San Jose, Calif. – Creator of television services for digital video recorders (DVR) TiVo nearly quadrupled net revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter, narrowed its loss and delivered record subscriber growth.
Net revenue for the fourth quarter, ended Jan. 31, hit $23 million, up from $6.8 million in the year-ago period. TiVo added about 115,000 new subscribers in the fourth quarter, bringing its total subscriber base to about 624,000, or a 64 percent increase for the year, as of Jan. 31.
Service and technology revenue for the fourth quarter increased103 percent, to $13.7 million, up from $6.8 million in the same three months in the year-ago fourth quarter.
TiVo also narrowed its net loss in the fourth quarter, down to $14.7 million, compared with a loss of $41.6 million in the same three months the previous year. These results exclude non-cash items related to the temporary reduction in the conversion price of the company’s notes.
TiVo generated $2.2 million in cash flow in its fiscal fourth quarter, as measured by adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA), compared with a negative adjusted EBITDA of $23.8 million in the same three months a year earlier. The company said reporting positive cash flow in the fourth quarter was a key financial objective.
Net revenue for the 12 months increase about five times in the period, reaching $96 million, up from $19.4 million in the previous year. Service and technology revenue for the 12 months jumped 210 percent, to $60.2 million, up from $19.4 million year-on-year.
Annual net loss was reduced to $55.2 million, compared with a loss of $160.7 million in the preceding 12 months. Net loss results exclude items related to the repurchase of convertible preferred shares from America Online in April 2002 and also exclude non-cash items.
Adjusted EBITDA improved to a negative $21 million for the 12 months, compared with a loss of $100.4 million year over year.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of its current fiscal year, ending April 30, TiVo anticipates combined service and technology revenue of $13.5 million to $14.5 million. This is expected to come in at $62 million to $70 million for the 12 months.
Adjusted EBITDA for the current first quarter is anticipated at a negative $6 million to negative $7.5 million, with adjusted EBITDA at breakeven for the 12 months.
TiVo expects net subscriber activations of 55,000 to 65,000 in the first quarter, and anticipates adding 450,000 to 600,000 subscribers in the full fiscal year, more than double the number it added the previous 12 months. This would result in an installed base of over 1 million subscribers by Jan. 31, 2004.
