EV Battery Tech Signs Definitive Agreement to Supply a $100M EcoVille Development Project with ESS Solutions for Renewable Energy, Buildings and EV Charging Stations

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Extreme Vehicle Battery Technologies Corp. (the “Company” or “EV Battery Tech”) (CSE: ACDC) is pleased to announce that on November 10, 2020 it entered into an agreement with Squamish EcoVille Ltd. dba EcoVille Ltd. (“EcoVille”), to provide energy storage system (ESS) and electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for their upcoming carbon-neutral, self-sufficient eco-community (the “Agreement”).

Pursuant to the Agreement, EV Battery Tech has been engaged by EcoVille as the exclusive provider of ESS solutions for its Squamish development’s renewable energy generation systems and buildings. EV Battery Tech has also been engaged to supply “Smart” charging stations to be installed in the development and provide services such as real-time monitoring. The Agreement lays out an implementation and roll-out plan for each phase of the EcoVille Squamish project. The project is expected to generate sales of ESS and EV Charging products supplied through the application of the Company’s technology.

About
the
EcoVille
Development

EcoVille develops eco-communities by bringing together innovative technologies that enable communities to achieve self-sufficiency and carbon neutrality. Currently, EcoVille is developing projects in Squamish and Vancouver, British Columbia.

We are not looking to be just a developer, but a community builder that harmonizes with surrounding nature, and generates a learning environment for individuals to understand our options to reduce our impact on the climate. commented Geoff Forrester, a Senior Member of EcoVille’s leadership team.

We are very excited to work with EV Battery Tech. Their technology fits perfectly into our scope to have a clean, sustainable community and their solutions are more cost-effective than our alternatives. We believe this is the beginning of a long and fruitful business relationship” continued Mr. Forrester.

Carbon-Neutral Eco-Community –

Batteries Included

!

Buildings

EcoVille intends to create some of the worlds most eco-friendly buildings by implementing the appropriate technologies. EV Battery Tech will play a large role by providing ESS solutions enabling buildings to source power from renewable sources and deploy energy reliably throughout the day. The ESS solutions will be powered by the Company’s patented Battery Management System (BMS) which has revolutionary features such as real-time monitoring and remote maintenance.

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is one of the most effective tools we have in the fight against climate change, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Power generation from wind, solar and other intermittent power sources are only possible with ESS solutions. EV Battery Tech is providing state of the art ESS solutions for EcoVille to ensure it can make use of wind, solar and tidal renewable energy technologies, for its upcoming eco-friendly development.

Smart Charging Stations

No technologically advanced carbon-neutral development would be complete without charging stations set up for electric vehicles. EV Battery Tech will be providing EcoVille with some of the world’s first “Smart” charging stations that can be completely powered by renewable energy, provide real-time data and function independently of power grids.

The business model for using smart charging stations based on EV Battery Techs ESS solutionsis a no brainer. It allows for a winwin solution for everyone involved” stated Mr. Forrester.

Bryson Goodwin, President and CEO of the Company comments:

Clean communities are the future, and with the impact our technology will have on these communities bottom lines, we are expecting significant expansion and sales in North and South America. EcoVille represents a growing demand for ESS solutions, where energy can be stored for consistent energy supply, eliminating many demand concerns that arise from clean communities.


This will be the

flagship project

to

showcase

the Company’s technology and will be leveraged to commercialize further into other communities.”

On behalf of the Company,

Bryson Goodwin, Chief Executive Officer

Phone: 604-325-2223
Email: [email protected]

About EV Battery Technologies

EV Battery Tech is a blockchain and battery technology company with exclusive North and South American distribution rights as well as European and African distribution rights to patented battery management systems (BMS) designed to meet the growing demand for scalable, smart solutions for the electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage solution (ESS) markets.

EV Battery Tech’s technology is based on artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms designed to analyze the short comings of batteries in today’s market. The resulting extraordinary technology allows batteries to have more efficient power management and longer battery life, while offering real-time monitoring and remote maintenance.

The Company’s AI technology will also allow it to use recycled batteries in its ESS manufacturing process, making it one of the greenest battery technology companies in the industry.

Forward Looking Statements

The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management’s view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: EcoVille’s planned development and use of the Company’s technologies therein; the benefits to EcoVille and the Company of their partnership; and completion of the Agreement. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statement will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.

Further information about the Company is available under its profile on the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com) and on its website (www.evbattery.tech).

The CSE (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.

Zomedica Announces Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zomedica Corp. (NYSE American:ZOM) (“Zomedica” or “Company”) today reported consolidated financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020. Amounts, unless specified otherwise, are expressed in U.S. dollars and presented under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”).

Summary Third Quarter 2020 Results

Zomedica recorded net loss and comprehensive loss for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 of approximately $5.0 million, or $0.01 per share, and approximately $12.7 million, or $0.04 per share, compared to a loss of approximately $2.8 million or $0.03 per share, and approximately $17.0 million, or $0.16 per share, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Research and development expense for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $2.7 million, compared to approximately $1.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of approximately $1.7 million, or 181%. The increase primarily resulted from a milestone expense of $2.0 million pursuant to our development and supply agreement with Qorvo Biotechnologies, LLC. (“Qorvo”), offset in part by decreases in contracted expenditures, supplies, regulatory fees and consulting fees of approximately $237,000.

Research and development expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $7.2 million, compared to approximately $9.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, a decrease of approximately $2.3 million, or 25%. The decrease primarily was due to a reduction in general research and development activity as we continue to focus on TRUFORMATM activities and is more specifically related to contracted expenditures, milestone expenses, salaries, bonus and benefits, supplies, and consulting fees as compared to the commensurate period in 2019.

General and administrative expense for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $1.3 million, compared to approximately $1.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019, a decrease of approximately $42,000, or 3%. The decrease resulted primarily from a decrease in travel and accommodation, marketing and investor relations, and other expenses of approximately $316,000, offset in part by increases in regulatory fees, rent expense, which is related to the reclassification of right-of-use asset expense from amortization to rent, salaries, bonus and benefits, insurance and office expense of approximately $274,000.

General and administrative expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $3.6 million, compared to approximately $5.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, a decrease of approximately $1.9 million, or 34%. The decrease primarily was due to a reduction in stock compensation expense of approximately $2.1 million compared to the prior period and a reduction in travel and accommodation, marketing and investor relations expenses, salary expense, and supplies of approximately $504,000. These decreases were offset in part by an increase in office expense associated with the expensing of furniture in the office space completed in the first quarter, rent expense which is related to the reclassification of right-of-use asset expense from amortization to rent, regulatory fees, and insurance expense of approximately $681,000.

Professional fees for the three months ended September 30, 2020 were approximately $840,000, compared to approximately $307,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of $0.5 million, or 174%. The increase primarily was due to an increase in legal fees incurred in connection with our 2020 annual and special meeting and our proposed domestication into a Delaware corporation.

Professional fees for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 were approximately $1.4 million, compared to approximately $1.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of approximately $116,000, or 9%. The increase primarily was due to the reasons described in the prior paragraph.

Liquidity and Outstanding Share Capital

As of September 30, 2020, Zomedica had cash of approximately $52.0 million, compared to $510,586 as of December 31, 2019. The increase in cash during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 resulted primarily from the financing activities described below, partially offset by cashflows used in operating and investing activities as discussed below.

Net cash used in operating activities for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $5.7 million, compared to approximately $3.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of approximately $1.8 million, or 45%. The increase resulted primarily from a higher net loss in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter of 2019. In addition, other operating uses of cash included approximately $1.1 million of deposits and prepaid expenses for inventory, insurance, and property tax paid, offset in part by an increase in of accounts payable of approximately $100,000.

Net cash used in operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $13.6 million, compared to approximately $13.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, a decrease of approximately $212,000, or 2%. The decrease resulted primarily from a lower net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 compared to the comparable period of 2019. In addition, other operating uses of cash include a reduction in accounts payable of approximately $799,000, more than offset by non-cash items including stock compensation expense of approximately $2.5 million, and expense recorded for the issuance of stock for services, amortization of right-of-use asset, and depreciation of approximately $1.4 million.

Net cash from financing activities for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $28.6 million, compared to a use of cash of approximately $1,400 for the three months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of approximately $28.6 million. The increase resulted primarily from the sale of our equity securities during the third quarter of 2020 for total gross proceeds of approximately $30.0 million and proceeds from warrant exercises of approximately $864,000, offset in part by stock issuance costs of approximately $2.2 million.

Net cash from financing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $64.0 million, compared to approximately $15.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of approximately $49.1 million, or 328%. The increase resulted primarily from the sale of our equity securities during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 for total gross proceeds of approximately $56.5 million, proceeds from warrant exercises of approximately $12.1 million, and approximately $527,000 in loan proceeds from the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program, offset in part by stock issuance costs of approximately $5.1 million.

Net cash used in investing activities for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $1,000, compared to approximately $582,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2019, a decrease of approximately $582,000, or 100%. Cash used in the 2020 period related to enhancements to our finance and accounting software used in the buying and selling of inventory, whereas cash used in the 2019 period included the addition of the website.

Net cash from investing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was approximately $1.0 million, compared to net cash used of approximately $657,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, an increase of approximately $1.7 million, or 253%. The increase in net cash from investing activities during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 related primarily to approximately $1.0 million of cash received in connection with the cancellation and buyout of our office lease compared to the prior period in which approximately $700,000 was used in association with the digital data platform, the construction of marketing assets, and the capitalization of integration costs associated with the implementation of an ERP system.

As of September 30, 2020, and November 11, 2020, Zomedica had an unlimited number of authorized common shares with 564,051,438 common shares issued and outstanding.

For complete financial results, please see Zomedica’s filings on EDGAR and SEDAR or visit the Zomedica website at www.ZOMEDICA.com.

About Zomedica

Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Zomedica (NYSE American: ZOM) is a veterinary health company creating products for dogs and cats by focusing on the unmet needs of clinical veterinarians. Zomedica’s product portfolio will include innovative diagnostics and medical devices that emphasize patient health and practice health. It is Zomedica’s mission to provide veterinarians the opportunity to increase productivity and grow revenue while better serving the animals in their care. For more information, visit www.ZOMEDICA.com.

Follow Zomedica

Reader Advisory

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain “forward-looking information” or “forward-looking statements” (collectively, “forward-looking information”) within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as “plan”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” occur and include statements relating to our expectations regarding the public offering. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; uncertainty as to the timing and results of development work and verification and validation studies, uncertainty as to the likelihood and timing of any required regulatory approvals, availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success for new products and technologies; veterinary acceptance of our products; competition from related products; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of products and services; changes in technology and changes in laws and regulations; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships; risks pertaining to permits and licensing, intellectual property infringement risks, risks relating to any required clinical trials and regulatory approvals, risks relating to the safety and efficacy of our products, the use of our products, intellectual property protection, risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact upon our business operations generally, including our ability to develop and commercialize our products, and the other risk factors disclosed in our filings with the SEC and under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Investor Relations Contacts

PCG Advisory Group
Kirin Smith, COO
[email protected]
+1 646.863.6519
www.pcgadvisory.com 

AlzeCure receives approval to start clinical Phase I trial with ACD856 in Alzheimer’s disease

PR Newswire

STOCKHOLM, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ) (FN STO: ALZCUR), a pharmaceutical company that develops a broad portfolio of drug candidates for diseases affecting the central nervous system, with projects in both Alzheimer’s disease and pain, today announced that the company has received approval from the regulatory authorities in Sweden to initiate a clinical Phase I study with the drug candidate ACD856.

The Phase I study is AlzeCure’s second clinical study with ACD856, the lead drug candidate within the company’s NeuroRestore platform, which is developed as a symptom-relieving treatment for disease states where cognitive ability is impaired, such as in Alzheimer’s disease. The primary study obejective in the phase I study is to evaluate the drug candidate’s tolerability and safety.

“It is gratifying that just a few months after we completed our first clinical study with positive results, we now have all regulatory approvals in place to be able to start a second study with our primary candidate ACD856. Cognitive disorders, and especially Alzheimer’s disease, is a disease area in great need of new and more effective treatments, and I am very much looking forward to the continued development of this important drug candidate”, said Martin Jönsson, CEO of AlzeCure Pharma AB.

For more information, please contact

Martin Jönsson, CEO
Tel: +46 707 86 94 43
[email protected]

The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above at 12:15 pm CET on November 12, 2020.

About AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ)

AlzeCure® is a Swedish pharmaceutical company that develops new innovative drug therapies for the treatment of severe diseases and conditions that affect the central nervous system, such as Alzheimer’s disease and pain – indications for which currently available treatment is extremely limited. The company is listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market and is developing several parallel drug candidates based on three research platforms: NeuroRestore®, Alzstatin® and Painless.

NeuroRestore consists of three symptomatic drug candidates where the unique mechanism of action allows for multiple indications, including Alzheimer’s disease, as well as cognitive disorders associated with traumatic brain injury, sleep apnea and Parkinson’s disease. Alzstatin comprises two disease-modifying and preventive drug candidates for early treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Painless is the company’s research platform in the field of pain and contains two projects: ACD440, which is a clinical candidate for the treatment of neuropathic pain, and TrkA-NAM, which targets severe pain in conditions such as osteoarthritis. AlzeCure aims to pursue its own projects through preclinical research and development to an early clinical phase and is continuously working with business development to find suitable out-licensing solutions with other pharmaceutical companies.

FNCA Sweden AB, +46(0)8 528 00 399 [email protected], is the company’s Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit www.alzecurepharma.se.

About NeuroRestore

NeuroRestore is a platform of symptom-relieving drug candidates for disease states in which cognitive ability is impaired, e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, sleep apnea, traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease. NeuroRestore stimulates several important signaling pathways in the brain, which among other things leads to improved cognition. In preclinical studies with NeuroRestore we have been able to show that our drug candidates enhance communication between the nerve cells and improve cognitive ability. NeuroRestore stimulates specific signaling pathways in the central nervous system known as neurotrophins, the most well-known being NGF (Nerve Growth Factor) and BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor). The levels of NGF and BDNF are disturbed in several disease states and the signaling is reduced. The impaired function impairs communication betweenthe synapses, i.e. the contact surfaces of the nerve endings, as well as reducing the possibility of survival for the nerve cells, which gives rise to the cognitive impairments. Neurotrophins play a crucial role for the function of nerve cells, and a disturbed function of BDNF has a strong genetic link to impaired cognitive ability in several different diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury and sleep apnea.

About Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting approximately 45 million people worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease is a lethal disorder that also has a large impact on both relatives and the society. Today, preventive and disease modifying treatments are missing. The main risk factors to develop Alzheimer’s are age and genetic causes. Even though the disease can start as early as between 40 and 65 years of age, it is most common after 65 years. Significant investments in Alzheimer research are being made because of the significant unmet medical need and the large cost of this disease for healthcare and society. The total global costs for dementia related diseases is estimated to about 1,000 billion USD globally in 2018. Given the lack of both effective symptomatic treatments and disease modifying treatments, the need for new effective therapies is acute.The few approved drugs on the market today have only a limited symptomatic effect and can produce dose limiting side effects. A disease modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to reach more than $10 billion in annual sales. In Sweden, approximately 100,000 people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease with a healthcare cost of about SEK 63 billion yearly, which is more than for cancer and cardiovascular diseases combined.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/alzecure-pharma-ab/r/alzecure-receives-approval-to-start-clinical-phase-i-trial-with-acd856-in-alzheimer-s-disease,c3236014

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SOURCE AlzeCure Pharma AB

SFL – Preliminary Q3 2020 results and quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share


 

Preliminary Q3 2020 results and quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share


 

Hamilton, Bermuda, November 12, 2020. SFL Corporation Ltd. (“SFL” or the “Company”) today announced its preliminary financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2020.

Highlights

  • 67th consecutive quarterly dividend declared, $0.15 per share
  • Operating revenue of $116 million, and net income of $16 million in the third quarter
  • Received charter hire1 of approximately $157 million in the quarter from the Company’s vessels and rigs, including $5.7 million of profit share
  • Adjusted EBITDA2 of $93 million from consolidated subsidiaries, plus an additional $24.4 million adjusted EBITDA2 from wholly owned non-consolidated subsidiaries
  • Cash and cash equivalents of approximately $206 million, excluding $22 million of cash in wholly owned non-consolidated subsidiaries


Ole B. Hjertaker, CEO of SFL Management AS, said in a comment:

«After the initial disruption in world trade following the COVID-19 outbreak, we are pleased to state that we have not had any material operational impact on our 84 vessels. We also note that several shipping markets are performing better, especially container and car carriers where we have reactivated vessels that were idle for a short period.

In light of the pending restructuring of Seadrill, the Board has decided to adjust the dividend to 15 cents and thereby effectively exclude all cash flow earned from offshore assets for the time being. The Board will continuously monitor the situation and possibly include contribution from the offshore assets again in future dividends when the Seadrill situation is resolved.  

We remain careful and selective in our investment evaluation. With a diversified fleet of assets, our aim is to mitigate volatility by timing our investments in each sector through the market cycles and building significant charter backlog to support future distribution capacity. As a part of this effort, the Company is developing tools and policies today that ensure it will meet or exceed the coming emissions reduction targets for the maritime industry.»

Quarterly Dividend

The Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share. The dividend will be paid on or around December 30, to shareholders on record as of December 14, and the ex-dividend date on the New York Stock Exchange will be December 11, 2020.

November 12, 2020

The Board of Directors
SFL Corporation Ltd.
Hamilton, Bermuda

The full report can be found in the link below and at the Company’s website www.sflcorp.com.

Questions can be directed to SFL Management AS:

Investor and Analyst Contact

Aksel C. Olesen, Chief Financial Officer: +47 23114036

André Reppen, Senior Vice President and Chief Treasurer: +47 23114055

Media Contact

Ole B. Hjertaker, Chief Executive Officer: +47 23114011

About SFL

SFL has a unique track record in the maritime industry and has paid dividends every quarter since its initial listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2004. The Company’s fleet of more than 80 vessels is split between tankers, bulkers, container vessels and offshore drilling rigs. SFL’s long term distribution capacity is supported by a portfolio of long term charters and significant growth in the asset base over time. More information can be found on the Company’s website www.sflcorp.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This presentation contains forward looking statements. These statements are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including SFL management’s examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Company’s records and other data available from third parties. Although SFL believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control, SFL cannot give assurance that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or intentions. Important factors that, in the Company’s view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward looking statements include the strength of world economies, fluctuations in currencies and interest rates, general market conditions including fluctuations in charter hire rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the markets in which the Company operates, changes in demand resulting from changes in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ petroleum production levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, developments regarding the technologies relating to oil exploration, changes in market demand in countries which import commodities and finished goods and changes in the amount and location of the production of those commodities and finished goods, increased inspection procedures and more restrictive import and export controls, changes in the Company’s operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, performance of our charterers and other counterparties with whom the Company deals, the impact of any restructuring of the counterparties with whom the Company deals, including any potential restructuring of Seadrill Limited, timely delivery of vessels under construction within the contracted price, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, including any changes to energy and environmental policies and changes attendant to trade conflicts, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, the length and severity of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the demand for commercial seaborne transportation and the condition of the financial markets and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.



1 Charter hire represents the amounts billable in the period by the Company and its 100% owned associates for chartering its vessels. This is mainly the contracted daily rate multiplied by the number of chargeable days plus any additional billable income including profit share. Long term charter hire relates to contracts undertaken for a period greater than one year. Short term charter hire relates to contracts undertaken for a period less than one year, including voyage charters.

2 ‘Adjusted EBITDA’ is a non-GAAP measure. It represents cash receipts from operating activities before net interest and capital payments.

 

Attachment

Esperion Announces Pricing of Offering of $250.0 Million of Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Esperion (NASDAQ: ESPR) today announced the pricing of $250.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.00% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2025 (the “notes”) in a private offering (the “offering”) to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The size of the offering was increased from the previously announced $200.0 million aggregate principal amount of notes. In connection with the offering, Esperion also granted the initial purchasers of the notes an option to purchase, within a 13-day period beginning on, and including, the date on which the notes are first issued, up to an additional $30.0 million aggregate principal amount of the notes. The sale of the notes is expected to settle on November 16, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions.

The notes will be senior unsecured obligations of Esperion that are subordinated in right of payment to indebtedness, obligations and other liabilities under Esperion’s revenue interest purchase agreement, the revenue interests issued pursuant to such agreement, and any refinancing of the foregoing. The notes will bear interest at a rate of 4.00% per year, payable semi-annually in arrears on May 15 and November 15 of each year, beginning on May 15, 2021. The notes will mature on November 15, 2025, unless earlier converted, redeemed or repurchased. Esperion may not redeem the notes prior to November 20, 2023. Esperion may redeem for cash all or any portion of the notes, at its option, on or after November 20, 2023, if the last reported sale price of Esperion’s common stock has been at least 130% of the conversion price then in effect for at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive), including the last trading day immediately preceding the date on which Esperion provides notice of redemption, during any 30 consecutive trading day period ending on, and including, the trading day immediately preceding the date on which Esperion provides notice of redemption, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the redemption date.

The notes will be convertible at an initial conversion rate of 30.2151 shares of Esperion’s common stock per $1,000 principal amount of notes, equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $33.10 per share, which represents a conversion premium of approximately 20.0% to the last reported sale price of Esperion’s common stock on The Nasdaq Global Market of $27.58 per share on November 11, 2020

Prior to the close of business on the business day immediately preceding August 15, 2025, the notes will be convertible at the option of the noteholders only upon the satisfaction of specified conditions and during certain periods. On or after August 15, 2025 until the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding the maturity date, the notes will be convertible at the option of the noteholders at any time regardless of these conditions. The notes will be convertible under certain circumstances into cash, shares of Esperion’s common stock, or a combination thereof, at Esperion’s election.

In connection with the pricing of the notes, Esperion entered into privately negotiated capped call transactions with one of the initial purchasers of the notes or its affiliate and certain other financial institutions (the “option counterparties”). The capped call transactions are expected generally to reduce potential dilution to Esperion’s common stock upon conversion of any notes and/or offset any potential cash payments Esperion is required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted notes, as the case may be, with such reduction and/or offset subject to a cap. The cap price of the capped call transactions will initially be $55.1600 per share, which represents a premium of 100.0% over the last reported sale price of Esperion’s common stock on November 11, 2020, and is subject to certain adjustments under the terms of the capped call transactions. If the initial purchasers of the notes exercise their option to purchase additional notes, Esperion expects to enter into additional capped call transactions with the option counterparties.

In connection with establishing their initial hedges of the capped call transactions, Esperion expects that the option counterparties or their respective affiliates will purchase shares of Esperion’s common stock and/or enter into various derivative transactions with respect to Esperion’s common stock concurrently with or shortly after the pricing of the notes. This activity could increase (or reduce the size of any decrease in) the market price of Esperion’s common stock or the notes at that time.

In addition, the option counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to Esperion’s common stock and/or purchasing or selling Esperion’s common stock or other securities of Esperion in secondary market transactions from time to time prior to the maturity of the notes (and are likely to do so on each exercise date for the capped call transactions, which are expected to occur on each trading day during the 40 trading day period beginning on the 41st scheduled trading day prior to the maturity date of the notes, or following any termination of any portion of the capped call transactions in connection with any repurchase, redemption or early conversion of the notes). This activity could also cause a decrease or avoid an increase in the market price of Esperion’s common stock or the notes, which could affect the ability of noteholders to convert the notes and, to the extent the activity occurs following conversion or during any observation period related to a conversion of notes, it could affect the amount and value of the consideration that noteholders will receive upon conversion of such notes.

In connection with the pricing of the notes, Esperion also entered into a prepaid forward stock purchase transaction (the “prepaid forward”) with one of the initial purchasers of the notes or its affiliate (the “forward counterparty”), pursuant to which Esperion will purchase $55.0 million of its common stock (based on the last reported sale price of Esperion’s common stock on the pricing date), for settlement on the date that is the maturity date of the notes, subject to any early settlement, in whole or in part, of the prepaid forward. The prepaid forward is intended to facilitate privately negotiated transactions by which investors in the notes will be able to hedge their investment.

In connection with establishing its initial hedge of the prepaid forward, Esperion expects that the forward counterparty or its affiliate will enter into one or more derivative transactions with respect to Esperion’s common stock with purchasers of the notes concurrently with or after the pricing of the notes. The prepaid forward is intended to allow investors to establish short positions that generally correspond to (but may be greater than) commercially reasonable initial hedges of their investment in the notes. In the event of such greater initial hedges, investors may offset such greater portion by purchasing Esperion’s common stock on the day of pricing of the notes. Facilitating investors’ hedge positions by entering into the prepaid forward, particularly if investors purchase Esperion’s common stock on the pricing date, could increase (or reduce the size of any decrease in) the market price of Esperion’s common stock and effectively raise the initial conversion price of the notes.

In addition, the forward counterparty or its affiliate may modify its hedge position by entering into or unwinding one or more derivative transactions with respect to Esperion’s common stock and/or purchasing or selling the common stock or other securities of Esperion in secondary market transactions at any time following the pricing of the notes and prior to the maturity of the notes. These activities could also cause or avoid an increase or a decrease in the market price of Esperion’s common stock or the notes.

Esperion estimates that the net proceeds from the offering will be approximately $241.8 million (or approximately $270.9 million if the initial purchasers exercise their option to purchase additional notes in full), after deducting the initial purchasers’ discount and estimated offering expenses payable by Esperion. Esperion intends to use approximately $41.1 million of the net proceeds from the offering to pay the cost of the capped call transactions, $55.0 million to finance the prepaid forward and the remainder of the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including potential in-licensing opportunities. If the option granted to the initial purchasers to purchase additional notes is exercised, Esperion expects to use a portion of the net proceeds from the sale of additional notes to enter into additional capped call transactions. Esperion expects to use the remaining net proceeds for general corporate purposes as described above.

The notes were and will only be offered to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act. Neither the notes nor the shares of Esperion’s common stock potentially issuable upon conversion of the notes, if any, have been, or will be, registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.

This announcement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any of these securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful.

Esperion Therapeutics

Through scientific and clinical excellence, and a deep understanding of cholesterol biology, the experienced Lipid Management Team at Esperion is committed to developing new LDL-C lowering medicines that will make a substantial impact on reducing global cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death around the world.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding whether Esperion will issue the notes, the timing and closing of the offering, the anticipated use of the net proceeds from the offering, Esperion’s expectations regarding the effect of the capped call transactions and prepaid forward and regarding actions of the option counterparties, the forward counterparty and/or their respective affiliates. Any express or implied statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those projected, including, without limitation, the risk that Esperion will not be able to consummate the offering because of market conditions or otherwise, the risk that the actual use of net proceeds from the offering, if consummated, will differ from the intended use of net proceeds because of market conditions or otherwise and risks detailed in Esperion’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Esperion disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, other than to the extent required by law.

Contact:
Kaitlyn Brosco
Esperion
[email protected]

Tencent Announces 2020 Third Quarter Results

PR Newswire

HONG KONG, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Tencent Holdings Limited (“Tencent” or the “Company”, 00700.HK), a leading provider of Internet value added services in China, today announced the unaudited consolidated results for the third quarter (“3Q2020”) ended September 30, 2020.


3Q2020


Key Highlights


Revenues: +29% YoY, non-IFRS[1] profit attributable to equity holders of the Company: +32% YoY

  • Total r
    evenues were RMB125,447 million (USD18,421 million[2]), an increase of 29% over the third quarter of 2019 (“YoY”).
  • On a
    n
    on-IFRS basis
    , which is intended to reflect core earnings by excluding certain one-time and/or non-cash items:
     
    –  Operating profit was RMB38,116 million (USD5,597 million), an increase of 34% YoY. Operating margin increased to 30% from 29% last year.
    –  Profit for the period was RMB33,325 million (USD4,893 million), an increase of 33% YoY. Net margin increased to 27% from 26% last year.
    –  Profit attributable to equity holders of the Company for the quarter was RMB32,303 million (USD4,743 million), an increase of 32% YoY.
    –  Basic earnings per share were RMB3.402. Diluted earnings per share were RMB3.314.
     
  • On an IFRS basis:
     
    –  Operating profit was RMB43,953 million (USD6,454 million), an increase of 70% YoY. Operating margin increased to 35% from 27% last year.
    –  Profit for the period was RMB38,899 million (USD5,712 million), an increase of 85% YoY. Net margin increased to 31% from 22% last year. 
    –  Profit attributable to equity holders of the Company for the quarter was RMB38,542 million (USD5,660 million), an increase of 89% YoY.
    –  Basic earnings per share were RMB4.059. Diluted earnings per share were RMB3.964.
     
  • Total cash were RMB265,892 million (USD39,044 million) at the end of the quarter.

[1] Non-IFRS adjustments (formerly referred as non-GAAP) excludes share-based compensation, M&A related impact such as net (gains)/losses from investee companies, amortisation of intangible assets and impairment provision/(reversals), as well as income tax effects.

[2] Figures stated in USD are based on USD1 to RMB6.8101

Mr. Ma Huateng, Chairman and CEO of Tencent, said, “This quarter marked the second anniversary of our strategic organisation upgrade, which was intended to enhance our strength in Consumer Internet and extend our presence to Industrial Internet. While the upgrade was designed to bear fruit over the longer run, we are already seeing initial benefits in areas such as consolidating our advertising services, rejuvenating our product and content platforms, growing our cloud and SaaS businesses and building an internal open source code base. In the face of public health, macroeconomic, and geopolitical challenges, we will seek to sharpen our focus, innovate, and collaborate with our partners in order to better serve our users, customers and the society at large.”

