Monster Worldwide Reports Second Quarter 2015 Results

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WESTON, Massachusetts, July 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

• Second Quarter Financial Highlights:
  • Company Exceeds Expectations on All Profitability Metrics
    • Adjusted EBITDA of $29 Million Increases 13% Year over Year
    • Adjusted EBITDA Margin Expands to 16%
    • Careers  - North America Adjusted EBITDA Margin Expands to 29%
    • Non-GAAP EPS of $0.10 Increases 25% Year over Year;  GAAP EPS of ($0.01)
  • Revenue of $180 Million Decreased 2% Year over Year at Constant Currency
    • Careers – North America Revenue Has Reached an Inflection Point
  • Cash Flow From Operations of $16 Million
  • Company Reiterates Q4 2015 EBITDA Margin Guidance of 18-22%

Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW) today reported financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2015.

"Our quarterly results exceeded our expectations as we continue to execute our transformative strategy while improving profitability," said Tim Yates, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are increasingly confident that our family of new strategic products are additive to our traditional core products and provide a superior competitive solution for our customers.  Our focus on sales execution in North America is beginning to prove effective. Internationally, our Asia Pacific region also continues to perform well.  Europe is lagging North America and Asia Pacific as we continue to encounter market and competitive headwinds. We believe that our consolidated revenue is at or near an inflection point and we remain on track to achieve our 18-22% EBITDA target exiting this year's fourth quarter."

During the quarter, we had a number of important business highlights including:

• "All the Jobs" strategy accelerates new Monster membership with 20% sequential growth
• Monster Social Job Ads expands into Europe, building on strong US launch in Q1
• New social recruitment solutions gain traction globally, with increased usage of Monster Twitter Cards, Talent CRM and TalentBin
• Monster brand has been revitalized, enabling Company to increase penetration into the critical Millennial audience

Second Quarter 2015 Results

Revenue of $180 million decreased 2% at constant currency compared to last year's second quarter and 7% at actual rates. Revenue in the second quarter of 2014 was $194 million.  Revenue from the Company's Careers – North America operations decreased 5% year-over-year. Revenue from Careers – International increased 3% at constant currency year-over-year and decreased 11% at actual rates.  As of the first quarter of 2015, Internet Advertising & Fees revenue and operating results are being reported within the Careers – North America segment. Historical quarterly revenue data is available in the Company's supplemental financial information. 

Total GAAP operating expenses decreased to $174 million compared to $190 million in the second quarter of 2014.  Net loss attributable to Monster for the second quarter of 2015 was $1 million, or $0.01 per share, compared to break-even in the second quarter of 2014. 

Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company was $9 million, or $0.10 per share, compared to $7 million, or $0.08 per share in the second quarter of 2014. Non-GAAP operating expenses of $163 million decreased 10% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 16% was led by Careers – North America with a 29% margin.  Pro-forma items are described in the "Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and are reconciled to the GAAP measure in the accompanying tables.       

Net cash provided by operating activities in the quarter was $16 million and free cash flow was $9 million.  Deferred revenue declined sequentially to $282 million or 7% compared to $304 million as of March 31, 2015.  The Company ended the second quarter with total available liquidity of approximately $139 million.

Six Month Results

Monster Worldwide reported total revenue of $364 million for the first six months ended June 30, 2015 compared to $393 million in the same period last year, a 2% decrease on a constant currency basis and 7% at actual rates. Net income attributable to Monster was $7 million, or $0.08 per share, compared to $2 million, or $0.02 per share, in 2014.

Reallocate to Accelerate

On February 10, 2015, the Company committed to implement a series of cost savings initiatives to reduce costs globally while continuing to support the Company's new strategy. The initiatives include a global workforce reduction of approximately 300 associates, lease exit costs, impairment of certain assets, and office and general expense controls. Through June 30, 2015, the Company has incurred $26 million of charges relating to this program. These charges have been excluded from the Company's Non-GAAP financial statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015. The Company anticipates additional charges of approximately $2 million to $3 million in the remainder of 2015 in connection with this program.

Guidance

Third quarter 2015 Non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations is expected to be in the range of $0.09 to $0.13, which excludes $3 million to $4 million of stock-based compensation, $1.2 million of non-cash debt discount amortization related to the convertible debt and restructuring charges related to the Reallocate to Accelerate program.

The Company expects to exit 2015 with a fourth quarter EBITDA margin of between 18-22%.

Historical data on Non-GAAP EPS is available in the Company's supplemental financial information. 

Conference Call and Webcast

Second quarter 2015 results will be discussed on Monster Worldwide's quarterly conference call on July 30, 2015 at 8:30 AM ET.  A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed online through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://ir.monster.com. To join the conference call by telephone, please dial (888) 317-6003 or (412) 317-6061 and reference conference ID# 1547165. A presentation of financial slides will be referenced during the conference call and will be viewable through the live webcast.  A PDF of the financial presentation can also be accessed directly through the Company's Investor Relations website at http://ir.monster.com.

The Company has also made available certain supplemental financial information which can be accessed directly through the Company's Investor Relations website at http://ir.monster.com.

