Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results Excluding Divested Brazil Operations
(firmenpresse) - MCLEAN, VA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/14/12 -- Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated (PTGi) (NYSE: PTGI)
Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated (PTGi) (NYSE: PTGI), a global facilities-based integrated provider of advanced telecommunications products and services, announced results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011. PTGi completed the acquisition of Arbinet Corporation on February 28, 2011; therefore, fourth quarter 2011 comparisons are not directly comparable with prior periods. Additionally, PTGi sold its non-core Brazilian operations on December 5, 2011 for $4.3 million, the proceeds of which were primarily used to repurchase $5 million of Senior Secured Notes; these operations have been classified as discontinued for all periods.
Net revenue for the fourth quarter 2011 was $249.6 million, an increase of 36.5% from fourth quarter 2010 net revenue of $182.8 million. Contributing to the increase in net revenue was a 7.1% increase in net revenue from growth services (broadband, data center, SME VoIP, and other data services), which included a 16.4% increase in revenue associated with PTGi's continuing data center portfolio of 11 sites worldwide. Fourth quarter continuing data center revenues were $10.7 million, and the Company's current revenue acceleration in this space, annual data center revenue generation is tracking at approximately $42.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $24.3 million, an increase of 24.2% from fourth quarter 2010 Adjusted EBITDA of $19.6 million and a 9.8% increase from third quarter 2011 Adjusted EBITDA of $22.2 million. The year-over-year impact of foreign exchange translation was a positive $0.7 million to revenue for the fourth quarter 2011 and a positive $0.2 million to Adjusted EBITDA. Free Cash Flow in the quarter was $8.2 million compared to negative Free Cash Flow of $10.1 million in fourth quarter 2010.
Peter D. Aquino, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "PTGi's list of 2011 accomplishments was very meaningful, including our: debt exchange to improve our balance sheet and Free Cash Flow; ICS integration and re-launch; monetization of non-core assets; and investments in high-ROI projects. Our consistent operational and financial performance drove $89 million in Normalized Adjusted EBITDA and $58 million after capital expenditures in 2011, giving PTGi strong momentum entering 2012. Our key theme for 2012 will be our aggressive focus on capturing the enterprise segment opportunities in data centers and high capacity metro fiber while continuing our efforts to expand margins in consumer and SME broadband services. We will also continue to review strategic alternatives to increase shareholder value."
PTGi
Completed a process to divest non-core Brazilian operations for $4.3 million including all assets and outstanding liabilities.
Applied proceeds of Brazilian sale and other cash to reduce the 10.00% Senior Secured Notes by $5 million.
Canada:
Began construction on a new high density data center facility in Markham to meet strong demand from greater Toronto area businesses for mission critical and business continuity solutions, bringing Primus Canada's national data center footprint to 8 facilities. Designed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, this facility will be certified as a Tier III site, and will offer advanced disaster recovery features.
Expanded VoIP service area to include an additional 240 exchanges across Canada, specifically in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, allowing more Canadian businesses and consumers to access communications services that deliver reliable and flexible connections with premium features at an affordable price.
Expanded traditional home phone and unlimited high speed Internet services in British Columbia and Alberta, providing more choice for consumers.
Expanded Business Ethernet Extended (BEX OnNet Ethernet Services) to Vancouver and Edmonton.
Reached a milestone 500 Internet Data Centre Colocation cabinets installed.
Australia:
Gained full accreditation to deliver fixed-line telephone services to customers on the NBN.
Signed Wave Engineering Solutions as first customer for recently-launched Metro Fibre over Optical Transport Network (OTN).
Was added to the federal government's Data Centre Facilities Panel, managed by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), gaining the opportunity to enter into long-term contracts with the Australian government.
Signed a 5-year, 21-rack/cabinet agreement with national wholesale energy suppliers to provide rack space and connectivity, generating A$4 million in total contract value.
Re-signed Competitive Foods Australia Pty Ltd to a 36-month term period for fixed-line, data, hosted IP telephony and data center services. New business services were also incorporated into the new agreement, including a turnkey managed WiFi network delivered to 285 sites. In addition, 63 franchisee stores (under individual agreements) are also participating in the Primus Managed WiFi with 31 signed to date. Began selling trademarked No Worries™ mobile plans, growing wireless subscribers by a double-digit rate year-over-year.
Launched two new calling plans, "Passport Easy" and "Lingo," that offer unlimited international calling to standard fixed numbers in 50 countries around the world including China, India, Israel, UK and the US.
The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) published its 2010/2011 Communications Report which contained positive figures for Primus in relation to its performance against the Customer Service Guarantee timeframes for service connections and fault rectification.