3Q
2020 Financial Review

Revenues from VAS increased by 38% to RMB69,802 million for the third quarter of 2020 on a year-on-year basis. Online games revenues grew by 45% to RMB41,422 million. The increase was primarily due to revenue growth of our smart phone games, including domestic titles such as Peacekeeper Elite and Honour of Kings, as well as overseas titles. Total smart phone games revenues (including smart phone games revenues attributable to our social networks business) were RMB39,173 million and PC client games revenues were RMB11,631 million for the third quarter of 2020. Social networks revenues increased by 29% to RMB28,380 million. The increase reflected contributions from digital content services including HUYA’s live streaming service, our video subscription service, and our music subscription service, as well as from in-game virtual item sales. 

Revenues from Online Advertising increased by 16% to RMB21,351 million for the third quarter of 2020 on a year-on-year basis, benefitting from wider adoption of our algorithmic advertisement buying solutions, as well as rapid demand growth from categories such as education, Internet services and eCommerce platforms, and recovered demand from sectors such as real estate and automobiles. Social and others advertising revenues grew by 21% to RMB17,752 million. The increase was primarily driven by higher revenues flowing from Weixin Moments due to increased inventories and eCPMs, and our mobile advertising network revenue growth on higher eCPMs as advertisers responded favorably to our video ad formats. Media advertising revenues decreased 1% to RMB3,599 million. The slower decline versus prior quarters benefitted from key Tencent Video content releases, as well as inventory and impression growth from our music platforms.

Revenues from FinTech and Business Services increased by 24% to RMB33,255 million for the third quarter of 2020 on a year-on-year basis. The increase was mainly due to higher revenues from commercial payment and wealth management, while our Business Services revenue growth slowed down due to lingering impact from the pandemic on project development and new contract sign-ups, as well as non-recurring adjustments to certain IaaS contracts.

Other Key Financial Information for
3Q
2020

EBITDA was RMB45,055 million, up 27% YoY. Adjusted EBITDA was RMB47,849 million, up 26% YoY.

Capital expenditures were RMB8,684 million, up 31% YoY.

Free cash flow* was RMB28,127 million, stable YoY.

As at September 30, 2020, net cash position totalled RMB6,363 million. Fair value of our stakes in listed investee companies (excluding subsidiaries) totalled RMB890,730 million, compared to RMB726,244 million as at June 30, 2020.


* Starting from 2020, free cash flow was adjusted by subtracting payments for media content and lease liabilities, in addition to subtracting payments for capital expenditure from the operating cash flow. Restated free cash flow was RMB16.8 billion in 1Q2019, RMB12.6 billion in 2Q2019, RMB28.1 billion in 3Q2019, and RMB31.3 billion in 4Q2019, respectively.

Operating Metrics


As at


3
0
 September


2020

As at

30 September

2019

Year-

on-year

change

As at

30 June

2020

Quarter-on-
quarter

change

(in millions, unless specified)

Combined MAU of Weixin and

   WeChat


1,212.8

1,151.0

5.4%

1,206.1

0.6%

Smart device MAU of QQ 


617.4

653.4

-5.5%

647.6

-4.7%

Fee-based VAS registered
   subscriptions


213.4

170.6

25.1%

203.4

4.9%

Business Review and Outlook


Communication and Social

For Weixin, we are facilitating more convenient access to high frequency services within the Weixin Pay interface by regrouping such services into four verticals, namely Financial Services, Daily Services, Travel & Transportation, and Shopping & Entertainment. For the Travel & Transportation vertical, we connect automobile owners with a range of car services, such as car wash and car insurance, as well as general users with public transportation services, such as transit codes and bus schedules. We have now extended these mobility services to ten provinces and municipalities in China. We are also enhancing the efficiency of content and service discovery via cross-referencing within Weixin properties, so that users can press-to-search words and phrases that appear in chat boxes and find content and services from Mini Programs, Official Accounts and Moments. In Moments, contributors can create hashtags in posts, and their friends can click these hashtags and access deep-linked search results from Official Accounts, video feeds and H5 pages.

In QQ chats and groups, we enabled users to watch Tencent Video together while they are making video calls, to compete with friends via battle-mode Mini Games, and to co-edit classwork via our online collaborative tool, Tencent Docs. The launch of QQ’s Mini World video and image feed service has increased QQ’s appeal among the younger audience. Through Mini World, we encourage contributors to create videos and images, and share them beyond their existing friend circle. We recommend attractive content in Mini World to QQ users based on their interest graphs, enabling users to explore more content and communities. These initiatives, along with the growing demand for real-time video chatting since the onset of the pandemic, drove daily time spent per QQ user up by a teens percentage year-on-year.


Online Games

Our online game revenue increased year-on-year, driven by healthy growth in paying users in China and international markets. For smart phone games, we celebrated the fifth anniversary for Honour of Kings, which exceeded 100 million average DAU for the first ten months of 2020. Since we first released the game in 2015, we have expanded the user base of Honour of Kings through constant innovation and user-centric operations, backed up by our robust technology infrastructure. We aim to unleash the potential of this IP by rolling out two new games, an animated series and a live action drama series based on the Honour of Kings’ world. While our best-known games such as Honour of Kings attract the most attention, lesser-known games also contribute to our game business’ stable growth. For example, Naruto Mobile, an internally developed game based on the popular anime IP, has recently become one of the top fighting games in China with all-time high DAU and revenue, despite being first released over four years ago. This speaks to our team’s success in making ongoing game enhancements, such as refining a highly popular PvP game mode. As for new games, we believe that our Moonlight Blade Mobile represents 2020’s most successful launch of a new MMO role playing game in China, and our battle arena game League of Legends Wild Rift is currently among the most-downloaded mobile games across its available markets, according to AppAnnie.

We have a constructive view on PC game opportunities as the IP and influence of our major franchises remain notably robust. League of Legends released a major thematic event, “Spirit Blossom Festival”, coordinating the release of new champions, new skins, and new event passes. The recent League of Legends World Championship in Shanghai attracted a sizeable audience globally. Tencent Video aired a highly-rated drama series based on our CrossFire game during the quarter, which tied into a new in-game mode and skins, reviving the game’s popularity and monetisation. Valorant became a breakout hit in the tactical shooter genre and was widely watched on Twitch.


Digital Content

Our fee-based VAS subscriptions increased 25% year-on-year to 213 million, primarily driven by video and music content subscriptions. Video subscriptions expanded 20% year-on-year to 120 million. Our self-commissioned drama and animated series such as Nothing But Thirty, The Song of Glory and The Land of Warriors Season 3 have attracted additional subscribers for Tencent Video. We successfully converted trial users acquired during summer promotions to regular video subscribers. Music subscriptions grew 46% year-on-year to 52 million, due to an expanded paid content library and a higher retention rate.


Online Advertising

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, overall China advertising activity appears to have largely returned to normal conditions, albeit with a few industry exceptions lagging (for example, the travel industry), and with substantial changes in advertiser behavior (for example, toward retargeting and toward video format advertisements). We believe these changes, along with our own initiatives, have contributed to our increasing presence and relevance in China’s advertising market. By category, advertising spending from sectors such as education, Internet services and eCommerce platforms experienced rapid secular growth through the pandemic, and sustained robust year-on-year growth during the quarter. Advertising spending from cyclical categories, such as automobiles and real estate, picked up year-on-year. Advertising spending from categories which dipped during the pandemic, such as financial services and consumer staples, were flattish year-on-year. Internally, we upgraded our algorithmic advertising buying solutions, delivering higher conversion rates for advertisers and attracting increased share of budgets towards our services. We also provided incremental advertising inventories in casual game apps, eSports events and live streaming platforms.

For social and others advertising, Weixin properties achieved solid revenue growth year-on-year, driven by higher impressions and eCPM. Our mobile advertising network revenue grew rapidly year-on-year as advertisers responded favorably to our video formats, such as rewarded video advertisements.

For media advertising, the rate of revenue decrease moderated to minus 1% year-on-year. We captured sponsorship advertising demand via self-commissioned variety shows such as The Coming One Season 4 and drama series such as Nothing But Thirty.


FinTech

Our FinTech revenue grew healthily at a similar rate to prior quarters, led by the continued expansion of our commercial payment and wealth management businesses, while our social payment and micro lending businesses grew at moderate rates. Our TPV increased over 30% year-on-year as commercial payment DAU and transaction value per user grew robustly year-on-year, mainly driven by our deeper penetration in offline transactions and expansion of our Mini Programs transactions in retail categories such as grocery and apparel.

The number of our wealth management customers increased over 50% year-on-year, and our aggregated customer assets expanded at a similar rate. We believe that LiCaiTong’s penetration rate among our payment users is still quite low, and we are seeking to further grow our wealth management customer base at a measured rate via long-term initiatives such as investor education programs and an expanded product offering.


Cloud and Other Business Services

During the quarter, cloud and other business services revenue were affected by the lingering impact from pandemic, causing delays in project deployment and new contract sign-ups, as well as by non-recurring adjustments to certain IaaS contracts. The year-on-year revenue growth rate was therefore lower than previous quarters, which we expect to be temporary in nature.

We saw rising demand for PaaS solutions, in particular security PaaS, from financial, healthcare and Internet services clients. We also upgraded our SaaS enterprise productivity toolkit which consists of three signature products, namely WeCom (the enterprise version of Weixin), Tencent Meeting, and Tencent Docs. Customers are increasingly adopting WeCom for workplace communication, and its DAU grew over 100% year-on-year. More than 100 million users have registered for our video communication solution Tencent Meeting. In September, we released an enterprise version for Tencent Meeting, with enhanced features such as webinars, simultaneous interpretation, and connection with enterprises’ existing conference room systems. We further integrated Tencent Docs, our cloud-based document processing tool, with other Tencent products, including QQ, QQ Browser and our CRM SaaS products.

For other detailed disclosure, please refer to our website http://www.tencent.com/en-us/investors.html
, or follow us via Weixin Official Account (Weixin ID: Tencent_IR):


About Tencent

Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users.

Our communication and social platforms, Weixin and QQ, connect users with each other and with digital content and services, both online and offline, making their lives more convenient. Our targeted advertising platform helps advertisers reach out to hundreds of millions of consumers in China. Our FinTech and business services support our partners’ business growth and assist their digital upgrade.

Tencent invests heavily in talent and technological innovation, actively promoting the development of the Internet industry. Tencent was founded in Shenzhen, China, in 1998. Shares of Tencent (00700.HK) are listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

For investor and media enquiries, please contact: IR#tencent.com

Catherine Chan

Tel: (86) 755 86013388 / (852) 3148 5100 ext. 888369

Email: cchan#tencent.com

Wendy Huang

Tel: (86) 755 86013388 / (852) 3148 5100 ext. 850839

Email: wendyyhuang#tencent.com

Jane Yip

Tel: (86) 755 86013388 / (852) 3148 5100 ext. 868961

Email: janeyip#tencent.com

PH Cheung

Tel: (86) 755 86013388 / (852) 3148 5100 ext. 868919

Email: phcheung#tencent.com

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

To supplement the consolidated results of the Group prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain additional non-IFRS financial measures (in terms of operating profit, operating margin, profit for the period, net margin, profit attributable to equity holders of the Company, basic EPS and diluted EPS), have been presented in this press release. These unaudited non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, measures of the Group’s financial performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. In addition, these non-IFRS financial measures may be defined differently from similar terms used by other companies.

The Company’s management believes that the non-IFRS financial measures provide investors with useful supplementary information to assess the performance of the Group’s core operations by excluding certain non-cash items and certain impact of M&A transactions. In addition, non-IFRS adjustments include relevant non-IFRS adjustments for the Group’s major associates based on available published financials of the relevant major associates, or estimates made by the Company’s management based on available information, certain expectations, assumptions and premises.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the business outlook, forecast business plans and growth strategies of the Company. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are stated herein on the basis of the outlook at the time of this press release. They are based on certain expectations, assumptions and premises, some of which are subjective or beyond our control. These forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect and may not be realised in future. Underlying the forward-looking statements is a lot of risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these risks and uncertainties is included in our other public disclosure documents on our corporate website.


 

 


CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

RMB in million, unless specified


Unaudited


Unaudited


3Q2020


3Q2019


3Q2020


2Q2020


Revenues


125,447

97,236


125,447

114,883

VAS


69,802

50,629


69,802

65,002

FinTech and Business Services


33,255

26,758


33,255

29,862

Online Advertising


21,351

18,366


21,351

18,552

Others


1,039

1,483


1,039

1,467


Cost of revenues


(68,800)

(54,757)


(68,800)

(61,673)


Gross profit


56,647

42,479


56,647

53,210



Gross margin


45%

44%


45%

46%

Interest income


1,864

1,674


1,864

1,749

Other gains, net


11,551

932


11,551

8,607

Selling and marketing expenses


(8,920)

(5,722)


(8,920)

(7,756)

General and administrative expenses


(17,189)

(13,536)


(17,189)

(16,499)


Operating profit


43,953

25,827


43,953

39,311



Operating margin


35%

27%


35%

34%

Finance costs, net


(1,945)

(1,747)


(1,945)

(2,005)

Share of profit/(loss) of associates and joint ventures


2,630

234


2,630

(295)


Profit before income tax


44,638

24,314


44,638

37,011

Income tax expense


(5,739)

(3,338)


(5,739)

(4,557)


Profit for the period


38,899

20,976


38,899

32,454



Net margin


31%

22%


31%

28%


Attributable to:

    Equity holders of the Company


38,542

20,382


38,542

33,107

    Non-controlling interests


357

594


357

(653)

Non-IFRS profit

   attributable to equity holders of the Company


32,303

24,412


32,303

30,153


Earnings per share for profit attributable to
   equity holders of the Company



   (in RMB per share)

– basic


4.059

2.151


4.059

3.491

– diluted


3.964

2.127


3.964

3.437

 

 


CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

RMB in millions, unless specified


Unaudited


3Q2020

3Q2019


Profit for the period


38,899

20,976


Other comprehensive income, net of tax:


Items that may be subsequently reclassified to profit or loss

Share of other comprehensive income/(loss) of associates and joint
   ventures


192

(21)

Transfer of share of other comprehensive income to profit or loss upon
   deemed disposal of associates



(3)

Currency translation differences


(5,731)

2,069

Other fair value gains/(losses)


169

(475)


Items that will not be subsequently reclassified to profit or loss

Net gains/(losses) from changes in fair value of financial assets at fair
   value through other comprehensive income


9,535

(3,213)

Other fair value gains/(losses)


202

(96)


4,367

(1,739)


Total comprehensive income for the
period


43,266

19,237


Attributable to:

    Equity holders of the Company


43,082

18,885

    Non-controlling interests


184

352

 


O
THER FINANCIAL INFORMATION

RMB in millions, unless specified


Unaudited


3Q2020

2Q2020

3Q2019

EBITDA (a)


45,055

40,525

35,378

Adjusted EBITDA (a)


47,849

43,742

38,123

Adjusted EBITDA margin (b)


38%

38%

39%

Interest and related expenses


1,855

1,822

2,086

Net cash/(debt) (c)


6,363

7,212

(7,173)

Capital expenditures (d)


8,684

9,466

6,632


Note:

(a)  EBITDA is calculated as operating profit minus interest income and other gains/losses, net, and adding back depreciation of property, plant and equipment, investment properties as well as right-of-use assets, and amortisation of intangible assets. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as EBITDA plus equity-settled share-based compensation expenses.

