EBIX - Ebix Reports $28.8M of Operating Cash Flow Despite COVID-19

JOHNS CREEK, Ga., Aug. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX), today announced the following results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020:

• Diluted EPS (GAAP) of $0.76 and Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.88
• Operating cash flow of $28.8 million
• Revenues of $111.3 million and constant currency revenues of $117.4 million
• GAAP operating income of $31.9 million and Non-GAAP operating income of $35.7 million

Ebix will host a conference call to review its results today at 11:00 a.m. EDT (details below).

“In spite of the impact of lockdowns, foreign currency hits on account of US dollar strengthening and many of our Divisions being severely impacted by COVID-19 across the world, we are reporting Q2’20 EBITDA plus stock based compensation of $36.3 million, an impressive 32% of total revenues. Robin Raina, Chairman of the Board, President & CEO said. “Also following the Q1 2020 operating cash flow performance of $29.6 million, Q2 2020 operating cash flow remained strong at $28.8 million - showing the continued fundamental strength of our businesses. We are very pleased with that.”

Ebix delivered the following results for the second quarter of 2020:

Revenue: Q2 2020 revenue declined 23% to $111.3 million compared to $144.3 million in Q2 2019, and decreased 19% over Q1 2020 revenue of $137.9 million, primarily due to the impact of COVID-19 on second quarter revenues. Excluding revenues from the foreign exchange, travel, e-learning and remittance businesses that were impacted the most in Q2 by COVID-19, Q2 2020 revenues grew 16% as compared to Q2 2019.

On a constant currency basis, Ebix Q2 2020 revenues would have been $6.1 million higher, while the 6- month year-to-date revenues would have been $9.8 million higher as compared to the GAAP revenues numbers reported. Exchanges, including the EbixCash and our worldwide insurance exchanges, continued to be Ebix’s largest channel, accounting for 86% of Q2 2020 revenues.

Operating Income and Operating Cash: GAAP Operating income margin for Q2 2020 was 29% as compared to 25% in Q1 2020 and 29% in Q2 2019. Q2 2020 GAAP operating income declined 23% to $31.9 million as compared to $41.3 million in Q2 2019, due primarily to the impact of COVID-19. Non-GAAP operating income for Q2 2020 was $35.7 million.

Cash generated from operations increased $36.7 million in Q2 2020 to $28.8 million compared to $(7.9) million in Q2 2019. The operating cash in Q2 2019 reflected the $20.5 million Derivative Case Legal Settlement and other related legal fees. On a year-to-date basis, cash generated from operations increased by $45.2 million to $58.4 million as compared to the same period in 2019.

Earnings per Share: In spite of the impact of COVID-19, Q2 2020 GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.76 as compared to $0.94 in Q2 2019. Excluding the one-time, non-recurring items, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for Q2 2020 was $0.88.

Net Income: Q2 2020 GAAP net income decreased 19% to $23.5 million compared to $28.9 million in Q2 2019. Q2 2020 Non-GAAP net income was $27.1 million after excluding certain non-recurring items.

Shares Outstanding and Repurchases: In Q2 2020, Ebix made no repurchases of its outstanding common stock. Ebix’s weighted average diluted shares outstanding remained constant at 30.7 million in Q2 2020 compared to 30.7 million in Q2 2019 and 30.7 million in Q1 2020.

Q3 2020 Diluted Share Count: As of today, Ebix expects its diluted share count for Q3 2020 to be approximately 30.8 million.

Dividend: Ebix paid its regular quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share in Q2 2020 for a total cost of $2.3 million.

Ebix Chairman, President and CEO Robin Raina said, “The true fundamentals of a business are revealed during such times only. Our results in various countries, including Australia, Brazil and India, were severely impacted by this once-in-a-century economic and health pandemic. We endured the negative impact of the pandemic on our travel, forex, remittance, e-learning and consulting businesses worldwide, while also experiencing the impact of weakening international currencies as the world gravitated towards holding the US dollar as a safe currency. We suffered those unavoidable hits and still came out strong in the quarter in terms of EPS, operating cash and operating margins. I thank our employees across the world for this fantastic quarter, especially considering the trying times we are in, with most employees still functioning from their homes.”

