LivePerson Fourth Quarter Revenue Increases 49% From Prior Year
Quarterly sequential revenue growth tops 12%
NEW YORK, NY – January 29, 2004 — LivePerson, Inc. (NasdaqSC: LPSN), a provider of technology facilitating real-time online customer interaction, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2003.
Revenue for the quarter was $3.5 million, a 49% increase from the fourth quarter of 2002, and a 12% sequential increase versus the third quarter of 2003. Revenue growth from the fourth quarter of 2002 was driven by a combination of professional services revenue, the addition of new clients and existing client growth, as well as expansion in all product lines, including Sales Edition, Service Edition, and LivePerson Pro for small businesses.
Revenue for the year was $12.0 million, up 46% from the prior year, driven by both new and existing customers, as well as the NewChannel asset acquisition that occurred in mid-2002.
“We are pleased with the results in the fourth quarter,” CEO Robert LoCascio stated. “We were able to continue the strong sequential growth trend of the prior two quarters, while adding some strong names to the client roster through our direct sales force.”
A combination of new customer wins and increased revenue from existing clients drove LivePerson’s sequential growth. New clients added during the quarter include Verizon, Verisign and Mellon Financial, while growth continued within existing clients including HP, Federated Department Stores, Forex and Qwest.
Net income for the quarter was $278,000 or $0.01 per share, as compared to net income of $9,000 or $0.00 per share in the third quarter of 2003, and a net loss of $(1.2) million, or $(0.04) per share in the fourth quarter of 2002. The net loss in the fourth quarter of 2002 included a $1.2 million restructuring charge.
Net loss for the year was $(0.8) million or $(0.02) per share, as compared to a loss of $(6.8) million or $(0.20) per share in the prior year. The net loss for the year includes a restructuring charge of $1.0 million, while the prior year included a restructuring charge of $1.2 million and a charge related to the cumulative effect of an accounting change of $5.3 million or $(0.16) per share.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the fourth quarter was $0.7 million versus $0.5 million in the third quarter of 2003 and a loss of $(0.8) million in the fourth quarter of 2002.
EBITDA for the year was $0.8 million as compared to a loss of $(0.5) million in the prior year.
A reconciliation of the differences between EBITDA and the most comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) is located under the heading “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Information to GAAP” immediately following the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations included in this press release.
LivePerson considers EBITDA and cash from operations to be important financial indicators of the Company`s operational strength and the performance of its business. EBITDA should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, GAAP results. The non-GAAP measures included in this press release have been reconciled to the nearest GAAP measure.
Financial Expectations
The Company currently expects the following financial results, which include the impact of the acquisition of certain assets of Island Data effective as of January 1, 2004:
Sequential quarterly revenue growth of 14%, to $4.0 million for Q1 2004
Annual revenue growth of 54%, to $18.5 million for the full year 2004
EBITDA of $0.02 per share and GAAP EPS of $0.01 in Q1 2004
EBITDA of $0.12 per share and GAAP EPS of $0.08 for the full year 2004
The difference between EBITDA per share, a non-GAAP measure, and GAAP EPS, is interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and is expected to be $0.01 per share in Q1 and $0.04 per share for the full year 2004.
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