VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN), today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2015 after the market closed.
Verisign Registry Services added 1.51 million net new names during the first quarter, ending with 133.0 million .com and .net domain names in the domain name base, which represents a 3.1% increase over the base at the end of the first quarter in 2014, as calculated including domain names on hold for both periods.
In the first quarter, Verisign processed 8.7 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, as compared to 8.6 million for the same period in 2014.
The final .com and .net renewal rate for the fourth quarter of 2014 was 72.5 percent compared with 72.2 percent for the same quarter in 2014. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.
VeriSign, Inc. and subsidiaries (“Verisign”) reported revenue of $258 million for the first quarter of 2015, up 3.9% from the same quarter in 2014.
Verisign reported net income of $88 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.66 for the first quarter of 2015, compared to net income of $94 million and diluted EPS of $0.64 in the same quarter in 2014.
The operating margin was 55.8 percent for the first quarter of 2015 compared to 56.1 percent for the same quarter in 2014.
Verisign ended the first quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.9 billion, an increase of $447 million as compared with year-end 2014.
Cash flow from operations was $133 million for the first quarter of 2015, compared with $142 million for the same quarter in 2014.
Deferred revenues on March 31, 2015, totaled $925 million, an increase of $35 million from year-end 2014.
Capital expenditures were $13 million in the first quarter of 2015.
During the first quarter, Verisign repurchased 2.7 million shares of its common stock for $160 million. At March 31, 2015, $917 million remained available and authorized under the current share repurchase program which has no expiration.
In the conference call that followed, Verisign predicted its renewal rate in the Q1 would be 73.5% (not finalized until 45 days after the Q)
Verisign also advised that the 2Q is the slowest quarter but that net domain additions would be slower as it is traditionally in the Q2.
The company finished the quarter with 1,063 full time employees.
Shares are trading after hours down almost 5% trading at $64.35
Verisign slightly reduced its guidance for 2015 with projected revenue between 1.43B-1.57B which would be 3%-5% growth
Verisign also predicts a 2 1/2 – 3% domain growth rate for 2015 for .com/.net
Was there any discussion of the impact of discounting on domain sales and renewal rates?