Rosetta Stone Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2019 Results

Company delivers year-over-year revenue growth for the second consecutive quarter since 2014, driven by 19% growth from Lexia and 6% growth from Consumer Language

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE:RST), a world leader in technology-based learning solutions, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Second Quarter 2019 Highlights

• Revenue at Lexia Learning ("Lexia"), the Company's Literacy segment, increased 19% year-over-year to a record $15.1 million.
• Revenue within the Consumer Language segment increased 6% year-over-year to $16.3 million.
• Revenue within the Enterprise & Education (“E&E”) Language segment decreased 6% year-over-year to $14.5 million.
• Total operating expenses increased 2% year-over-year, to $40.1 million. Consolidated second quarter net loss was $2.8 million, an improvement of $1.4 million from a net loss of $4.2 million in the same quarter a year ago, driven by higher revenues in our Lexia and Consumer Language segments.
• Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, was $2.0 million in the second quarter 2019, an increase of 42%, compared to $1.4 million in the year-ago period.
• At June 30, 2019 the Company had $9.9 million in short-term debt outstanding and cash and cash equivalents totaled $20.8 million.

“Our second quarter results continued to demonstrate that we have returned the business to growth, and that this growth is leading to improved profitability,” said John Hass, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  “We are now focused on delivering the strong second half growth goals for our Literacy segment, while continuing to build on the turnaround in our Language businesses.”

Mr. Hass continued, “Going forward we will build on these gains to expand our presence in K-12 and leverage the iconic Rosetta Stone brand and world class language product.”

Second Quarter 2019 Review

Revenue: Total revenue in the second quarter of 2019 was $45.9 million, compared to $43.5 million in the second quarter of 2018, primarily due to an increase in Lexia and Consumer Language revenue, partially offset by a decline in E&E Language revenue.

Revenue at Lexia increased 19% year-over-year to $15.1 million. Lexia's sustained revenue growth reflects strong demand for its product portfolio, high retention rates, and increased effectiveness of the Company's direct sales force. Literacy bookings increased over the prior year period reflecting a continuing trend of both new and renewal bookings consolidating into the third calendar quarter, which is the beginning of the school operating year.

Consumer Language segment revenue increased 6%, or 9% excluding decommissioned Fit Brains, year-over-year to $16.3 million, reflecting higher bookings and the benefit of previously deferred subscription revenue. Subscribers grew 28% year-over-year to 533,000 at June 30, 2019. Subscriber growth was largely driven by the inclusion of lower priced, shorter initial duration subscriptions in the Company’s portfolio. Subscriptions with a duration of one year or less totaled 44% of the subscription unit mix at the end of the second quarter 2019, up from 40% at the end of the same quarter last year.  Consumer Language bookings totaled $15.1 million in Q2 2019, up year over year from $14.6 million before the decommissioned Fit Brains.

E&E Language segment revenue decreased 6% year-over-year to $14.5 million. E&E language bookings decreased $2.5 million, or 14% year-over-year, largely driven by the absence of $1.9 million in non-core custom content bookings recorded in the prior-year quarter.

US$ thousands, except for percentages

Net Loss:  In the second quarter 2019, the Company reported a net loss of $2.8 million, or $(0.12) per diluted share.  In the comparable period a year ago, the Company reported a net loss of $4.2 million, or $(0.18) per diluted share. Total operating expenses increased $0.9 million, or 2% year-over-year, to $40.1 million driven by increases in sales and marketing and general and administrative expense, partially offset by a decrease in research and development expenses.

Balance Sheet: The Company had cash and cash equivalents of $20.8 million and $9.9 million in short term debt at June 30, 2019. Deferred revenue totaled $142.8 million at June 30, 2019, compared to $162.9 million at December 31, 2018. Short-term deferred revenue, which will be recognized as revenue over the next 12 months, totaled $94.2 million, or approximately 66% of the total June 30, 2019 balance.

Free Cash Flow and Adjusted EBITDA: Net cash used in operating activities was $14.8 million in the second quarter of 2019 compared to $14.3 million in the second quarter last year. Free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, was an outflow of $19.8 million in the second quarter 2019, compared to an outflow of $18.5 million in the same period a year ago.

Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, was $2.0 million in the second quarter 2019, an increase of 42%, compared to $1.4 million in the year-ago period.

2019 Outlook

The Company is providing the following guidance for the full year ending December 31, 2019 (US$ millions):

¹ Includes approximately $4.5 million and $0.5 million of SOURCENEXT cash receipts in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
² Assumes no debt.

Earnings Conference Call

In conjunction with this announcement, Rosetta Stone will host a conference call today at 5:00 p.m. ET during which time there will be a discussion of the results and the business outlook. Investors may dial into the live conference call using 1-201-689-8470 (toll / international) or 1-877-407-9039 (toll-free). A live webcast will also be available in the investor relations section of the Company’s website at http://investors.rosettastone.com. A replay will be made available soon after the live conference call is completed and will remain available until 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, August 13, 2019. Investors may dial into the replay using 1-412-317-6671 and passcode 13692171.

