TeleCommunication Systems Reports Q2 2015 Results

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TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS), a world leader in highly reliable and secure wireless communication technology, reported results for the three months ended June 30, 2015.

Summary of Second Quarter 2015 Financial Results

• Revenue was $87.9 million, up 7% from $81.9 million in the prior quarter, and up 2% from $86.2 million in the second quarter of 2014.
• Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and amortization of non-cash stock-based compensation) was up 8% to $8.6 million from $8 million in the prior quarter, and down 5% from $9.1 million in the year-ago quarter (See discussion of the presentation of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income, both non-GAAP terms, below).
• Adjusted net income was up 38% to $3.4 million or $0.05 per diluted share from $2.5 million or $0.04 per diluted share in the prior quarter, and up 8% from $3.1 million or $0.05 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2014.
• GAAP net income increased to $0.01 per diluted share from breakeven in the prior quarter, and was down from $0.02 in the second quarter of 2014.

Management Commentary

"Our operating results for the second quarter and first half of 2015 are consistent with management's plan for the year, as positive developments across the company have offset the impact of lower 2015 wartime field support revenue than in 2014, and the unusual, nonrecurring $1.1 million professional fee expense in Q1," said Maurice B. Tose, TCS chairman and CEO.

"The company has continued to invest during the period in hardening of 9-1-1 deliverables as a growing volume of nextgen deployments proceeds. The expected orders for strong second half government systems and components shipments have been making their way through procurement processes. New products for cybersecurity and mobile medicine have been launched and are gaining traction, and our integrated man-wearable and vehicle mounted communications solutions for connected cities are in a growing number of trials.

"We announced earlier this month that our Board has established a Special Committee of independent directors to explore strategic alternatives with the assistance of Lazard as financial advisor."

Other Quarterly Highlights

    Introduced Intrepid9-1-1™, a suite of Next Generation 9-1-1 core services that accurately routes 9-1-1 voice calls, text and multimedia to public safety answering points and emergency responders.

    Doc-Aid™, an on-demand, walk-in clinic, selected TCS' VirtuMedix® platform to provide secure, HIPAA-compliant telemedicine services to its patients in Texas.

    TCS has partnered with Symantec to provide a new tool for identifying fraud, confirming location compliance and preventing "false positive" denials of services for financial services firms, online gaming companies and other organizations.

    ISACA, a global association of 140,000 professionals in 180 countries, signed a three-year licensing agreement for TCS' curriculum and PerformanScore® tool, for use in ISACA's new Cybersecurity Nexus (CSX) certification program. CSX is the first cybersecurity certification to combine skills-based training with performance-based exams in compliance with new national standards.

Commercial Segment Revenue and Gross Profit:

Commercial segment revenue in the second quarter of 2015 was $44.3 million, down 6% from $47.3 million in the same year-ago period, and segment second quarter gross profit was $24.9 million or 56% of revenue, down from $28.9 million or 61% of revenue in the second quarter of 2014. The change was mainly due to lower platforms & applications revenue as well as lower revenue from a wireless 9-1-1 customer whose network was shut down after it was acquired, offset by increases in other 9-1-1-related revenue.

For the first six months of 2015, commercial segment revenue was $89.5 million, up 3% from $87.3 million, and segment gross profit was $50.5 million or 56% of revenue, down from $52.5 million or 60% of revenue in the comparable period, reflecting higher 9-1-1 revenue, and higher first quarter revenue from a four-quarter customer trial that concluded in Q1-15.

Government Segment Revenue and Gross Profit:

Government segment revenue in the second quarter of 2015 was $43.6 million, up 12% from $38.9 million in the same year-ago period while segment gross profit in the quarter was $8.9 million or 20% of revenue compared to $9.3 million or 24% of revenue in the 2014 second quarter. The higher volume of revenue in the second quarter of 2015 was from systems and components shipments. Lower average margins were realized on the mix of both systems and services business during the quarter, leading to a lower gross profit as compared to the same year-ago period.