Developed new enterprise-wide customer facing IVR to enhance sales capabilities for consumer customers and streamline support and technical interaction, designed to help the company achieve a high percentage of first-call resolution.
International Carrier Services (ICS):
Achieved targeted Arbinet integration synergies in 2011.
- Net revenue of $58.8 million was flat as compared with the fourth quarter 2010. The impact of foreign currency translation was a negative $0.6 million. On a constant currency basis, net revenue increased 1.0% as increases in broadband, data center, SME VoIP and local services were partially offset by declines in retail long distance and prepaid services.
- Net revenue of $69.4 million decreased 2.1% from $70.9 million in fourth quarter 2010. The impact of foreign currency translation was a positive $1.7 million. On a constant currency basis, net revenue decreased 4.5% as decreases in traditional voice, DSL, and wholesale services were partially offset by increases in data center, broadband and wireless services.
Net revenue of $110.3 million increased 168.7% from $41.1 million in fourth quarter 2010, primarily due to the integration of Arbinet. The impact of foreign currency translation was a negative $0.4 million.
- Net revenue of $11.0 million decreased 7.6% from $11.9 million in fourth quarter 2010, primarily due to decreases in residential VoIP services.
was $73.6 million, or 29.5% of net revenue, compared to $65.9 million, or 36.0% of net revenue, in fourth quarter 2010. Net revenue less cost of revenue adjusted for Arbinet was flat as a percentage of net revenue. On a constant currency basis, net revenue less cost of revenue increased primarily due to the inclusion of Arbinet and an increased contribution of higher-margin data center revenue in the mix. The impact of foreign currency translation was a positive $0.4 million.
was $50.4 million, or 20.2% of net revenue, compared to $47.7 million, or 26.1% of net revenue in fourth quarter 2010. The leveraging of SG&A is largely due to the addition of Arbinet revenue and effective cost management in Australia and the United States. The impact of foreign currency translation was a positive $0.2 million.
of $20.1 million compared to income from operations of $2.5 million in the fourth quarter 2010. Fourth quarter 2011 income from operations includes a $13.0 million net gain relating to the sale of Canadian spectrum and India operations.
was $24.3 million, or 9.8% of net revenue, compared to $19.6 million, or 10.7% of net revenue, in the fourth quarter 2010. Normalized for severance, integration and other non-recurring costs, Adjusted EBITDA was $25.7 million, or 10.3% of net revenue, compared to $22.1 million, or 12.1% of net revenue in the fourth quarter of 2010.
was $3.1 million, or $(0.23) per basic and diluted common share, compared to net loss of $10.1 million, or $(1.04) per basic and diluted common share, in the fourth quarter 2010. The number of shares outstanding used to calculate basic and diluted earnings per common share in the fourth quarter of 2011 was 13.7 million compared to 9.8 million for basic and diluted earnings per common share in the fourth quarter of 2010.
PTGi ended the fourth quarter 2011 with $41.1 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, up from $27.2 million at September 30, 2011. Cash was generated during the fourth quarter in the following amounts: $24.3 million of Adjusted EBITDA and $15.6 million of net proceeds from the sale of assets offset, in part, by the usage of $8.7 million for capital expenditures, $7.4 million in interest payments, $5.0 million to reduce the 10% Senior Secured Notes, $2.5 million for costs associated with the debt exchange, $1.7 million in capital lease payments, and $0.7 million used in working capital. PTGi's long-term obligations as of December 31, 2011 were $245.8 million, up from $242.7 million as of December 31, 2010.
During the fourth quarter of 2011, PTGi did not repurchase any shares pursuant to its $15 million stock repurchase program; $14.6 million remains authorized for future repurchase.
in the fourth quarter 2011 was $8.2 million compared to negative free cash flow of $10.1 million in the fourth quarter 2010. Net cash provided by operating activities was $16.9 million in the fourth quarter 2011 compared to negative $0.8 million in the fourth quarter 2010. The primary contributors to the increase in free cash flow over the prior year quarter were $10.5 million less in interest payments, $4.7 million increase in Adjusted EBITDA and favorable working capital. PTGi defines Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by operating activities less cash used in the purchase of property and equipment.
Ken Schwarz, Chief Financial Officer, stated, "PTGi's very solid fourth quarter 2011 operating performance reflects our key initiatives to expand margins. In-quarter foreign currency translation contributed less than in past quarters, revealing the underlying potential of each of our business units. In 2012, we will remain focused on our strategies to invest in growth services to drive data center and on-net SME revenue and to manage our operations for improving Adjusted EBITDA profitability. Our capital expenditure plan of $33-$38 million is designed to enable us to continue to grow Free Cash Flow."
