Travelport Worldwide Limited Reports Third Quarter 2016 Results

LANGLEY, U.K., Nov. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Travelport Worldwide Limited (NYSE: TVPT) announces its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2016.

Key Points

• Net revenue increased 6% to $591 million
• Operating income of $62 million, net income of $21 million and net cash provided by operating activities of $111 million
• Air revenue increased 2% to $408 million; Beyond Air revenue growth of 18% to $152 million, contributing 27% of Travel Commerce Platform revenue (Q3 2015: 24%)
• International revenue increased 9% driven by growth in both Reported Segments and RevPas, with double-digit revenue growth in Europe (14%) and Asia Pacific (10%)
• eNett net revenue increased 60% to $42 million
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 15% to $150 million driven by business performance and favorable foreign exchange movements
• Adjusted Free Cash Flow generation of $83 million, an increase of $52 million
• Voluntary prepayment made for $50 million of term loans' principal

Gordon Wilson, President and CEO of Travelport, commented:

"Travelport delivered a robust set of financial results during the third quarter against the backdrop of slower growth of the global GDS air market.  International revenue increased 9% as we continued to benefit from our unrivalled airline merchandising innovations, our diverse Beyond Air portfolio and our balanced geographic presence.  Moreover, during the quarter we continued to deliver against our key strategic objectives, announcing several new commercial deals across our platform.  These included a GDS industry-first partnership with the largest airline in India, IndiGo, a long-term agreement with easyJet to continue provision of our multi award-winning mobile services, and a new data and analytics partnership with Mastercard.  We are also pleased with several new agency wins in key regions, which will support future growth, as well as continued momentum in our BtoB payments business, eNett, having delivered net revenue growth of 72% for the nine months of this year."

Summary

Discussion of Results for the Third Quarter of 2016

Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons are for the third quarter of 2016 compared to the third quarter of 2015.

Net Revenue
Net revenue is comprised of:

Net revenue increased by $31 million, or 6%, to $591 million primarily due to growth in Travel Commerce Platform revenue of $32 million, or 6%.  Within Travel Commerce Platform revenue, Air revenue increased by $9 million, or 2%, mainly due to improved pricing and merchandising.  Beyond Air revenue increased by $23 million, or 18%.  Within Beyond Air, net revenue for eNett increased 60% to $42 million driven by the volume of payments settled with existing customers and several new customer implementations.  Technology Services revenue decreased marginally by $1 million, or 3%.

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:

Discussion of Results for the Third Quarter of 2016 (continued)

Reported Segments remained stable at 84 million.  International Reported Segments increased 1%, offset by a 2% decrease in United States Reported Segments primarily due to the previously advised impact of our renegotiated contract with Orbitz Worldwide in 2014. Travel Commerce Platform RevPas increased 6% to $6.67, driving a $32 million increase in Travel Commerce Platform revenue.  International RevPas increased 8% to $8.21, and United States RevPas remained stable at $4.41.

International Travel Commerce Platform revenue increased by $34 million, with Europe and Asia Pacific contributing most of this increase. Revenue from these two regions increased 14% and 10%, respectively, due to:

• An increase in RevPas of 13% and 6%, respectively
• Improved pricing, mix, merchandising and volume within Air revenue
• Growth in payment solutions

Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA increased by $19 million, or 15%, to $150 million due to the following:

• Growth in net revenue of $31 million, offset by:
• $10 million increase within cost of revenue (excluding a $6 million increase in amortization of customer loyalty payments, which is excluded from net income to determine Adjusted EBITDA)
• $2 million increase within selling, general and administrative expense ("SG&A") driven primarily by an increase in workforce expense due to the continued expansion of our platform through acquisition and investment in our go-to-market capabilities, partially offset by favorable impact of foreign currency exchange movement

Operating Income
Operating income increased by $8 million to $62 million due to the following:

