VanceInfo Technologies Inc. (NYSE:VIT) (“VanceInfo” or the “Company”), an IT service provider and one of the leading offshore software development companies in China, today reported its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.
First Quarter 2009 Financial and Operating Highlights
- Net revenues in the first quarter of 2009 increased to $30.1 million, up 46.8 % from $20.5 million in the first quarter of 2008.
- Operating income in the first quarter of 2009 was $4.3 million, up 65.7% from the first quarter of 2008. Operating margin expanded to 14.4% in the first quarter of 2009, up from 12.7% in the first quarter of 2008.
- Diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) were $0.10 in the first quarter, up from $0.08 in the first quarter of 2008. Non-GAAP diluted EPS, which excludes share-based compensation expense, was $0.10 in the first quarter, compared to $0.08 in the first quarter of 2008.
- Employees totaled 6,075, including 5,426 billable professionals, as of March 31, 2009.
“We are pleased that VanceInfo continued to perform well during the first quarter of 2009. Our revenues exceeded our expectations, and we expanded our operating margin in a seasonally weak quarter,” said Chris Chen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of VanceInfo. “While the seasonal effect and the economic downturn had a visible impact on some of our businesses, we see continued growth momentum from our Chinese and European clients. Our pipeline of business opportunities remains encouraging in all major geographies, and our cost control measures are taking effect to protect our margins. With enhanced capabilities and brand recognition, we are confident that we will continue to win new customers and execute well for existing ones, and we will weather through the recession as an even stronger player.”
First Quarter 2009 Financial Results
Due to the seasonal nature of its business, the Company presents financial analysis on a year-over-year basis between the first quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2008 as in the following paragraphs.
Net Revenues
Net revenues were $30.1 million in the first quarter of 2009, up 46.8% from $20.5 million in the first quarter of 2008. The increase in net revenues was primarily due to continued expansion of business with existing key clients and the addition of new customers.
Net Revenues by Service Lines
The Company provides two broad sets of services: R & D Outsourcing Services and IT Services. R & D Outsourcing Services consists of research & development service line and globalization & localization service line. IT Services consists of enterprise solutions, application development & maintenance, and quality assurance & testing service lines.
Net revenues from R & D Outsourcing Services accounted for 63.7% of the total revenues during the first quarter of 2009 and grew 48.3% compared to the first quarter of 2008. Net revenues from IT Services represented the remaining 36.3% of the revenues and was up 44.1% from the year-ago quarter, largely driven by a 76.5% year-over-year growth in application development and maintenance services.
Net Revenues by Geographic Markets
Based on the location of our clients’ headquarters, the United States continued to be the Company’s largest geographic market, accounting for $13.3 million or 44.2% of net revenues in the first quarter of 2009, followed by 29.2% from clients headquartered in China, 18.4% in Europe, and 8.1% in Japan.
Measuring the Company’s revenues by geographic markets based on the location of the contract signing entities, rather than the location of the clients’ headquarters, China accounted for 73.3% of net revenues in the first quarter of 2009, while the United States accounted for 16.9% and Japan accounted for 7.4% in the same period.
Largest Clients
Revenues from the top five clients totaled 58.3% of net revenues in the quarter, compared to 51.1% in the first quarter of 2008. The continued strength in a number of large clients reflects the Company’s strong customer relationship driven by solid delivery results and the industry’s vendor consolidation trend.
Gross Profit and Gross Margin
Gross profit in the first quarter of 2009 was $11.2 million, an increase of 44.3% from $7.8 million in the first quarter of 2008. Gross margin was 37.3% in the first quarter of 2009, compared to 38.0% in the first quarter of 2008. The margin decline reflects stronger seasonality effect due to higher revenue contribution from Chinese clients and recent pricing pressure from certain customers.
Operating Expenses
Sales and marketing expenses were $1.04 million in the first quarter of 2009, up 6.2% from $0.98 million in the first quarter of 2008. General and administrative expenses were $6.3 million in the first quarter of 2009, up 46.1% from $4.3 million a year ago.
