TRUP - Trupanion Reports Fourth Quarter & Full Year 2023 Results

SEATTLE, Feb. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trupanion , Inc. (Nasdaq: TRUP), the leading provider of medical insurance for cats and dogs, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2023.   The financial results are preliminary and subject to completion of the Company’s audit as described below.

“I am pleased that Q4 showed continued improvement in our financial metrics,” said Darryl Rawlings, CEO and Chair of the Board. “The combination of accelerated subscription revenue growth, continued margin expansion and efficient acquisition spend drove another quarter of positive free cash flow.”

Fourth Quarter 2023 Financial and Business Highlights

• Total revenue was $295.9 million, an increase of 20% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Total enrolled pets (including pets from our other business segment) was 1,714,473 at December 31, 2023, an increase of 12% over December 31, 2022.
• Subscription business revenue was $191.5 million, an increase of 21% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Subscription enrolled pets was 991,426 at December 31, 2023, an increase of 14% over December 31, 2022.
• Net loss was $(2.2) million, or $(0.05) per basic and diluted share, compared to net loss of $(9.3) million, or $(0.23) per basic and diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $8.5 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $2.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Operating cash flow was $17.5 million and free cash flow was $13.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. This compared to operating cash flow of $1.0 million and free cash flow of $(4.5) million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
  

Full Year 2023 Financial and Business Highlights

• Total revenue was $1.1 billion, an increase of 22% compared to 2022.
• Subscription business revenue was $712.9 million, an increase of 19% compared to 2022.
• Net loss was $(44.7) million, or $(1.08) per basic and diluted share, compared to net loss of $(44.7) million, or $(1.10) per basic and diluted share, in 2022.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $6.4 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $0.7 million in 2022.
• Operating cash flow was $18.6 million and free cash flow was $0.4 million in 2023. This compared to operating cash flow of $(8.0) million and free cash flow of $(25.1) million in 2022.
• At December 31, 2023, the Company held $277.2 million in cash and short-term investments, including $46.6 million held outside the insurance entities, with an additional $15 million available under its credit facility.
• The Company maintained $241.3 million of capital surplus at its insurance subsidiaries. This was $64.1 million more than the estimated risk-based capital requirement of $177.2 million.
  

Annual Report on Form 10-K
While the Company is still completing its assessment of the effectiveness of its internal controls over financial reporting in its upcoming fiscal 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company expects to report two material weaknesses in internal controls. The first material weakness relates to information technology controls, primarily in the areas of user access and program change-management over certain information technology systems.

The second material weakness relates to internal controls over financial reporting, pertaining to the Company’s Other Business segment. The 2023 audit remains open, and the Company is working with its auditors to complete the process. As a result, the Company’s financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023 are preliminary and subject to the completion of the audit. Efforts to remediate these material weaknesses are underway. The Company expects to provide additional details about the material weaknesses, including its remediation efforts, in its Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Conference Call
Trupanion’s management will host a conference call today to review its fourth quarter and full year 2023 results. The call is scheduled to begin shortly after 1:30 p.m. PT/ 4:30 p.m. ET. A live webcast will be accessible through the Investor Relations section of Trupanion’s website at https://investors.trupanion.com/ and will be archived online for 3 months upon completion of the conference call. Participants can access the conference call by dialing 1-877-300-8521 (United States) or 1-412-317-6026 (International). A telephonic replay of the call will also be available after the completion of the call, by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (United States) or 1-412-317-6671 (International) and entering the replay pin number: 10182458.

About Trupanion
Trupanion is a leader in medical insurance for cats and dogs throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Puerto Rico and Australia with over 990,000 pets enrolled. For over two decades, Trupanion has given pet owners peace of mind so they can focus on their pet's recovery, not financial stress. Trupanion is committed to providing pet owners with the highest value in pet medical insurance with unlimited payouts for the life of their pets. With its patented process, Trupanion is the only North American provider with the technology to pay veterinarians directly in seconds at the time of checkout. Trupanion is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol "TRUP". The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Seattle, WA. Trupanion policies are issued, in the United States, by its wholly-owned insurance entity American Pet Insurance Company and, in Canada, by Omega General Insurance Company. Trupanion Australia is a partnership between Trupanion and Hollard Insurance Company. For more information, please visit trupanion.com .

