Travelport Worldwide Limited Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

LANGLEY, U.K., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Travelport Worldwide Limited (NYSE: TVPT) announced today its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Highlights

• Net revenue increased 7% to $651 million and net income increased to $56 million
• Income per share (diluted) of $0.45 and net cash provided by operating activities of $95 million
• Travel Commerce Platform revenue increased 7%, with revenue growth across all regions
• Air revenue increased 7% to $474 million, primarily driven by strong market growth and seasonal effects
• Beyond Air revenue increased 9% to $148 million, including eNett net revenue growth of 22% to $41 million
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 9% to $169 million and Adjusted Income per Share (diluted) increased 24% to $0.51
• Free Cash Flow increased by $68 million to $71 million
• Completed post period-end divestiture of 51% stake in India-based technology development company IGT Solutions Private Ltd. (IGTS)
• Anticipate full year 2017 earnings and cash flow to be towards the higher end of guidance ranges

Gordon Wilson, President and CEO of Travelport, commented:

"We have started 2017 well with a particularly strong performance in Asia Pacific, the world's fastest growing and largest travel region, where we grew our air market share and saw our highest level of quarterly revenue growth for over five years.  I am delighted that our leadership positions in airline content and merchandising, hospitality, mobile commerce and commercial payments are translating into greater revenue from existing customers, as well as new business wins across multiple geographies.  We continue to invest in implementing these new wins, as well as in new product and capability extensions that will expand our focused areas of market leadership and support future growth.  Given our positive start to the year, we are confident in our outlook for 2017 and expect our full year earnings and cash flow to come in towards the higher end of our guidance ranges."

Summary

* Percentage calculated not meaningful

The Company refers to certain non-GAAP financial measures in this press release, including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Operating Income (Loss), Adjusted Net Income (Loss), Adjusted Income (Loss) per Share - diluted, Capital Expenditures, Net Debt and Free Cash Flow.  Please refer to pages 10 to 13 of this press release for additional information, including reconciliations of such non-GAAP financial measures.  

Discussion of Results

Net revenue increased by $42 million, or 7%, to $651 million primarily due to growth in Travel Commerce Platform revenue of $43 million, or 7%.  Within Travel Commerce Platform revenue, Air revenue increased by $31 million, or 7%, mainly due to growth in air segments.  Beyond Air revenue increased by $13 million, or 9%.  Within Beyond Air, net revenue for eNett increased by 22% to $41 million primarily due to an increase in the volume of payments settled with existing customers and new customer wins.  Technology Services revenue decreased by $2 million, or 6%, primarily due to lower development revenue and a reduction in hosting activities.

The table below sets forth Travel Commerce Platform revenue by region:

The table below sets forth Travel Commerce Platform Reported Segments and global RevPas by region:

Reported Segments increased by 3 million, or 4%.  United States Reported Segments increased 2% and International Reported Segments increased 4% with increases in both Air and Beyond Air segments.  Travel Commerce Platform RevPas increased 4% to $6.67, driving a $22 million increase in Travel Commerce Platform revenue.  International RevPas increased 5% to $8.20, and United States RevPas decreased marginally by 1% to $4.30.

International Travel Commerce Platform revenue increased by $41 million, with Asia Pacific contributing primarily to this increase.  Revenue from Asia Pacific increased 18% mainly due to a 13% increase in Reported Segments and growth in payment solutions in Beyond Air.

Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA increased by $14 million, or 9%, to $169 million mainly due to the following:

• $42 million growth in net revenue; offset by:
• $30 million increase within cost of revenue (excluding a $6 million net decrease related to items that are excluded from net income to determine Adjusted EBITDA) primarily due to increased travel distribution costs per segment and commission costs from our payment solutions business and an increase in Reported Segments

Operating Income
Operating income increased by $19 million to $99 million mainly due to the following:

• $14 million increase in Adjusted EBITDA
• $8 million related to revenue deferred in previous years, offset by:
• $2 million increase in amortization of customer loyalty payments

Net Income
Net income increased by $39 million to $56 million due to the following:

• $19 million increase in operating income
• $25 million decrease in interest expense, net, resulting from an unrealized loss on interest rate derivative contracts recognized in 2016, lower interest rates and a lower debt balance, offset by:
• $5 million increase in provision for income taxes

Adjusted Net Income
Adjusted Net Income increased by $13 million to $64 million mainly due to the following:

• $39 million increase in net income, offset by:
• $17 million decrease in unrealized loss on interest rate derivative contracts recognized in 2016, which is excluded to determine Adjusted Net Income and
• $8 million decrease in corporate and restructuring, equity-based compensation and other costs, which are excluded to determine Adjusted Net Income

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities increased by $69 million to $95 million, primarily due to an increase in operating income, improved working capital and lower interest and customer loyalty payments in 2017.

Free Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow increased by $68 million to a cash inflow of $71 million, primarily due to an increase in net cash provided by operating activities.

Net Debt
Net Debt decreased from $2,205 million as of December 31, 2016 to $2,146 million as of March 31, 2017 and is comprised of $2,333 million in total debt less $187 million in cash and cash equivalents.  The decrease in total debt of $12 million and increase of $47 million in the cash and cash equivalents balance as of March 31, 2017 compared to December 31, 2016 resulted in a decrease of $59 million in the Net Debt balance.

