- Reports Record Quarterly Revenue, Gross Profit and Adjusted EBITDA -
- Progress Across Numerous Long Term Strategic Initiatives -

TORONTO, Aug. 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Points International Ltd. (TSX: PTS) (Nasdaq: PCOM) (Points or the Company), the global leader in powering loyalty commerce, is reporting financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons are on a year-over-year basis and all amounts are in USD. The complete second quarter Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements and Management Discussion & Analysis, including segmented results, are available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.

Second Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights (vs. Q2 2018)

• Total revenue increased to a record $100.2 million compared to $97.9 million.
• Gross profit¹ increased 49% to $20.5 million compared to $13.7 million. Excluding the benefit of an approximate $6.0 million tax rebate that was confirmed in the second quarter for claims related to prior periods, gross profit was up 5% to $14.4 million, a quarterly record.
• Net income increased to $6.3 million or $0.45 per diluted share, compared to $1.8 million or $0.12 per diluted share. Excluding the impact of the aforementioned tax rebate related to prior periods, net income was flat compared to the prior year.
• Adjusted EBITDA² increased 13% to a record $5.2 million compared to $4.6 million.

Recent Operational Highlights

• Launched a new Accelerator service (LCR) with Emirates Airlines.
• Launched, via Platform Partners, the integration between Hilton and Lyft to power the new relationship that sees users link accounts in order to earn points on each ride.
• Entered into multi-year partnership with Home Chef; starting with the United Airlines MileagePlus program, members will now earn frequent flyer miles when they sign up and make Home Chef purchases.
• Added Wyndham Hotel rewards to the Marathon Fuel, Platform Partners offering.
• Initiated deployment work to add Redemptions to an existing Points Travel partnership, targeted for a Q3 launch.
• Commenced regional Singapore office activities, including initial personnel decisions to capitalize on growth opportunities in the APAC region.

Management Commentary

“We are very pleased to report a record second quarter across all our key operating metrics - gross profit and adjusted EBITDA,” said CEO Rob MacLean. “As we continue to benefit from our investment in and focus on enhanced, data-led marketing initiatives, we have driven solid results which have mitigated the headwinds we faced to start the year. Building on this momentum, we are now well placed to continue executing on our other two key strategic drivers in the second half and we’re excited about both new partnerships launching as well as meaningful service additions to current ones.

“Along with entering new industry verticals, and increased focus on corporate development, our other key growth accelerant is to expand our geographical footprint to more efficiently close and service international partners. During the second quarter, we laid the groundwork to officially launch operations in Singapore with several new personnel. Although it is still early and we are in the process of ramping, we expect this new regional presence to build upon our momentum with new client wins and expanded engagements with current APAC partners.

“Given our strong performance during the second quarter, the ongoing success of current partnerships, and our pipeline expectations heading into the back half of the year, we are increasing our 2019 outlook. We now expect gross profit to range between $58.5 million to $64.5 million, with adjusted EBITDA ranging between $20.5 million to $23.5 million. With the momentum and strong performance in our underlying business, we are all-the-more confident in achieving our long-term financial goals set for 2022.”

Second Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Total revenue in the second quarter of 2019 increased 2% to $100.2 million compared to $97.9 million in the prior year quarter. Principal revenue increased 3% to $94.3 million compared to $91.4 million, and other partner revenue was $5.9 million compared to $6.5 million.

Gross profit in the second quarter increased 49% to $20.5 million compared to $13.7 million in the prior year quarter. Excluding the benefit of a $6.0 million tax rebate that was confirmed in the second quarter for claims related to prior periods, gross profit was $14.4 million, an increase of 5% over the prior year quarter. The increase was primarily driven by continued strong performance in the LCR segment, along with improvements in the Points Travel segment.

Adjusted operating expenses³ in the second quarter of 2019 were $9.4 million compared to $9.2 million in the prior year quarter.

Net income increased to $6.3 million or $0.45 per diluted share, compared to $1.8 million or $0.12 per diluted share in the prior year quarter. The improvement was a result of the aforementioned benefit from a tax rebate related to prior periods.

Adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter increased 13% to $5.2 million compared to $4.6 million in the prior year quarter. This does not include the benefit from the prior periods tax rebate. Effective margin, which is defined as adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of gross profit, was 25.7% compared to 33.9% from the prior year period. Excluding the impact of the tax rebate related to prior periods, effective margin increased 250 basis points to 36.4%.

At June 30, 2019, total funds available, comprised of cash and cash equivalents together with restricted cash and funds receivable from payment processors, was $67.6 million compared to $83.1 million at December 31, 2018. The decrease is primarily a result of timing of partner sales and promotions. The company remains debt free.

During the second quarter, Points repurchased for cancellation approximately 233,000 common shares at an average price of $12.28 per share through its Automatic Share Purchase Plan in conjunction with its Normal Course Issuer Bid (“NCIB”).

