Dice Holdings, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2014 Results

NEW YORK, July 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- 

• Revenues increased 28% year-over-year to $66.5 million in the second quarter
• Net income totaled $7.2 million, resulting in earnings per diluted share of $0.13
• Cash flows from operations totaled $21.3 million during the second quarter
• Adjusted EBITDA grew 26% year-over-year to $23.2 million (see "Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Reconciliations")
• Open Web™ launched in Europe, transforming the recruiting landscape

Dice Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: DHX), a leading provider of specialized websites for professional communities, today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.

Revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 totaled $66.5 million, an increase of 28% from $52.0 million in the comparable quarter of 2013 due primarily to revenues from businesses acquired within the past year.  Overall recruitment activity was fairly consistent in tech, energy, healthcare and hospitality during the second quarter, while activity improved in financial services.  The IT Job Board®, acquired in July 2013, HEALTHeCAREERS™, Hcareers® and BioSpace®, acquired in November 2013, and OilCareers, acquired in March 2014, contributed revenues of $14.0 million in the second quarter.

During the second quarter, the Company launched Open Web in Europe through The IT Job Board and the number of hiring managers and recruiters utilizing Dice's Open Web continued to increase.  Open Web now combines publicly available information from 130 social and professional networks to create an all-in-one candidate profile and a more efficient way to source and connect with candidates.  

Operating expenses for the second quarter totaled $53.6 million, an increase of $14.2 million from the comparable quarter of 2013, driven by an increase of $15.8 million from the aforementioned acquisitions, including $3.5 million of amortization.  The year-over-year increase in cost of revenues is primarily driven by the Healthcare segment due to royalties paid to healthcare associations which provide traffic and jobs to HEALTHeCAREERS.

The Company's net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 totaled $7.2 million, resulting in diluted earnings per share of $0.13 in the second quarter.

Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $21.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2014, as compared to $12.8 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2013. 

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 increased 26% year-over-year to $23.2 million or 34% of Adjusted Revenues.  See "Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Reconciliations."

Operating Segment Results

For the quarter ended June 30, 2014, Tech & Clearance segment revenues increased 5% year-over-year to $34.0 million, or 51% of consolidated revenues.  The acquisition of The IT Job Board added $2.5 million to Tech & Clearance revenues in the second quarter, while revenues declined year-over-year 3% and 4%, respectively, at Dice and ClearanceJobs.

Finance segment revenues for the second quarter of 2014 increased 6% year-over-year to $9.2 million, with currency translation from pound sterling to U.S. dollars positively impacting revenues by $0.7 million year-over-year in the second quarter.

The Energy segment grew 38% year-over-year to contribute $8.5 million in revenues in the quarter ended June 30, 2014, accounting for 13% of consolidated revenues.  Augmenting Rigzone's organic growth was the acquisition of OilCareers which added $2.0 million in the second quarter.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2014, the Healthcare and Hospitality segments contributed $6.6 million and $3.5 million of consolidated revenues, respectively. 

Corporate & Other segment revenues grew 15% to $4.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 due to improvement at Slashdot Media.

Six Month Operating Results

Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2014 totaled $127.2 million, an increase of 24% from $102.4 million in the comparable period of 2013. 

By segment, Tech & Clearance revenues increased 3% to $66.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2014, including The IT Job Board acquisition which contributed revenues of $4.5 million in the six months ended June 30, 2014.  In the same period, the Finance segment revenues grew 4% to $18.0 million from the six months ended June 30, 2013, including a currency translation benefit of $1.2 million from the comparable 2013 period.  Energy segment revenues increased 27% to $14.4 million, including the contribution from OilCareers of $2.3 million.  Healthcare and Hospitality contributed revenues of $13.1 million and $6.4 million, respectively, for the first six months of 2014. Corporate & Other revenues increased 8% to $8.8 million.

Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2014 totaled $11.6 million, resulting in diluted earnings per share of $0.21 for the six months ended June 30, 2014.

Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $33.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2014.  Adjusted EBITDA for the six months ended June 30, 2014 increased 19% to $41.8 million from $35.2 million for the same period in 2013.  See "Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Reconciliations."

Balance Sheet

Deferred revenue at June 30, 2014 grew 11% or $8.3 million to $85.7 million from $77.4 million at December 31, 2013.  The increase was primarily driven by Dice, eFinancialCareers and Rigzone.  The acquisition of OilCareers contributed $1.1 million.