(b)  Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated by dividing Adjusted EBITDA by revenues.

(c)  Net cash/(debt) represents period end balance and is calculated as cash and cash equivalents, plus term deposits and others, minus borrowings and notes payable.

(d)  Capital expenditures consist of additions (excluding business combinations) to property, plant and equipment, construction in progress, investment properties, land use rights and intangible assets (excluding video and music content, game licences and other content).

 

 


CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

RMB in millions, unless specified


Unaudited


Audited


As at


September 30, 2020


As at


December 31, 2019


ASSETS


Non-current assets

  Property, plant and equipment


56,153

46,824

  Land use rights


15,801

15,609

  Right-of-use assets


10,646

10,847

  Construction in progress


4,318

3,935

  Investment properties


628

855

  Intangible assets


137,135

128,860

  Investments in associates


247,985

213,614

  Investments in joint ventures


7,119

8,280

  Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss


168,926

128,822

  Financial assets at fair value through other

   comprehensive income


143,935

81,721

  Prepayments, deposits and other assets


23,423

23,442

  Deferred income tax assets


22,981

18,209

  Term deposits


31,664

19,000


870,714

700,018


Current assets

  Inventories


1,164

718

  Accounts receivable


41,696

35,839

  Prepayments, deposits and other assets


38,237

27,840

  Other financial assets


1,650

375

  Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss


6,135

7,114

  Term deposits


75,692

46,911

  Restricted cash


2,250

2,180

  Cash and cash equivalents


152,491

132,991


319,315

253,968


Total assets


1,190,029

953,986

 

 


CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
(continued)

RMB in millions, unless specified


Unaudited


Audited


As at


September 30, 2020


As at


December 31, 2019


EQUITY


Equity attributable to equity holders of the Company

  Share capital



  Share premium


44,804

35,271

  Shares held for share award schemes


(4,351)

(4,002)

  Other reserves


60,763

16,786

  Retained earnings


475,887

384,651


577,103

432,706


Non-controlling interests


69,394

56,118


Total equity


646,497

488,824


LIABILITIES


Non-current liabilities

  Borrowings


118,037

104,257

  Notes payable


127,375

83,327

  Long-term payables


3,057

3,577

  Other financial liabilities


6,846

5,242

  Deferred income tax liabilities


14,488

12,841

  Lease liabilities


8,105

8,428

  Deferred revenue


6,304

7,334


284,212

225,006


Current liabilities

  Accounts payable


87,008

80,690

  Other payables and accruals


48,738

45,174

  Borrowings


14,117

22,695

  Notes payable



10,534

  Current income tax liabilities


13,470

9,733

  Other tax liabilities


1,941

1,245

  Other financial liabilities


4,165

5,857

  Lease liabilitiess


3,454

3,279

  Deferred revenue


86,427

60,949


259,320

240,156


Total liabilities


543,532

465,162


Total equity and liabilities


1,190,029

953,986

 


RECONCILIATIONS OF IFRS TO NON-IFRS RESULTS


As


reported
  


Adjustments


Non-IFRS
  


RMB in millions,


unless specified


Share-based


compensation
(a)


Net (gains)/losses from
investee companies (b)


Amortisation of


intangible assets (c)


Impairment


Provisions/(reversals) (d)


Income


tax effects (e)


Unaudited three months ended September 30, 2020


Operating profit


43,953


3,059


(8,703)


905


(1,098)




38,116


Profit for the period


38,899


3,770


(10,099)


2,005


(973)


(277)


33,325


Profit attributable to equity
  



holders


38,542


3,517


(10,133)


1,620


(1,026)


(217)


32,303



Operating margin



35%



30%



Net margin



31%



27%


Unaudited three months ended June 30, 2020

Operating profit

39,311

3,507

(14,672)

870

8,613

37,629

Profit for the period

32,454

4,225

(16,108)

1,886

9,268

(505)

31,220

Profit attributable to equity
  

holders

33,107

4,019

(15,436)

1,503

7,310

(350)

30,153


Operating margin


34%


33%


Net margin


28%


27%


Unaudited three months ended September 30, 2019

Operating profit

25,827

2,745

(1,814)

118

1,668

28,544

Profit for the period

20,976

3,568

(2,509)

1,544

1,981

(474)

25,086

Profit attributable to equity
  

holders

20,382

3,475

(2,444)

1,491

1,971

(463)

24,412


Operating margin


27%


29%


Net margin


22%


26%

Note:


(a) 
Including put options granted to employees of investee companies on their shares and shares to be issued under investee companies’ share-based incentive plans which can be acquired by the Group, and other incentives


(b) 
Including net (gains)/losses on deemed disposals/disposals of investee companies, fair value changes
arising from investee companies, and other expenses in relation to equity transactions of investee companies


(c) 
Amortisation of intangible assets resulting from acquisitions


(d) 
Impairment provisions/(reversals) for associates, joint ventures, goodwill and intangible assets arising from acquisitions


(e) 
Income tax effects of non-IFRS adjustments

 

Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tencent-announces-2020-third-quarter-results-301171751.html

SOURCE Tencent

MultiPlan Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results and Provides Fourth Quarter Guidance

MultiPlan Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results and Provides Fourth Quarter Guidance

– Revenues of $223.5 Million, an Increase of 8% from Second Quarter 2020

– Net Loss of $288.4 Million, an Increase of 413% from Second Quarter 2020

Adjusted EBITDA of $165.5 Million, an Increase of 10.5% from Second Quarter 2020

– Fourth Quarter Revenue Guidance of $238 to $253 Million and Adjusted EBITDA Guidance of $180 to $194 Million

– Acquired HST on November 10, in Support of MultiPlan’s Growth Strategy to Enhance, Extend and Expand its Platform

– Refinanced $2.7 Billion of Debt to Reduce Leverage; Projected Annual Interest Expense Savings of Approximately $70 Million

– First Earnings Conference Call as a Public Company Today, Thursday, November 12 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
MultiPlan Corporation (“MultiPlan” or the “Company”) (NYSE: MPLN), a leading value-added provider of data analytics and technology-enabled end-to-end cost management solutions to the U.S. healthcare industry, today announced financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2020.

The Company reported strong consecutive quarterly growth as it continued to execute its MultiPlan 3.0 growth strategy to enhance its product offerings to payors, extend into new payor customer segments and expand its platform to serve MultiPlan’s 1.2 million providers, its more than 700 payors and their 60 plus million consumers. The Company processed a record $27.8 billion in claims during the third quarter, identifying potential savings of approximately $4.8 billion.

“Our third quarter results are a testament to our strong fundamentals and resilient business model,” said Mark Tabak, CEO of MultiPlan. “We performed better than anticipated in the midst of a pandemic and reported positive quarterly growth in both our revenues and adjusted EBITDA. I’m tremendously proud of our employees who have worked relentlessly to manage and sustain our business momentum and diligently supported our successful transition to the public markets, all while delivering significant value to payors, providers and consumers. As the healthcare industry continues to grow and evolve, I am confident that we are well positioned to capitalize on the large addressable market for MultiPlan, with a strong focus on creating long-term value for all our stakeholders.”

Acquisition of HST

On November 10, the Company announced the acquisition of HST, a leading reference-based pricing growth company that uses sophisticated data analytics and tools to engage members and providers on the front and back end of healthcare. The acquisition increases the value that MultiPlan offers to healthcare payors by adding complementary services to help them better manage cost, while also enhancing MultiPlan’s analytics products and services and further extending the company into adjacent customer segments such as TPA and Regional Health Plans.

Business and Financial Highlights

  • Outperformed initial management expectations from COVID-19 impact with revenues of $223.5 million for the third quarter, up from $206.9 million for the second quarter of 2020, reflecting an 8% quarter-over-quarterincrease. Revenues for the third quarter of 2019 were $245.8 million, with the decline in year-over-year revenues stemming from the drop in realized customer savings due to the pandemic.
  • Net loss of $288.4 million for the third quarter compared to a net loss of $56.2 million for the second quarter of 2020 and net income of $5.4 million for the same period in 2019. This reflects a 413% quarter-over-quarter increase in net loss as a result of the impact of the business combination as well as $262.4 million in stock-based compensation expense related to the Company’s 2016-2020 stock-based compensation plan.
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $165.5 million for the third quarter compared to $149.8 million for the second quarter of 2020 and $187.4 million for the same period in 2019. This reflects a 10.5% quarter-over-quarterincrease as a result of COVID-19 recovery and growth across all three service lines, including Network, Analytics and Payment Integrity.
  • Closed merger between Polaris Parent Corp., the parent of MultiPlan, Inc., and Churchill Capital Corp III on October 8, 2020 and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MPLN” on October 9, 2020.

Balance Sheet

On October 29, 2020, the Companycompleted a comprehensive refinancing program with a projected annual interest expense savings of approximately $70 million and extended its long-term debt maturities by four to five years. The Company refinanced its existing PIK toggle notes and senior notes and paid down $369 million of its term loan. In addition, the Company’s revolving credit facility was increased to $450 million from $100 million to provide additional financial flexibility.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2020 Guidance

For the fiscal fourth quarter ending December 31, 2020, the Company expects:

  • Revenue between $238 and $253 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA between $180 and $194 million

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a conference call today, Thursday, November 12, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (ET) to discuss its financial results. To access the live conference call, please dial (833) 423-1182 (domestic) or (236) 714-2584 (international). The conference ID for the live call is 6454654. Interested investors and other parties can also listen to a webcast of the live conference call by logging onto the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at investors.multiplan.us/events-and-presentations. A supplementary slide presentation will also be available on such website.

For those unable to listen to the live conference call, a replay will be available approximately two hours after the call through the archived webcast on the MultiPlan website or by dialing (800) 585-8367 or (416) 621-4642. The conference ID for the replay is 6454654. The replay will be available until 11:59 p.m. ET on December 11, 2020.

About MultiPlan

MultiPlan is committed to helping healthcare payors manage the cost of care, improve their competitiveness and inspire positive change. Leveraging sophisticated technology, data analytics and a team rich with industry experience, MultiPlan interprets clients’ needs and customizes innovative solutions that combine its payment integrity, network-based and analytics-based services. MultiPlan is a trusted partner to over 700 healthcare payors in the commercial health, dental, government and property and casualty markets. For more information, visit multiplan.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “seeks,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will” or “should” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, including forward-looking statements about the impact from the novel coronavirus disease (the “COVID-19 pandemic”). These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions at the time they are made, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results, including the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, and our ability to achieve our projected financial guidance, and therefore actual results might differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that might materially affect such forward-looking statements include loss of our customers, particularly our largest customers; decreases in our existing market share or the size of our Preferred Provider Organization networks; effects of competition; effects of pricing pressure; the inability of our customers to pay for our services; decreases in discounts from providers; the loss of our existing relationships with providers; the loss of key members of our management team; changes in: our regulatory environment, including healthcare law and regulations; the inability to implement information systems or expand our workforce; changes in our industry; providers’ increasing resistance to application of certain healthcare cost management techniques; pressure to limit access to preferred provider networks; heightened enforcement activity by government agencies; the possibility that regulatory authorities may assert we engage in unlawful fee splitting or corporate practice of medicine; interruptions or security breaches of our information technology systems; the expansion of privacy and security laws; our inability to expand our network infrastructure; our ability to protect proprietary applications; our ability to identify, complete and successfully integrate future acquisitions; our ability to pay interest and principal on our notes and other indebtedness; our ability to remediate any material weaknesses or maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting; the ability to continue to meet applicable listing standards; the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, our ability to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain our management and key employees; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that we may be adversely affected by other political, economic, business, and/or competitive factors; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its related effects on our projected results of operations, financial performance or other financial metrics; the ability to achieve the goals of our Short-Term Execution Plan and recognize the anticipated strategic, operational, growth and efficiency benefits when expected; pending or potential litigation associated with the business combination; and other risks and uncertainties indicated in Multiplan’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on October 30, 2020, including those under “Risk Factors” therein, and other documents filed or to be filed with SEC by MultiPlan. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to the financial measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”), this press release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA. A non-GAAP financial measure is generally defined as a numerical measure of a company’s financial performance or financial position that excludes or includes amounts so as to be different than the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are supplemental measures of MultiPlan’s performance that are not required by or presented in accordance with GAAP. These measures are not measurements of our financial performance or liquidity under GAAP, have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net income (loss), cash flows or any other measures of performance or liquidity prepared in accordance with GAAP.

EBITDA represents net income before interest expense, interest income, income tax provision (benefit) and depreciation and amortization of intangible assets. Adjusted EBITDA is EBITDA as further adjusted by certain items as described in the table below. In addition, in evaluating EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, you should be aware that in the future, we may incur expenses similar to the adjustments in the presentation of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. The presentation of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. The calculations of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Based on our industry and debt financing experience, we believe that EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are customarily used by investors, analysts and other interested parties to provide useful information regarding a company’s ability to service and/or incur indebtedness.

We also believe that adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors and analysts in assessing our operating performance during the periods these charges were incurred on a consistent basis with the periods during which these charges were not incurred. Both EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider either in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of the limitations are:

  • EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;
  • EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments on our debt;
  • EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes; and
  • Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the tangible assets being depreciated will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements.

MultiPlan’s presentation of adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that our future results and financial position will be unaffected by unusual items.

We have not reconciled the forward-looking adjusted EBITDA guidance included above to the most directly comparable GAAP measure because this cannot be done without unreasonable effort due to the variability and low visibility with respect to certain costs, the most significant of which are incentive compensation (including stock-based compensation), transaction related expenses (including expenses relating to the business combination), certain fair value measurements and costs related to the uncertainties caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which are potential adjustments to future earnings. We expect the variability of these items to have a potentially unpredictable, and a potentially significant, impact on our future GAAP financial results.

