NICE Reports 7.5% Increase in Non-GAAP Revenue and 26% Increase in Non-GAAP EPS for the First Quarter 2015

RA'ANANA, Israel, May 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- NICE Systems (NASDAQ: NICE) today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015.

First Quarter 2015 non-GAAP Financial Highlights:  

• Revenues of $246 million, up 7.5% year-over-year
• Product revenue increased 17% year-over-year
• Operating margin of 21.3%, up from 18.2% last year
• Fully diluted earnings per share of $0.72, up 26% year-over-year
• Record cash from operations of $104 million, compared to $58 million last year

"We are pleased to report another strong quarter," said Barak Eilam, CEO of NICE. "We reported Non-GAAP revenue growth of 7.5%, which would have been 10% excluding the negative impact from foreign exchange rates, Non-GAAP earnings per share growth of 26%, demonstrating strong leverage in our business model, and record cash flow from operations. We owe these strong results to solid execution supported by strong growth in analytics, and the further implementation of our operational plan to streamline our business and improve profitability."

Mr. Eilam continued, "Innovation has been a cornerstone to much of our success.  We will continue to accelerate innovation and move products faster to market. With a growing addressable market and a solid leadership position, we believe that we are well-positioned to capture the many opportunities ahead of us."

Dividend Declaration   

The Company declared a cash dividend for the first quarter of 2015 of $0.16 per share. The record date will be May 20^th, 2015 and the payment date will be June 3^th, 2015. Tax will be withheld at a rate of 15%.

Share Repurchase Program

The Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a new program to repurchase up to $100 million of its issued and outstanding ordinary shares and ADRs. Repurchases may be made from time to time in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions and will be in accordance with applicable securities laws and regulations. The timing and amount of the repurchase transactions will be determined by management and may depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions, alternative investment opportunities and other considerations. The program does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular amount of ordinary shares and ADRs and the program may be modified or discontinued at any time without prior notice.

Interactions 2015 - Investor Day

The Company will be hosting its Investor Day on June 1st and 2nd in conjunction with its annual user conference in San Antonio, Texas. Analysts and investors who would like to register, please email [email protected].

Non-GAAP Financial Highlights for the First Quarter Ended March 31:

Revenues: First quarter 2015 non-GAAP total revenues were $246.1 million, up 7.5% from $229.0 million for the first quarter of 2014.

Gross Profit: First quarter 2015 non-GAAP gross profit and non-GAAP gross margin increased to $167.1 million and 67.9%, respectively, from $149.8 million and 65.4%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2014.

Operating Income: First quarter 2015 non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin increased to $52.5 million and 21.3%, respectively, from $41.6 million and 18.2%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2014.

Net Income: First quarter 2015 non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net margin increased to $44.1 million and 17.9%, respectively, from $34.8 million and 15.2%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2014.

Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share: First quarter 2015 non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share increased 26.3% to $0.72, compared to $0.57 for the first quarter of 2014.

GAAP Financial Highlights for the First Quarter Ended March 31:

Revenues: First quarter 2015 total revenues increased 7.6% to $246.0 million compared to $228.6 million for the first quarter of 2014.

Gross Profit: First quarter 2015 gross profit and gross margin increased to $158.9 million and 64.6%, respectively, from $138.9 million and 60.8%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2014.

Operating Income: First quarter 2015 operating income and operating margin increased to $34.4 million and 14.0%, respectively, from $16.8 million and 7.3%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2014.

Net Income: : First quarter 2015 net income and net margin increased to $29.2 million and 11.9%, respectively, compared to $15.7 million and 6.9%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2014.

Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share: Fully diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2015 was $0.48 compared to $0.26 for the first quarter of 2014.

Operating Cash Flow and Cash Balance: First quarter 2015 operating cash flow was $104.1 million. In the first quarter, $6.3 million was used for share repurchases and $9.6 million for dividends. As of March 31, 2015, total cash and cash equivalents, short term investments and marketable securities were $591.2 million, with no debt.

