Banks.com, Inc. Reports $2.9 Million in Revenue and $159,000 in Adjusted EBITDA in Second Quarter 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banks.com, Inc. (NYSE Amex: BNX), operator of internet media properties that provide targeted online advertising and services primarily in the financial services sector, today announced results for the three months and the six months ended June 30, 2010.

Second Quarter Financial Performance

• Banks.com, Inc. ("Banks.com") reported revenue of $2.9 million in the second quarter 2010, essentially flat compared to $3.0 million in the prior year period. GAAP(1) net loss available to common stockholders was $239,000 or $0.01 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2010 compared to GAAP net loss available to common stockholders of $24,000 or $0.00 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2009.
• Adjusted EBITDA(2) was $159,000, down substantially from Adjusted EBITDA of $924,000 for the quarter ended June 30, 2009. Adjusted EBITDA was impacted by higher litigation related, legal expenses and revenue credits. These items totaled approximately $550,000 during the period.
• Gross profit declined 16% to $1.6 million in the second quarter of 2010 from $1.9 million in the second quarter of 2009, and gross margin contracted to 55% from 63% in the same period last year due to the traffic acquisition costs incurred on traffic associated with a charge against revenue of $226,000.
• Operating expense was up 29% to $1.9 million in the second quarter of 2010 from $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2009, inclusive of the higher legal expense.

Six Month Year over Year Performance

• Revenue was $7.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2010, an increase of 20% compared to $5.9 million in the prior year period. GAAP net income available to common stockholders was $51,000 or $0.00 per diluted share, virtually unchanged compared to GAAP net income available to common stockholders of $50,000 or $0.00 per diluted share in the same period of 2009.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $1.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2010, a decrease of 20% from Adjusted EBITDA of $1.9 million in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA was impacted by higher litigation related, legal expenses and revenue credits. These items totaled approximately $680,000 during the period.
• Gross profit increased 7% to $4.3 million compared to $4.0 million for the same period last year and gross margin contracted to 60% from 68% in the same period last year due to the traffic acquisition costs incurred on traffic associated with a charge against revenue of $226,000.
• Operating expenses increased 20% to $3.8 million compared to $3.1 million for the same period last year inclusive of the higher legal expense.

"The second quarter was clearly a very challenging one that was impacted by some large expenses and an unusually weak top line in the month of June, which negated much of the progress we made in the first two months of the quarter," stated Dan O'Donnell, Chief Executive Officer of Banks.com. "We experienced substantial litigation related expenses in connection with ongoing legal actions but are pleased to report that we've now reached preliminary settlement with all of the parties, with terms favorable to Banks.com. We were also recently notified of an unexpected credit to revenue associated with traffic generated during the quarter. Together, these expenses negatively impacted Adjusted EBITDA by approximately $550,000 during the period. Despite these short term challenges, we are pleased at the positive long term trends we are seeing as our organic traffic continues to increase as a result of our rising search engine rankings on some popular and valuable financial search terms."

Business Highlights

• Launched RateCenter to syndicate interest rate content
• Achieved page one ranking on Bing for the search term "Mortgage Rates"
• Launched beta version of its new, deeper content, Banks.com site (http://beta.banks.com)

Conference Call

Banks.com will host a conference call today at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET to discuss its second quarter 2010 results. To listen to the call and have the opportunity to ask questions, please dial:

877-941-1427 (domestic) or 480-629-9664 (International) five to 10 minutes before the call.

A replay of the call will be available by dialing:

877-870-5176 (domestic) or 858-384-5517 (international) and referencing Passcode 4339570

or online at: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/playerlink.zhtml?c=186230&s=wm&e=3255273.

Questions for the conference call will also be taken via email at: [email protected] and can be sent any time prior to the conference call's starting time. Investors will also have the opportunity to listen to the conference call and the replay on the Investor Relations section of the Banks.com website at: www.Banks.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward looking statements, which are based on management's current expectations, are generally identifiable by the use of terms, such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "possible," "potential," "predicts," "projects," "should," "would" and similar expressions. The forward looking statements in this press release include statements regarding: management's expectations regarding our strategy, management's expectations regarding our future financial results, the effect of recent events, our financial flexibility, our growth prospects, and the overall outlook for our business. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied herein include, among others, slowdown in the financial services vertical; market acceptance of the Banks.com website; introduction of additional competitors in the Internet search services space; diversion of advertising dollars away from the Internet; slower than anticipated growth rate of our advertising base; dependence on our search providers; market development of Internet advertising and paid search services;  the stability of our infrastructure; and continued weak economic conditions. Further information on the factors that could affect our financial results is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Except as required by law, we assume no responsibility to update these forward looking statements publicly, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes the following financial measure defined as a non-GAAP financial measure by the Securities and Exchange Commission: Adjusted EBITDA.  This supplemental financial measure is not required by GAAP, nor is the presentation of this financial information intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.  Management recognizes that non-GAAP financial measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the items associated with Banks.com's earnings results as determined in accordance with GAAP.  However, for the reasons described below, management uses this non-GAAP measure to evaluate the performance of Banks.com's business.  Banks.com's management believes that it is important to provide investors with these same tools, together with a reconciliation to GAAP, for evaluating the performance of Banks.com's business, as it may provide additional insight into Banks.com's financial results.  See "Reconciliation of GAAP Net Earnings to Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization and Stock Compensation Expense (Adjusted EBITDA)" table included in this press release for further information regarding these non-GAAP financial measures.  In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is presented because management believes it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and others in the evaluation of companies.

Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by adding income taxes, interest expense, depreciation and amortization to net earnings, adjusted for certain items management believes should be excluded in order to reflect a more meaningful representation of Banks.com's financial performance, including stock compensation expense.  Banks.com's management excludes the impact of equity-based compensation to eliminate the effects of this non-cash item, which, because it is based upon estimates on the grant dates, may bear little resemblance to the actual values realized upon the future exercise, expiration, termination or forfeiture of the stock-based compensation. Adjusted EBITDA is not defined under GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net earnings and other consolidated earnings data prepared in accordance with GAAP or as a measure of Banks.com's profitability.

About Banks.com

Banks.com, Inc. operates Internet media properties that provide targeted online advertising and services primarily in the financial services sector. Through the Banks.com network, the Company provides access to financial content, including financial news, blogs, business articles, interest-rate tables, stock quotes, stock tracking and financial calculators. It also provides users access to financial services, including online tax preparation and tax extensions through the Banks.com Tax Center and online stock brokerage through MyStockFund.com, its online broker-dealer subsidiary. In addition to Banks.com, it operates other search related websites including Look.com. Banks.com, Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco, California at 222 Kearny Street, Suite 550 and can be reached at 415.962.9700. Find up to date information on Mortgage Rates, CD Rates & Home Equity Rates at: Banks.com.

(1)  Generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America.

(2)  Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by adding income taxes, interest expense, depreciation and amortization to net earnings, adjusted for certain items management believes should be excluded in order to reflect a more meaningful representation of our financial performance, including stock compensation expense. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. This measure may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. We encourage investors to review the section above entitled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and to review the reconciling adjustments between the GAAP and non-GAAP measures attached to this press release.

SOURCE Banks.com, Inc.