Net Debt, defined as total debt less cash and cash equivalents and investments, was $96.7 million at June 30, 2014, consisting of total debt of $116.8 million minus cash and cash equivalents of $20.1 million.  This compares to Net Debt of $103.3 million at March 31, 2014, consisting of total debt of $121.4 million minus cash and cash equivalents and investments of $18.0 million.  During the second quarter, the Company repaid $4.6 million of outstanding debt.

The Company purchased 1,578,695 shares of its common stock on the open market during the second quarter of 2014 pursuant to its stock repurchase plan at an average cost of $7.10 per share, for a total cost of approximately $11.2 million.

Management Comments

"We are pleased with our results, advancing on the progress we made in the first three months of the year.  There is much more opportunity to leverage our specialty focus with great products and apps, as well as data and analytics to spark stronger future growth in each of our verticals," said Michael Durney, President and CEO of Dice Holdings, Inc. "Late in the quarter, we expanded the markets Open Web serves to include the UK - transforming the recruiting landscape.  We've increased the number of information sources for Open Web to 130 from 50, with a continuing focus on our specialty areas.  As we build our company, we work every day on making recruiting more efficient and helping professionals make the most of their careers."

"Our second quarter financial performance was better than we anticipated in April.  In our Tech & Clearance segment, we saw signs of stabilization in our recruitment package customer count at Dice," said John Roberts, CFO.  "Our performance in the second quarter again exhibited the strong cash flow nature of our business.  Our financial model delivers for shareholders with strong levels of profitability and significant free cash flow, which provides us ample room to reinvigorate our operations by investing for growth and returning cash to shareholders."

Business Outlook

The Company is providing a current, point-in-time view of estimated financial performance based on its assessment as of July 30, 2014 for the quarter ending September 30, 2014 and the year ending December 31, 2014.  The Company's actual performance will vary based on a number of factors including those that are outlined in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 in the sections entitled "Risk Factors," "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." In addition, for a description of Adjusted EBITDA as used below, see "Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and for required reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures, see "Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Reconciliations."

*Estimated Adjusted EBITDA includes an estimated fair value adjustment to deferred revenue of $500,000 and $3 million, respectively, for the quarter ending September 30, 2014 and year ending December 31, 2014.   Adjusted EBITDA margin is computed as Adjusted EBITDA divided by Adjusted Revenues (see "Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Reconciliations.")

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a conference call to discuss second quarter results today at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Hosting the call will be Michael P. Durney, President and Chief Executive Officer and John J. Roberts, Chief Financial Officer.

The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing 1-877-270-2148 or for international callers by dialing 1-412-902-6510. Please ask to be joined to the Dice Holdings, Inc. call. A replay will be available one hour after the call and can be accessed by dialing 1-877-344-7529 or 1-412-317-0088 for international callers; the replay passcode is 10049491. The replay will be available until August 07, 2014.

The call will also be webcast live from the Company's website at www.diceholdingsinc.com under the Investor Relations section.

Investor & Media Contact

Jennifer Bewley
Vice-President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Dice Holdings, Inc.
212-448-4181
[email protected]

About Dice Holdings, Inc.

Dice Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: DHX) is a leading provider of specialized websites for professional communities, including technology and engineering, financial services, energy, healthcare, hospitality and security clearance. Our mission is to help our customers source and hire the most qualified professionals in select and highly skilled occupations, and to help those professionals find the best job opportunities in their respective fields and further their careers. For more than 20 years, we have built our company by providing our customers with quick and easy access to high-quality, unique professional communities and offering those communities access to highly relevant career opportunities and information. Today, we serve multiple markets primarily in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company has provided certain non-GAAP financial information as additional information for its operating results.  These measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP") and may be different from similarly titled non-GAAP measures reported by other companies.  The Company believes that its presentation of non-GAAP measures, such as adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, non-cash stock based compensation expense, and other non-recurring income or expense ("Adjusted EBITDA"), free cash flow, Adjusted Revenues, net cash and net debt, provides useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to its financial condition and results of operations.  In addition, the Company's management uses these measures for reviewing the financial results of the Company and for budgeting and planning purposes.  The Company has provided required reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures in the section entitled "Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Reconciliations."

