19 octobre 2021 Pierre Perrin-Monlouis
Reston, Virginia, and Montpellier, France – April 6, 2005 – Genesys Conferencing (Euronext FR0004270270) (NASDAQ: GNSY), a global multimedia conferencing service leader, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2004. All results are reported under French Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
Q4 2004 Highlights
Revenue was €33.81 million stable with Q4 2003, based on a fixed currency rate of exchange
In US dollars, revenue was $43.9 million up 4.5% compared to Q4 2003
Total volume up 25.1% compared to Q4 2003, to 404.5 million minutes
Genesys Meeting Center volume up 31.8% compared to Q4 2003, to 370.8 million minutes
Volume based on Multimedia Minute pricing up 70.3% from Q3 2004, to 56.8 million minutes
Gross margin was 63.7%
EBITDA², excluding restructuring and non-recurring charges, was €6.9 million
EBITDA margin was 20.3%
“Genesys is uniquely positioned to drive the fast-moving and expanding market for multimedia conferencing services,” stated Francois Legros, Chairman and CEO. “Our advanced multimedia services, unmatched global presence and competitive Multimedia Minute flat-rate, usage-based pricing strategy make our value proposition highly compelling to large enterprise customers.”
Revenue & Volume Summary
(millions)
Revenue
USD(¹) Revenue
EUR Revenue
USD(¹) Revenue
EUR
Q4 2004 $ 33.9 € 33.8 Full Year 2004 $ 173.9 € 139.0
Q4 2003 $ 42.0 € 35.3 Full Year 2003 $ 180.4 € 159.5
Change % 4.5% -4.1% -3.6% -12.8%
(millions of minutes)
Genesys
Meeting Center
Volume Total Volume Genesys
Meeting Center
Volume Total Volume
Q4 2004 370.8 404.5 Full Year 2004 1,356.2 1,507.9
Q4 2003 281.4 323.4 Full Year 2003 1,094.6 1,308.1
Change % 31.8% 25.1% 23.9% 15.3%
Fourth Quarter 2004 Operating Performance
In the fourth quarter of 2004, revenue was €33.8 million. Adjusting fourth quarter 2004 for the same exchange rate as in the fourth quarter of 2003, revenue was €35.4 million and, as expected, stable with revenue of €35.3 in the fourth quarter of 2003. During the fourth quarter, revenue from Genesys Meeting Center services reached 79.4% of total sales compared to 72.4% in the fourth quarter of 2003. Full year 2004 revenue was €139.0 million compared to full year 2003 revenue of €159.5 million.
Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2004 was 63.7% compared to 65.1% for the fourth quarter of 2003 and reflects a higher percentage of revenue from high-volume, large enterprise customers which traditionally have lower margins. Full year 2004 gross margin was 61.9% compared to 64.3% in 2003.
Selling, general and administrative expenses, excluding restructuring and non-recurring charges, were €17.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2004, down 12.8% compared to €19.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2003. The improvement in selling, general and administrative expenses was largely attributable to the company’s cost-reduction initiatives completed in the second half of 2004.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA2), before restructuring and non-recurring charges, was €6.9 million for the fourth quarter 2004 and was stable compared to EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2003. As expected, the EBITDA margin was 20.3% for the fourth quarter, a slight increase from the EBITDA margin of 19.8% in the fourth quarter of 2003. The full year 2004 EBITDA margin was 17.4% compared to 22.9% in 2003.
Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2004 was down to €45,000 compared to a net loss of €34.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2004, the company reported a net loss of €67.4 million compared to a net loss of €36.5 million in 2003. Annual net losses include non-cash reductions in the carrying value of intangible and other long-lived assets of €57.3 million and €33.0 million in the second quarter of 2004 and in the fourth quarter of 2003, respectively.
As of December 31, 2004, net cash3 was €6.4 million, down from €12.9 million at September 30, 2004, primarily due to scheduled semi-annual payments of principal and interest under the company credit facility. For the full year, the company repaid €19.9 million of total debt.
