PROVO, Utah, April 30, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ancestry.com LLC, the world’s largest online family history resource, reported financial results today for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014.
“We had a solid first quarter financially, highlighted by the momentum from our AncestryDNA product, which is starting to have a positive impact on our revenue,” said Tim Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of Ancestry.com. “We are confident in our positioning for the long-term as we continue to invest in talent, technology and product enhancements that we believe will broaden the appeal of our service to new generations of users in existing and new markets.”
First Quarter 2014 Financial Highlights
Total revenues and non–GAAP revenues1 for the first quarter 2014 were each $153.6 million. Non-GAAP revenues increased 13.8% from $135.0 million in the first quarter of 2013 driven by growth in revenues from the Company’s core Ancestry.com branded websites, AncestryDNA, and Archives.com.
Net loss for the first quarter of 2014 was $(2.4) million compared to net loss of $(21.4) million in the first quarter of 2013.
Adjusted EBITDA2 for the first quarter of 2014 was $49.0 million, unchanged from $49.0 million in the first quarter of 2013. Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2014 includes $0.9 million of professional service fees related to litigation and costs associated with the return of capital transaction declared in February 2014 by our parent. For the three months ended March 31, 2013, adjusted EBITDA includes $1.1 million of professional services related to litigation and costs associated with reorganizing our corporate structure.
Free cash flow3 totaled $32.2 million for the first quarter of 2014, compared to $50.7 million for first quarter of 2013.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $121.5 million as of March 31, 2014.
Obligations under long-term debt4 totaled $912.7 million as of March 31, 2014.
Ancestry.com Updates
Subscribers — Subscribers of Ancestry.com websites totaled approximately 2,161,000 as of March 31, 2014, compared to 2,140,000 as of year end 2013.
Content – The Company added more than one billion new records during the quarter. New records include the first wave of collections made available through our collaboration with FamilySearch. When fully published in the second quarter, these collections will provide more than 1 billion digitized and indexed records containing birth, marriage, death, census and church records from 67 countries. Other new collections added in Q1 included:
New York City Vital Records Index (1866-1948) — 10.6 million records
Fremantle, Western Australia, Passenger Lists (1897-1963) — 3.6 million records
Massachusetts State Census (1855 and 1865) — 2.4 million records
England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills (1384-1858) — 1.0 million records
Updated Search Experience — The Company consolidated the search experience into one simple interface for users and introduced new features like search sliders that quickly modify results or the “category + exact” mode, to help customers improve their search experience overall.
AncestryDNA Highlights
Database — Surpassed 400,000 database sample mark in Q2 2014 (cumulative since May 2012).
Hints — Improved the DNA hints system to show where a common ancestor is shared among a customer’s DNA matches. Overall, AncestryDNA has found 2.7 million DNA hints based on the current trees that are linked to DNA results and this number will grow as more people take the test.
Sharing — Launched a feature that allows DNA customers to share their ethnicity results with family and friends via email.
Region Descriptions — Updated region descriptions to better tell the story behind how each region’s history and culture support the genetic uniqueness identified for the region. Each region now includes photos and maps to visually communicate the message.
Spit Kit — Created a new DNA collection kit that includes a new mechanism for gathering the saliva sample, new instructions and packaging, and required updates to the DNA activation flow and lab procedures. The new spit kit also increases the success rate of the testing process.
International Highlights
Launch of iOS and Android app in Spanish to serve Mexico. Mexican customers will now be able build their family trees in Spanish and purchase a World Deluxe subscription in-app through the iTunes and Google stores. The mobile app is the first foray for Ancestry into Mexico, with a full ancestry.mx site soon to follow.
Archives Highlights
New Features — Launched new “Found a Match” feature to provide a way for users to keep track of the hints that might be the ancestor they are looking for. Now users can label results as “Found it,” “Maybe,” or “Not it.” Also, launched new “Show More” feature with census records the enables users to scan through the records more efficiently see who else is in the household to determine if they found the right person.
New Content — Launched eight new vital records collections, with more than 10 million records in total. Included in this release are Georgia Births and Christenings, Idaho Deaths and Burials, Idaho Select Marriages, Indiana Births and Christenings, Indiana Marriage Index, Iowa Select Deaths and Burials, Iowa Select Marriages, and Montana Marriage Index.
Find A Grave Highlights
Find A Grave has reached a total of 114 million memorials and 90 million photos. In March, Ancestry launched the Find A Grave iOS app to help users on-the-go find grave memorials and cemetery information, add new memorials, take headstone photos, and make photo requests from the Find A Grave community..
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1 Non-GAAP revenues are defined as the revenues that would have been recognized, except for the write-down of deferred revenue to fair value as a result of the application of purchase accounting for the acquisition of Ancestry.com Inc. by a company controlled by Permira funds and co-investors (the “Transaction”).
2 Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) plus non-cash adjustments to revenue from purchase accounting, interest expense, net; other (income) expense; income tax expense (benefit); and non-cash charges including depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation expense.
3 Free cash flow subtracts from adjusted EBITDA capitalization of content databases, purchases of property and equipment and cash received (paid) for income taxes and interest.
4 This amount does not include $400.0 million in senior unsecured PIK notes issued by our parent company, Ancestry.com Holdings LLC. While not required, Ancestry.com LLC intends to make dividends to its parent in order to fund cash interest payments of these notes.