Robin added, “As the world stabilizes and people start traveling, we are likely to see a positive upsurge in our numbers, particularly in businesses where we have a leadership position such as forex, remittance, travel etc. Add to that our continued focus on large-value, high-margin deals in areas like bus exchange and insurance exchanges, and we feel that we are headed in the right direction.”

Steve Hamil, EVP and Global CFO added, “The diversity and strength of Ebix’s solutions are the driving force behind our solid results in the Covid-19-impacted second quarter.  The Company has focused on serving its customers in its insurance and financial software businesses that have proven resilient in this pandemic, while also implementing permanent expense reductions in certain business areas and instituting short term expense reductions in businesses temporarily impacted by Covid-19. Despite the cumulative spending of approximately $61 million on investment in acquisitions, capital expenditures and capitalized software development costs, dividend payments, cash taxes and debt service and debt reduction for the year-to-date period, our total cash and short-term investments stood strong at $117 million at 6/30/20, as compared to $113 million at 12/31/19.”

Steve added, “While we cannot predict the longevity of this pandemic, the $58 million of operating cash flow produced year-to-date by our employees is a strong sign of the fundamental strength of our solutions and services.  On the other side of this unprecedented global economic disjointedness, Ebix will be poised to recoup the losses we have sustained and re-establish our leadership in the forex, travel and remittance businesses.  We will continue to execute on our core strategy of being a global insurance and financial technology leader that will protect its domestic market shares in its long-time core markets in the U.S. and Australia/New Zealand, be a catalyst to the electronification of both the Indian and other developing international economies, and benefit from the long-term secular development of the middle class in these same economies.”

2020 Business Outlook: Given the ongoing market disruption and worldwide lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and related uncertainty on timing and extent of recovery, the Company is not providing fiscal 2020 revenue and earnings guidance at this time.

Reconciliation of EBITDA, GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share to non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share. Non-GAAP information is provided to enhance the understanding of the Company's financial performance and is reconciled to the Company's GAAP information in the accompanying tables [let’s discuss what items we want to include this quarter]

(1) Adjustments relate to amortization of acquired intangibles and stock-based compensation recognized during the periods for GAAP purposes.
(2) Adjustments relate to non-recurring items
(3) The Company's Non-GAAP tax provision is on the basis of the Q2 2020 effective tax rate, which reflects currently available information and could be subject to change.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Metrics

This press release contains the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP Earnings per share. Non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP EPS from operations exclude amortization of intangibles and stock-based compensation. Non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP EPS from operations can also exclude the effect of any restructuring, acquisition, integration & other expenses, legal expenses associated with such acquisitions or legal expenses associated with non-operating activities, or any one-time tax benefits.

Ebix believes that these non-GAAP financial measures and other metrics provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to Ebix’s financial condition and results of operations. The Company’s management uses these non-GAAP measures and other metrics to compare the Company’s performance to that of prior periods for trend analysis, for purposes of determining executive and senior management incentive compensation, and for budgeting and planning purposes. The Company believes that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures and other metrics provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing the Company’s financial measures with other software companies, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures and other metrics to investors.

Management of the Company does not consider these non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of these non-GAAP financial measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in the Company’s financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgment by management about which expenses and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. Ebix urges investors to review the reconciliation of its non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures, which it includes in press releases announcing quarterly financial results, including the financial tables at the end of this press release, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate the Company’s business.

Conference Call Details:

About Ebix, Inc.

With 50+ offices across 6 continents, Ebix, Inc., (NASDAQ: EBIX) endeavors to provide On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, healthcare and e-learning industries. In the Insurance sector, Ebix’s main focus is to develop and deploy a wide variety of insurance and reinsurance exchanges on an on-demand basis, while also providing Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") enterprise solutions globally in the area of CRM, front-end & back-end systems, outsourced administration and risk compliance services.