Polaris Parent Corp.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
($ in thousands, except share and per share data)
 
September 30, 2020 December 31, 2019
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents

$

203,807

$

21,825

Trade accounts receivable, net

 

53,873

 

77,071

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

13,902

 

5,032

Prepaid software and maintenance

 

7,322

 

9,556

Prepaid taxes

 

 

2,130

Deferred transaction costs

 

30,217

 

Total current assets

 

309,121

 

115,614

 
Property and equipment, net

 

182,270

 

177,992

Operating lease right-of-use asset

 

31,851

 

29,998

Goodwill

 

4,142,013

 

4,142,013

Client relationships intangible, net

 

2,930,082

 

3,135,782

Provider network intangible, net

 

638,721

 

683,561

Other intangibles, net

 

67,300

 

67,300

Equity investments

 

93,222

 

Other assets

 

5,447

 

8,151

Total assets

$

8,400,027

$

8,360,411

 
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable

$

38,905

$

9,565

Accrued interest

 

70,730

 

17,966

Accrued taxes

 

17,630

 

Operating lease obligation

 

6,811

 

9,521

Accrued compensation

 

33,404

 

26,311

Accrued legal

 

9,136

 

10,038

Accrued administrative fees

 

3,593

 

3,861

Other accrued expenses

 

9,883

 

8,524

Total current liabilities

 

190,092

 

85,786

 
Long-term debt

 

5,409,451

 

5,397,122

Operating lease obligation

 

28,040

 

23,086

Deferred income taxes

 

834,840

 

869,199

Total liabilities

 

6,462,423

 

6,375,193

 
Shareholders’ equity:
Shareholder interests
Shareholder shares par value $0.001, 1,000 shares authorized
(500 Series A and 500 Series B), issued and outstanding 5 shares of Series A
and 5 shares of Series B as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019

Contributed capital

 

1,647,284

 

1,347,656

Retained earnings

 

290,320

 

637,562

Shareholders’ equity

 

1,937,604

 

1,985,218

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

$

8,400,027

$

8,360,411

 
 
Polaris Parent Corp.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of (Loss) Income and Comprehensive (Loss) Income
($ in thousands, except share and per share data)
 
 
Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

2020

 

 

 

2019

 

 

 

2020

 

 

 

2019

 

 
Revenues

$

223,517

 

$

245,820

 

$

682,419

 

$

736,497

 

 
Costs of services (exclusive of depreciation and
amortization of intangible assets shown below)

 

147,866

 

 

41,059

 

 

244,445

 

 

116,191

 

General and administrative expenses

 

184,164

 

 

25,986

 

 

241,931

 

 

62,513

 

Depreciation

 

15,262

 

 

14,153

 

 

44,903

 

 

41,723

 

Amortization of intangible assets

 

83,513

 

 

83,513

 

 

250,540

 

 

250,540

 

Total expenses

 

430,805

 

 

164,711

 

 

781,819

 

 

470,967

 

 
Operating (loss) income

 

(207,288

)

 

81,109

 

 

(99,400

)

 

265,530

 

 
Interest expense

 

82,275

 

 

93,246

 

 

259,290

 

 

286,438

 

Interest income

 

(81

)

 

(54

)

 

(229

)

 

(133

)

Gain on repurchase and retirement of Notes

 

 

 

(18,450

)

 

 

 

(18,450

)

Net (loss) income before income taxes

 

(289,482

)

 

6,367

 

 

(358,461

)

 

(2,325

)

 
(Benefit) provision for income taxes

 

(1,080

)

 

1,005

 

 

(11,219

)

 

(191

)

(Loss) income from continuing operations

 

(288,402

)

 

5,362

 

 

(347,242

)

 

(2,134

)

 
Net (loss) income

 

(288,402

)

 

5,362

 

 

(347,242

)

 

(2,134

)

 
Weighted average shares outstanding – Basic and Diluted:

 

10

 

 

10

 

 

10

 

 

10

 

 
Net (loss) income per share – Basic and Diluted:

$

(28,840,200

)

$

536,200

 

$

(34,724,200

)

$

(213,400

)

 
Comprehensive (loss) income

 

(288,402

)

 

5,362

 

 

(347,242

)

 

(2,134

)

 
 
Polaris Parent Corp.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
($ in thousands)

Nine Months

Ended

September 30, 2020

 

 

Nine Months

Ended

September 30, 2019

Operating activities:
Net loss

$

(347,242

)

$

(2,134

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash
provided by operating activities:
Depreciation

 

44,903

 

 

41,723

 

Amortization of the right-of-use asset

 

6,537

 

 

7,120

 

Amortization of intangible assets

 

250,540

 

 

250,540

 

Amortization of debt issuance costs

 

11,016

 

 

8,546

 

Stock-based compensation

 

299,629

 

 

(308

)

Deferred tax benefit

 

(34,359

)

 

(17,129

)

Non-cash interest costs

 

1,434

 

 

1,476

 

Loss on equity investments

 

7,784

 

 

 

Gain on repurchase and cancellation of Notes

 

 

 

(18,450

)

Loss on disposal of property and equipment

 

77

 

 

152

 

Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquired balances:
Accounts receivable, net

 

23,198

 

 

6,270

 

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 

(34,280

)

 

(2,389

)

Prepaid taxes

 

2,130

 

 

(64,897

)

Operating lease obligation

 

(6,082

)

 

(7,171

)

Accounts payable and accrued expenses and other

 

107,016

 

 

64,578

 

Net cash provided by operating activities

 

332,301

 

 

267,927

 

Investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment

 

(49,322

)

 

(48,020

)

Purchases of equity investments

 

(101,006

)

 

 

Net cash used in investing activities

 

(150,328

)

 

(48,020

)

 
Financing activities:
Repayments of long term debt

 

 

 

(100,000

)

Repurchase and cancellation of Senior PIK Toggle Notes

 

 

 

(101,013

)

Borrowings on revolving credit facility

 

98,000

 

 

 

Repayment of revolving credit facility

 

(98,000

)

 

 

Borrowings (payments) on capital leases, net

 

9

 

 

(130

)

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

 

9

 

 

(201,143

)

 
Net change in cash and cash equivalents

 

181,982

 

 

18,764

 

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

 

21,825

 

 

5,014

 

 
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

$

203,807

 

$

23,778

 

 
Noncash investing and financing activities:
Purchases of property, plant and equipment not yet paid

$

4,327

 

$

3,850

 

Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for
operating lease liabilities

$

10,158

 

$

3,908

 

Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Cash paid during the period for:
Interest

$

(194,074

)

$

(221,934

)

Income taxes, net of refunds

$

(4,415

)

$

(82,225

)

 

Calculation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

Polaris Parent Corp
 
($ in thousands)
For the Three Months Ended
For the Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2020 June 30, 2020 September 30, 2019 September 30, 2020 September 30, 2019
Net income (loss) – GAAP

$

(288,402

)

$

(56,246

)

$

5,362

 

$

(347,242

)

$

(2,134

)

Adjustments:
Interest expense

 

82,275

 

 

86,050

 

 

93,246

 

 

259,290

 

 

286,438

 

Interest income

 

(81

)

 

(77

)

 

(54

)

 

(229

)

 

(133

)

Income tax provision (benefit)

 

(1,080

)

 

(9,456

)

 

1,005

 

 

(11,219

)

 

(191

)

Depreciation

 

15,262

 

 

15,135

 

 

14,153

 

 

44,903

 

 

41,723

 

Amortization of intangible assets

 

83,513

 

 

83,514

 

 

83,513

 

 

250,540

 

 

250,540

 

Non-income taxes (a)

 

415

 

 

481

 

 

479

 

 

1,335

 

 

1,409

 

 
EBITDA

$

(108,098

)

$

119,401

 

$

197,704

 

$

197,378

 

$

577,652

 

 
Adjustments:
Other (income) expense (b)

 

1,012

 

 

149

 

 

626

 

 

1,308

 

 

1,448

 

Transaction related expenses (c )

 

2,464

 

 

2,338

 

 

3,245

 

 

5,162

 

 

3,267

 

Loss on equity investments (d)

 

7,784

 

 

 

 

 

 

7,784

 

 

 

Gain on repurchase and retirement of notes (e)

 

 

 

 

 

(18,450

)

 

 

 

(18,450

)

Stock-based compensation (f)

 

262,356

 

 

27,911

 

 

4,321

 

 

299,629

 

 

(308

)

 
Adjusted EBITDA

$

165,518

 

$

149,799

 

$

187,446

 

$

511,261

 

$

563,609

 

 
 
 
(a) Non-income taxes includes personal property taxes, real estate taxes, sales and use taxes and franchise taxes which are included in costs of services and general and
administrative expenses in our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income.
(b) Represents miscellaneous non-operating expenses, gain or loss on disposal of assets, and management fees.
(c) Represents ordinary course transaction costs and transaction costs related to the Churchill Capital Corp III and MultiPlan business combination.
(d) Loss on equity investments reflects the change in the value of CCXX stock as September 30, 2020 from the price shares were purchased.
(e) Represents the gain related to the repurchase and cancellation of $121.3 million in aggregate amount of Senior PIK Notes.
(f) Includes the cost of an employee stock-based compensation plan.

 

Investor Relations

Shawna Gasik

AVP, Investor Relations

MultiPlan

866-909-7427

[email protected]

Helen O’Donnell

Managing Director

Solebury Trout

203-428-3213

[email protected]

Media Relations

Pamela Walker

Senior Director, Marketing & Communications

MultiPlan

781-895-3118

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America New York

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Software Technology Data Management

MEDIA:

Despegar.com Announces 3Q20 Financial Results

Despegar.com Announces 3Q20 Financial Results

Improving Trend in Bookings Despite Government Restrictions on Travel

Leveraging Non-Paid Marketing Channels

Delivered Cost Reduction Targets

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE: DESP), (“Despegar” or the “Company”) a leading online travel company in Latin America, today announced unaudited results for the three-months ended September 30, 2020 (3Q20). Financial results are expressed in U.S. dollars and are presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Third Quarter 2020 Key Financial and Operating Highlights

(For definitions, see page 12)

  • Sequential monthly improvement in transactions and gross bookings during the quarter with CAGR of 20% and 29%, respectively. Improvements mainly driven by higher domestic demand in Brazil and Mexico, while travel restrictions remain in place in other key markets
  • Marketing decreased $1.5 million compared with 2Q20, despite a 3X quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increment in transactions. 51% share of mobile transactions in 3Q20
  • As reported Gross Bookings more than tripled QoQ but declined 86% year-over-year (YoY) to $165.3 million. Gross bookings on an FX neutral basis declined 82% YoY
  • As reported Revenues were $11.7 million, which include the impact of cancellations given the increased flexibility of the Company’s refund policy due to Covid-19. Excluding the impact of cancellations, as reported revenues would have declined 84% to $21 million and would have increased 406% sequentially.
  • Transactions and Room Nights both down 78% YoY and up 188% and 315% QoQ, respectively
  • Structural Costs declined 49% YoY and 16% QoQ to $27.8 million, reflecting measures implemented throughout the year, and meeting the Company’s $28 million run-rate target for the quarter
  • Excluding Extraordinary Charges, Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $16.6 million compared to a loss of $32.0 million in 2Q20. Reported Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $33.7 million in 3Q20 compared to an EBITDA loss of $65.8 million in 2Q20 and positive $9.4 million in 3Q19. Non-recurring charges that impacted Adjusted EBITDA were $17.1 million in 3Q20
  • Use of operating cash of $24.2 million in 3Q20, compared to positive operating cash flow of $20.0 million in 2Q20 and $25.5 million in 3Q19
  • Solid balance sheet – Cash and cash equivalents including restricted cash of $386 million at quarter end, including proceeds of US$189.6 million from private placement closed on September 21, 2020

Subsequent Events

  • Best Day – On October 1, 2020, Despegar completed the previously announced acquisition of Best Day Travel Group (“Best Day”), one of the leading travel agencies in Mexico. Revised terms of this transaction were announced on June 11, 2020.

Message from CEO

Commenting on the Company’s performance, Damian Scokin, CEO stated, “We continue making strong progress on the key initiatives defined as a response to Covid-19 scenario: 1) Adjusting our value proposition targeting profitability and cash generation, 2) focus on strict cost control and increasing operational leverage, 3) balance sheet strengthening and, 4) efficient integration of acquired businesses. These priorities are aligned with the Company’s long term focus.

In that context we are encouraged by the steady monthly increases in our Gross Booking levels mainly driven by higher demand for domestic travel both in Brazil and Mexico. Additionally, the recent closure of the Best Day acquisition, with its focus on domestic travel in Mexico, is expected to be a positive contributor to Despegar’s performance in the coming months. By contrast, travel restrictions remained in place during the quarter in the Andean Region and Argentina.

With respect to the Company’s financial position, we are pleased that we have achieved the objectives we had set for Despegar at the beginning of this pandemic including: i) reaching our targeted Structural Cost run rate of $28 million, ii) renegotiating and closing the Best Day acquisition, iii) and strengthening our Balance Sheet by raising $200 million in private capital.

This past quarter we have made strong progress in the integration of the Best Day and Koin businesses, and we continue working with our travel partners on the pending refunds and cancellations.

We remain disciplined yet opportunistic in our expenses and capital deployment, targeting attractive returns through an increase in scale by leveraging our technological platform and strong brand, moving ahead with the integration of Best Day and Koin as we further build on our low-cost delivery model.”

Operating and Financial Metrics Highlights
(In millions, except as noted)

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg

Operating metrics
Number of transactions

0.596

2.723

(78%)

Gross bookings

$165.3

$1,177.7

(86%)

Financial metrics
Revenues

$11.7

$132.0

(91%)

Net income (loss)

($41.7)

($3.7)

n.m.
Net income (loss) attributable to Despegar.com, Corp

($41.7)

($3.7)

n.m.
Adjusted EBITDA

($33.7)

$9.4

n.m.
EPS Basic

($0.60)

($0.05)

n.m.
EPS Diluted

($0.60)

($0.05)

n.m.
 
Extraordinary Charges
Adjusted EBITDA

($33.7)

$9.4

n.m.
Extraordinary cancellations due to COVID-19

(9.3)

Restructuring charges associated with cost reduction and M&A / Capital raise efforts

(7.8)

Adjusted EBITDA (Excl. Extraordinary Charges)

($16.6)

$9.4

n.m.
Shares Oustanding – Basic 1

71.501

69,503

Shares Oustanding – Diluted 1

71.501

69,503

EPS Basic (Excl. Extraordinary Charges)

(0.35)

(0.05)

EPS Diluted (Excl. Extraordinary Charges)

(0.35)

(0.05)

1. In thousands

Business Update on COVID-19

Governmental Flight Restrictions

According to ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), in 3Q20 airline seat capacity in LatAm reached 38% of 2019 levels, behind the 44% registered in Europe, 50% in North America and 51% in Asia Pacific.

Multiple travel restrictions remain in place across LatAm. In comparison to other countries, the recovery is taking longer to materialize in Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Peru, where travel was either rather limited or completely banned by government restrictions in place during the quarter. Despegar expects to benefit from pent up demand once these restrictions are lifted.

Throughout 3Q20, Brazil’s aviation sector remained open to commercial travel, while each municipality set the level of restrictions to be applicable to the lodging industry. As of today, hotels in only one jurisdiction remain closed. Mexico’s commercial aviation remained open, while some restrictions on lodging persisted until early September. In Argentina, both hotels and flights remained unavailable during the quarter, restrictions to tourism are still in place to-date. In Colombia, flights and hotels began a gradual reopening process in September. In Peru and Chile, hotels were allowed to open towards the end of the quarter while in Chile, flight restrictions to relevant touristic destinations are still in place.

Cost Control Initiatives

The Company met its targeted cost savings goal, achieving a $27.8 million run-rate for Structural Costs, 49% lower on a YoY basis. Included in these cost savings, were sequential declines of 12% in total payroll and 22% in non-payroll expenses.