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP metric used by management to measure operating performance.  Management uses Adjusted EBITDA as a performance measure for internal monitoring and planning, including preparation of annual budgets, analyzing investment decisions and evaluating profitability and performance comparisons between us and our competitors.  The Company also uses this measure to calculate amounts of performance based compensation under the senior management incentive bonus program.  Adjusted EBITDA, as defined in our Credit Agreement, represents net income plus (to the extent deducted in calculating such net income interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, non-cash stock option expenses, losses resulting from certain dispositions outside the ordinary course of business, certain writeoffs in connection with indebtedness, impairment charges with respect to long-lived assets, expenses incurred in connection with an equity offering, extraordinary or non-recurring non-cash expenses or losses, transaction costs in connection with the Credit Agreement up to $250,000, deferred revenues written off in connection with acquisition purchase accounting adjustments, writeoff of non-cash stock compensation expense, and business interruption insurance proceeds, minus (to the extent included in calculating such net income) non-cash income or gains, interest income, and any income or gain resulting from certain dispositions outside the ordinary course of business.

We consider Adjusted EBITDA, as defined above, to be an important indicator to investors because it provides information related to our ability to provide cash flows to meet future debt service, capital expenditures and working capital requirements and to fund future growth as well as to monitor compliance with financial covenants.  We present Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental performance measure because we believe that this measure provides our board of directors, management and investors with additional information to measure our performance, provide comparisons from period to period and company to company by excluding potential differences caused by variations in capital structures (affecting interest expense) and tax positions (such as the impact on periods or companies of changes in effective tax rates or net operating losses), and to estimate our value.

We present Adjusted EBITDA because covenants in our Credit Agreement contain ratios based on this measure.  Our Credit Agreement is material to us because it is one of our primary sources of liquidity.  If our Adjusted EBITDA were to decline below certain levels, covenants in our Credit Agreement that are based on Adjusted EBITDA may be violated and could cause a default and acceleration of payment obligations under our Credit Agreement.

Adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income, operating income or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP or as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of our profitability or liquidity.

Adjusted Revenues

Adjusted Revenues is a non-GAAP metric used by management to measure operating performance.  Adjusted Revenues, represents Revenues plus the add back of the fair value adjustment to deferred revenue related to purchase accounting of acquisitions.  We consider Adjusted Revenues to be an important measure to evaluate the performance of our acquisitions.

Free Cash Flow

We define free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities minus capital expenditures. We believe free cash flow is an important non-GAAP measure as it provides useful cash flow information regarding our ability to service, incur or pay down indebtedness or repurchase our common stock.  We use free cash flow as a measure to reflect cash available to service our debt as well as to fund our expenditures.  A limitation of using free cash flow versus the GAAP measure of net cash provided by operating activities is that free cash flow does not represent the total increase or decrease in the cash balance from operations for the period since it includes cash used for capital expenditures during the period and is adjusted for acquisition related payments within operating cash flows.

Net Cash/Net Debt

Net Cash is defined as cash and cash equivalents and investments less total debt. Net Debt is defined as total debt less cash and cash equivalents and investments. We consider Net Cash and Net Debt to be important measures of liquidity and indicators of our ability to meet ongoing obligations.  We also use Net Cash and Net Debt, among other measures, in evaluating our choices for capital deployment.  Net Cash and Net Debt presented herein are non-GAAP measures and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and oral statements made from time to time by our representatives contains forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Forward-looking statements include information without limitation concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business strategy. These statements often include words such as "may," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate" or similar expressions.  These statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of our experience in the industry as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.  These factors include, but are not limited to, competition from existing and future competitors in the highly competitive market in which we operate, failure to adapt our business model to keep pace with rapid changes in the recruiting and career services business, failure to maintain and develop our reputation and brand recognition, failure to increase or maintain the number of customers who purchase recruitment packages, cyclicality or downturns in the economy or industries we serve, failure to attract qualified professionals to our websites or grow the number of qualified professionals who use our websites, failure to successfully identify or integrate acquisitions, U.S. and foreign government regulation of the Internet and taxation, our ability to borrow funds under our revolving credit facility or refinance our indebtedness and restrictions on our current and future operations under such indebtedness.  These factors and others are discussed in more detail in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which are available on the Investor Relations page of our website at www.diceholdingsinc.com, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013, under the headings "Risk Factors," "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."

You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made by the Company or its representatives herein, or elsewhere, speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties come up from time to time, and it is impossible to predict these events or how they may affect us. We have no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof, except as required by federal securities laws.

Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Reconciliations

On the pages that follow, the Company has provided certain supplemental information that we believe will assist the reader in assessing our business operations and performance, including certain non-GAAP financial information and required reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measure.  A statement of operations and statement of cash flows for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2014 and 2013 and a balance sheet as of June 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013 are provided elsewhere in this press release. 

SOURCE Dice Holdings, Inc.

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