Vocus Announces Results for Third Quarter 2012

BELTSVILLE, Md., Oct. 23, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vocus, Inc. (Nasdaq:VOCS), a leading provider of cloud marketing software, announced today financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012.

"We are very pleased to report strong Q3 results with better than expected revenue and earnings," said Rick Rudman, President and CEO of Vocus, Inc. "We continue to see accelerating growth with the Vocus Marketing Suite and the recently acquired iContact email marketing business as well as strong momentum from our expanding sales organization. We believe our continued success in these three key strategic areas positions us well for growth in 2013."

Financial Highlights

Income Statement

• GAAP revenue for the third quarter of 2012 was $45.2 million, a 57% increase over the comparable period in 2011.
• Non-GAAP revenue for the third quarter of 2012 was $45.7 million, a 58% increase over the comparable period in 2011. Non-GAAP revenue includes the revenue excluded from the GAAP results due to purchase accounting adjustments, which reduced deferred revenue to its fair value as of the date of acquisition. 
• GAAP loss from operations for the third quarter of 2012 was $(3.4) million, compared to $(314,000) for the comparable period in 2011.
• Non-GAAP income from operations for the third quarter of 2012 was $3.9 million, compared to $4.2 million for the comparable period in 2011.
• GAAP net loss for the third quarter of 2012 was $(3.8) million or $(0.20) per diluted share, compared to $(212,000) or $(0.01) per diluted share for the comparable period in 2011.
• Non-GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2012 was $3.5 million or $0.14 per diluted share, compared to $4.4 million or $0.21 per diluted share for the comparable period in 2011.

Balance Sheet and Other Financial Information

• Total deferred revenue as of September 30, 2012 was $68.1 million compared to $55.2 million at September 30, 2011. Total deferred revenue as of September 30, 2012 does not include $316,000 of the unamortized non-GAAP adjustment to deferred revenue.
• Total deferred revenue recorded in connection with the acquisition of iContact was $1.6 million, which excludes an adjustment of $2.3 million reflecting the reduction to the fair value of the acquired deferred revenue due to purchase accounting.
• Cash flow from operations for the third quarter of 2012 was $4.2 million, and free cash flow for the third quarter of 2012 was $2.9 million. 

Business Highlights

• Added 1,015 net new annual subscription customers during the third quarter of 2012 compared to 998 net new annual subscription customers added during the comparable period in 2011 and ended the quarter with 15,131 total active annual subscription customers.
• Signed subscription agreements with new and existing customers including Beat100, Broadhead Archery, Code Red Safety and Rental, Digiarty Software, Down Under Endeavours, TaxConnex, Norwegian Cruise Line,  PetBookings.com, Rose Cottage Publishing, Saks, School Improvement Network, Stars and Stripes, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Wargaming Europe.
• Announced that PRWeb is now the world's #1 news release distribution service according to independent sources and has surpassed major competitors using multiple measures such as most traffic and best SEO.
• Unveiled the Fall 2012 Vocus PR Suite which debuted the Recommendation Engine to filter content in social media and identify relevant opportunities to engage customers and influencers. With these enhancements, businesses can more easily combine social media with public relations to improve the impact of their PR.
• iContact ranked as the #1 email marketing service provider in Website Magazine's Top 50.
• Named to Software Magazine's Annual Software 500, a ranking of the world's largest software companies, for the 13^th consecutive year.

Guidance

Vocus is providing, for the first time, guidance for the fourth quarter of 2012 based on information as of October 23, 2012:

• For the fourth quarter of 2012, non-GAAP revenue is expected to be in the range of approximately $47.2 million to $47.6 million. For the fourth quarter of 2012, GAAP revenue is expected to be in the range of approximately $46.9 million to $47.3 million. Non-GAAP diluted EPS is expected to be in the range of $0.15 to $0.16 assuming an estimated non-GAAP weighted average 24.5 million diluted shares outstanding and an estimated tax provision of $400,000. Non-GAAP adjustments are expected to be $0.32 per share. GAAP EPS is expected to be in the range of $(0.17) to $(0.16) assuming an estimated weighted average 19.6 million basic and diluted shares outstanding.
• For the full year of 2012, non-GAAP revenue is expected to be in the range of $172.8 million to $173.2 million. For the full year of 2012, GAAP revenue is expected to be in the range of approximately $170.6 million to $171.0 million. Non-GAAP diluted EPS is expected to be in the range of $0.42 to $0.43 assuming an estimated non-GAAP weighted average 23.6 million diluted shares outstanding and an estimated tax provision of $1.4 million. Non-GAAP adjustments are expected to be $1.62 per share. GAAP EPS is expected to be in the range of $(1.20) to $(1.19) assuming an estimated weighted average 19.5 million basic and diluted shares outstanding. Free cash flow is expected to range from $15.5 million to $16.5 million. Capital expenditures are expected to be $4.0 million.

This release includes non-GAAP financial measures and adjustments. For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures and adjustments, please refer to section "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and the accompanying tables entitled "Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures" and "Reconciliation of 2012 Guidance."