Operating Income and Operating Margin
Operating income in the first quarter of 2009 was $4.3 million, up 65.7% from $2.6 million in the first quarter of 2008. Operating margin expanded to 14.4% in the first quarter of 2009, up from 12.7% in the first quarter of 2008. The increase was partly attributable to the Company’s cost saving measures as well as a government grant relating to the Company’s training of new employees with college degrees. The Company expects continued financial support from the Chinese government in areas such as employee training and process improvements.
Provision for income taxes
The provision for income taxes was $0.4 million in the first quarter of 2009, compared to $0.6 million in the first quarter of 2008. The effective tax rate was 9.5% in the first quarter of 2009, reflecting the preferential tax rate of 7.5% for the Company’s main operating entity as a High and New Technology Enterprise.
Net Income and EPS
Net income in the first quarter of 2009 was $3.8 million, up 26.6% from $3.0 million in the first quarter of 2008. Net margin was 12.8% in the first quarter of 2009, compared to 14.8% in the first quarter of 2008. Non-GAAP net income, which excludes share-based compensation expense, was $4.2 million, up 23.5% from $3.4 million a year ago. Non-GAAP net margin was 13.9%, compared to 16.5% in the prior year period. The decrease in net margin was due to lower interest income and a foreign exchange loss for the quarter.
Diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) were $0.10 in the first quarter of 2009, compared to $0.08 in the first quarter of 2008. Non-GAAP diluted EPS, which excludes share-based compensation expense, was $0.10 in the first quarter of 2009, compared to $0.08 in the first quarter of 2008.
The non-GAAP measures and related reconciliations to GAAP measures are described in the accompanying sections of “About Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to Comparable GAAP Measures.”
Share Repurchase Activity
In February 2009, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the Company to acquire up to $10 million worth of the Company’s outstanding American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) within the next 12 months. As of March 31, 2009, 2,800 shares were repurchased for a total consideration of $13,192 under this program.
Recent Developments
New Contract with a Leading Online Travel Service Provider
In May 2009, VanceInfo signed a multi-year master agreement with a leading global online travel service provider. Under this partnership, VanceInfo will provide application development and maintenance services to the new client, helping it to enhance its core platforms and services as the client continues to expand its global reach. The Company will work closely with the client to build a potentially sizable global delivery team over the next 12 months.
Industry Recognition
In the first quarter of 2009, the Company was listed on two leading global outsourcing rankings: the 2009 Global Outsourcing 100 list by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP), and the 2009 Global Services 100 list by Global Services and neoIT. In the IAOP ranking, VanceInfo has been promoted to the Leaders category, where the Company was awarded a top 10 spot on the sub-list “Leaders – Research & Development Services”. VanceInfo was also listed on the “Leaders: Emerging Asian Markets” top 10 sub-list of the Global Services ranking.
Outlook for the Second Quarter and Full Year 2009
VanceInfo expects to generate net revenues between $31 million and $32 million in the second quarter of 2009, representing a 27% to 31% increase from the second quarter of 2008. Second quarter diluted EPS is expected to be between $0.10 and $0.11 on a GAAP basis and between $0.11 and $0.12 on a non-GAAP basis, which excludes share-based compensation, based on 40.4 million total ADS-equivalent average shares outstanding.
For the full year 2009, the Company has increased its guidance and expects:
- 2009 net revenues to be at least $128 million, up at least 25% from 2008.
- 2009 diluted EPS to be between $0.46 and $0.48 on a GAAP basis, and between $0.49 and $0.51 on a non-GAAP basis, based on 40.5 million total ADS-equivalent average shares outstanding.
Conference Call
VanceInfo will host a corresponding conference call and live webcast to discuss the quarter’s results at 8:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 (8:00 PM Beijing/Hong Kong time). Please dial-in five minutes prior to the call to register and receive further instruction.
The dial-in details for the live conference call are as follows:
- U.S. Toll Free Dial-in Number: + 1 866-271-5140
- International Dial-in Number: +1 617-213-8893
- Hong Kong Toll Free Dial-in Number: 800 96-3844
- Hong Kong Dial-in Number: +852 3002-1672
Passcode: Vanceinfo
The conference call will be available live via webcast on the Investors section of VanceInfo Technologies website at http://ir.vanceinfo.com. The archive replay will be available on VanceInfo's website shortly after the call.
A dial-in replay of the conference call will be available until May 20, 2009 at +1 888-286-8010 or +1 617-801-6888; passcode: 74720620