Second Quarter and Full Year 2015 Guidance:

Second Quarter 2015: Second quarter 2015 non-GAAP total revenues are expected to be in a range of $249 million to $257 million. Second quarter 2015 non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share are expected to be in a range of $0.67 to $0.73.

Full Year 2015: The Company continues to expect full year 2015 non-GAAP total revenues to be in a range of $1,065 million to $1,085 million. The Company increased its full year 2015 non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share to a range of $3.10 to $3.21.

Quarterly Results Conference Call

NICE management will host its earnings conference call today, May 7th, 2015 at 8:30 AM EDT, 13:30 GMT, 15:30 Israel, to discuss the results and the company's outlook. To participate in the call, please dial in to the following numbers: United States 1-866-804-8688 or +1-718-354-1175, International +44(0)1296-480-100, United Kingdom 0-800-783-0906, Israel 1-809-242-041. The Passcode is 772 554 88. Additional access numbers can be found at http://www.btconferencing.com/globalaccess/?bid=54_attended. The call will be webcast live on the Company's website at http://www.nice.com/news-and-events/ir-events. An online replay will also be available approximately two hours following the call. A telephone replay of the call will be available for 7 days after the live broadcast, and may be accessed by dialing: United States 1-877-482-6144, International +44(0)20-7136-9233, United Kingdom 0-800-032-9687. The Passcode for the replay is 62250445.

Non-GAAP financial measures consist of GAAP financial measures adjusted to exclude: amortization of acquired intangible assets, re-organization expenses, restructuring expenses, share-based compensation, certain business combination accounting entries, amortization of an investment in affiliate and tax adjustment re non-GAAP adjustments. The purpose of such adjustments is to give an indication of our performance exclusive of non-cash charges and other items that are considered by management to be outside of our core operating results. Our non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures, and should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our management regularly uses our supplemental non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate our business and make operating decisions. These non-GAAP measures are among the primary factors management uses in planning for and forecasting future periods. Business combination accounting rules requires us to recognize a legal performance obligation related to a revenue arrangement of an acquired entity. The amount assigned to that liability should be based on its fair value at the date of acquisition. The non-GAAP adjustment is intended to reflect the full amount of such revenue. We believe this adjustment is useful to investors as a measure of the ongoing performance of our business. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide consistent and comparable measures to help investors understand our current and future operating cash flow performance. These non-GAAP financial measures may differ materially from the non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. Reconciliation between results on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis is provided in a table immediately following the Consolidated Statements of Income.

About NICE
NICE Systems (NASDAQ: NICE) is the worldwide leading provider of software solutions that enable organizations to take the next best action in order to improve customer experience and business results, ensure compliance, fight financial crime, and safeguard people and assets. NICE's solutions empower organizations to capture, analyze, and apply, in real time, insights from both structured and unstructured Big Data. This data comes from multiple sources, including phone calls, mobile apps, emails, chat, social media, video, and transactions. NICE solutions are used by over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 80 of the Fortune 100 companies. www.nice.com.

Trademark Note: NICE and the NICE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NICE Systems. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. For a full list of NICE Systems' marks, please see: http://www.nice.com/nice-trademarks. 

Investors
Marty Cohen, +1 212 574 3635, [email protected], ET
Yisca Erez, +972 9 775-3798, [email protected], CET

Media Contact
Erik Snider, +1 877 245 7448, erik.snider@nice.com                                                        

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including the statements by Mr. Eilam, are based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of NICE-Systems Ltd. (the Company). In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as believe, expect, may, will, intend, project, plan, estimate or similar words. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those described herein, including but not limited to the impact of the global economic environment on the Company's customer base (particularly financial services firms) potentially impacting our business and financial condition; competition; changes in technology and market requirements; decline in demand for the Company's products; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; difficulties or delays in absorbing and integrating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel; loss of market share; an inability to maintain certain marketing and distribution arrangements; and the effect of newly enacted or modified laws, regulation or standards on the Company and our products. For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting the company, refer to the Company's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise them, except as required by law.

SOURCE NICE