“Operating margins reached their highest level in twelve months, a direct result of our increased volume growth in the second half of 2004 and the benefits of our highly cost-efficient Genesys Meeting Center multimedia technology platform,” stated Mike Savage, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Guidance 2005
The following contains forward-looking guidance regarding Genesys Conferencing’s financial outlook and is based on current expectations. Actual results may differ materially, and the company may not update any forward-looking statements made in this press release.
In 2005, the company expects the following:
– Revenue will be in the range of €140 to €145 million
– EBITDA will be in the range of €23 million to €26 million
“We expect 2005 results will positively reflect our competitive differentiation within the large enterprise market,” added Legros. “Large enterprise customers will further benefit from our planned expansion of our geographical distribution and the introduction of customizable multimedia conferencing solutions.”
Guidance is based on a fixed currency rate of exchange of EUR 1.00 = USD 1.25, similar to the average exchange rate for 2004. In 2005, the Company is required to transition to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Company does not believe there will be a significant difference between these standards and French GAAP for revenue and EBITDA, excluding stock-based compensation expense.
Conference Call and Webcast
Chief Executive Officer François Legros and Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer Michael E. Savage will host a conference call on Wednesday, April 6, 2005, at 5:30 p.m. Central European Time or 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss 2005 financial results.
The conference call will be webcast live and may be accessed at www.genesys.com. A replay of the call will be available at www.genesys.com.
____________
(1) Amounts were calculated using the average quarterly exchange rate.
(2) EBITDA and EBITDA before restructuring and non-recurring expenses. See attached note to consolidated statements of operations for reconciliation of Operating Income and EBITDA.
We believe that EBITDA and EBITDA before restructuring and non-recurring expenses are meaningful measures of performance, because they present our results of operations without the potentially volatile impact (which can be substantial) of goodwill impairment, the non-cash impacting nature of depreciation and amortization, and the restructuring and non-recurring charges incurred with events that do not reflect normal operations.
(3) Net cash is equivalent to cash and cash equivalents less bank overdrafts.
Financial Tables to Follow
Impact of Exchange Rates
The company serves large enterprises on a worldwide basis. As a result, the company has extensive international operations and, thus, significant exposure to exchange rate fluctuations, in particular those of the U.S. dollar. In 2003, the U.S. dollar declined significantly compared to the euro, and its value further declined during 2004. As a result, the comparability of the company’s revenues and results of operations expressed in euros were significantly impacted. The company prepares its consolidated financial statements in euros. In order to demonstrate the impact of the decline of the U.S. dollar on its revenues from the fourth quarter of 2003 to the fourth quarter of 2004, the company has recalculated its revenues as if its functional currency had been the U.S. dollar rather than the euro. For this purpose, the company has used the average for each quarter of the daily euro/U.S. dollar exchange rate for the fourth quarters of 2003 and 2004, respectively, which are the rates it used for translation purposes in its consolidated income statement.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical information or statements of current condition. These statements appear in a number of places in this release and include statements concerning the parties’ intent, belief or current expectations regarding future events and trends affecting the parties’ 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 the Form 20-F that was filed by Genesys with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 28, 2004. Although management of the parties believe that their expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements 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 forward-looking statements. In any event, these statements speak only as of the date of this release. Except to the extent required by law, the parties undertake no obligation to revise or update any of them to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release, or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events.
About Genesys Conferencing
Genesys Conferencing is a leading provider of integrated Web, voice and video conferencing services to over 500,000 users worldwide, including users at nearly 200 of the Global Fortune 500 companies. The company’s services are designed to meet the full range of communication needs within the global enterprise, from small, collaborative team meetings to large, high profile online events. The company’s flagship product, Genesys Meeting Center, provides a single-platform multimedia conferencing solution that is easy to use and available on demand. With offices in 21 countries across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the company offers an unmatched global presence and strong local support. Genesys Conferencing is listed on the Nouveau Marché in Paris (Euronext FR0004270270) and Nasdaq (GNSY). Additional information is available at www.genesys.com.
At Genesys Conferencing
Michael E. Savage
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Phone: +1 703 736-7100
[email protected]
Marine Pouvreau
Investor Relations Manager
Phone: +1 703 733-2140
[email protected]
