NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
This press release and its attachments include several non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP net revenues; non-GAAP Services net revenues; non-GAAP net revenues at constant currency; non-GAAP gross margin as a percentage of non-GAAP net revenues; non-GAAP net income (loss) per diluted share, and free cash flow. This press release also includes certain forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures, specifically projected non-GAAP net revenues and non-GAAP net income per diluted share for the fourth fiscal quarter and full fiscal year 2015. The corresponding reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures, to the extent available without unreasonable effort, are included in this press release.
Management uses non-GAAP financial measures only in addition to and in conjunction with results presented in accordance with GAAP. Management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures help it to evaluate Verifone's performance and operations and to compare Verifone's current results with those for prior periods as well as with the results of peer companies. Verifone incurs, due to differences in debt, capital structure and investment history, certain income and expense items, such as stock based compensation, amortization of acquired intangibles and other non-cash expenses, that differ significantly from Verifone's competitors. The non-GAAP financial measures reflect Verifone's reported operating performance without such items. Management also uses these non-GAAP financial measures in Verifone's budget and planning process. Management believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors in comparing Verifone's operating performance in any period with its performance in other periods and with the performance of other companies that represent alternative investment opportunities. These non-GAAP financial measures contain limitations and should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, disclosures made in accordance with GAAP.
These non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and may therefore differ from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP financial measures do not reflect all amounts and costs, such as acquisition related costs, employee stock-based compensation costs, cash that may be expended for future capital expenditures or contractual commitments, working capital needs, cash used to service interest or principal payments on Verifone's debt, income taxes and the related cash requirements, and restructuring charges, associated with Verifone's results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP.
Furthermore, Verifone expects to continue to incur income and expense items that are similar to those that are excluded by the non-GAAP adjustments described herein. Management compensates for these limitations by also relying on the comparable GAAP financial measures.
Our GAAP and non-GAAP net revenues are presented for our geographic regions: North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. North America includes the US and Canada. Latin America includes South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. EMEA includes Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Africa. Asia-Pacific includes Australia, New Zealand, China, India and throughout the rest of Greater Asia, including other Asia-Pacific Rim countries.
Note A: Non-GAAP net revenues . Non-GAAP net revenues exclude the fair value decrease (step-down) in deferred revenue at acquisition. Although the step-down of deferred revenue fair value at acquisition is reflected in our GAAP financial statements, it results in net revenues immediately post-acquisition that are lower than net revenues that would be recognized in accordance with GAAP on those same services if they were sold under contracts entered into post-acquisition. We adjust the step-down to achieve comparability to net revenues of the acquired entity earned pre-acquisition and to our GAAP net revenues to be earned on contracts sold in future periods. These non-GAAP net revenues amounts are not intended to be a substitute for our GAAP disclosures of net revenues, and should be read together with our GAAP disclosures.
Note B: Non-GAAP net revenues at constant currency . Verifone determines non-GAAP net revenues at constant currency by recomputing non-GAAP net revenues denominated in currencies other than U.S. Dollars in the current fiscal period using average exchange rates for that particular currency during the corresponding financial period of the prior year. Verifone uses this non-GAAP measure to evaluate performance on a comparable basis excluding the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.
Note C: Merger and Acquisition Related . Verifone adjusts certain revenues and expenses for items that are the result of merger and acquisitions.
Acquisition related adjustments include the amortization of intangible assets, fixed asset fair value adjustments, contingent consideration adjustments, incremental costs associated with acquisitions (such as legal fees related to litigation assumed as part of acquisitions) and acquisition integration expenses (such as costs of personnel required to assist with integration transitions). In addition, we adjust for changes in estimate and final resolution of contingencies that existed at the time of acquisition. Acquisition related expenses also result from events which arise from unforeseen circumstances which often occur outside the ordinary course of business.
Verifone analyzes the performance of its operations without regard to these adjustments. In determining whether any merger or acquisition related adjustment is appropriate, Verifone takes into consideration, among other things, how such adjustments would or would not aid the understanding of the performance of its operations.
Note D: Stock-Based Compensation . Our non-GAAP financial measures eliminate the effect of expense for stock-based compensation because they are non-cash expenses that management believes are not reflective of ongoing operating results. In particular, because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types which affect the calculations of stock-based compensation, we believe that the exclusion of stock-based compensation allows for more accurate comparisons of our operating results to our peer companies. Stock-based compensation is very different from other forms of compensation. A cash salary or bonus has a fixed and unvarying cash cost. In contrast the expense associated with an award of an option or other stock based award is unrelated to the amount of compensation ultimately received by the employee; and the cost to the company is based on valuation methodology and underlying assumptions that may vary over time and does not reflect any cash expenditure by the company. Furthermore, the expense associated with granting an employee an option or other stock based award can be spread over multiple years and may be reversed based on forfeitures which may differ from our original assumptions unlike cash compensation expense which is typically recorded contemporaneously with the time of award or payment.
Note E: Other Charges and Income . Verifone excludes certain revenue, expenses and other income (expense) that we have determined is not reflective of ongoing operating results. It is difficult to estimate the amount or timing of these items in advance. Although these events are reflected in our GAAP financial statements, we exclude them in our non-GAAP financial measures because we believe these items may limit the comparability of our ongoing operations with prior and future periods. These adjustments for other charges and income include: Litigation settlement and loss contingency expense. Certain costs incurred in connection with senior executive management changes, such as separation payments, non-compete arrangement fees, legal fees, recruiter fees and sign on bonuses. Certain expenses, such as professional services and certain personnel costs, incurred on initiatives to transform, streamline and centralize our global operations. Restructure and impairment charges related to certain exit activities initiated as part of our global transformation initiatives. Gain or loss on financial transactions, such as the accelerated amortization of capitalized debt issuance costs due to the early repayment of debt and costs incurred to refinance our debt.
We assess our operating performance with these amounts included and excluded, and by providing this information, we believe that users of our financial statements are better able to understand the financial results of what we consider to be our continuing operations.
Income taxes are adjusted for the tax effect of the adjusting items related to our non-GAAP financial measures and to reflect our medium to long term estimate of cash taxes on a non-GAAP basis, in order to provide our management and users of the financial statements with better clarity regarding the on-going comparable performance and future liquidity of our business. Under GAAP our Income tax provision (benefit) as a percentage of Income (loss) before income taxes was 12.6% for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2015, 7.6% for the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2015, (25.5)% for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2014, 9.3% for the nine months ended July 31, 2015 and 2.7% for the nine months ended July 31, 2014. For non-GAAP purposes, we used a 14.5% rate for the fiscal quarters ended July 31, 2015, April 30, 2015 and July 31, 2014 and the nine months ended July 31, 2015 and 2014.
Note F: Non-GAAP diluted shares . Diluted non-GAAP weighted average shares include additional shares that are dilutive for non-GAAP computations of earnings per share in periods when we have a non-GAAP net income and a GAAP basis net loss.
Note G: Free Cash Flow . Free cash flow is not defined under GAAP. Therefore, it should not be considered a substitute for income or cash flow data prepared in accordance with GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. Verifone determines free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. We use this non-GAAP measure to evaluate our operating cash spend including the impact of our investments in long-term operating assets, such as property, equipment and capitalized software. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150903006314/en/ Copyright © Business Wire 2015