Caution on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by non-historical statements and often include words such as "outlook," "potential," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "seeks" or words of similar meaning, or future-looking or conditional verbs, such as "will," "should," "could," "may," "might," "aims," "intends," "projects," or similar words or phrases. These statements may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: our business strategy; guidance or projections related to revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, sales, and other measures of future economic performance; the contributions and performance of our businesses including acquired businesses and international operations; projections for future capital expenditures; and other guidance, projections, plans, objectives, and related estimates and assumptions. A forward-looking statement is neither a prediction nor a guarantee of future events or circumstances. In addition, forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s current assumptions, expectations and beliefs and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our present expectations or projections. Some important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the risk that we are unable to execute our business strategy; declining demand for our literacy or language learning solutions; the risk that we are not able to manage and grow our business; the impact of any revisions to our pricing strategy; the risk that we might not succeed in introducing and producing new products and services; the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations; the adequacy of internally generated funds and existing sources of liquidity, such as bank financing, as well as our ability to raise additional funds; the risk that we cannot effectively adapt to and manage complex and numerous technologies; the risk that businesses acquired by us might not perform as expected; and the risk that we are not able to successfully expand internationally. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements, risks and uncertainties that are more fully described in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including those described under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent quarterly Form 10-Q filings and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and those updated from time to time in our future reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Non-GAAP Financial and Statistical Measures

To supplement the condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"), the Company uses, and this press release contains references to, the non-GAAP financial measures of financial performance listed below.

• Bookings represents executed contracts received by the Company that are either recorded immediately as revenue or deferred revenue. Therefore, bookings is an operational metric and in any one period is equal to revenue plus the change in deferred revenue.
• Adjusted EBITDA is GAAP net income/loss plus interest income and expense, other income/expense, income tax benefit/expense, impairment, lease abandonment and termination, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, restructuring, and strategy and cost-reduction related consulting expenses. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA excludes "Other" items related to non-restructuring wind down and severance costs, and transaction and other costs associated with mergers and acquisitions, as well as all adjustments related to recording the non-cash tax valuation allowance for deferred tax assets. Adjusted EBITDA for prior periods has been revised to conform to the current definition.
• Free cash flow is cash flow from operating activities minus cash used in purchases of property and equipment.
• Segment contribution is calculated as segment revenue less expenses directly incurred by or allocated to the segment. Direct segment expenses include costs and expenses that are directly incurred by or allocated to the segment and include materials costs, service costs, customer care and coaching costs, sales and marketing expenses, and bad debt expense. In addition to the previously referenced expenses, the Literacy segment includes direct research and development expenses and Combined Language includes shared research and development expenses, cost of revenue, and sales and marketing expenses applicable to the Consumer Language and E&E Language segments. Prior periods have been reclassified to reflect our current segment presentation and definition of segment contribution.

The definitions, GAAP comparisons, and reconciliation of those measures with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are available in this press release or in the corresponding earnings presentation, which are posted on our website at www.rosettastone.com.

Management believes that these non-GAAP measures of financial results provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to the Company’s financial condition and results of operations, enabling a better understanding of the long-term performance of the Company’s business. Management uses these non-GAAP measures to compare the Company’s performance to that of prior periods for trend analysis, and for budgeting and planning purposes. Management believes that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing the Company’s financial measures with other software and education-technology companies, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors.

The presentation of this additional financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company urges investors to review the reconciliation of its non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures, which it includes in press releases announcing earnings information, including this press release, or in corresponding earnings presentations, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate the Company’s business. The Company’s non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to those used by other companies, and we encourage you to review and understand all our financial reporting before making any investment decision.

About Rosetta Stone Inc.

Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST) is dedicated to changing people's lives through the power of language and literacy education. The company's innovative digital solutions drive positive learning outcomes for the inspired learner at home or in schools and workplaces around the world.

Founded in 1992, Rosetta Stone's language division uses cloud-based solutions to help all types of learners read, write and speak more than 30 languages. Lexia Learning, Rosetta Stone's literacy education division, was founded more than 30 years ago and is a leader in the literacy education space. Today, Lexia helps students build fundamental reading skills through its rigorously researched, independently evaluated, and widely respected instruction and assessment programs.

For more information, visit www.rosettastone.com. "Rosetta Stone" is a registered trademark or trademark of Rosetta Stone Ltd. in the United States and other countries.

Investors:
Lasse Glassen / Jason Terry
Addo Investor Relations
1-310-829-5400
IR@rosettastone.com

Media Contact:
Andrea Riggs
1-917-572-5555
ariggs@rosettastone.com

ROSETTA STONE INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
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RECONCILIATION OF GAAP NET LOSS TO ADJUSTED EBITDA
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* Adjusted EBITDA is GAAP net income/loss plus interest income and expense, other income/expense, income tax benefit/expense, impairment, lease abandonment and termination, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, restructuring, and strategy and cost-reduction related consulting expenses. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA excludes “Other” items related to non-restructuring wind down and severance costs, and transaction and other costs associated with mergers and acquisitions, as well as all adjustments related to recording the non-cash tax valuation allowance for deferred tax assets. Adjusted EBITDA for prior periods has been revised to conform to the current definition.

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* Free cash flow is cash flow from operations minus cash used in purchases of property and equipment.

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Prior period data has been modified where applicable to conform to current presentation for comparative purposes. Immaterial rounding differences may be present in this data in order to conform to Financial Statement totals.