For the first six months of 2015, government segment revenue was $80.3 million, down from $84 million in the comparable period, and segment gross profit was $17.1 million or 21% of revenue, down from $20.5 million or 24% of revenue in the comparable period. The decreases reflect lower volume and less favorable average margins on 2015 business.

Operating Costs and Expenses:

R&D: Second quarter 2015 R&D expense was $8.9 million (10% of revenue), down 21% from $11.3 million (13% of revenue) in the same year-ago period. For the first six months of 2015, R&D expense was $17.4 million (10% of revenue), down 20% from $21.6 million (13% of revenue) in the same year-ago period. Investment in 9-1-1 related R&D has increased, while investment in other product areas has been reduced and/or developers have been assigned to custom projects classified as cost of revenue leading to lower R&D expenses for the three and six months periods of 2015.

SG&A: Second quarter 2015 selling, general and administrative expense was down 8% to $17.9 million (20% of revenue), from $19.5 million (23% of revenue) in the second quarter of 2014. For the first six months of 2015, selling, general and administrative expense was down 3% to $36.9 million (22% of revenue), from $38.1 million (22% of revenue) in 2014's first half. The decreases reflect headcount and spending reductions.

Non-cash charges: second quarter 2015 non-cash charges to operating profit were $5.6 million, down 7% from $6 million in the same year-ago period. For the first six months of 2015, non-cash charges to operating profit were $11.2 million, down 10% from $12.5 million in the same year-ago period. The decreases primarily reflect the impact of lower capital spending in the last two years than in earlier years.

Income Taxes:

For the second quarter of 2015, the company recorded a $0.4 million provision for income taxes against pre-tax income of $1.1 million. For the first six months of 2015, the company recorded a $0.8 million provision for income taxes against pre-tax income of $1.8 million.

Liquidity and Capital Resources:

At June 30, 2015, TCS had $53.7 million of cash and securities, compared to $50.6 million at the beginning of the quarter. Funds were generated in the quarter from $8.6 million in adjusted EBITDA, $19.8 million from bank term loan delayed draw and capital lease facilities (partly offset by $8 million of debt principal repayments), and $0.2 million from the exercise of employee stock options and stock purchase plans. Cash was used during the quarter to fund a $10.5 million increase in working capital in anticipation of second half system sales, $4.2 million for capital expenditures (including software development), and a net of $2.8 million for cash interest, cash taxes and other expenses. At the end of the quarter, in addition to the $53.7 million of cash and securities, the company's liquidity included $30 million of unused borrowing availability under the bank credit line.

Funded contract backlog is based upon contracts for which fiscal year funding has been appropriated by the company's customers (mainly federal agencies) and for hosted services (mainly for wireless and other network operators). Backlog is computed by multiplying the most recent month's contract or subscription revenue by the months remaining under the existing long-term agreements, which is considered to be the best available information for anticipating revenue under those agreements. The company's backlog at any given time may be affected by factors including the availability of funding, contracts being renewed or new contracts being signed before existing contracts are completed, and the other factors described in the company's Risk Factors as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, new orders are shown net of de-obligations and other adjustments to estimates. The timing and amounts of government contract funding may be adversely affected by federal budget policy decisions, which can lead to delays in procurement of TCS products and services. Some of the company's backlog could be canceled for causes such as late delivery, poor performance and other factors. Accordingly, a comparison of backlog from period to period is not necessarily meaningful and may not be indicative of eventual actual revenue.

About TeleCommunication Systems, Inc.

TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS), headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, is a world leader in secure and highly reliable wireless communications. Our patented solutions, global presence, operational support and engineering talent enable 9-1-1, commercial location-based services and deployable wireless infrastructure; cybersecurity; defense and aerospace components; and applications for mobile location-based services and messaging. Our principal customers are wireless network operators, defense and public safety government agencies, and Fortune 150 enterprises requiring high reliability and security. Learn more at www.telecomsys.com.