Vienna, Virginia, and Montpellier, France – May 14, 2008 – Genesys Conferencing (Euronext Eurolist: FR0004270270), a global multimedia collaboration service leader, today reported unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008. All results are reported under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
“We are very pleased with our first quarter financial results and the leadership position Genesys Meeting Center services have acquired,” stated Francois Legros, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are also proud of all the operational and financial accomplishments that the employees of Genesys have made. Their personal achievements are what have successfully led to the strategic transaction that Genesys shareholders have favorably accepted.”
Q1 2008 versus Q1 2007 Highlights
- Total volume increased 23.7%
- Genesys Meeting Center volume increased 24.4%
- Revenue increased 7.8% or 14.2% excluding exchange rate fluctuations
- Genesys Meeting Center Revenue increased 8.7%
- EBITDA1 increased to 9.0 million euros
- Net income increased to 5.7 million euros
Volume and Revenue
Total volume increased by 23.7% to 859.0 million minutes in the first quarter of 2008 compared to 694.3 million minutes the first quarter of 2007. The volume increase was primarily driven by strong quarterly growth for Genesys Meeting Center services which increased by 24.4% to 822.1 million minutes in the first quarter of 2008.
Total revenue in the first quarter of 2008 was 39.0 million euros compared to 36.2 million euros in the first quarter 2007. Genesys Meeting Center revenue was 31.6 million euros in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 8.7% or 2.5 million euros from 29.1 million euros in the first quarter of 2007. Year-over-year price erosion was significantly less in the first quarter of 2008 decreasing to 12.9% compared to price erosion of 20.9% in the first quarter of 2007.
Operating Profitability
Gross margin was 66.8% for the first quarter of 2008 compared to 62.3% for the first quarter of 2007. The increase of gross margin further reflects improved terms of the company’s telecommunications agreements and improved economies of scale resulting from very strong organic volume growth over the past several quarters.
Total operating expenses in the first quarter of 2008 were 19.6 million euros compared to 19.3 million euros in the first quarter of 2007.
EBITDA1 was 9.0 million euros in the first quarter of 2008 an increase of 49.0% compared to 6.1 million euros in 2007. The year-over-year increase in first quarter 2008 EBITDA largely reflects the 7.8% increase in revenue and improvement in gross profit. EBITDA margin for the first quarter of 2008 was 23.2% compared to 16.8% last year. Operating income improved to 6.4 million euros in the first quarter of 2008 an increase of nearly 100% compared to 3.2 million euros in the first quarter of 2007.
In the first quarter of 2008, net income totaled 5.7 million euros and diluted EPS totaled 0.08 compared to 1.2 million euros and 0.02, respectively, in the first quarter of 2007.
Liquidity
As of March 31, 2008, the company’s net cash2 was 20.5 million euros, an increase of 6.3 million euros compared to 14.2 million euros as of December 31, 2007. Cash from operating activities increased to 8.9 million euros in the first quarter of 2008 compared to 3.6 million euros in the first quarter of 2007.
The company’s total debt as of March 31, 2008, was 17.4 million euros compared to 18.2 million euros as of December 31, 2007.
Shareholders’ equity was 65.1 million euros compared to 61.7 million euros as of December 31, 2007.
“As a result of increased economies of scale and strong profitability, Genesys has met its objective of ending this quarter for the first time having more cash-on-hand than total debt,” stated Andrew Lazarus, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “We believe the company’s improved ability to generate strong cash flow from operations and its ability to de-leverage its capital structure has been instrumental in allowing Genesys to realize an event that will maximize company value in a very meaningful way.”
Tender Offer
As preliminarily reported by the AMF yesterday, May 13, 2008, the tender offer by West Corporation for Genesys S.A. has received 91.90% of outstanding Genesys shares above the minimum threshold of tendered shares of 66.66%. Genesys expects the transaction to close on May 22, 2008. All outstanding amounts under Genesys' existing credit agreement are expected to be prepaid on such date.
Conference Call and Webcast
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer François Legros and Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer Andrew Lazarus will host a conference call on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. Central European Time to discuss first quarter 2008 financial results.
The conference call will be web cast live and may be accessed at http://events.webeventservices.com/genesys/2008/05/14/
A replay of the call will be available at the same URL or at http://www.genesys.com
(1) See attached note to consolidated statements of operations for reconciliation of Operating Income and EBITDA. The company believes that EBITDA is a meaningful measure of performance, because it presents the company’s results of operations without the non-cash impact of depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is reported excluding stock-based compensation expense.
(2) Net cash includes cash and cash equivalents less bank overdrafts.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FINANCIAL TABLES
Targets
According to the AMF regulations in use, targets may not be considered as forecasts. Net income may not be estimated on the basis of the above mentioned EBITDA and on the basis of non-cash expenses previously recorded.
Impact of Exchange Rates
The company serves large enterprises on a worldwide basis. As a result, it has extensive international operations and, thus, significant exposure to exchange rate fluctuations, in particular those of the U.S. dollar. In 2007, and continuing through the first quarter of 2008, the U.S. dollar has fluctuated compared to the euro. As a result, the comparability of the company’s revenues and results of operations expressed in euros were affected.
Disclaimer
This press release may contain some statements that constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical information or statements of current condition. They may appear in a number of places in this press release and include statements concerning Genesys Conferencing's intent, belief or current expectations regarding future events and trends affecting Genesys Conferencing’s financial condition or results of operations.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Some of these factors are described in chapter 4.5 of the Document de Référence, filed with the Autorité des marchés financiers under number D.08-331 on April 30, 2008. Although Genesys Conferencing’s management believe that their expectations are reasonable based on information currently available to them, they cannot assure you that the expectations will prove to have been correct. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these statements. In any event, these statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Except to the extent required by law, Genesys Conferencing undertakes no obligation to revise or update any of them to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release, or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Genesys Conferencing—Connecting the World for 20 Years
Founded in 1986, Genesys is a leading provider of unified collaboration and communication services to thousands of organizations worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune Global 500. The company’s flagship product, Genesys Meeting Center, provides an integrated multimedia collaboration solution that is easy to use and available on demand. With offices in more than 20 countries across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the company offers an unmatched global presence and strong local support. Genesys Conferencing is publicly traded on Euronext Eurolist C in France (FR0004270270). Additional information is available at www.genesys.com
At Genesys Conferencing
Andrew G. Lazarus
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Phone: +1 703-749-2500
andrew.lazarus@genesys.com
Investor Relations
Phone: + 33 4 99 13 25 87
relations.investisseurs@genesys.com