Solid Financial Position:

The Company’s balance sheet remains solid with cash and cash equivalents including restricted cash of $386 million at quarter end. Excluding the proceeds from the capital raise announced last quarter, unrestricted cash and cash equivalents were $196 million, a 14% reduction when compared with June 30, 2020.

  • On September 18, 2020, the Company closed on the previously announced private placements with L. Catterton and Waha Capital. The Company intends to use the proceeds from these transactions for general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions. On that same date, the Company terminated, under the current terms, its $40 million committed revolving credit facility, in the context of a strengthened capital structure.
  • On October 1, 2020, Despegar completed the acquisition of Best Day Travel Group under the terms announced on June 11, 2020. The purchase price is subject to adjustments based on net indebtedness and working capital, and is payable 36 months following the closing date. Potential earnout payment due 48 months following closing date.
  • Aggregate Net Operational Short-term Obligations (comprised of travel accounts payable plus related party payables and accounts payable and accrued expenses, minus trade accounts receivable net of credit expected loss and related party receivables) were $124.1 million as of September 30, 2020, compared to Aggregate Net Operational Short-Term Obligations of $118.4 million as of June 30, 2020.

Overview of Third Quarter 2020 Results

Key Operating Metrics
(In millions, except as noted)

3Q20

 

3Q19

 

% Chg

FX Neutral %

Chg

$

% of total

 

$

% of total

 

Gross Bookings

$165.3

$1,177.7

(86%)

(82%)

Average selling price (ASP) (in $)

$278

$433

(36%)

(19%)

Number of Transactions by Segment & Total
Air

0.4

66%

1.6

58%

(75%)

Packages, Hotels & Other Travel Products

0.2

34%

1.1

42%

(82%)

Total Number of Transactions

0.6

100%

2.7

100%

(78%)

Transactions were 0.6 million in 3Q20, nearly tripling the 2Q20 level, mainly driven by improving trends in Brazil and Mexico. On an YoY basis, transactions declined 78%.

FX neutral gross bookings increased 229% sequentially and more than tripled as reported to $165.3 million in 3Q20 from $48.9 million in 2Q20.

Year-on-year, however, gross bookings decreased 86% as reported and 82% on an FX neutral basis reflecting travel restrictions and overall lower travel industry demand.

Sequentially, the average selling price (“ASP”) in 3Q20 increased 18% to $278 per transaction mainly reflecting a broader product mix sold. YoY, the ASP decreased 19% on an FX neutral basis and 36% as reported. On an as reported basis, the decrease was largely driven by: i) the effects of the pandemic on the product mix with a significant shift towards domestic products, and ii) currency depreciation across the region.

Geographical Breakdown

Geographical Breakdown of Select Operating and Financial Metrics
(In millions, except as noted)
3Q20 vs. 3Q19 – As Reported
 
Brazil Argentina Rest of Latam Total
% Chg. % Chg. % Chg. % Chg.
Transactions (‘000)

(65%)

(94%)

(83%)

(78%)

Gross Bookings

(82%)

(93%)

(86%)

(86%)

ASP ($)

(49%)

26%

(22%)

(36%)

Revenues

(91%)

Gross Profit n.m.
3Q20 vs. 3Q19 – FX Neutral Basis
 
Brazil Argentina Rest of Latam Total
% Chg. % Chg. % Chg. % Chg.
Transactions (‘000)

(65%)

(94%)

(83%)

(78%)

Gross Bookings

(76%)

(89%)

(85%)

(82%)

ASP ($)

(31%)

92%

(14%)

(19%)

Revenues

(89%)

Gross Profit n.m.

During 3Q20, Brazil represented 62% of Despegar’s total transactions, which increased 170% QoQ, and compared to the same quarter last year reported a 65% decrease. Gross Bookings tripled sequentially, but decreased 82% YoY reflecting a significant shift to domestic travel and the depreciation of the Brazilian Real. These two factors led to YoY decreases of 49% and 31% as reported and FX neutral ASPs, respectively.

In Argentina, transactions and gross bookings decreased 94% and 93% YoY, respectively due to the ongoing ban on travel that has been in place since mid March, 2020. Sequentially, transactions and gross bookings showed a slight improvement. On an as reported basis, ASPs increased 26%. With domestic travel still prohibited, almost 90% of transactions were international trips scheduled for 2021. On an FX neutral basis, gross bookings declined YoY by 89% and ASPs increased 92%.

Across the Rest of Latin America, transactions and as reported gross bookings both tripled from 2Q20 levels, with an important contribution coming from Mexico. In Mexico, the government has not enacted travel restrictions to-date which was reflected in the growth in packages sold. ASPs decreased 22% year-over-year to $338. On an FX neutral basis, gross bookings decreased 85%, while ASPs decreased 14%.

Revenue

Revenue Breakdown
 

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg

$

$

Total Revenue

$11.7

$132.0

(91%)

 
Total revenue margin

7.1%

11.2%

(411) bps
Extraordinary Charges
Extraordinary Cancellations due to COVID-19

($9.3)

Total Revenue (Excluding Extraordinary Charges)

$21.0

$132.0

(84%)

 
Total revenue margin (Excluding Extraordinary Charges)

12.7%

11.2%

+152 bps

As reported revenues reverted back to positive reaching $11.7 million in 3Q20, compared to negative $9.7 million in 2Q20. Both quarters were impacted by extraordinary cancellations.

However, revenues declined 91% from $132.0 million in 3Q19. The YoY decline was the result of: the contraction in travel demand and restrictions imposed by several governments in connection with COVID-19, as well as new cancellations reflecting: i) relaxation of the Company’s refund policy, ii) provisioning of refunds for the months of October and November and iii) flexibilization of non-refundable bookings. Revenue margin was 7.1% in 3Q20. Excluding extraordinary cancellations, revenue margin increased to 12.7% in 3Q20 from 8.5% in 2Q20. This compares with 11.2% in the same quarter last year.

Cost of Revenue and Gross Profit / (Loss)

Cost of Revenue and Gross Profit
(In millions, except as noted)

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg
Revenue

$11.7

$132.0

(91%)

Cost of Revenue

$12.4

$42.6

(71%)

Gross Profit / (Loss)

($0.7)

$89.5

n.m.
 
Extraordinary Charges
Total Revenue

$11.7

$132.0

Extraordinary Cancellations due to COVID-19

($9.3)

Total Revenue (Excl. Extraordinary Charges)

$21.0

$132.0

(84%)

Total Cost of Revenue

$12.4

$42.6

Extraordinary restructuring charges

($0.7)

Total Cost of Revenue (Excl. Extraordinary Charges)

$11.7

$42.6

(72%)

Gross Profit / (Loss) (Excl. Extraordinary Charges)

$9.3

$89.5

(90%)

Cost of revenue, which mainly consists of credit card processing fees, bank fees related to customer financing installment plans offered and fulfillment center expenses, was $12.4 million in 3Q20, decreasing 10% and 71%, QoQ and YoY, respectively. Excluding the impact of extraordinary restructuring charges, Cost of Revenue would have decreased 3% sequentially and 72% compared to the same quarter last year.

Savings in cost of revenue were primarily the result of lower variable costs, including cost of installments and credit card processing fees following the 78% YoY decrease in transactions. Additionally, fulfillment center costs were lower due to the outsourcing of the call center operations effective 1Q20 as well as reduced fraud and errors.

In 3Q20, The Company reported a gross profit loss of $0.7 million compared with gross profit of $89.5 million in 3Q19, but an improvement from the $23.5 million gross loss reported in 2Q20. Excluding the impact from customers’ extraordinary cancellations and restructuring charges, Despegar would have reported a comparable gross profit of $9.3 million in 3Q20, improving from a comparable loss of $7.9 million in the prior quarter.

Operating Expenses

Operating Expenses
(In millions, except as noted)

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg

Selling and marketing

$5.3

$46.7

(89%)

General and administrative

$22.8

$25.1

(9%)

Technology and product development

$14.3

$17.9

(20%)

Total operating expenses

$42.4

$89.7

(53%)

 
Extraordinary Charges
Total Operating Expenses

$42.4

$89.7

Extraordinary restructuring charges

(7.9)

Total operating expenses (Excl. Extraordinary Charges)

$34.5

$89.7

(62%)

Operating Expenses were 53% lower YoY at $42.4 million in 3Q20, as a result of the continued reduction in Structural Costs.

Excluding the Extraordinary Charges described below in 3Q20, total operating expenses decreased 62% YoY to $34.5 million in 3Q20. This resulted from prior cost savings initiatives, as well as additional Covid-19 mitigation measures introduced during the year, and synergies captured from the integration of Viajes Falabella.

Consequently, Structural Costs declined to a $27.8 million run-rate in 3Q20, in line with the target set earlier this year.

Selling and marketing (S&M) expenses decreased 89% YoY, as travel demand was impacted by Covid-19 and the Company relied even more on organic marketing channels. Only a small portion of the structural marketing costs remained.

Excluding extraordinary charges in connection with severance expenses in 3Q20, Selling and marketing expenses would have decreased 90% YoY.

General and administrative (G&A) expenses decreased 9% YoY reflecting the cost savings program implemented due to COVID-19 along with prior savings. G&A in 3Q20 also includes $6.8 million in extraordinary charges resulting from cost reductions, M&A and capital raising efforts.

Excluding these extraordinary charges, G&A expenses would have declined 36% YoY.

Technology and product development expenses decreased 20% YoY driven by cost savings initiatives, partially offset by a reduction in the capitalization of IT spend. Excluding extraordinary restructuring charges in 3Q20, the decrease would have been 23% YoY.

Financial Income/Expenses

In the third quarter of 2020, the Company reported a net financial loss of $4.5 million compared to a net financial loss of $3.6 million in 3Q19. In 3Q20, Despegar reported foreign exchange losses and other expenses which include the termination fee of the Revolving Credit Facility as a one-time expense. These losses were partially offset by interest income obtained.

Income Taxes

The Company reported an income tax benefit of $5.8 million in 3Q20, compared to $0.2 million in 3Q19. The effective tax rate in 3Q20 was 12.26%, compared to 4.01% in 3Q19.

The variation in the effective rate is driven mainly by an incremental tax rate in Argentina due to changes in the Knowledge-based-Economy Regime benefits.

The knowledge-based Economy Regime is an incentive program in Argentina, which established certain tax benefits for companies that meet specific criteria such as at least 70% of their revenue belong to certain activities related to technology or software development, biotechnology, among others. The Company is currently assessing whether it will be eligible to benefit from the new law and related tax benefits, such eligibility is subject to Argentine government approval.

Our effective tax rate is based on forecasted annual results which may fluctuate significantly through the rest of the year, in particular due to the uncertainty in our annual forecasts resulting from the unpredictable impact of COVID-19 on our operating results.

Adjusted EBITDA & Margin

Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation & Adjusted EBITDA Margin
(In millions, except as noted)

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg

Net income/ (loss)

($41.7)

($3.7)

1033%

Add (deduct):
Financial expense, net

$4.5

$3.6

24%

Income tax expense

($5.8)

($0.2)

3691%

Depreciation expense

$2.6

$2.0

28%

Amortization of intangible assets

$4.4

$4.2

4%

Share-based compensation expense

$2.4

$3.4

(28%)

Adjusted EBITDA

($33.7)

$9.4

n.m.
 
Extraordinary Charges
Adjusted EBITDA

($33.7)

$9.4

Extraordinary cancellations due to COVID-19

(9.3)

Restructuring charges associated with cost reduction and M&A / Capital raise efforts

(7.8)

Adjusted EBITDA (Excl. Extraordinary Charges)

($16.6)

$9.4

n.m.

Despegar reported an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $33.7 million this quarter, improving from an EBITDA loss of $65.8 million in 2Q20 and compared to positive Adjusted EBITDA of $9.4 million in 3Q19.

Excluding $9.3 million in Extraordinary Charges in connection with cancellations and $7.8 million resulting from cost reductions, M&A and capital raising efforts implemented in the context of COVID-19, Adjusted EBITDA loss in 3Q20 was $16.6 million.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

The Company’s cash and treasury operations are managed locally while subsidiaries’ dividends are paid directly to Despegar in Delaware, U.S. Additionally, the majority of Despegar’s cash balance is held in US dollars in the US and the UK. Despegar minimizes its foreign currency exposures by managing natural hedges, netting its current assets and current liabilities in similarly denominated foreign currencies, and managing short term loans and investments for hedging purposes.

Cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash, at September 30, 2020 was $386 million. During the quarter, cash and cash equivalents including restricted cash increased by $157.7 million sequentially, which is mostly explained by the proceeds of the recent private placement, which represented a cash inflow of $189.6 million.

Additionally, the Company terminated its committed revolving credit facility, from which the Company had not drawn down any amount.

Despegar reported a use of cash from operating activities of $24.2 million compared to cash generation from operating activities of $25.6 million in the year ago quarter. On Funds from Operations, in 3Q20 the Company reported a Net Loss (attributable to Despegar) of $41.7 million partially offset by Non-Cash adjustments of $15.4 million which mostly reflects allowance for doubtful accounts and amortization of intangible assets, among others.

With respect to the working capital portion of Cash Flow, Accounts Payable decreased by $11.8 million which was significantly offset by an increase in Tourist Payables, triggered by a higher level of gross bookings reported.

During 3Q20, capital expenditures were $3.0 million compared to $5.9 million during the same quarter in the prior year as Despegar is preserving cash in this volatile period. Funds were primarily invested in platform development.

Significant 3Q20 Events

Despegar.com Closes Investments by L Catterton and Waha Capital

On September 18, 2020, Despegar closed on the previously announced private placements with L Catterton, and on September 21, 2020 closed the previously announced private placement with Waha Capital. Despegar intends to use the proceeds from these investments for general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions.

Furthermore, Messrs. Dirk Donath and Aseem Gupta were appointed by L Catterton and Waha Capital, respectively, to the Company’s board of directors, pursuant to the agreements reached with each fund.

For additional information regarding the L Catterton and Waha Capital financings, see the Form 6-K filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2020.

Subsequent Events

Despegar Completes Acquisition of Best Day Travel Group

On October 1, 2020, Despegar completed the previously announced acquisition of Best Day Travel Group (“Best Day”), one of the leading travel agencies in Mexico. Best Day is expected to represent a key asset for Despegar, given its strong presence and leading market share in Mexico, particularly in the Hotels, Packages and Other Travel Products segment.

Operating for more than three decades in Mexico, Best Day has built an attractive business, with 95% of its 2019 revenues in the Hotels, Packages and Other Travel Products segment, including a robust B2C offering. Online transactions accounted for about 70% of total sales in 2019. Best Day’s revenues for 2019 were approximately US$140 million.

As disclosed on June 11, 2020 the terms of the transaction were as follows:

  • Base consideration of approximately US$56.5 million. The purchase price is subject to adjustments based on net indebtedness and working capital, and is payable 36 months following the closing date. The terms require no cash outlays in respect of the purchase price at transaction closing.
  • An additional variable purchase price component, ranging from zero to US$20 million, payable 48 months following the closing date. The variable component will be based on the performance of Despegar’s share price during a six-month period prior to the fourth anniversary of the closing date.

