Verisign Financials For Q1 Released With .Com & .NET Performing Solidly

Verisign Registry Services, the operator of the .com and .net gTLDs, reported Thursday it added 1.51 million net new names during the first quarter of 2015 in its financial results for the first quarter of 2015. This means the quarter ended with 133.0 million .com and .net domain names, a 3.1 percent increase over the base at the end of the first quarter in 2014, as calculated including domain names on hold for both periods.

This compares to the corresponding periods in 2014 and 2013 where 1.28 million and 1.99 million net new names respectively were added.

In the first quarter, Verisign processed 8.7 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, as compared to 8.6 million for the same period in 2014 and 8.8 million in 2013.

The final .com and .net renewal rate for the fourth quarter of 2014 was 72.5 percent compared with 72.2 percent for the same quarter in 2014. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.

On financial issues, Verisign reported, on a non-GAAP basis, net income of $99 million and diluted EPS of $0.74 for the first quarter of 2015, compared to net income of $95 million and diluted EPS of $0.64 for the same quarter in 2014. The non-GAAP operating margin was 59.7 percent for the first quarter of 2015 compared to 60.1 percent for the same quarter in 2014. A table reconciling the GAAP to the non-GAAP results (which excludes items described below) is appended to this release.

“Adherence to our strategy and disciplined execution have produced another solid quarter,” commented Jim Bidzos, executive chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“We are pleased with the successful completion of our $500 million senior unsecured notes offering,” stated George E. Kilguss, III, senior vice president and chief financial officer.