Neustar Reports Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013
Neustar announced results for the quarter and year ended December 31,2013. Compared to 2012, revenue increased 8% to $902 million.
You can read the press release after the jump:
“Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR), a trusted, neutral provider of real-time information services and analytics, today announced results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013 and provided guidance for 2014.
Results for 2013 Compared to 2012
Revenue increased 8% to $902.0 million
Non-NPAC revenue increased 10% to $464.6 million
Net income increased 4% to $162.8 million, or $2.46 per share, an increase of 7%
Adjusted net income increased 13% to $233.5 million, or $3.53 per share, an increase of 16%
Results for Fourth Quarter 2013 Compared to Fourth Quarter 2012
Revenue increased 11% to $237.6 million
Non-NPAC revenue increased 15% to $128.3 million
Net income increased 1% to $38.1 million, or $0.59 per share, an increase of 5%
Adjusted net income increased 19% to $60.2 million, or $0.94 per share, an increase of 25%
“We made significant progress on our 2013 priorities. We delivered strong financial results, made investments to further our strategic objectives and aligned our organization to be client focused,” said Lisa Hook, Neustar’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We will continue to build on this progress, and remain confident in our prospects for growth and profitability in 2014 as we execute our strategy.”
Paul Lalljie, Neustar’s Chief Financial Officer added, “Our full-year and fourth quarter results continue to demonstrate our strong business fundamentals. We generated double-digit revenue and adjusted net income growth in the fourth quarter, and we continued to generate strong free cash flow. In addition, we reduced our annual interest expense by $10 million through refinancing our outstanding debt and we bought back $285 million of our stock. In 2014, we will continue to focus on revenue growth, profits, and share repurchases.”
Business Outlook for 2014
Neustar’s Business Outlook excludes the impact of contemplated share repurchases.
Revenue to range from $945 million to $970 million or growth of 5% to 8%
Adjusted net income to range from $233 million to $243 million or flat to growth of 4%
Adjusted net income per share is expected to range from $3.64 to $3.80, representing growth of 3% to 8%
Discussion of Full-Year 2013 Results
Revenue for the year totaled $902.0 million, an 8% increase from $831.4 million in 2012. This increase was due to stronger demand for our Marketing Services and Data Services and an increase in NPAC fixed-fee revenue in Data Registries.
Operating expense for 2013 totaled $612.7 million, a 10% increase from $554.7 million in 2012. This increase was driven by investments to support business growth. In particular, personnel and personnel- related expense increased $24.5 million driven by stock-based compensation expense and increased headcount. In addition, professional fees increased to pursue new business opportunities and advertising and marketing costs increased to promote awareness of the company’s services.
Discussion of Fourth Quarter Results
Revenue for the fourth quarter totaled $237.6 million, an 11% increase from $214.2 million in 2012. This increase was due to stronger demand for our Marketing Services and Data Services and an increase in NPAC fixed-fee revenue in Data Registries.
Operating expense for the fourth quarter totaled $174.3 million, a 20% increase from $144.9 million in 2012. The increase was primarily driven by the addition of $12.0 million in operating expenses associated with inorganic opportunities in 2013. Excluding these expenses, operating expense for the fourth quarter would have increased 12%. In particular, personnel and personnel-related expense increased as a result of higher headcount to support the expansion of the company’s operations and an increase in stock-based compensation. In addition, professional fees increased to pursue new business opportunities.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2013, cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $223.3 million, a decrease of $120.6 million from $343.9 million as of December 31, 2012. This decrease primarily reflects share repurchases of $285.3 million and $105.4 million for acquired platforms, offset by the generation of $287.9 million from operations. As of December 31, 2013, the company’s outstanding debt under its term facility and 4.5% senior notes was $616.3 million.
Conference Call
As announced on January 23, 2014, Neustar will conduct an investor conference call to discuss the company’s results today at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Time). Prior to the call, investors may access the conference call over the Internet via the Investor Relations tab of the company’s website (www.neustar.biz). Those listening via the Internet should go to the website 15 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software.
The conference call is also accessible via telephone by dialing 888-811-5408 (international callers dial 913- 312-0374) and entering PIN 6903877. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available through 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) Wednesday, February 5, 2014 by dialing 877-870-5176 (international callers dial 858-384-5517) and entering replay PIN 6903877, or by going to the Investor Relations tab of the company’s website (www.neustar.biz).
Neustar will take questions from securities analysts and institutional portfolio managers; the complete call is open to all other interested parties on a listen-only basis.
This press release, the financial tables and other supplemental information are available on the company’s website under the Investor Relations tab. This includes reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures that may be used periodically by management when discussing the company’s financial results with investors and analysts.
