Steve Cunningham
Analyst · Jefferies. Please go ahead
Thank you, David. Good afternoon, everyone. I'll start by reviewing our financial and operating performance for the first quarter and then provide our outlook for the second quarter and the full year of 2018. We are pleased to report another quarter of strong financial results with revenue adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share, all exceeding the high-end of our guidance ranges. Total first quarter 2018 revenue increased 32% from a year ago and rose 4% from the fourth quarter of 2017 to a record $254 million exceeding our guidance range of $220 million to $240 million. On a constant currency basis, revenue increased 30% year-over-year. Year-over-year revenue growth was driven by an increase in total company combined loan and finance receivables balances, which rose 36% year-over-year to $844 million from $621 million at the end of the first quarter of 2017. Installment loan and line-of-credit products continue to drive the growth in total loans and finance receivables balances. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2017, combined loan and finance receivables balances declined just 2%. The sequential revenue growth, we experience reflects, the faster receivable growth, we've been generating in our line-of-credit and installment loan products. Because a higher proportion of our portfolio now consists of these longer duration and larger dollar loans and finance receivables, we experience less seasonal portfolio runoff during the quarter than we've seen in prior first quarter's. And as a result we were able to generate higher revenue, EBITDA, and earnings per share. Total company originations during the quarter increased 25% year-over-year to $557 million as originations in our installment and VA products increased 66%. Originations from new customers across all of our businesses were 26% of the total. 51% of the quarterly year-over-year change in total company originations were from new customers. Domestically, revenue increased 29% on a year-over-year basis and rose 4% sequentially to $213 million in the first quarter. Domestic revenue accounted for 84% of our total revenue in the first quarter. Revenue growth in our domestic operations was primarily driven by a 40% year-over-year increase in installment loan and finance receivables revenue and a 32% increase in line of credit revenue. Continued strong demand for these products drove our domestic combined loan and finance receivables balances up 34% year-over-year. Revenue growth in NetCredit, our domestic near-prime installment business was 42% higher year-over-year and NetCredit loans comprised 45% of total company combined loan and finance receivables balances at the end of the first quarter. International revenue increased 50% on a year-over-year basis and 7% sequentially to $41 million. International revenue accounted for 16% of total company revenue in the first quarter. On a constant currency basis, international revenue rose 37% on a year-over-year basis. Year-over-year, international revenue growth was driven by a 66% increase in installment loan revenue and a 36% increase in short-term loan revenue. International loan balances were up 47% year-over-year and 3% sequentially, as international installment loans grew 52%. On a constant currency basis, international loan balances were up 35% year-over-year. Turning to gross profit margins. Our first quarter gross profit margin for the total company was 57%, which is changed from the quarter a year ago and compares to a gross profit margin of 48% in the fourth quarter of 2017. Gross profit performance reflects steady portfolio yields and stable credit performance over the past year. Net charge-offs as a percent of average combined loan and finance receivables decreased in the first quarter to 13.7% from 14.9% in the prior year quarter, further reflecting the stable credit that David mentioned. The allowance and liability for losses as a percentage of combined gross loan and finance receivables at the end of the first quarter was nearly flat compared to the year-ago quarter at 13.7%. Going forward, we expect our consolidated gross profit margin to be in the range of 47% to 57% and will be influenced by the pace of growth in originations, the mix of new versus returning customers in originations and the mix of loans and financings in the portfolio. Our domestic gross profit margin was 59% in the first quarter compared to 57% in the first quarter of 2017. Gross margin improved from 47% in the fourth quarter of 2017 driven by the reasons I previously discussed. Our international gross profit margin of 51% in the first quarter compared to 59% in the prior year quarter. The decline in international gross profit margin from the year ago quarter was driven in large part by a 64% increase in international installment loan originations. We expect our international gross profit margin to range from 50% to 60% and will be driven by the pace of growth in both the UK and Brazil, as well as the mix of new and returning customers. Turning to expenses. We continue to see strong operating leverage, as total non-marketing operating expenses for the first quarter grew only 7% year-over-year to $52 million. Our total operating expenses, including marketing were $80 million or 32% of revenue in the first quarter compared to $69 