LendingTree Reports Record 4Q 2018 Results

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ: TREE), operator of LendingTree.com, the nation's leading online financial services marketplace, today announced results for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

"The fourth quarter capped off another terrific year for LendingTree.  The strategic diversification of our business over the last several years enabled us to successfully navigate a difficult mortgage environment in 2018 and will continue to be a competitive advantage for us in the years to come," said Doug Lebda, Chairman and CEO.  "In addition to the diversification that has clearly taken shape, we made great progress on several strategic initiatives including increasing organic traffic through the build-out of My LendingTree.  We now have the infrastructure in place to execute brand marketing profitably and at scale, and we continue to invest in improving the mortgage experience for both borrowers and lenders.  And with our entry into the insurance category, we've greatly expanded our addressable market and the number of ways in which we can help consumers make smarter financial decisions."

J.D. Moriarty, Chief Financial Officer, added "We're incredibly pleased with the progress we made in 2018 and encouraged by the trends we're starting to see this year.  Our recently acquired insurance businesses are performing well.  A few of our smaller non-mortgage businesses are emerging as real contributors to growth.  And the early results from our increasing brand spend are promising.  At this point in the year, we're happy to be increasing our full-year outlook to primarily reflect the recent ValuePenguin acquisition."

Fourth Quarter 2018 Business Highlights 

• Record revenue from non-mortgage products of $156.2 million in the fourth quarter represents an increase of 67% over the fourth quarter 2017 and accounted for 77% of total revenue.
• Credit card revenue of $38.2 million grew 4% over fourth quarter 2017.
• Personal loans revenue of $33.5 million grew 32% over fourth quarter 2017.
• Insurance revenue of $31.3 million reflects two months of QuoteWizard results.
• Mortgage revenue of $46.5 million declined 31% compared to the fourth quarter 2017, driven by a decline in refinance revenue.
• More than 10.5 million consumers have now signed up for My LendingTree. Revenue contribution from My LendingTree grew 70% in 2018 compared to the prior year.

Fourth Quarter 2018 Financial Highlights

• Record consolidated revenue of $202.7 million represents an increase of 26% over revenue in the fourth quarter 2017.
• GAAP net income from continuing operations of $0.3 million, or $.02 per diluted share.
• Record Variable Marketing Margin of $78.6 million represents 39% of revenue and grew 40% over fourth quarter 2017.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $39.4 million increased 33% over fourth quarter 2017.
• Adjusted Net Income per share of $1.22 represents growth of 45% over fourth quarter 2017.
• During the quarter, the company repurchased 174 thousand shares of its stock at a weighted-average price per share of $203 for aggregate consideration of $35.4 million.
• On February 20, 2019, the Company's Board of Directors approved an additional $150 million in share repurchase authorization. With that increase, $181.2 million in share repurchase authorization remained available.

Business Outlook - 2019

LendingTree is providing Revenue, Variable Marketing Margin and Adjusted EBITDA guidance for the first quarter of 2019 and increasing guidance for full-year 2019, as follows:

For first quarter 2019:

• Revenue is anticipated to be in the range of $235 - $245 million, or 30% - 35% over first quarter of 2018.
• Variable Marketing Margin is expected to be in the range of $82 - $86 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to be in the range of $37 - $40 million, or 17% - 26% over first quarter of 2018.

For full-year 2019:

• Revenue is now anticipated to be in the range of $1,010 - $1,045 million, up from prior range of $990 - $1,030 million, and representing growth of 32% - 37% over 2018.
• Variable Marketing Margin is expected to be in the range of $385 - $400 million, up from prior range of $365 - $385 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA is now anticipated to be in the range of $205 - $215 million, up from prior range of $195 - $205 million, and representing growth of 34% - 40% over 2018.

LendingTree is not able to provide a reconciliation of projected Variable Marketing Margin or Adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable expected GAAP results due to the unknown effect, timing and potential significance of the effects of legal matters, tax considerations, and income and expense from changes in fair value of contingent consideration from acquisitions.  Expenses associated with legal matters, tax consequences, and income and expense from changes in fair value of contingent consideration from acquisitions have in the past, and may in the future, significantly affect GAAP results in a particular period.

Quarterly Conference Call

A conference call to discuss LendingTree's fourth quarter 2018 financial results will be webcast live today, February 26, 2019 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time (ET). The live audiocast is open to the public and will be available on LendingTree's investor relations website at http://investors.lendingtree.com/. The call may also be accessed toll-free via phone at (877) 606-1416. Callers outside the United States and Canada may dial (707) 287-9313. Following completion of the call, a recorded replay of the webcast will be available on LendingTree's investor relations website until 12:00 PM ET on Tuesday, March 05, 2019. To listen to the telephone replay, call toll-free (855) 859-2056 with passcode #3999933. Callers outside the United States and Canada may dial (404) 537-3406 with passcode #3999933.