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¹ Gross profit is defined as total revenue less the direct cost of revenue.  Gross profit is considered by management to be an integral measure of financial performance and represents the amount of revenues retained by the Company after incurring direct costs.  However, gross profit is not a recognized measure of profitability under IFRS.
² Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, foreign exchange, finance costs and equity-settled share-based compensation and other one-time costs or benefits such as a tax rebate related to prior periods) is considered by management to be a useful supplemental measure when assessing financial performance.  Management believes that adjusted EBITDA is an important indicator of the Company’s ability to generate liquidity through operating cash flow to fund future capital expenditures and working capital needs.  However, adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under IFRS and should not be considered a substitute for Net Income, which we believe to be the most directly comparable IFRS measure.
³ Adjusted operating expenses consist of employment expenses excluding equity-settled share-based compensation, marketing and communications, technology services and other operating expenses.  Adjusted operating expense is not a measure of financial performance under IFRS and should not be considered a substitute for total operating expenses, which we believe to be the most directly comparable IFRS measure.

Increased 2019 Outlook

Points has increased its 2019 outlook and now expects gross profit to range between $58.5 million and $64.5 million (previously $56.5 million to $62.5 million), reflecting approximately 9% to 20% growth compared to 2018. Points also now expects adjusted EBITDA to range between $20.5 million and $23.5 million (previously $19.5 million to $22.5 million), reflecting approximately 10% to 26% growth from 2018.

Points Announces Renewal of Share Repurchase

Points also announced today that the board of directors has approved a normal course issuer bid to repurchase up to 5% of its issued and outstanding common shares (the “Repurchase”), and that it intends to enter into an automatic share purchase plan with a broker in order to facilitate the Repurchase.

The Repurchase is subject to approval by the TSX, and is expected to commence on August 14, 2019. Points’ previous normal course issuer bid commenced on August 14, 2018 and will terminate on August 13, 2019.

Conference Call

Points will hold a conference call today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time to discuss its second quarter 2019 results, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Date: Thursday, August 1, 2019
Time: 4:30 p.m. Eastern time (1:30 p.m. Pacific time)
Toll-free dial-in number: 1-855-327-6837
International dial-in number: 1-631-891-4304
Conference ID: 10007319

Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time, and an operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact Gateway Investor Relations at 1-949-574-3860.

A replay of the conference call will be available after 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on the same day through August 15, 2019.

Toll-free replay number: 1-844-512-2921
International replay number: 1-412-317-6671
Replay ID: 10007319

About Points International Ltd.

Points (TSX: PTS) (Nasdaq: PCOM) provides loyalty e-commerce and technology solutions to the world's top brands to power innovative services that drive increased loyalty program revenue and member engagement. The Company has a growing network of nearly 60 global loyalty programs integrated into its unique Loyalty Commerce Platform. Points offers three core private or co-branded services: its Loyalty Currency Retailing service, which retails loyalty points and miles directly to consumers; its Platform Partners service, which offers developers transactional access to dozens of loyalty programs and hundreds of millions of members via a package of APIs; and its Points Travel service, which helps loyalty programs increase revenue from hotel bookings, while enabling members to more effectively earn and redeem loyalty rewards. Points is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in San Francisco, London and Singapore.

For more information, please visit company.points.com, follow Points on Twitter (@PointsLoyalty) or read the Points blog. For Points' financial information, visit investor.points.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains or incorporates forward-looking statements within the meaning of United States securities legislation, and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements include, among other things, targeted launch of redemptions to an existing Points Travel partnership, expected benefits of our new regional presence in APAC, our ability to deliver on our long-term goals for 2022, our core growth strategies, our guidance for 2019 with respect to gross profit and adjusted EBITDA, and receipt of funds for tax rebates. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only Points' expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events.

Although Points believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to important risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Certain material assumptions or estimates are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. In particular, the financial outlooks herein assume Points will be able to maintain its existing contractual relationships and products, that such products continue to perform in a manner consistent with Points' past experience, that Points will be able to generate new business from our pipeline at expected margins, our in-market and newly launched products and services will perform in a manner consistent with the Company's past experience and we will be able to contain costs. Our ability to convert our pipeline of prospective partners and products and cross-sell existing partners is subject to significant risk and there can be no assurance that we will launch new partners or new products with existing partners as expected or planned nor can there be any assurance that Points will be successful in maintaining its existing contractual relationships or maintaining existing products with existing partners. Other important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the risk factors discussed in Points' annual information form, Form-40-F, annual and interim management's discussion and analysis, and annual and interim financial statements and the notes thereto. These documents are available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as at the date of this release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Except as required by law, Points does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements made or incorporated in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). Management uses certain non-GAAP measures, which are defined in the appropriate sections of this press release, to better assess the Company’s underlying performance. These measures are reviewed regularly by management and the Company's Board of Directors in assessing the Company’s performance and in making decisions about ongoing operations. In addition, we use certain non-GAAP measures to determine the components of management compensation. We believe that these measures are also used by investors as an indicator of the Company’s operating performance. Readers are cautioned that these terms are not recognized GAAP measures and do not have a standardized GAAP meaning under IFRS and should not be construed as alternatives to IFRS terms, such as net income.

Investor Relations Contact

Sean Mansouri, CFA or Cody Slach
Gateway Investor Relations
1-949-574-3860
IR@points.com

Source: Points International, Ltd.