million or 36% of revenue in the first quarter of 2017. As David mentioned, marketing expenses in the first quarter grew 42% compared to the year ago quarter to $28 million or 11% of revenue. As we met the demand we saw on the market. The increase in marketing spend drove strong customer volumes this quarter while maintaining efficiency and attractive CPS. We expect marketing expenses to remain meaningfully higher than a year ago in dollar terms as we lean into demand and attract profitable new customer volume. Marketing spend will likely range in the low to mid-teens percentage of revenue during 2018, with the highest spend during our seasonal growth periods in the second half of the year. Operations and technology expenses totaled $26 million or 10% of revenue in the first quarter compared to $24 million or 12% of revenue in the first quarter of 2017 and we’re higher primarily on volume-related variable expenses. General and administrative expenses were $27 million or 11% of revenue in the first quarter compared to $26 million or 13% of revenue in the first quarter of the prior year and we are slightly higher primarily because of personnel-related costs. We continue to leverage our fixed cost base, in fact G&A expenses as a percentage of revenue have seen year-over-year decline for seven out of the eight previous quarters. Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure of $68 million increased 55% year-over-year in the first quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 26.7% compared to 22.8% in the first quarter of the prior year. Our stock-based compensation expense was $2.4 million in the quarter, compared to $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2017. Our effective tax rate in the first quarter was 20.8% compared to 34.3% for the first quarter of 2017, primarily because of a lower federal tax rate. We continue to believe that our effective tax rate will normalize in the mid-20%s during 2018. Net income was $27.9 million in the first quarter or $0.81 per diluted share, which compares to net income of $13.9 million or $0.41 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2017. Net income is benefited from rising EBITDA a drop in the company’s cost of financing and a drop in the effective tax rate. Quarterly net income included a one-time $4.7 million pretax charge for the early extinguishment of debt, related to a $50 million early redemption of our 9.75% senior notes that mature in 2021. As well as one-time noncash $2.3 million pretax charge from a currency translation adjustment write-off related to the final wind down of our Australia and Canada operations. Adjusted earnings, a non-GAAP measure, increased 130% to $35.4 million or $1.02 per diluted share from $15.4 million or $0.45 per diluted share in the first quarter of the prior year. During the first quarter, cash flows from operations totaled $153 million, and we ended the quarter with unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $70 million and total debt of $755 million. Our debt balance at the end of the quarter includes $217 million outstanding under the $295 million of combined installment loan securitization facilities. In addition on April 13, we amended our bank-led, secured revolving line of credit to increase borrowing capacity from $40 million to $75 million with no change in the borrowing cost of prime plus 1%. Now I'd like to turn to our outlook for the second quarter and full year 2018. Our 2018 outlook reflects continued strong growth in each of our businesses, stable credit, a sustained higher mix of new customers in originations and no significant impacts to our businesses from regulatory changes. Any significant volatility in the British pound from current levels could impact our results. As we discussed on our last quarterly call, we expect the tailwinds into the first quarter, which is typically our strongest quarter of the calendar year. From the increased proportion of longer duration, larger dollar loans and financing receivables in our portfolio, leading to less total receivables write-off and higher revenue, EBITDA and earnings per share compared to our historical sequential seasonal pattern. Despite the strong start to the year, we expect to experience our typical quarterly seasonality during 2018 as we continue to focus investment on new customers across our businesses. During our peak growth periods in the second half of the year, gross margin, EBITDA and earnings per share could be impacted by higher provisions for losses during those periods. As a result, we may see a wider variation in quarterly EBITDA and earnings per share than in prior years. As noted in our earnings release, in the second quarter of 2018, we expect total revenue to be between $230 million and $245 million; diluted earnings per share to be between $0.34 and $0.56 per share; adjusted EBITDA to be between $42 million and $52 million; and adjusted earnings per share to be between $0.41 and $0.62 per share. For the full year 2018, we are raising our guidance and now expect total revenue to be between $980 million and $1.04 billion; diluted earnings per share to be between $1.69 and $2.25 per share; adjusted EBITDA to be between $190 million and $215 million; and adjusted earnings per share to be between $2.10 and $2.66 per share. And with that, I'll hand the call back over to David. Thank you.