In addition, a telephone replay will be available from February 6 at 2:00 p.m. through Thursday, February 13, 2003. To access the replay, please dial 703-925-2533 or 888-266-2081, passcode #6398998.
MJ |