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 relating to, among other things, expectations, plans, prospects and financial results for Trupanion, including, but not limited to, its expectations regarding its ability to continue to grow its enrollments and revenue, its ability to remediate the material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and the timing thereof, its’ ability to complete its 2023 annual audit and timely file its Form 10-K, and otherwise execute its business plan. These forward-looking statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of Trupanion’s management as of the date of this press release, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are based on information available to Trupanion as of the date hereof, and Trupanion has no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: the ability to achieve or maintain profitability and/or appropriate levels of cash flow in future periods; the ability to keep growing our membership base and revenue; the accuracy of assumptions used in determining appropriate member acquisition expenditures; the severity and frequency of claims; the ability to maintain high retention rates; the accuracy of assumptions used in pricing medical plan subscriptions and the ability to accurately estimate the impact of new products or offerings on claims frequency; actual claims expense exceeding estimates; regulatory and other constraints on the ability to institute, or the decision to otherwise delay, pricing modifications in response to changes in actual or estimated claims expense; the effectiveness and statutory or regulatory compliance of our Territory Partner model and of our Territory Partners, veterinarians and other third parties in recommending medical plan subscriptions to potential members; the ability to retain existing Territory Partners and increase the number of Territory Partners and active hospitals; compliance by us and those referring us members with laws and regulations that apply to our business, including the sale of a pet medical plan; the ability to maintain the security of our data; fluctuations in the Canadian currency exchange rate; the ability to protect our proprietary and member information; the ability to maintain our culture and team; the ability to maintain the requisite amount of risk-based capital; our ability to implement and maintain effective controls, including to remediate material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting; the ability to complete its 2023 annual audit and timely file its Form 10-K, the ability to protect and enforce Trupanion’s intellectual property rights; the ability to successfully implement our alliance with Aflac; the ability to continue key contractual relationships with third parties; third-party claims including litigation and regulatory actions; the ability to recognize benefits from investments in new solutions and enhancements to Trupanion’s technology platform and website; and our ability to retain key personnel.

For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the risk factors discussed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including but not limited to Trupanion’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and any subsequently filed reports on Forms 10-Q, 10-K and 8-K. All documents are available through the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system at https://www.sec.gov or the Investor Relations section of Trupanion’s website at https://investors.trupanion.com .

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Trupanion’s stated results may include certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures may not provide information that is directly comparable to that provided by other companies in its industry as other companies in its industry may calculate or use non-GAAP financial measures differently. In addition, there are limitations in using non-GAAP financial measures because the non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP, may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies and exclude expenses that may have a material impact on Trupanion’s reported financial results. The presentation and utilization of non-GAAP financial measures is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Trupanion urges its investors to review the reconciliation of its non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in its consolidated financial statements, and not to rely on any single financial or operating measure to evaluate its business. These reconciliations are included below and on Trupanion’s Investor Relations website .

Because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of equity instruments that can impact a company’s non-cash expenses, Trupanion believes that providing various non-GAAP financial measures that exclude stock-based compensation expense and depreciation and amortization expense allows for more meaningful comparisons between its operating results from period to period. Trupanion offsets new pet acquisition expense with sign-up fee revenue in the calculation of net acquisition cost because it collects sign-up fee revenue from new members at the time of enrollment and considers it to be an offset to a portion of Trupanion’s new pet acquisition expense. Trupanion believes this allows it to calculate and present financial measures in a consistent manner across periods. Trupanion’s management believes that the non-GAAP financial measures and the related financial measures derived from them are important tools for financial and operational decision-making and for evaluating operating results over different periods of time.

*Fixed expenses represent shared services that support both our subscription and other business segments and, as such, are generally allocated to each segment pro-rata based on revenues.

Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP financial measure that adjusts operating income (loss) to remove the effect of acquisition cost, development expenses, non-recurring transaction or restructuring expenses, and gain (loss) from investment in joint venture. Non-cash items, such as stock-based compensation expense and depreciation and amortization, are also excluded. Acquisition cost, development expenses, gain (loss) from investment in joint venture, stock-based compensation expense, and depreciation and amortization are expected to remain recurring expenses for the foreseeable future, but are excluded from this metric to measure scale in other areas of the business. Management believes acquisition costs primarily represent the cost to acquire new subscribers and are driven by the amount of growth we choose to pursue based primarily on the amount of our adjusted operating income period over period. Accordingly, this measure is not indicative of our core operating income performance. We also exclude development expenses, gain (loss) from investment in joint venture, stock-based compensation expense, and depreciation and amortization because some investors may not view those items as reflective of our core operating income performance.

Management uses adjusted operating income and the margin on adjusted operating income to understand the effects of scale in its non-acquisition cost and development expenses and to plan future advertising expenditures, which are designed to acquire new pets. Management uses this measure as a principal way of understanding the operating performance of its business exclusive of acquisition cost and new product exploration and development initiatives.  Management believes disclosure of this metric provides investors with the same data that the Company employs in assessing its overall operations and that disclosure of this measure may provide useful information regarding the efficiency of our utilization of revenues, return on advertising dollars in the form of new subscribers and future use of available cash to support the continued growth of our business.