Earnings Labs

Travelzoo (TZOO)

Q3 2019 Earnings Call· Wed, Oct 23, 2019

$10.47

+6.68%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Travelzoo's Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Today's call is being recorded. The company would like to remind everyone that all statements made during this conference call and presented in the slides that are not statements of historical facts constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could vary materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are described in the company's Forms 10-K and 10-Q and other periodic filings with the SEC. Unless required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Please refer to the company's website for important information, including the company's earnings press release issued earlier this morning. An archived recording of this conference call will be made available on the Travelzoo Investor Relations website at travelzoo.com/ir. Now it's my pleasure to turn the floor over to Travelzoo's Global Chief Executive Officer, Holger Bartel; and the Chief Accounting Officer, Lisa Su. Lisa will start with an overview of the third quarter 2019 financial results.

Lisa Su

Analyst

Thank you, Michelle, and welcome to those of you joining us today. Please open the management presentation to follow along with our prepared remarks. The presentation in PDF format is available on our Investor Relations website. Slide Number 3 provides the financial highlights for the quarter. All key metrics – financial metrics continue to improve as revenues grew and we operated more efficiently. Travelzoo's revenue for the quarter was $25.5 million, up $204,000 year-over-year in nominal terms and up 2.4% in constant currencies. Our diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.03. Our global number of members was 30.3 million, up 500,000 year-over-year. And our social media followers and mobile app downloads continued to grow. Slide 4 details our revenue by business segment. Revenue in North America was $15.3 million, a year-over-year increase of 3%. Revenue in Europe was $8.5 million, a year-over-year increase of 1% in nominal terms and an increase of 6% year-over-year in local currency. Revenue in Asia Pacific decreased year-over-year from $2 million to $1.7 million, which is 17% less in nominal terms and 16% less in local currency. On Slide 5, we would like to highlight the positive performance in our core businesses in North America and Europe. Very good performance of our core business is masked by our development business in Asia Pacific. In our core business, revenues, operating income and EPS are growing and operating margins in those businesses are running at an annual rate of 18%. Earnings per share from North America and Europe for the trailing 12 months were at $1.12. On a consolidated level, operating losses from Asia Pacific result in much smaller profits and margins. Please also keep in mind, operating losses from Asia Pacific are currently not used to offset taxable income in North America and Europe.…

Holger Bartel

Analyst

Thank you, Lisa. In the third quarter, we moved quickly and decisively in Asia Pacific. Never ever were we so focused on it. There are compelling reasons. First, after rigorous review of the market, our business model and Travelzoo's current position in the market, the third-party research and review confirmed an immediate, concrete opportunity to grow revenue from China very substantially. Second, we believe there will be a meaningful favorable impact on Travelzoo's reported EPS resulting from performance improvements in the Asia Pacific business segment. Our new management team, which was installed in second quarter, worked in the third quarter with a top management consulting firm in China to develop together a strategy for a significant presence of Travelzoo in social media and mobile channels. The execution began in mid-September. China has the biggest social media community in the world and has the highest mobile penetration, which makes it also ideal for us as a global company to develop capabilities in these areas. As the financial performance of our Asia Pacific business will improve, we should see a meaningful increase in Travelzoo's reported EPS. Lisa earlier highlighted that the trailing 12-month pro forma EPS from our attractive core businesses in Europe and in North America would be $1.12 without the operating losses from Asia Pacific. Our intention is to reach an even higher EPS in the next two years by further growing the business in Europe and in North America plus generating profits from the growing business in China. Travelzoo is very creative in identifying and discover destinations and new ways to enjoy already popular destinations. What we do best is to generate and to influence demand among our members. And this advantage makes our brand more relevant than ever in tackling the challenges in today's tourism landscape. The global…

Operator

Operator

Holger Bartel

Analyst

Well, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your time and support, and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Have a nice day. Bye.

Operator

Operator

Thank you, Ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today’s teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Have a nice day.