LENDINGTREE'S PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL REPORTING

LendingTree reports the following non-GAAP measures as supplemental to GAAP:

• Variable Marketing Margin, including Variable Marketing Expense
• Variable Marketing Margin % of revenue
• Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization, as adjusted for certain items discussed below ("Adjusted EBITDA")
• Adjusted EBITDA % of revenue
• Adjusted Net Income
• Adjusted Net Income per share

Variable Marketing Margin is a measure of the efficiency of the Company's operating model, measuring revenue after subtracting variable marketing and advertising costs that directly influence revenue. The Company's operating model is highly sensitive to the amount and efficiency of variable marketing expenditures, and the Company's proprietary systems are able to make rapidly changing decisions concerning the deployment of variable marketing expenditures (primarily but not exclusively online and mobile advertising placement) based on proprietary and sophisticated analytics.  Variable Marketing Margin and Variable Marketing Margin % of revenue are primary metrics by which the Company measures the effectiveness of its marketing efforts.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA % of revenue are primary metrics by which LendingTree evaluates the operating performance of its businesses, on which its marketing expenditures and internal budgets are based and, in the case of Adjusted EBITDA, by which management and many employees are compensated.

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income per share supplement GAAP income from continuing operations and GAAP income per diluted share from continuing operations by enabling investors to make period to period comparisons of those components of the nearest comparable GAAP measures that management believes better reflect the underlying financial performance of the Company's business operations during particular financial reporting periods. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income per share exclude certain amounts, such as non-cash compensation, non-cash asset impairment charges, gain/loss on disposal of assets, severance, litigation settlements, contingencies and legal fees for certain litigation matters, acquisition and disposition income or expenses including with respect to changes in fair value of contingent consideration, one-time items which are recognized and recorded under GAAP in particular periods but which might be viewed as not necessarily coinciding with the underlying business operations for the periods in which they are so recognized and recorded, the effects to income taxes of the aforementioned adjustments and any excess tax benefit or expense associated with stock-based compensation recorded in net income in conjunction with FASB pronouncement ASU 2016-09.  LendingTree believes that Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income per share are useful financial indicators that provide a different view of the financial performance of the Company than Adjusted EBITDA (the primary metric by which LendingTree evaluates the operating performance of its businesses) and the GAAP measures of net income from continuing operations and GAAP income per diluted share from continuing operations.

These non-GAAP measures 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. LendingTree provides and encourages investors to examine the reconciling adjustments between the GAAP and non-GAAP measures set forth above.

Definition of LendingTree's Non-GAAP Measures

Variable Marketing Margin is defined as revenue less Variable Marketing Expense.  Variable Marketing Expense is defined as the expense attributable to variable costs paid for advertising, direct marketing and related expenses, including the portion of cost of revenue attributable to costs paid for advertising re-sold to third parties, and excluding overhead, fixed costs and personnel-related expenses.  The majority of these variable advertising costs are expressly intended to drive traffic to our websites and these variable advertising costs are included in selling and marketing expense on the company's consolidated statements of operations and consolidated income.  When advertising inventory is re-sold to third parties, the proceeds of such transactions are included in revenue for the purposes of calculating Variable Marketing Margin, and the costs of such re-sold advertising are included in cost of revenue in the company's consolidated statements of operations and consolidated income and are included in Variable  Marketing Expense for purposes of calculating Variable Marketing Margin.

EBITDA is defined as net income from continuing operations excluding interest, income taxes, amortization of intangibles and depreciation.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA excluding (1) non-cash compensation expense, (2) non-cash impairment charges, (3) gain/loss on disposal of assets, (4) restructuring and severance expenses, (5) litigation settlements, contingencies and legal fees for certain litigation matters, (6) acquisitions and dispositions income or expense (including with respect to changes in fair value of contingent consideration), and (7) one-time items.

Adjusted Net Income is defined as net income (loss) from continuing operations excluding (1) non-cash compensation expense, (2) non-cash impairment charges, (3) gain/loss on disposal of assets, (4) restructuring and severance expenses, (5) litigation settlements, contingencies and legal fees for certain litigation matters,

(6) acquisitions and dispositions income or expense (including with respect to changes in fair value of contingent consideration), (7) one-time items, (8) the effects to income taxes of the aforementioned adjustments, and (9) any excess tax benefit or expense associated with stock-based compensation recorded in net income in conjunction with FASB pronouncement ASU 2016-09.

