Revenue growth was driven by higher license revenue, primarily in Location Intelligence and Customer Information Management. License revenue also benefited from a large Location Intelligence deal that closed in the quarter. The Company is continuing to see progress in developing the indirect channel which showed solid growth. EBIT margin increased from prior year largely driven by the higher licensing revenue.
Global Ecommerce
The sustained double-digit revenue growth was driven by strong performance in all of the cross-border geographies, as well as growth in domestic shipping. The domestic shipping increase is driven by end-to-end carrier services enabled by the Company’s shipping API’s. The EBIT loss was driven primarily by investments in market growth opportunities as well as the resolution of a vendor contractual dispute and a specific marketing program with a cross-border client. The Company continues to invest in its cross-border solutions and domestic shipping capabilities.
2017 Guidance
The Company is increasing its annual guidance range for revenue and lowering its annual guidance range for adjusted EPS and free cash flow.
The Company’s guidance for the full year 2017 is now expected to be:
- Revenue, on a constant currency basis, to be in the range of 3 percent to 5 percent growth, when compared to 2016. This has been updated from the previous range of flat to 1 percent as a result of the revenue expected from Newgistics in the fourth quarter.
- Adjusted EPS to be in the range of $1.38 to $1.46. This has been updated from the previous range of $1.70 to $1.78.
- Free cash flow to be in the range of $350 million to $380 million. This has been updated from the previous range of $400 million to $430 million.
The Company is lowering its annual tax range on adjusted earnings. The Company now expects to be in the range of 28 percent to 30 percent as compared to the previous range of 31 percent to 33 percent.
This guidance discusses future results, which are inherently subject to unforeseen risks and developments. As such, discussions about the business outlook should be read in the context of an uncertain future, as well as the risk factors identified in the safe harbor language at the end of this release and as more fully outlined in the Company's 2016 Form 10-K Annual Report and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This guidance excludes any unusual items that may occur or additional portfolio or restructuring actions, not specifically identified, as the Company implements plans to further streamline its operations and reduce costs. Revenue guidance is provided on a constant currency basis. The Company cannot reasonably predict the impact that future changes in currency exchange rates will have on revenue and net income. Additionally, the Company cannot provide GAAP EPS and GAAP cash from operations guidance due to the uncertainty of future potential restructurings, goodwill and asset write-downs, unusual tax settlements or payments and contributions to its pension funds, acquisitions, divestitures and other potential adjustments, which could (individually or in the aggregate) have a material impact on the Company’s performance. The Company’s guidance is based on an assumption that the global economy and foreign exchange markets in 2017 will not change significantly.
Review of Strategic Alternatives
The Pitney Bowes Board of Directors, together with management, is conducting a process to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives to further enhance shareholder value. The Board has not set a timetable for the process nor has it made any decisions related to any strategic alternatives at this time. There can be no assurance that the exploration of strategic alternatives will result in any particular outcome. The Company does not intend to provide updates unless or until it determines that further disclosure is appropriate or necessary.
The company has retained Lazard as its financial advisor and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP as its legal advisor to assist in the process.
Conference Call and Webcast
Management of Pitney Bowes will discuss the Company’s results in a broadcast over the Internet today at 8:00 a.m. ET. Instructions for listening to the earnings results via the Web are available on the Investor Relations page of the Company’s web site at www.pitneybowes.com.
About Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) is a global technology company powering billions of transactions – physical and digital – in the connected and borderless world of commerce. Clients around the world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on products, solutions, services and data from Pitney Bowes in the areas of customer information management, location intelligence, customer engagement, shipping, mailing, and global ecommerce. And with the innovative Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud, clients can access the broad range of Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs to drive commerce. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com.
Use of Non-GAAP Measures
The Company's financial results are reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP); however, in our disclosures we use certain non-GAAP measures, such as adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, Adjusted EPS, revenue growth on a constant currency basis, free cash flow and Segment EBIT.
The Company reports measures such as adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and Adjusted EPS and adjusted income from continuing operations to exclude the impact of special items like restructuring charges, tax adjustments, goodwill and asset write-downs, and costs related to dispositions and acquisitions. While these are actual Company expenses, they can mask underlying trends associated with its business. Such items are often inconsistent in amount and frequency and as such, the adjustments allow an investor greater insight into the current underlying operating trends of the business.
In addition, revenue growth is presented on a constant currency basis to exclude the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates since the prior period under comparison. Constant currency measures are intended to help investors better understand the underlying operational performance of the business excluding the impacts of shifts in currency exchange rates over the period. Constant currency is calculated by converting our current quarter reported results using the prior year’s exchange rate for the comparable quarter. This comparison allows an investor insight into the underlying revenue performance of the business and true operational performance from a comparable basis to prior period. A reconciliation of reported revenue to constant currency revenue can be found in the Company’s attached financial schedules.
The Company reports free cash flow in order to provide investors insight into the amount of cash that management could have available for other discretionary uses. Free cash flow adjusts GAAP cash from operations for capital expenditures, restructuring payments, unusual tax settlements, contributions to the Company’s pension fund and cash used for other special items. A reconciliation of GAAP cash from operations to free cash flow can be found in the Company’s attached financial schedules.
In addition, Management uses segment EBIT to measure profitability and performance at the segment level. Segment EBIT is determined by deducting from revenue the related costs and expenses attributable to the segment. Segment EBIT excludes interest, taxes, general corporate expenses not allocated to a particular business segment, restructuring charges and goodwill and asset impairments, which are recognized on a consolidated basis. A reconciliation of Segment EBIT to the Company’s total Net Income can be found in the Company’s attached financial schedules.
Pitney Bowes has provided a quantitative reconciliation to GAAP in supplemental schedules. This information may also be found at the Company's web site www.pb.com/investorrelations
This document contains “forward-looking statements” about the Company’s expected or potential future business and financial performance. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about its future revenue and earnings guidance and other statements about future events or conditions, including statements about the potential outcome of the Board’s exploration of strategic alternatives. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the announcement that the Board is conducting a review of strategic alternatives and the potential impact of such announcement on the Company’s current or potential customers, partners and personnel; the cost of the review process and the disruption the process may have on the Company’s operations, including the diversion of the attention of the Company’s management and employees; declining physical mail volumes; competitive factors, including pricing pressures, technological developments, the introduction of new products and services by competitors, and fuel prices; our success in developing new products and services, including digital-based products and services, obtaining regulatory approvals, if needed, of new products if required, and the market’s acceptance of these new products and services; our ability to fully utilize the enterprise business platform in North America implemented in 2016, and successfully deploy it in major international markets without significant disruptions to existing operations; a breach of security, including a cyberattack or other comparable event; the continued availability and security of key information technology systems and the cost to comply with information security requirements and privacy laws; changes in postal or banking regulations; the risk of losing large clients in the Global Ecommerce segment; macroeconomic factors, including global and regional business conditions that adversely impact customer demand, foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and labor conditions; capital market disruptions or credit rating downgrades that adversely impact our ability to access capital markets at reasonable costs; management of outsourcing arrangements; integrating newly acquired businesses, including operations and product and service offerings; management of customer credit risk; and other factors beyond its control as more fully outlined in the Company's 2016 Form 10-K Annual Report and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Pitney Bowes assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information, events or developments.