LivePerson (LPSN) Q4 2011 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY2011 revenue from business operations rose 24%; operating income grew 37%, and cash increased more than 50% to $93.3M.

• The business shifted from a chat-focused product toward LiveEngage, a multi-channel engagement platform, adding new products and an open developer ecosystem.

• Served more than 8,500 businesses and monitored ~1.4B visitor sessions per month on average in 2011.

Financial highlights

• FY2011 revenue was $133.1M, up 21% YoY; Q4 revenue was $36.5M, up 22% YoY.

• FY2011 operating income was $19.6M, up from $14.3M; net income rose 30% to $12.0M.

• FY2011 gross margin was 75%, up from 73% in 2010; Q4 gross margin was 78%, up from 72%.

• Diluted EPS was $0.22 for FY2011 versus $0.18 in 2010; Q4 diluted EPS was $0.07 versus $0.05.

• Operating cash flow was $25.1M; cash and cash equivalents reached $93.3M, up $31.9M from year-end 2010.

Outlook and guidance

• Current cash and expected operating cash flow were considered sufficient for working capital and capital needs for at least 12 months.

• 2012 capital expenditures were expected not to exceed $10M, mainly for U.S. and U.K. hosting and disaster-recovery facilities.

• Plans included continued investment in U.K., Western Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific sales and support, plus ongoing product development.

• 2012 priorities included expanding enterprise and midmarket sales, growing existing accounts, launching capabilities and supporting third-party developers.