With a "Phygital” strategy that combines 320,000 physical distribution outlets in many Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”) countries, to an Omni-channel online digital platform, the Company’s EbixCash Financial exchange portfolio encompasses leadership in the areas of domestic & international money remittance, foreign exchange (Forex), travel, pre-paid & gift cards, utility payments, and lending, wealth and asset management solutions and services in India and other markets. EbixCash’s Forex operations have emerged as a leader in India’s airport Foreign Exchange business, with operations in 32 international airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. These Forex operations conduct over $4.8 billion in gross transaction value per year. EbixCash’s inward remittance business in India conducts approximately $5 billion gross in annual remittance business, confirming its undisputed leadership position in India. EbixCash, through its travel portfolio of Via and Mercury, is also one of Southeast Asia’s leading travel exchanges, with over 2,200+ employees, a 212,450+ agent network, 25 branches and over 9,800 corporate clients.  The EbixCash travel business processes an estimated $2.5 billion in gross merchandise value per year. EbixCash’s technology services Division has emerged as a leader in the areas of lending technology, asset & wealth management technology, and travel technology in India and has grown its international expanse to Europe, Middle East, Africa and other ASEAN countries.

Through its various SaaS-based software platforms, Ebix employs thousands of domain-specific technology professionals to provide products, support and consultancy to thousands of customers on six continents. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.ebix.com

SAFE HARBOR REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

As used herein, the terms “Ebix,” “the Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer to Ebix, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries as a combined entity, except where it is clear that the terms mean only Ebix, Inc.

The information contained in this Press Release contains forward-looking statements and information within the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This information includes assumptions made by, and information currently available to management, including statements regarding future economic performance and financial condition, liquidity and capital resources, acceptance of the Company's products by the market, and management's plans and objectives. In addition, certain statements included in this and our future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in press releases, and in oral and written statements made by us or with our approval, which are not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "seeks," "plan," "project," "continue," "predict," "will," "should," and other words or expressions of similar meaning are intended by the Company to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements are found at various places throughout this report and in the documents incorporated herein by reference. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or results and information that is currently available to us, involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and speak only as of the date on which such statements are made.

Our actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference, include, but are not limited to those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the SEC, as well as: the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 global pandemic, the risk of an unfavorable outcome of the pending governmental investigations or shareholder class action lawsuits, reputational harm caused by such investigations and lawsuits, the willingness of independent insurance agencies to outsource their computer and other processing needs to third parties; pricing and other competitive pressures and the Company's ability to gain or maintain share of sales as a result of actions by competitors and others; changes in estimates in critical accounting judgments; changes in or failure to comply with laws and regulations, including accounting standards, taxation requirements (including tax rate changes, new tax laws and revised tax interpretations) in domestic or foreign jurisdictions; exchange rate fluctuations and other risks associated with investments and operations in foreign countries (particularly in Australia, UK and India wherein we have significant operations); equity markets, including market disruptions and significant interest rate fluctuations, which may impede our access to, or increase the cost of, external financing; and international conflict, including terrorist acts.

Given the ongoing market disruption and worldwide lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and related uncertainty on timing and extent of recovery, the Company is withdrawing its COVID-19 related press release issued on Feb.27^th 2020 and is not providing fiscal 2020 revenue and earnings guidance at this time.

Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any such factors, or to publicly announce the results of, or changes to any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events, developments, changed circumstances, or for any other reason.

Readers should carefully review the disclosures and the risk factors described in the documents we file from time to time with the SEC, including future reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K, and any amendments thereto.

You may obtain our SEC filings at our website, www.ebix.com under the "Investor Information" section, or over the Internet at the SEC's web site, www.sec.gov. 

CONTACT:

Darren Joseph
678 -281-2027 or IR@ebix.com

David Collins or Chris Eddy
Catalyst Global - 212-924-9800 or ebix@catalyst-ir.com