Argentina Considered Hyperinflationary Economy

As of July 1, 2018, as a result of a three-year cumulative inflation rate greater than 100% and following the guidance of ASC 830 the U.S. dollar became the functional currency of the Company’s Argentine subsidiary. This change in functional currency is being recognized prospectively in the financial statements. As a result, starting 3Q18 the impact of any change in currency exchange rate on the Company’s balance sheet accounts is reported in the Net financial income/(expense) line of the income statement instead of Other comprehensive income.

3Q20 Earnings Conference Call

When:

8:00 a.m. Eastern time, November 12, 2020

 

Who:

Mr. Damián Scokin, Chief Executive Officer

 

Mr. Alberto López-Gaffney, Chief Financial Officer

 

Ms. Natalia Nirenberg, Investor Relations

 

Dial-in:

1-844-750-4865 (U.S. domestic); 1-412-317-5275 (International)

Pre-Register: Please use this link to pre-register for this conference call. Callers who pre-register will be given a unique PIN to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the live operator.

Webcast: CLICK HERE

Definitions and concepts

Adjusted EBITDA: is calculated as net income/(loss) exclusive of financial income/(expense), income tax, depreciation, amortization, impairment of long-lived assets and stock-based compensation expense.

Aggregate Net Operational Short-term Obligations: consist of travel accounts payable plus related party payables and accounts payable and accrued expenses, minus trade accounts receivable net of credit expected loss and related party receivables.

Average Selling Price (ASP): reflects gross bookings divided by the total number of transactions.

Gross Bookings:Gross bookings is an operating measure that represents the aggregate purchase price of all travel products booked by the Company’s customers through its platform during a given period. The Company generates substantially all of its revenue from commissions and other incentive payments paid by its suppliers and service fees paid by its customers for transactions through its platform, and, as a result, it monitors gross bookings as an important indicator of its ability to generate revenue.

Extraordinary Charges:extraordinary events that lead to further non regular expenses, such as: i) extraordinary cancellations; ii) extraordinary restructuring charges and bad debt provisions for airlines that have entered into Chapter 11, among others.

Foreign Exchange (“FX”) Neutralcalculated by using the average monthly exchange rate of each month of the quarter and applying it to the corresponding months in the current year, so as to calculate what the results would have been had exchange rates remained constant. These calculations do not include any other macroeconomic effect such as local currency inflation effects.

Number of Transactions:The number of transactions for a period is an operating measure that represents the total number of customer orders completed on our platform in such period. The number of transactions is an important metric because it is an indicator of the level of engagement with the Company’s customers and the scale of its business from period to period but, unlike gross bookings, the number of transactions is independent of the average selling price of each transaction, which can be influenced by fluctuations in currency exchange rates among other factors.

Reporting Business Segments: The Company’s business is organized into two segments: (1) Air, which consists of the sale of airline tickets, and (2) Packages, Hotels and Other Travel Products, which consists of travel packages (the bundling of two or more products together which can include airline tickets and hotel rooms), as well as stand-alone sales of accommodations (including hotels and vacation rentals), car rentals, bus tickets, cruise tickets, travel insurance and destination services.

Revenue: The Company reports its revenue on a net basis, and in some cases on a gross basis, deducting cancellations and amounts that it collects as sales taxes. Despegar derives substantially all of its revenue from commissions and other incentive payments paid by its suppliers and service fees paid by its customers for transactions through its platform. To a lesser extent, Despegar also derives revenue from the sale of third-party advertisements on its websites and from certain suppliers when their brands appear in the Company advertisements in mass media.

Revenue Margin: calculated as revenue divided by gross bookings.

Seasonality: Despegar’s financial results experience fluctuations due to seasonal variations in demand for travel services. Bookings for vacation and leisure travel are generally higher during the fourth quarter, although to date and prior to the revenue recognition change beginning in the first quarter of 2018, the Company has recognized more revenue associated with those bookings in the fourth quarter of each year. Latin American travelers, particularly leisure travelers, who are Despegar’s primary customers, tend to travel most frequently at the end of the fourth quarter and during the first quarter of each year.

Structural Costs: Structural Costs represents management’s estimations of the fixed portion of the Company’s cost of revenue and operating expenses, which includes: call center fees (included in cost of revenue), plus the fixed portion of selling and marketing expenses (i.e., primarily personnel expenses), general and administrative expenses, and technology and product development expenses. Structural Costs does not include stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization, netting of capitalized IT and impairment. The estimates above do not include any costs that the Company may incur in connection with an acquisition of Best Day, as described below nor any extraordinary items related to the Company’s reorganization.

About Despegar.com

Despegar is the leading online travel company in Latin America. With over two decades of business experience and operating in 20 countries in the region, Despegar accompanies Latin American travelers from the moment they dream of taking a trip until they share their memories of that trip. Thanks to the strong commitment to technological development and customer service, Despegar offers a customized experience to more than 18 million customers.

Despegar’s websites and leading mobile apps, offer products from over 270 airlines, more than 690,000 accommodation options, as well as more than 1,260 car rental agencies and approximately 200 destination services suppliers with more than 7,500 activities throughout Latin America. The Company owns and operates two well-recognized brands, Despegar, its global brand, and Decolar, its Brazilian brand. Despegar is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DESP). For more information, please visit www.despegar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We base these forward-looking statements on our current beliefs, expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting our business and our market. Many important factors could cause our actual results to differ substantially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or to revise any forward-looking statements. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. The words “believe,” “may,” “should,” “aim,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “will,” “expect” and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, capital expenditures, financing plans, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities, the effects of future regulation and the effects of competition. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic, and governments’ extraordinary measures to limit the spread of the virus, are disrupting the global economy and the travel industry, and consequently adversely affecting our business, results of operation and cash flows and, as conditions are recent, uncertain and changing rapidly, it is difficult to predict the full extent of the impact that the pandemic will have. Considering these limitations, you should not make any investment decision in reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

— Financial Tables Follow —

Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands U.S. dollars, except as noted)

Profit & Loss Statement
 

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg

Revenue

11,740

132,048

(91%)

Cost of revenue

12,390

42,591

(71%)

Gross profit

(650)

89,457

(101%)

Operating expenses
Selling and marketing

5,299

46,656

(89%)

General and administrative

22,818

25,090

(9%)

Technology and product development

14,322

17,922

(20%)

Impairment of long-lived assets

Total operating expenses

42,439

89,668

(53%)

 
Operating (loss) / income

(43,089)

(211)

20321%

Net financial income (expense)

(4,484)

(3,627)

n.m.
Net (loss) / income before income taxes

(47,573)

(3,838)

1140%

Income tax (benefit) / expense

(5,838)

(154)

3691%

Net (loss) / income

(41,735)

(3,684)

1033%

Net (income) / loss attributable to non controlling interest

69

n.m.
Net income (loss) attributable to Despegar.com, Corp

(41,666)

(3,684)

 
Basic EPS (in $)

(0.60)

(0.05)

n.m.
Diluted EPS (in $)

(0.60)

(0.05)

n.m.
Basic Shares weighted average 1

71,501

69,503

Diluted shares weighted average1

71,501

69,503

1. In thousands

Key Financial & Operating Trended Metrics(in thousands U.S. dollars, except as noted)

 

4Q18

 

1Q19

2Q19

3Q19

4Q19

 

1Q20

2Q20

3Q20

FINANCIAL RESULTS
Revenue

$132,515

$133,114

$114,087

$132,048

$145,627

$76,082

($9,734)

$11,740

Revenue Recognition Adjustment
Cost of revenue

49,703

45,245

40,342

42,591

51,387

33,495

13,801

12,390

Gross profit

82,812

87,869

73,745

89,457

94,240

42,587

(23,535)

(650)

Operating expenses
Selling and marketing

42,925

40,933

50,701

46,656

49,604

31,985

6,848

5,299

General and administrative

17,236

20,638

21,254

25,090

25,980

18,023

24,391

22,818

Technology and product development

16,376

18,713

18,077

17,922

18,663

17,154

18,415

14,322

Impairment of long-lived assets

363

1,324

Total operating expenses

76,900

80,284

90,032

89,668

94,247

67,162

50,978

42,439

 
Operating income

5,912

7,585

(16,287)

(211)

(7)

(24,575)

(74,513)

(43,089)

Net financial income (expense)

(18)

(5,220)

(1,663)

(3,627)

(6,705)

10,061

9,428

(4,484)

Net income before income taxes

5,894

2,365

(17,950)

(3,838)

(6,712)

(14,514)

(65,085)

(47,573)

Adj. Net Income tax expense

2,864

479

(1,483)

(154)

(4,067)

709

(8,011)

(5,838)

Income tax expense

2,864

479

(1,483)

(154)

(4,067)

709

(8,011)

(5,838)

Adjustment
Net income /(loss)

3,030

1,886

(16,467)

(3,684)

(2,645)

(15,223)

(57,074)

(41,735)

Net (income) / loss attributable to non controlling interest

$69

Net income (loss) attributable to Despegar.com, Corp

(41,666)

Adjusted EBITDA

$13,868

$15,182

($7,323)

$9,410

$8,292

($15,611)

($65,793)

($33,695)

 
Net income/ (loss)

$3,030

$1,886

($16,467)

($3,684)

($2,645)

($15,223)

($57,074)

($41,735)

Add (deduct):
Financial expense, net

18

5,220

1,663

3,627

6,705

(10,061)

(9,428)

4,484

Income tax expense

2,864

479

(1,483)

(154)

(4,067)

709

(8,011)

(5,838)

Depreciation expense

1,313

1,395

2,683

2,036

1,094

1,851

1,782

2,597

Amortization of intangible assets

3,156

3,203

3,089

4,195

5,100

4,939

5,501

4,370

Share-based compensation expense

3,124

2,999

3,192

3,390

2,105

2,174

113

2,427

Impairment of long-lived assets

363

1,324

Adjusted EBITDA

$13,868

$15,182

($7,323)

$9,410

$8,292

($15,611)

($65,793)

($33,695)

Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2020 and June 30, 2020 (in thousands U.S. dollars, except as noted)

As of September 30, 2020 As of June 30, 2020
ASSETS
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents

375,258

223,970

Restricted cash and cash equivalents

10,600

4,169

Accounts receivable, net of allowances

38,052

44,141

Related party receivable

4,140

4,017

Other current assets and prepaid expenses

32,123

41,299

Total current assets

460,173

317,596

Non-current assets
Other Assets

39,489

31,375

Right of use

24,666

30,866

Property and equipment net

13,834

16,523

Intangible assets, net

47,070

47,742

Goodwill

45,572

41,664

Total non-current assets

170,631

168,170

TOTAL ASSETS

630,804

485,766

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
Current liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued expenses

22,484

31,967

Travel suppliers payable

130,845

116,497

Related party payable

13,001

18,131

Loans and other financial liabilities

7,221

9,961

Deferred Revenue

8,155

8,430

Other liabilities

35,397

33,515

Contingent liabilities

6,337

5,761

Lease liabilities

3,736

4,625

Total current liabilities

227,176

228,887

Non-current liabilities
Other liabilities

1,756

2,271

Contingent liabilities

74

79

Lease liabilities

21,427

26,333

Related party liability

125,000

125,000

Total non-current liabilities

148,257

153,683

TOTAL LIABILITIES

375,433

382,570

 
Mezzanine Equity

134,819

 
SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Common stock

263,944

263,944

Additional paid-in capital

385,702

327,826

Other reserves

(728)

(728)

Accumulated other comprehensive income

(18,549)

(19,696)

Accumulated losses

(441,550)

(399,883)

Treasury Stock

(68,267)

(68,267)

Total Shareholders’ Equity Attributable / (Deficit) to Despegar.com Corp

120,552

103,196

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

630,804

485,766

Unaudited Statements of Cash Flows for the three-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019(in thousands U.S. dollars, except as noted)

 

3 months ended September 30,

2020

2019

Cash flows from operating activities
Net income

($41,666)

($3,684)

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flow from operating activities
Unrealized foreign currency translation losses

$2,994

7,757

Depreciation expense

$2,597

2,037

Amortization of intangible assets

$4,370

4,195

Disposals of property and equipment

$463

Stock based compensation expense

$2,427

3,390

Amortization of Right of use

$869

1,091

Interest and penalties

$130

316

Income taxes

($6,080)

(1,508)

Allowance for doubtful accounts

$6,701

865

Provision / (recovery) for contingencies

$932

(484)

Changes in assets and liabilities, net of non-cash transactions
(Increase) / Decrease in accounts receivable, net of allowances

($429)

28,531

(Increase) / Decrease in related party receivables

($123)

(4,110)

(Increase) / Decrease in other assets and prepaid expenses

$1,456

(12,050)

Increase / (Decrease) in accounts payable and accrued expenses

($11,794)

2,922

Increase / (Decrease) in travel suppliers payable

$11,800

278

Increase / (Decrease) in other liabilities

$6,579

(563)

Increase / (Decrease) in contingencies

($254)

(1,878)

Increase / (Decrease) in related party liabilities

($5,002)

(409)

Increase / (Decrease) in lease liability

$40

(1,196)

Increase / (Decrease) in deferred revenue

($230)

(18)

Net cash flows provided by / (used in) operating activities

(24,220)

25,482

Cash flows from investing activities
Payments for acquired business, net of cash acquired

327

4,254

Acquisition of property and equipment

(342)

(2,158)

Increase of intangible assets including internal-use software and website development

(3,059)

(8,016)

Net cash (used in) /provided by investing activities

(3,074)

(5,920)

Cash flows from financing activities
Increase / (Decrease) in loans and other financial liabilities

(4,800)

79

Proceeds from Private investment

200,000

Issuance of cost from private investment

(10,422)

Treasury Stock

(39,299)

Net cash (used in) / provided by financing activities

184,778

(39,220)

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

235

(2,466)

Net increase / (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

157,719

(22,124)

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash as of beginning of the period

228,139

322,233

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash as of end of the period

385,858

300,109

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This announcement includes certain references to Adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP financial measures. The Company defines:

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income/(loss) exclusive of financial income/(expense), income tax, depreciation, amortization and share-based compensation expense.

Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure recognized under U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this information and should note that these measures as calculated by the Company, differ materially from similarly titled measures reported by other companies, including its competitors. Adjusted EBITDA margin refers to Adjusted EBITDA as defined above divided by revenue.

To supplement its consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company presents foreign exchange (“FX”) neutral measures.

This non-GAAP measure should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, this non-GAAP measure is not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with our results of operations as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. This non-GAAP financial measure should only be used to evaluate our results of operations in conjunction with the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures.

Reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures can be found in the tables included in this quarterly earnings release.

The Company believes that reconciliation of FX neutral measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure provides investors an overall understanding of our current financial performance and its prospects for the future. Specifically, we believe this non-GAAP measure provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding the foreign currency exchange rate impact that may not be indicative of our core operating results and business outlook.