• $19 million increase in Adjusted EBITDA
• $3 million reduction in depreciation and amortization primarily due to a decrease in amortization on a portion of acquired intangible assets as their useful lives expired, offset by:
• $8 million increase in non-core corporate costs within SG&A mainly related to a $4 million increase in corporate and restructuring costs and a $2 million increase in equity-based compensation and related taxes
• $6 million increase in amortization of customer loyalty payments

Net Income
Net income increased by $16 million to $21 million due to the following:

• $8 million increase in operating income
• $11 million decrease in interest expense resulting from an unrealized gain on interest rate derivative contracts, lower interest rates and lower debt balance, offset by:
• $3 million increase in provision for income taxes and recognition of loss on early extinguishment of debt.

Adjusted Net Income
Adjusted Net Income increased by $11 million to $41 million primarily due to the following:

• $16 million increase in net income, offset by:
• $6 million decrease in amortization of acquired intangible assets, which is excluded to determine Adjusted Net Income

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities increased by $49 million to $111 million, primarily as a result of an increase in operating income, positive impact of fluctuations in working capital and lower cash interest payments.

Adjusted Free Cash Flow
Adjusted Free Cash Flow increased by $52 million to a cash inflow of $83 million, primarily as a result of an increase in net cash provided by operating activities.

Net Debt
Net Debt decreased from $2,282 million as of December 31, 2015 to $2,220 million as of September 30, 2016, and is comprised of $2,358 million in total debt less $138 million in cash and cash equivalents.  The decrease in total debt of $79 million (which includes voluntary prepayment of $50 million principal amount of term loans) was partially offset by a $16 million lower cash and cash equivalents balance as of September 30, 2016 compared to December 31, 2015.

Full Year 2016 Guidance

The following forward-looking statements, as well as those made elsewhere within this press release, reflect expectations as of November 3, 2016.  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.

The travel market as a whole experienced some softness during the latter part of the third quarter.  This, together with factors such as the United States presidential election, the outcome of the United Kingdom referendum on European Union membership and other political and economic uncertainties, continue to provide near-term challenges in forecasting our industry's growth.  While our overall guidance for the full year 2016 is unchanged, we anticipate that full year net revenue will come in towards the lower end of our guidance range. 

This guidance assumes spot foreign exchange rates as of October 27, 2016, together with the impact of foreign exchange rate hedges undertaken during 2015 as part of our rolling hedging program.  A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial guidance to relevant GAAP guidance is not available without unreasonable effort because of the unavailability of information required to reasonably predict certain reconciling items, such as corporate and restructuring costs, litigation and related costs, losses or gains on foreign exchange and interest derivative contracts and impairments.

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 Q3, exchange rate movements in this currency have a low impact on our net revenue.  eNett, which represented approximately 7% of our net revenue in Q3, is the largest source of non-U.S. dollar net revenue.   

Of our costs and expenses in Q3, excluding depreciation on property and equipment, amortization of customer loyalty payments, amortization of acquired intangible assets and non-core corporate costs, approximately 65% 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 Q3.

Dividend

On November 1, 2016, Travelport's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.075 per common share for the third quarter of 2016.  The dividend will be payable on December 15, 2016 to shareholders of record on December 1, 2016.

Conference Call

The Company's third quarter 2016 earnings conference call will be held later today (on November 3, 2016) beginning at 9:00 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/1138/17566.

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:
Kate Aldridge
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Tel: +44 (0)1753 288 720
kate.aldridge@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, over 3,700 employees, and an additional 1,200 employees at IGT Solutions Private Ltd who provide us with application development services, our 2015 net revenue was over $2.2 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 efficiency; our ability to maintain existing relationships with travel agencies and to enter into new relationships on acceptable financial and other terms; our ability to grow adjacencies, such as payment solutions and mobile commerce; and the impact on business conditions both in the United Kingdom and worldwide as a result of 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 18, 2016, and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 5, 2016 and August 4, 2016, 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.