JOHNS CREEK, Ga., Oct. 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX), a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, healthcare and e-learning industries, today announced that it is targeting annual revenues of $650 million+ for the year 2019 while aspiring to keep its operating margins above 30% levels.
The Company announced that it expects India to be delivering revenues of approximately 50% of the worldwide revenues in Q3 2018 itself, while projecting an even higher percentage than 50% in subsequent periods.
The Company also confirmed that its decision to select a consolidated auditor of the Company’s worldwide operations, has been driven by a number of factors –
- The Company intends to hire a Big 4 audit firm to be the worldwide auditor for the Company.
- In view of the Company’s strong revenue growth in India, the Company intends to select a Big 4 audit firm who has a strong presence in India.
- To avoid any regulatory conflicts in 2018 on account of any work that the Big 4 firm might have done for Ebix or any of its subsidiaries in 2018, the Ebix audit committee intends to hire a Big 4 audit firm beginning Q1 of 2019.
- As an interim step for 2018, the Company decided to retain all its present audit firms in all individual countries as such, while engaging one of the existing multinational PCAOB certified audit firms TR Chadha & Co. LLP (TRC) to handle the consolidated audit.
- TRC is a 72-year old reputed audit firm based out of India, with a client base that encompasses a who’s who list of leading multi-billion dollar companies including leading Banks, insurance companies, multinational technology and BPO companies, airlines, media companies, telecom, healthcare and education sector companies etc.
- Amongst other reputed assignments, TRC is the auditor presently for India’s largest Bank, largest power generation and distribution company and the country’s largest Liquified Natural Gas company.
- TRC is also amongst the few audit firms empaneled by India’s Regulatory body SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) to conduct forensic audit of publicly listed firms for fraud - https://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/kpmg-deloitte-empanelled-to-conduct-forensic-audits-of-listed-firms-118100500031_1.html
- Recently TRC was selected by a consortium of leading Banks (led by one of India’s largest Banks ICICI), to conduct the forensic audit of a NSE listed company, for one of the largest suspected scams in recent history in the country.
- TRC bench strength includes 15 Partners, 200 Qualified Accountants and 700+employees.
- Till Q2 of 2018, TRC was serving as the component auditor for India while reporting to the US based audit firm Cherry Bekaert LLP (CBH), who carried out the US audit besides being the consolidated auditor of the Company’s worldwide operations.
- Beginning Q3 of 2018, CBH has been retained to serve as the component auditor for US while reporting to TRC, who will continue to carry out the India audit as earlier besides being the consolidated auditor of the Company’s worldwide operations.
- All component auditors in remaining countries will continue to be the same as earlier beginning Q3 of 2018.
- The above decision for 2018 was necessitated by the Company’s fast revenue growth in India leading to India’s revenues being approximately at 50% or more of the Company’s worldwide revenues, the heavy asset concentration in India and 75% of the Company’s employee base being based now in India.
- Lastly the Company reiterated that it in connection with the audits of the Company's consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017, and in the subsequent interim period through June 30, 2018, there were no disagreements with CBH on any matters of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or auditing scope and procedures which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of CBH, would have caused CBH to make reference to the matter in their report.
The Company also announced that it is committed to a number of initiatives, to maximize shareholder value –
- The Company intends to use its $150 million share buyback plan, to repurchase Ebix stock from the open market.
- The Company intends to continue on its existing quarterly 7.5 cents a share Dividend plan.
- The Company recently announced a five-for-one split of the Company's common stock, which will be subject to the shareholders approving the increase in authorized shares from 60 million to 220 million, at a special meeting a special meeting in November being organized for this purpose.
About Ebix, Inc.
With 50+ offices across 5 continents, Ebix, Inc., (NASDAQ: EBIX) endeavors to provide On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, healthcare and e-learning industries. In the Insurance sector, the Company’s main focus is to develop and deploy a wide variety of insurance and reinsurance exchanges on an on-demand basis, while also, providing Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") enterprise solutions in the area of CRM, front-end & back-end systems, outsourced administrative and risk compliance, across the world.
With a "Phygital” strategy that combines 260,000 physical distribution outlets in many Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”) countries, to an Omni-channel online digital platform, the Company’s EbixCash Financial exchange portfolio encompasses leadership in areas of domestic & international money remittance, Forex, travel, pre-paid & gift cards, utility payments, lending etc., in an emerging country like India. The Company’s Forex Exchange has an approximate 70% market share of India’s airport Foreign Exchange business encompassing 25 international airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata International airports, while conducting over 1 million transactions per annum. EbixCash, through its travel portal Via.com, is also one of Southeast Asia’s leading travel exchanges with over 110,000 distribution outlets and 8,000 corporate clients processing over 24.5 million transactions every year. For further details, visit www.ebixcash.com
Through its various SaaS-based software platforms, Ebix employs thousands of domain-specific technology professionals to provide products, support and consultancy to thousands of customers on six continents. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.ebix.com
SAFE HARBOR REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
As used herein, the terms “Ebix,” “the Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer to Ebix, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries as a combined entity, except where it is clear that the terms mean only Ebix, Inc.
The information contained in this Press Release contains forward-looking statements and information within the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This information includes assumptions made by, and information currently available to management, including statements regarding future economic performance and financial condition, liquidity and capital resources, acceptance of the Company's products by the market, and management's plans and objectives. In addition, certain statements included in this and our future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in press releases, and in oral and written statements made by us or with our approval, which are not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "seeks," "plan," "project," "continue," "predict," "will," "should," and other words or expressions of similar meaning are intended by the Company to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements are found at various places throughout this report and in the documents incorporated herein by reference. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or results and information that is currently available to us, involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and speak only as of the date on which such statements are made.
Our actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference, include, but are not limited to those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the SEC, as well as: the risk of an unfavorable outcome of the pending governmental investigations or shareholder class action lawsuits, reputational harm caused by such investigations and lawsuits, the willingness of independent insurance agencies to outsource their computer and other processing needs to third parties; pricing and other competitive pressures and the Company's ability to gain or maintain share of sales as a result of actions by competitors and others; changes in estimates in critical accounting judgments; changes in or failure to comply with laws and regulations, including accounting standards, taxation requirements (including tax rate changes, new tax laws and revised tax interpretations) in domestic or foreign jurisdictions; exchange rate fluctuations and other risks associated with investments and operations in foreign countries (particularly in Australia, UK and India wherein we have significant operations); equity markets, including market disruptions and significant interest rate fluctuations, which may impede our access to, or increase the cost of, external financing; and international conflict, including terrorist acts.
Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any such factors, or to publicly announce the results of, or changes to any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events, developments, changed circumstances, or for any other reason.
Readers should carefully review the disclosures and the risk factors described in the documents we file from time to time with the SEC, including future reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K, and any amendments thereto. You may obtain our SEC filings at our website, www.ebix.com under the "Investor Information" section, or over the Internet at the SEC's web site, www.sec.gov.