Velti Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2012 Results

DUBLIN, Ireland and SAN FRANCISCO, March 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Velti plc (Nasdaq:VELT), the leading global provider of mobile marketing and advertising technology and solutions, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2012.

"Our full year 2012 results show a 43 percent increase in revenue over 2011, even though the fourth quarter was a difficult quarter," said Alex Moukas, chief executive officer. "In the fourth quarter, revenue came in at the low end of our expectations, which, in conjunction with higher operating expenses, contributed to significantly lower adjusted EBITDA.

"Following the divestment announced in November, we continue to evaluate the customers and opportunities that we are pursuing in various geographies. We decided not to pursue certain business opportunities with customers or potential customers that did not meet our more rigorous cash investment requirements, and requirements for improved cash collections and reductions in business in economically challenged regions.

"At the same time, in the fourth quarter and beyond we are very pleased with the sales activity, prospective customer engagements and revenue growth in key markets, including the U.S., Western Europe, Brazil and India. We have built up dedicated sales teams and a complete portfolio of products and services in each of these markets and are confident in our growth opportunities as we gain momentum over the course of 2013 and into the future."

"We believe that 2013 will be a transitional year allowing us to deliver significant revenue growth in our business in the key markets as well as significantly improved cash flow," added Jeff Ross, chief financial officer. "We further believe that we will show sequential growth and financial improvement throughout the year and beyond."

Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Highlights

• Revenue of $270.3 million, an increase of 43 percent from fiscal year 2011;
• Revenue less 3rd party costs of $178.9 million (resulting in a margin of 66 percent), an increase of 32 percent compared with revenue less 3rd party costs from fiscal year 2011;
• Adjusted EBITDA of $42.6 million, which includes a $7.4 million allowance for doubtful accounts; this is a decrease of 20 percent from fiscal year 2011;
• GAAP net loss attributable to Velti of $56.4 million and EPS of $(0.88) compared with a net loss of $15.4 million and EPS of $(0.28) for fiscal year 2011, including $16.9 million related to the write-off of certain capitalized software and;
• Adjusted net income of $22.2 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.34 compared with adjusted net income of $29.0 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.50 for 2011.

Mobile Advertising and Marketing Revenues and Third Party Costs

• Mobile advertising revenue of $54.3 million, an increase of 82 percent from fiscal year 2011 and mobile advertising 3rd party costs of $41.1 million; resultant mobile advertising revenue less 3rd party costs of $13.3 million (resulting in a margin of 24 percent);
• Mobile marketing revenue of $216.0 million, an increase of 36 percent from fiscal year 2011 and mobile marketing 3rd party costs of $50.3 million; resultant mobile marketing revenue less 3rd party costs of $165.7 million (resulting in a margin of 77 percent).

Q4 2012 Financial Highlights

• Revenue of $97.5 million, an increase of 12 percent from Q4 2011;
• Revenue less 3rd party costs of $66.6 million (resulting in a margin of 68 percent), a decrease of 2 percent compared with revenue less 3rd party costs from Q4 2011;
• Adjusted EBITDA of $25.1 million, compared with $43.1 million in Q4 2011, a decrease of 42 percent;
• GAAP net loss attributable to Velti of $5.2 million and diluted EPS of $(0.08) compared with net income of $25.0 million and EPS of $0.40 for Q4 2011;
• Adjusted net income of $26.0 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.39 compared with adjusted net income of $37.3 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.59 for Q4 2011;

Mobile Advertising and Marketing Revenues and Third Party Costs

• Mobile advertising revenue of $15.2 million, an increase of 53 percent from Q4 2011 and mobile advertising 3rd party costs of $10.8 million; resultant mobile advertising revenue less 3rd party costs of $4.5 million (resulting in a margin of 29 percent);
• Mobile marketing revenue of $82.2 million, an increase of 7 percent from Q4 2011 and mobile marketing 3rd party costs of $20.1 million; resultant mobile marketing revenue less 3rd party costs of $62.2 million (resulting in a margin of 76 percent).

Cash and Comprehensive DSOs

• Cash position of $36.6 million as of Dec. 31, 2012;
• Q4 operating cash flow of $7.3 million;
• Comprehensive DSOs of 311 days;
• Q4 free cash flow of ($5.0) million.

Please see the reconciliation of net income (loss) before non-controlling interest to adjusted EBITDA later in this release.

Q4 Business Highlights

• Q4 customer engagements included such blue chip brands as American Express, Discover, eTrade, Hertz, BBW, JCPenney, Subway, Armani Exchange, Bebe, Outback Steakhouse, and Academy.
• Velti partnered with Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 to fundraise through mobile donations during the 'Stand Up to Cancer' campaign, garnering over 360,000 mobile interactions. The partnership with Channel 4 marked a milestone for Velti, having now worked with every major UK terrestrial broadcaster.
• Velti announced a partnership with Infinian, the leader in coupon redemption tracking, to provide marketers a complete and seamless end-to-end mobile coupon solution. From coupon creation and distribution tools, to in-store redemption and targeted marketing, the partnership is expected to provide a marked increase in engagement between consumers and brands.

Transition to Key Growth Geographies and Products

As announced as part of the divestiture of selected Greek, Balkan and other assets in the third quarter of 2012, Velti has made a strategic decision to forgo a significant amount of additional business in these regions. Although this business has historically generated meaningful revenue and EBITDA , it requires significant upfront cash investment and is characterized by long collection cycles. Velti will instead focus more on customers in key markets such as the Americas, Western Europe, Brazil, India and China in order to leverage growth opportunities and improve free cash flow.