For a replay of the conference call, please dial (877) 344-7529 or (412) 317-0088 and reference ID# 10069501.  This number is valid until midnight on August 7, 2015.

About Monster Worldwide

Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW) is a global leader in connecting people to jobs, wherever they are. For more than 20 years, Monster has helped people improve their lives with better jobs, and employers find the best talent. Today, the company offers services in more than 40 countries, providing some of the broadest, most sophisticated job seeking, career management, recruitment and talent management capabilities. Monster continues its pioneering work of transforming the recruiting industry with advanced technology using intelligent digital, social and mobile solutions, including our flagship website monster.com® and a vast array of products and services. For more information visit http://monster.com/about.

Special Note:  The statements in this release that are not strictly historical, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's strategic direction, prospects and future results, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties and, therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied herein and no assurance can be given that the Company will achieve, among other things, its outlook with respect to earnings per share for the third quarter 2015 and EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter 2015. Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, economic and other conditions in the markets in which we operate, risks associated with acquisitions or dispositions, competition, and the other risks discussed in our Form 10-K and our other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which discussions are incorporated into this release by reference. Many of the factors that will determine the Company's future results are beyond the ability of management to control or predict. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this release as they reflect management's views only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this release or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company has provided certain Non-GAAP financial information as additional information for its operating results. These measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and may be different from Non-GAAP measures reported by other companies. The Company believes that its presentation of Non-GAAP measures provides useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to its financial condition and results of operations.

Non-GAAP revenue, operating expenses, operating income, operating margin, net income, and diluted earnings per share attributable to Monster Worldwide, Inc. all exclude certain pro-forma adjustments including: non-cash stock based compensation expense; separation charges associated with the resignation of the Company's former Chief Executive Officer; costs incurred in connection with the Company's restructuring programs; non-cash impairment charges; amortization of the debt discount and deferred financing costs associated with our 3.50% convertible senior notes due 2019; write-off of deferred financing costs relating to our former credit facility, amended in October 2014; income tax benefits associated with the reversal of income tax reserves on uncertain tax positions and a tax benefit related to certain losses arising from the Company's restructuring programs; income tax provisions for increased valuation allowances on deferred tax assets;  gain on deconsolidation of subsidiaries and tax provisions thereon; gain on partial sale of an equity method investment and tax provisions thereon; and charges related to exited facilities.

In the first quarter of the calendar year 2015, the Company began to utilize a fixed long-term projected Non-GAAP tax rate for reporting operating results and for planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods.  This change provides better consistency across the interim reporting periods by eliminating the effects of non-recurring and period-specific items. When projecting this long-term rate, the Company evaluated a five-year financial projection comprising the current and the next four years that exclude the income tax effects of the Non-GAAP pre-tax adjustments described above, eliminates the effects of non-recurring and period specific items which can vary in size and frequency, and is reflective of the anticipated future geographic mix of income among tax jurisdictions. The projected rate also assumes no new acquisitions or disposals in the five-year period, eliminates the effect of tax valuation allowances, and takes into account other factors including the Company's current tax structure, its existing tax positions in various jurisdictions and key legislation in major jurisdictions where the Company operates.  The Non-GAAP tax rate is 35%. The Company intends to re-evaluate this long-term rate on an annual basis or if any significant events that may materially affect this long-term rate occur. This long-term rate could be subject to change for a variety of reasons, which may include (but are not limited to) for example, significant changes in the geographic earnings mix including future acquisition or disposition activity, having less income than anticipated, or fundamental tax law changes in major jurisdictions where the Company operates.

Non-GAAP diluted shares includes the impact, based on the average share price for the period, of the Company's outstanding capped call transactions, which are anti-dilutive in GAAP earnings per share, but are expected to mitigate the dilutive effect of the Company's 3.50% convertible senior notes due 2019.

The Company uses these Non-GAAP measures for reviewing the ongoing results of the Company's core business operations and in certain instances, for measuring performance under certain of the Company's incentive compensation plans. These Non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") is defined as operating income or loss before depreciation and amortization, non-cash compensation expense, non-cash impairment charges, and non-cash costs incurred in connection with the Company's restructuring programs. Adjusted EBITDA excludes the impact of the pro-forma adjustments discussed above. The Company considers EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to be important indicators of its operational strength which the Company believes are useful to management and investors in evaluating its operating performance. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are Non-GAAP measures and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

Free cash flow is defined as cash flow from operating activities less capital expenditures. Free cash flow is considered a liquidity measure and provides useful information about the Company's ability to generate cash after investments in property and equipment. Free cash flow reflected herein is a Non-GAAP measure and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Free cash flow does not reflect the total change in the Company's cash position for the period and should not be considered a substitute for such a measure.

Net cash and securities are defined as cash and cash equivalents plus short-term and long-term marketable securities, less total debt. Total available liquidity is defined as cash and cash equivalents, plus short-term and long-term marketable securities, plus unused borrowings under our credit facility. The Company considers net cash and securities and total available liquidity to be important measures of liquidity and indicators of its ability to meet its ongoing obligations. The Company also uses net cash and securities and total available liquidity, among other measures, in evaluating its choices for capital deployment. Net cash and securities and total available liquidity are presented herein as Non-GAAP measures and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

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