The Company will hold a conference call on Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET. To access the call, please dial 866-305-6438 (toll free) or 706-679-7161 approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the conference call. The conference call will also be broadcast live over the Internet with an accompanying slide presentation, which can be accessed via the Investor Relations section of PTGi's web site at . The webcast and slide presentation will be available for replay for 90 days at .
A telephonic replay of this conference call will also be available by dialing 855-859-2056 (toll free) or 404-537-3406 (access code: 50759481) from 12:30 PM ET on March 15, 2012 until midnight ET on March 22, 2012.
PTGi (Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated) is a leading provider of advanced communication solutions, including, traditional and IP voice, data, mobile services, broadband Internet, collocation, hosting, and outsourced managed services to business and residential customers in the United States, Canada, and Australia. PTGi is also one of the leading international wholesale service providers to fixed and mobile network operators worldwide. PTGi owns and operates its own global network of next-generation IP soft switches, media gateways, hosted IP/SIP platforms, broadband infrastructure, fiber capacity, and data centers located in Canada and Australia. Founded in 1994, PTGi is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
This release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC regulations, which include Adjusted EBITDA, Normalized Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow. As such, they should not be considered as substitutes for the most directly comparable GAAP measures and should not be used in isolation, but in conjunction with these GAAP measures. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are contained in the tables to this release. Additional information regarding the purpose and use for these non-GAAP financial measures is set forth in our Form 8-K disclosing this press release.
This press release contains or incorporates a number of "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements are based on current expectations, and are not strictly historical statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "if," "may," "should," "believe," "anticipate," "future," "forward," "potential," "estimate," "opportunity," "goal," "objective," "growth," "outcome," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "strategy," "provide," "commitment," "result," "seek," "pursue," "ongoing," "include" or in the negative of such terms or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements inherently involve certain risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of performance or results, as well as creation of shareholder value, although they are based on our current plans or assessments which are believed to be reasonable as of the date hereof. Factors or risks that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results we anticipate include, but are not limited to: (i) continuing uncertain global economic conditions; (ii) significant changes in the competitive environment, including as a result of industry consolidation, and the effect of competition in our markets, including our pricing policies; (iii) uncertainties from our announcement of our exploration and evaluation of strategic alternatives that may enhance shareholder value; (iv) our possible inability to generate sufficient liquidity, margins, earnings per share, cash flow and working capital; (v) our ability to attract and retain customers; (vi) our expectations regarding increased competition, pricing pressures and declining usage patterns in our traditional products; (vii) the effectiveness and profitability of our growth products and bundled service offerings, the pace and cost of customer migration onto our networks, and the successful network platform migration to reduce costs and increase efficiencies; (viii) risks associated with the merger of Arbinet, including but not limited to our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the merger of Arbinet or the timing associated with any such benefits, or volatility in the volume and mix of trading activity on the Arbinet Exchange; (ix) strengthening of U.S. dollar against foreign currencies, which may reduce the amount of U.S. dollars generated from foreign operating subsidiaries and adversely affect our ability to service our significant debt obligations and pay corporate expenses; (x) our compliance with complex laws and regulations in the U.S. and internationally; (xi) further changes in the telecommunications industry or the Internet industry, including rapid technological, regulatory and pricing changes in our principal markets; (xii) our liquidity and possible inability to service our substantial indebtedness or an occurrence of a default or event of default under our indentures; (xiii) our expectations regarding the timing, extent and effectiveness of our cost reduction initiatives and management's ability to moderate or control discretionary spending; (xiv) management's plans, goals, expectations, guidance, objectives, strategies, and timing for future operations, acquisitions, synergies, asset dispositions, fixed asset and goodwill impairment charges, tax and withholding expense, selling, general and administrative expenses, product plans, performance and results; (xv) management's assessment of market factors and competitive developments, including pricing actions and regulatory rulings; (xvi) our possible inability to raise additional capital when needed, on attractive terms, or at all; and (xvii) our possible inability to hire and retain qualified executive management, sales, technical and other personnel. Many of these factors and risks are more fully described in our annual report, quarterly reports or other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available through our website at . Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also affect our business, financial condition and results. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any of the estimated or projected results will be realized. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date hereof. Subsequent events and developments may cause our views to change. While we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so.
PTGi
Richard Ramlall
SVP Corporate Development and Chief Communications Officer
703-748-8050
Lippert/Heilshorn & Assoc., Inc.
Carolyn Capaccio
212-838-3777
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