In conjunction with this transition, Velti expects to significantly decrease its capital expenditures by more than 50%, which the company believes will meaningfully contribute to improved cash flow. Additionally, the transition is expected to reduce overall DSOs as DSOs on new revenue generated in 2013 are expected to be around 100 days.

In addition to its annual guidance provided below, Velti has developed longer term operating assumptions for the years 2014 through 2016, detailed below, that highlight healthy, focused growth and steady margin expansion:

• Revenue growth: 25 to 35 percent per year;
• Approximately one-third of total revenue from advertising with attendant margins of approximately 30 percent;
• Approximately two-thirds of total revenue from mobile marketing with attendant margins of approximately 62 percent;
• Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of approximately 4 to 6.5 percent per year as operating leverage increases;
• Free cash flow generation of approximately $40 million in 2014, growing at approximately 40 percent thereafter.

For additional information related to our fourth quarter 2012 results, please see the Q4 2012 Earnings Slide Deck available on the Events section of the investor website at http://investors.velti.com/events.cfm.

Fiscal Year 2013 Outlook

Velti is announcing revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow guidance for the first quarter and fiscal year ending Dec. 31^st 2013 as follows:

Conference Call

The company will host a conference call today at 4:30 PM ET to discuss these results. The conference call can be accessed at (877) 415-4117 or (708) 290-1138 (International), conference ID# 17593110. The call will also be broadcast simultaneously at http://investors.velti.com. Following completion of the call, a recorded replay of the webcast will be available for three months on the Events section of the investor website at http://investors.velti.com/events.cfm. To listen to the telephone replay, call toll-free (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406 (International), conference ID# 17593110. The telephone replay will be available from 7:30 PM ET March 12 through March 19, 2013. Additional investor information can be accessed at http://velti.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

This press release includes non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share. These non-GAAP financial measures are not a measure of financial performance or liquidity calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S., referred to herein as GAAP, and should be viewed as a supplement to, not a substitute for, our results of operations presented on the basis of GAAP. Reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is detailed in the table below.

Our non-GAAP measures should be read in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as an analytical tool and you should not consider them in isolation from, or as a substitute for, analysis of our results as reported in accordance with GAAP.

We define adjusted net income (loss) by excluding foreign exchange gains or losses, share-based compensation expense, non-recurring and acquisition related expenses, deferrals of net profits of our equity method investments related to transactions with us, and acquisition-related depreciation and amortization.

We define adjusted EBITDA by excluding from adjusted net income (loss), gains or losses from our equity method investments, the remaining depreciation and amortization, the provision for income taxes, net interest expense, and other income and expense.

Adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA are not necessarily comparable to similarly-titled measures reported by other companies.

Adjusted income (loss) per share is adjusted net income (loss) divided by diluted shares outstanding.

We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to management, investors and other users of our financial statements in evaluating our operating performance because these financial measures are additional tools to compare business performance across companies and across periods. We believe that:

• these non-GAAP financial measures are often used by investors to measure a company's operating performance without regard to items such as interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization and foreign exchange gains and losses, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods and book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired; and
• investors commonly use these non-GAAP financial measures to eliminate the effect of restructuring and share-based compensation expenses, one-time non-recurring expenses, and acquisition-related expenses, which vary widely from company to company and impair comparability.

We use these non-GAAP financial measures:

• as a measure of operating performance to assist in comparing performance from period to period on a consistent basis;
• as a measure for planning and forecasting overall expectations and for evaluating actual results against such expectations;
• as a primary measure to review and assess the operating performance of our company and management team in connection with our executive compensation plan incentive payments; and
• in communications with our board of directors, stockholders, analysts and investors concerning our financial performance.

Note to Financial Statements

The financial information in this announcement does not constitute statutory financial statements as defined in Article 102 of the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991. Copies of our annual report and financial statements will be available at our registered office: First Floor, 28-32 Pembroke Street Upper, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland or can be downloaded at the company's website at www.velti.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

"Safe harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements including statements regarding revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for fiscal year 2013, guidance related to 2013 free cash flow, and guidance relating to operating assumptions for the years 2014 through 2016 relating to revenue growth, margins, and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion; our expectations to execute on key business opportunities in key markets such as the Americas, Western Europe, Brazil, India and China; our ability to significantly decrease capital expenditures, and to reduce overall days sales outstanding; and the impact of the divestment of Greek, Balkan and other assets. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and if any such risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, the company's results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include - but are not limited to - our ability to collect on outstanding accounts receivable, manage our accounts payable, and improve our comprehensive DSOs; generate sufficient cash and reduce expenses to meet our tight cash flow requirements without raising additional funds; continue to expand as the leading global provider of integrated, comprehensive mobile marketing and advertising technology; expand our customer base; achieve the benefits of our acquisitions, and potential liability resulting from pending or future litigation. Further information on these and other factors that could affect the company's results is included in our Annual Report on Form 20-F and our current reports on Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in other filings we may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Velti assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

About Velti

Velti is a leading global provider of mobile marketing and advertising technology and solutions that enable brands, advertising agencies, mobile operators and media to implement highly targeted, interactive and measurable campaigns by communicating with and engaging consumers via their mobile devices. The Velti platform, called Velti mGage™, allows customers to use mobile and traditional media to reach targeted consumers, engage the consumer through the mobile Internet and applications, convert them into customers and continue to actively manage the relationship through the mobile channel. Velti is a publicly-held corporation based in Jersey, and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol VELT. For more information, visit www.velti.com.

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