Adjusted Net Income per share is defined as Adjusted Net Income divided by the adjusted weighted average diluted shares outstanding.  For periods which the Company reports GAAP loss from continuing operations, the effects of potentially dilutive securities are excluded from the calculation of net loss per diluted share from continuing operations because their inclusion would have been anti-dilutive.  In periods where the Company reports GAAP loss from continuing operations but reports positive non-GAAP Adjusted Net Income, the effects of potentially dilutive securities are included in the denominator for calculating Adjusted Net Income per share.

LendingTree endeavors to compensate for the limitations of these non-GAAP measures by also providing the comparable GAAP measures with equal or greater prominence and descriptions of the reconciling items, including quantifying such items, to derive the non-GAAP measures.  These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

One-Time Items

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income are adjusted for one-time items, if applicable. Items are considered one-time in nature if they are non-recurring, infrequent or unusual, and have not occurred in the past two years or are not expected to recur in the next two years, in accordance with SEC rules. For the periods presented in this report, there are no adjustments for one-time items except for a $9.1 million charge to reduce the value of deferred tax assets in conjunction with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and a $10 million commitment to fund the newly formed LendingTree Foundation, each occurring in the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2017.

Non-Cash Expenses That Are Excluded From LendingTree's Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income

Non-cash compensation expense consists principally of expense associated with the grants of restricted stock, restricted stock units and stock options. These expenses are not paid in cash and LendingTree includes the related shares in its calculations of fully diluted shares outstanding. Upon settlement of restricted stock units, exercise of certain stock options or vesting of restricted stock awards, the awards may be settled on a net basis, with LendingTree remitting the required tax withholding amounts from its current funds.  Cash expenditures for employer payroll taxes on non-cash compensation are included within Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income.

Amortization of intangibles are non-cash expenses relating primarily to acquisitions. At the time of an acquisition, the intangible assets of the acquired company, such as purchase agreements, technology and customer relationships, are valued and amortized over their estimated lives.  Amortization of intangibles are only excluded from Adjusted EBITDA.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

The matters contained in the discussion above may be considered to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations or anticipations of LendingTree and members of our management team. Factors currently known to management that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the following: adverse conditions in the primary and secondary mortgage markets and in the economy, particularly interest rates; default rates on loans, particularly unsecured loans; demand by investors for unsecured personal loans; the effect of such demand on interest rates for personal loans and consumer demand for personal loans; seasonality of results; potential liabilities to secondary market purchasers; changes in the Company's relationships with network partners, including dependence on certain key network partners; breaches of network security or the misappropriation or misuse of personal consumer information; failure to provide competitive service; failure to maintain brand recognition; ability to attract and retain consumers in a cost-effective manner; the effects of potential acquisitions of other businesses, including the ability to integrate them successfully with LendingTree's existing operations; accounting rules related to contingent consideration and excess tax benefits or expenses on stock-based compensation that could materially affect earnings in future periods; ability to develop new products and services and enhance existing ones; competition; allegations of failure to comply with existing or changing laws, rules or regulations, or to obtain and maintain required licenses; failure of network partners or other affiliated parties to comply with regulatory requirements; failure to maintain the integrity of systems and infrastructure; liabilities as a result of privacy regulations; failure to adequately protect intellectual property rights or allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights; and changes in management. These and additional factors to be considered are set forth under "Risk Factors" in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2018, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2017 and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. LendingTree undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results or expectations.

About LendingTree, Inc.

LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE) is the nation's leading online marketplace that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. LendingTree empowers consumers to shop for financial services the same way they would shop for airline tickets or hotel stays, comparing multiple offers from a nationwide network of over 500 partners in one simple search, and can choose the option that best fits their financial needs. Services include mortgage loans, mortgage refinances, auto loans, personal loans, business loans, student refinances, credit cards, insurance and more. Through the My LendingTree platform, consumers receive free credit scores, credit monitoring and recommendations to improve credit health. My LendingTree proactively compares consumers' credit accounts against offers on our network, and notifies consumers when there is an opportunity to save money. In short, LendingTree's purpose is to help simplify financial decisions for life's meaningful moments through choice, education and support.

LendingTree, Inc. is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. For more information, please visit www.lendingtree.com.

Investor Relations Contact:
Trent Ziegler
[email protected]
704-943-8294

Media Contact:
Megan Greuling
[email protected]
704-943-8208

SOURCE LendingTree, Inc.