The FX neutral measures were calculated by using the average monthly exchange rates for each month during 2019 and applying them to the corresponding months in 2020, so as to calculate what results would have been had exchange rates remained stable from one year to the next. The table below excludes intercompany allocation FX effects. Finally, this measure does not include any other macroeconomic effect such as local currency inflation effects, the impact on impairment calculations or any price adjustment to compensate local currency inflation or devaluations.

The following table sets forth the FX neutral measures related to our reported results of the operations for the three-month periods ended September 30, 2020:

Geographical Breakdown of Select Operating and Financial Metrics
(In millions, except as noted)
3Q20 vs. 3Q19 – As Reported
 

Brazil

 

Argentina

 

Rest of Latin America

 

Total

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg.

 

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg.

 

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg.

 

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg.

Transactions (‘000)

371

1,070

(65%)

32

551

(94%)

193

1,102

(83%)

595.6

2,723.0

(78%)

Gross Bookings

83

468

(82%)

17

232

(93%)

65

478

(86%)

165.3

1,177.7

(86%)

ASP ($)

225

437

(49%)

529

421

26%

338

434

(22%)

278

433

(36%)

Revenues

11.7

132.0

(91%)

Gross Profit

-0.6

89.5

n.m.
3Q20 vs. 3Q19 – FX Neutral Basis
 

Brazil

 

Argentina

 

Rest of Latin America

 

Total

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg.

 

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg.

 

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg.

 

3Q20

3Q19

% Chg.

Transactions (‘000)

371

1,070

(65%)

32

551

(94%)

193

1,102

(83%)

595.6

2,723.0

(78%)

Gross Bookings

112

468

(76%)

26

232

(89%)

72

478

(85%)

209.7

1,177.7

(82%)

ASP ($)

302

437

(31%)

808

421

92%

374

434

(14%)

352

433

(19%)

Revenues

14.9

132.0

(89%)

Gross Profit

-1.5

89.5

n.m.

 

IR Contact

Natalia Nirenberg

Investor Relations

Phone: (+54911) 26684490

E-mail: [email protected]

KEYWORDS: Virgin Islands (British) Caribbean

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Other Travel Transportation Vacation Lodging Cruise Destinations Travel

MEDIA:

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Realtor.com® Weekly Housing Report: New Listings Decline Even Further as Buyers and Sellers Hit Pause During Election Week

– Newly listed properties are down double-digits compared to last year

– Home prices continue to evade the usual seasonal slowdown

– The number of days on market holds steady at nearly two weeks faster than last year

– Data shows the housing market remains unexpectedly strong for this time of year but activity is beginning to slow down

PR Newswire

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Buyers and sellers took a step back from the market last week as the nation focused its attention on the presidential election and surging coronavirus cases, according to realtor.com®‘s Weekly Housing Report for the week ending Nov 7. The latest report found new listings declined even further from the prior week, while prices and the pace of sales continue to hold steady — further thwarting the usual seasonal slowdown.

“Between the presidential election and a new wave of coronavirus cases, buyers and sellers had a lot of reasons to pause last week,” according to realtor.com® Chief Economist, Danielle Hale. “The big question is whether both buyers and sellers will jump back into the market after last week’s break. With mortgage rates expected to rise on news of a likely vaccine, buyers may have reason to jump back in and find a home sooner rather than later, but sellers may be more inclined to stay on hold. Thus, even as overall activity slows, we may very well see continued price growth and quick sales.”

Sellers take a break from putting their homes on the market

  • New listings further declined for the second week in a row, down 12% for the week ending Nov. 7 from last week’s decrease of 9%. This is a step backwards for newly listed homes which were down only 2% for the week ending Oct. 24.
  • New listings are a crucial ingredient for homes sales and they will need to make a strong comeback for housing activity to continue.
  • Due in part to the decrease in newly listed homes, the total number of homes for sale saw a slight deceleration and dropped to down 39% year-over-year after spending five steady weeks down 38%.

Home prices and the time it takes to sell continue to signal a tight market 

  • Listing prices extended their streak of double-digit growth for the 13th consecutive week, up 12.9% over last year.
  • As buyers continue to find fewer options for sale, the homes that are available are selling rapidly. The average time on market is just short of two weeks — 13 days — faster compared to a year ago.
  • This is the seventh week in a row that homes are selling 13 or 14 days faster than last year. If this trend shifts and homes begin to sell even more quickly, it is a good indication that buyers have no intention of taking the holidays off this year, but continued steadiness in the year over year difference would mean we’re seeing at least some of the usual seasonal pause in housing activity.

U.S. housing market shows signs of activity easing


  • Realtor.com

    ® tracks the overall strength of the housing market through its proprietary Housing Market Recovery Index, which compares real-time key indicators, including trends in number of searchers on realtor.com®, median listing prices, the number of newly listed homes, and the time it takes to sell to January 2020, prior to the pandemic.
  • The index declined to 108.0 nationwide for the week ending Nov. 7, 8.0 points above the pre-COVID baseline but a decrease of 1.4 points from the prior week. This puts the index on par with September levels, a month when existing home sale closings exceeded a 6.5 million seasonally adjusted annual rate.
  • The index shows us that the market remains unusually strong for this time of year, but housing activity has begun to slow down for the second consecutive week as it comes down from October’s high point of 112.4.

 


Metro


Median Listing Price YoY


Total Listings YoY


Median Days on Market YoY

Akron, Ohio

6.20%

-52.80%

-12 Days

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.

12.60%

-39.00%

-13 Days

Albuquerque, N.M.

12.90%

-47.30%

-14 Days

Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J.

13.20%

-49.10%

-20 Days

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.

9.20%

-45.00%

-8 Days

Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-S.C.

8.30%

-49.30%

-28 Days

Austin-Round Rock, Texas

18.00%

-50.90%

-13 Days

Bakersfield, Calif.

16.50%

-46.00%

-20 Days

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.

1.50%

-52.30%

-12 Days

Baton Rouge, La.

13.60%

-38.50%

-6 Days

Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.

-0.50%

-35.10%

-19 Days

Boise City, Idaho

21.20%

-72.40%

-11 Days

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.

11.90%

-26.30%

-11 Days

Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.

0.00%

-27.00%

-39 Days

Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y.

10.60%

-45.70%

8 Days

Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.

9.70%

-39.70%

-11 Days

Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.

12.30%

-44.50%

-22 Days

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.

9.00%

-49.10%

-12 Days

Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga.

8.50%

-52.10%

-14 Days

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.

8.70%

-32.00%

-7 Days

Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.

13.20%

-42.10%

-13 Days

Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio

5.40%

-47.70%

-15 Days

Colorado Springs, Colo.

9.70%

-55.50%

-15 Days

Columbia, S.C.

10.50%

-48.50%

-17 Days

Columbus, Ohio

9.80%

-46.90%

-12 Days

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas

5.20%

-47.90%

-9 Days

Dayton, Ohio

15.20%

-45.60%

-12 Days

Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.

4.90%

-42.60%

-20 Days

Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.

6.30%

-46.30%

-8 Days

Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa

4.70%

-33.70%

-9 Days

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich

11.20%

-48.10%

-8 Days

Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.

11.80%

-44.40%

-15 Days

El Paso, Texas

16.80%

-48.10%

-9 Days

Fresno, Calif.

9.80%

-57.30%

-11 Days

Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich

7.90%

-48.50%

-4 Days

Greensboro-High Point, N.C.

-1.90%

-51.30%

-18 Days

Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, S.C.

3.50%

-39.80%

-9 Days

Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.

12.50%

-57.80%

-6 Days

Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.

7.20%

-29.10%

-22 Days

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas

9.50%

-32.90%

-11 Days

Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.

3.90%

-45.70%

-13 Days

Jackson, Miss.

15.60%

-48.00%

-24 Days

Jacksonville, Fla.

0.30%

-46.30%

-15 Days

Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.

10.00%

-47.00%

-12 Days

Knoxville, Tenn.

9.90%

-49.90%

-17 Days

Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.

8.70%

-27.80%

-7 Days

Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.

8.50%

-26.50%

-14 Days

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.

22.30%

-60.40%

-18 Days

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.

15.40%

-19.30%

-10 Days

Louisville/Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.

1.60%

-48.10%

-16 Days

Madison, Wis.

6.10%

-43.50%

-13 Days

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas

19.70%

-42.60%

-33 Days

Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.

14.50%

-51.30%

-16 Days

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.

0.60%

-17.60%

1 Days

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.

5.40%

-38.20%

-9 Days

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.

1.40%

-29.60%

-8 Days

Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, Tenn.

7.80%

-46.10%

-8 Days

New Haven-Milford, Conn.

10.70%

-23.70%

-25 Days

New Orleans-Metairie, La.

14.00%

-38.00%

-9 Days

New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.

15.50%

-5.00%

2 Days

North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.

2.50%

-38.70%

-11 Days

Oklahoma City, Okla.

6.00%

-42.10%

-2 Days

Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa

1.60%

-45.80%

4 Days

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.

1.30%

-20.10%

-1 Days

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif.

12.20%

-52.10%

-10 Days

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.

5.00%

-40.80%

-6 Days

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.

17.00%

-41.70%

-13 Days

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.

10.70%

-42.10%

-8 Days

Pittsburgh, Pa.

25.60%

-38.50%

-14 Days

Portland-South Portland, Maine

7.80%

-46.50%

-33 Days

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.

10.80%

-44.70%

-8 Days

Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.

5.50%

-50.40%

-12 Days

Raleigh, N.C.

6.40%

-47.80%

-18 Days

Richmond, Va.

13.30%

-48.40%

-8 Days

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.

16.10%

-53.90%

-10 Days

Rochester, N.Y.

11.10%

-43.80%

-17 Days

Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif.

12.30%

-46.10%

-17 Days

Salt Lake City, Utah

17.40%

-51.80%

-13 Days

San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas

5.00%

-41.50%

-9 Days

San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.

10.40%

-23.00%

-1 Days

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.

10.80%

3.20%

-3 Days

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.

8.90%

-5.80%

-12 Days

Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, Pa.

18.20%

-52.30%

-35 Days

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.

8.50%

-39.80%

-7 Days

Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash.

7.10%

-50.70%

-5 Days

Springfield, Mass.

14.60%

-44.10%

-15 Days

St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.

9.00%

-38.80%

-14 Days

Stockton-Lodi, Calif.

4.60%

-64.50%

-4 Days

Syracuse, N.Y.

5.60%

-44.00%

2 Days

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.

9.20%

-41.40%

-13 Days

Toledo, Ohio

-1.60%

-42.10%

-4 Days

Tucson, Ariz.

8.40%

-44.90%

-5 Days

Tulsa, Okla.

10.20%

-41.00%

-8 Days

Urban Honolulu, Hawaii

-9.60%

24.40%

1 Day

Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.

10.60%

-52.30%

-27 Days

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va.

4.20%

-35.60%

-11 Days

Wichita, Kan.

9.40%

-36.60%

-13 Days

Winston-Salem, N.C.

-0.40%

-46.80%

-20 Days

Worcester, Mass.-Conn.

10.30%

-50.20%

-23 Days

Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.

16.60%

-52.50%

-24 Days

About realtor.com
®


Realtor.com

® makes buying, selling and living in homes easier and more rewarding for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of digital real estate 20 years ago, and today through its website and mobile apps is a trusted source for the information, tools and professional expertise that help people move confidently through every step of their home journey. Using proprietary data science and machine learning technology, realtor.com® pairs buyers and sellers with local agents in their market, helping take the guesswork out of buying and selling a home. For professionals, realtor.com® is a trusted provider of consumer connections and branding solutions that help them succeed in today’s on-demand world. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. under a perpetual license from the National Association of REALTORS®. For more information, visit realtor.com®.

Media Contacts: 
Cody Horvat, [email protected]

 

Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/realtorcom-weekly-housing-report-new-listings-decline-even-further-as-buyers-and-sellers-hit-pause-during-election-week-301171666.html

SOURCE realtor.com

GreenTree to Report Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results on December 2, 2020

PR Newswire

SHANGHAI, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — GreenTree Hospitality Group Ltd. (NYSE: GHG) (“GreenTree” or the “Company”), a leading hospitality management group in China, today announced that it will report its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, after U.S. markets close on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.

GreenTree’s management will hold an earnings conference call at 8:00 PM U.S. Eastern Time on December 2, 2020 (9:00 AM Beijing/Hong Kong Time on December 3, 2020). 

Dial-in numbers for the live conference call are as follows:

International                                       

1-412-902-4272

Mainland China                                                  

4001-201-203

US                                                      

1-888-346-8982

Hong Kong                                         

800-905-945 or 852-3018-4992

Singapore                                            

800-120-6157

Participants should ask to join the GreenTree call.

A telephone replay of the conference call will be available after the conclusion of the live conference call until December 9, 2020.

Dial-in numbers for the replay are as follows:

International Dial-in                            

1-412-317-0088

U.S. Toll Free                                    

1-877-344-7529

Canada Toll Free                               

855-669-9658

Passcode:                                            

10149105

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company’s investor relations website at http://ir.998.com.


About GreenTree Hospitality Group Ltd.

GreenTree Hospitality Group Ltd. (“GreenTree” or the “Company”) (NYSE: GHG) is a leading hospitality management group in China. As of June 30, 2020, GreenTree had a total number of 4,066 hotels. In 2019, HOTELS magazine ranked GreenTree Top 12 Ranking among 325 largest global hotel groups in terms of number of hotels in its annual HOTELS’ 325. GreenTree was also the fourth largest hospitality company in China in 2019 based on the statistics issued by the China Hospitality Association.

GreenTree has built a strong suite of brands, including its flagship “GreenTree Inns” brand as a result of its long-standing dedication to the hospitality industry in China and consistent quality of its services, signature hotel designs, broad geographic coverage and convenient locations. GreenTree has further expanded its brand portfolio into mid-to-up-scale and luxury segments through a series of strategic investments. By offering diverse brands, through its strong membership base, expansive booking network, superior system management with reasonable charges, and fully supported by its operating departments including Decoration, Engineering, Purchasing, Operation, IT and Finance, GreenTree aims to keep closer relationships with all of its clients and partners by providing a brand portfolio that features comfort, style and value.

For more information on GreenTree, please visit http://ir.998.com

GreenTree
Ms. Selina Yang
Phone: +86-21-3617-4886 ext. 7015
E-mail: [email protected]

Mr. Nicky Zheng
Phone: +86-21-3617-4886 ext. 6708
E-mail: [email protected]

Christensen
In Shanghai
Ms. Constance Zhang
Phone: +86-138-1645-1798
E-mail: [email protected]

In Hong Kong 
Ms. Karen Hui 
Phone: +852-9266-4140 
E-mail: [email protected]

In US 
Ms. Linda Bergkamp 
Phone: +1-480-614-3004
Email: [email protected]

Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/greentree-to-report-third-quarter-2020-financial-results-on-december-2-2020-301171744.html

SOURCE GreenTree Hospitality Group Ltd.