Conference Call Information

Vocus will discuss the financial results and business highlights of the third quarter of 2012 in a conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET, or 1:30 p.m. PT, today. Investors are invited to listen to a live audio webcast of the conference call on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://onlinepressroom.net/vocus/ir/webcast/. A replay of the webcast will be available approximately one hour after the conclusion of the call and will remain available for 30 calendar days following the conference call. An audio replay of the conference call will also be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call. The audio replay will be available until October 30, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. ET and can be accessed by dialing (404) 537-3406 or (855) 859-2056 and entering conference number 25062956.

About Vocus, Inc.

Vocus, Inc. is a leading provider of cloud marketing software that helps businesses reach and influence buyers across social networks, online and through media. Vocus provides an integrated suite that combines social marketing, search marketing, email marketing and publicity into a comprehensive solution to help businesses attract, engage and retain customers. Vocus software is used by more than 120,000 organizations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in Beltsville, MD with offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For further information, please visit www.vocus.com or call (800) 345-5572.

The Vocus, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=12668

Forward-Looking Statement

This release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions or that include words such as "may," "will," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions. This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, Vocus' expectations and assumptions concerning future financial performance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Vocus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The risks and uncertainties referred to above include, but are not limited to, risks associated with possible fluctuations in our operating results and rate of growth, our history of operating losses, risks associated with acquisitions, including our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses, risks associated with our foreign operations, interruptions or delays in our service or our web hosting, our business model, breach of our security measures, the emerging market in which we operate, our relatively limited operating history, our ability to hire, retain, and motivate our employees and manage our growth, competition, our ability to continue to release and gain customer acceptance of new and improved versions of our service, successful customer deployment and utilization of our services, fluctuations in the number of shares outstanding, foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Vocus provides non-GAAP measures for revenue, income from operations, net income, diluted net income per share and free cash flow as supplemental information. 

We define non-GAAP revenue as GAAP revenue adjusted for the impact of the fair value adjustment to deferred revenue related to purchase accounting. Management believes the adjustment is useful to investors as a more accurate measure of our ongoing performance from the acquisitions.

We define non-GAAP income from operations as GAAP income from operations including the impact of non-GAAP revenue and excluding stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, fair value adjustments to contingent consideration and acquisition-related expenses. 

We define non-GAAP net income as GAAP net income including the impact of non-GAAP revenue and excluding stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, fair value adjustments to contingent consideration including the effect of foreign currencies and acquisition-related expenses. 

Stock-based compensation included in our GAAP financial results relates to stock option and restricted stock awards.  Companies record stock-based compensation by applying varying valuation methodologies and subjective assumptions to different types of equity awards.  Amortization of acquired intangible assets included in our GAAP financial results consists of amortization of non-compete agreements, trade names, purchased technology and customer relationships that are not expected to be replaced when fully amortized, as a depreciable tangible asset might.  Amortization expense can vary from period to period due to the timing and size of our acquisitions.  Adjustments to deferred revenue reflect the reductions in the fair value of the acquired company's deferred revenue due to purchase accounting. Our GAAP financial results include adjustments to the fair value of contingent consideration for acquisition earn-outs as of each reporting date from the fair value recorded on the acquisition date.  Acquisition-related expenses included in our GAAP operating expenses consist of professional fees for legal, accounting and other advisory services, integration related professional services, severance costs and retention payments incurred during the reporting period in connection with our acquired businesses.  Management believes these non-GAAP measures allow management and investors to make meaningful comparisons between our operating results and those of the other companies, as well as provide a consistent comparison of our relative historical financial performance. 

The income tax expense related to the establishment of a valuation allowance against a portion of our deferred tax assets is a non-cash expense that is not considered part of ongoing operations.  It is the opinion of management that it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized, therefore the valuation allowance is recorded against the deferred tax assets.  We have not presented the tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments in the calculation of non-GAAP net income as a result of the valuation allowance in nearly all of our taxing jurisdictions.  The tax impact of the non-GAAP adjustments would have resulted in an annual effective tax rate of 31% and 41% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2012, respectively, and non-GAAP diluted net income per share of $0.14 and $0.08 for the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2012, respectively, and $0.40 and $0.16 for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2012, respectively.

We define free cash flow as cash flow from operations less net capital expenditures and capitalized software development costs plus the payments of contingent consideration for business acquisitions in excess of fair value on acquisition date. Management considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure which provides useful information to management and investors regarding our ability to generate cash from operations that is available for acquisitions and other investments. Our definition of free cash flow may be different from definitions used by other companies.

Management uses non-GAAP revenue, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP net income and free cash flow to evaluate operating performance, determine incentive compensation and to prepare operating budgets and determine the appropriate levels of capital investments. However, management believes that the use of non-GAAP measures is subject to material limitations since they may not be indicative of ongoing operating results. Management compensates for the limitations in the use of non-GAAP measures by also utilizing GAAP financial measures and by providing investors with a detailed reconciliation between our GAAP and non-GAAP financial results. Investors are advised to carefully review and consider this information as well as the GAAP financial results that are disclosed in our SEC filings.