Official Payments Reports Results from Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2013: Seventh Consecutive Quarter of Positive Adjusted EBITDA; Company reports earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.04 for the quarter

NORCROSS, Ga., Aug. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Official Payments Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPAY), a leading provider of electronic payment solutions, reported results today for its fiscal year 2013 third quarter (Q3 fiscal 2013). The Company will host a call/webcast today at 5:00 p.m. EDT to review its results:

Q3 Fiscal 2013 Highlights:
Official Payments Holdings, Inc. reported revenue from continuing operations of $45.8 million for Q3 fiscal 2013, an increase of $6.6 million compared to Q3 fiscal 2012. Q3 fiscal 2013 Payment Solutions net revenue, which reflects Payment Solutions revenues less related processing and interchange fees, was $13.2 million compared to $11.8 million in Q3 fiscal 2012. $3.2 billion of payment transactions were processed in Q3 fiscal 2013 compared to $2.7 billion of payment transactions in Q3 fiscal 2012 with the average size of transaction processed increasing 19.3% from Q3 fiscal 2012 to Q3 fiscal 2013.  General and administrative increased 6.7%, or $0.4 million in Q3 fiscal 2013 compared to Q3 fiscal 2012, while selling and marketing expenses decreased 22%, or $0.6 million from Q3 fiscal 2012 to Q3 fiscal 2013.

Official Payments reported net income from continuing operations of $0.6 million, or $0.04 per share for Q3 fiscal 2013, compared to the prior year's net loss from continuing operations of $0.6 million, or negative $0.03 per share for Q3 fiscal 2012.  Continuing operations consists of the Payment Solutions segment, which contributed more than 99% of the company's revenue from continuing operations in fiscal 2013, and the legacy voice and systems automation (VSA) operations that are in the process of being wound down.

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $3.4 million in Q3 fiscal 2013 compared to $1.4 million in Q3 fiscal 2012.

Payment Solutions net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations are non-GAAP financial measures.  These measures are defined and reconciled to GAAP financial measures below.

Cash Position and Use of Cash
Official Payments' cash and cash equivalents increased by approximately $1.2 million from $39.1 million at September 30, 2012 to $40.3 million at June 30, 2013. Official Payments cash position for the quarter includes $3.6 million of net settlement funds outstanding and $6.7 million of accrued discount fees, thus leaving cash available for company use of $30 million.

Management Overview
Alex P. Hart, President and CEO, stated, "We're pleased to report positive Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations for our seventh consecutive quarter and positive earnings per share for the first time in several years.  Our platform consolidation project remains on target to be substantially complete by the end of the calendar year.  We expect significant savings from this project in terms of both improved operational efficiency and reduced capital expenditures for the next fiscal year.  We're confident that we've positioned ourselves for even better financial results in fiscal year 2014."

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Official Payments uses the following non-GAAP financial measures in this press release:  Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations and Payment Solutions net revenue. We define Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations as net income (loss) from our continuing operations before interest expense net of interest income, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, restructuring charges and share-based compensation expense. We define Payment Solutions net revenue as Payment Solutions gross revenue less discount fees. Discount fees include interchange fees and other processing-related dues, assessments and fees. Payment Solutions gross revenue is defined as revenue from continuing operations less revenue from VSA operations.

Management believes these measures are useful for evaluating our performance against the performance of peer companies within the electronic payments industry, and that they provide investors with additional transparency on the financial measures used in management's decision-making.  Management believes that Payment Solutions net revenue provides additional information about our business as we wind down our VSA operations.  We also use Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, together with other criteria, in our executive compensation program. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for the reported results prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or US GAAP.  Our definitions used to calculate non-GAAP financial measures may differ from those used by other companies.

These measures are reconciled to GAAP financial measures in the tables below:  

About Official Payments Holdings, Inc. (www.OPAY.OfficialPayments.com):
Official Payments provides electronic payment solutions for over 3,000 clients across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. During the past year more than 12 million Customers and Constituents of our Clients utilized our services. Official Payments' solutions enable government agencies, educational institutions, utility companies, charitable organizations, and other billers to seamlessly accept secure, convenient payments by credit card, debit card and electronic check via mobile, web (www.OfficialPayments.com), telephone and point of sale.

Forward looking statements
Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These forward-looking statements relate to future events or Official Payments' future financial and/or operating performance and generally can be identified as such because the context of the statement includes words such as "may," "will," "intends," "plans," "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," "shows," "predicts," "potential," "continue," or "opportunity," the negative of these words or words of similar import.  Official Payments undertakes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.  Each of these statements is made as of the date hereof based only on current information and expectations that are inherently subject to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in any of such statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to: intense competition in the marketplace; our ability to increase Payment Solutions revenues and reduce operating costs, including discount fees; our ability to execute on our sales, marketing and product development strategy and expand our business including introduction of new services, products, and product enhancements into the marketplace;  timely consolidation of our payment platforms; maintaining secure systems and protecting against security breaches, loss of privacy/data, and fraud; litigation; unanticipated claims as a result of the failure of software providers, processors, vendors, or subcontractors to satisfactorily perform and complete engagements; the renewal, extension or early termination of client contracts or projects; and compliance with government regulations and the impact of regulatory requirements.    For a discussion of these and other factors which may cause our actual events or results to differ from those projected, please refer to the sections, "Risk Factors" and "Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Official Payments Holdings, Inc.