Full Year 2017 Financial Guidance

The following forward-looking statements, as well as those made elsewhere within this press release, reflect expectations as of May 9, 2017.  We assume no obligation to update these statements.  Results may be materially different and are affected by many factors detailed in this release and in Travelport's quarterly and annual Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings and/or furnishings, which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Our guidance for the full year 2017 is unchanged, as detailed below, although we expect Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Income per Share (diluted) and Free Cash Flow to be towards the higher end of our guidance ranges.

Travelport continues to anticipate that eNett, its commercial payments business, will grow net revenue by at least 20% in 2017. This is subject to exchange rate movements given that eNett's net revenue is largely denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

This guidance assumes spot foreign exchange rates as of May 2, 2017, together with the impact of foreign exchange rate hedges undertaken during 2016 as part of our rolling hedging program. 

Impact of Foreign Exchange Movements

Our results of operations are reported in U.S. dollars.  With approximately 91% of our net revenue denominated in U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2017, exchange rate movements in this currency have a low impact on our net revenue.  Of our costs and expenses in the first quarter of 2017, excluding depreciation on property and equipment, amortization of customer loyalty payments, amortization of acquired intangible assets and non-core corporate costs, approximately 71% were denominated in U.S. dollars. 

We employ foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge our exposure to changes in foreign exchange rates, particularly against the British pound, the Euro and the Australian dollar, which are the main non-U.S. dollar components of our costs and expenses.  The year over year impact of foreign exchange movements had a positive impact to Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2017.

Dividend

On May 5, 2017, Travelport's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.075 per common share for the first quarter of 2017.  The dividend will be payable on June 15, 2017 to shareholders on record as at market close on June 1, 2017.

Investor Day

Travelport will hold an Investor Day on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 in New York, NY.  In addition to management presentations, Travelport will also be conducting product demonstrations of some of its key solutions and innovations.  For attendance in person, please contact Travelport's investor relations team for further details. 

A live webcast of the presentation and accompanying slides will be available via the Investor Center section of Travelport's website at ir.travelport.com/investor-day, where a replay will also be available and will remain for one year thereafter.

Conference Call

The Company's first quarter 2017 earnings conference call will be held later today (on May 9, 2017) beginning at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time). 

A live audiocast of the presentation and accompanying slides will be available via the Investor Center section of Travelport's website at ir.travelport.com.  Please visit the site or click the following link to pre-register: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1138/20529.

A replay of the audiocast will be available on the Investor Center section of Travelport's website shortly after the end of the earnings call, where it will remain for one year thereafter.

Contacts

For further information, please contact:

Investors:
Majid Nazir
Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel: +44 (0)1753 288 857
majid.nazir@travelport.com

Media:
Julian Eccles
Vice President, PR and Corporate Communications
Tel: +44 (0)7720 409 374
julian.eccles@travelport.com

About Travelport (www.travelport.com)

Travelport is a Travel Commerce Platform providing distribution, technology, payment, mobile and other solutions for the global travel and tourism industry.  With a presence in approximately 180 countries, approximately 4,000 employees, our 2016 net revenue was over $2.3 billion.

Travelport is comprised of:

• A Travel Commerce Platform through which it facilitates travel commerce by connecting the world's leading travel providers with online and offline travel buyers in a proprietary business-to-business (B2B) travel marketplace.  Travelport has a leadership position in airline merchandising, hotel content and rate distribution, mobile travel commerce and a pioneering B2B payment solution that addresses the needs of travel intermediaries to efficiently and securely settle travel transactions.

• Technology Services through which it provides critical IT services to airlines, such as shopping, ticketing, departure control and other solutions, enabling them to focus on their core business competencies and reduce costs.

Travelport is headquartered in Langley, U.K.  The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol "TVPT".

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release, including outlook and financial guidance, constitute "forward-looking statements" that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "projects", "estimates", "plans", "may increase", "may fluctuate" and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will", "should", "would", "may" and "could" are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts.  Any statements that refer to expectations or other characterizations of future events, circumstances or results are forward-looking statements.

Various risks that could cause future results to differ from those expressed by the forward-looking statements included in this press release include, but are not limited to: factors affecting the level of travel activity, particularly air travel volume, including security concerns, pandemics, general economic conditions, natural disasters and other disruptions; general economic and business conditions in the markets in which we operate, including fluctuations in currencies, particularly in the U.S. dollar, and the economic conditions in the Eurozone; pricing, regulatory and other trends in the travel industry; our ability to obtain travel provider inventory from travel providers, such as airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines and other travel providers; our ability to develop and deliver products and services that are valuable to travel agencies and travel providers and generate new revenue streams; maintenance and protection of our information technology and intellectual property; the impact on travel provider capacity and inventory resulting from consolidation of the airline industry; the impact our outstanding indebtedness may have on the way we operate our business; our ability to achieve expected cost savings from our efforts to improve operational and technology efficiency, including through our consolidation of multiple technology vendors and locations and the centralization of activities; our ability to maintain existing relationships with travel agencies and to enter into new relationships on acceptable financial and other terms; and our ability to grow adjacencies, such as payment solutions and mobile commerce; and the impact on business conditions worldwide as a result of political decisions, including the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union.  These and other potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ are more fully detailed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 21, 2017, and available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. 

Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also have material adverse effects on our performance or achievements.  In light of these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur.  You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date is stated, as of the date of this press release.  Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements, to report events or to report the occurrence of unanticipated events.

This press release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules.  As required by SEC rules, important information regarding such measures is contained below.