LEAWOOD, Kan., April 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (“Euronet” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: EEFT), a leading electronic payments provider, reports first quarter 2021 financial results.

Euronet reports the following consolidated results for the first quarter 2021 compared with the same period of 2020:

• Revenues of $652.7 million, a 12% increase from $583.9 million (7% increase on a constant currency¹ basis).
  
  
• Operating income of $10.4 million, a 67% decrease from $31.6 million (70% decrease on a constant currency basis).
  
  
• Adjusted EBITDA² of $52.2 million, a 24% decrease from $68.7 million (28% decrease on a constant currency basis).
  
  
• Net loss attributable to Euronet of ($8.7 million) or ($0.16) diluted loss per share, compared with net income of $1.9 million or $0.04 diluted earnings per share.
  
  
• Adjusted earnings per share³ of $0.23, a 58% decrease from $0.55.
  
  
• Euronet's cash and cash equivalents were $1,145.4 million and ATM cash was $339.9 million, totaling $1,485.3 million as of March 31, 2021, and availability under its revolving credit facilities was approximately $940 million.

See the reconciliation of non-GAAP items in the attached financial schedules.

"I am pleased that both epay and money transfer continued to deliver strong double-digit year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth for the third consecutive quarter," stated Michael J. Brown, Euronet's Chairman and CEO. "These strong adjusted EBITDA growth rates were the result of the expansion of our product portfolio distributed through our industry-leading retail-based networks in both segments as well as our leading-edge technology solutions which have allowed us to accelerate our digital expansion. The result of these digital product investments produced transaction growth through digital channels of more than 125% and more than 80% in Money Transfer and epay, respectively."    

The stronger than expected first quarter revenue growth rate was the result of continued strength in year-over-year growth trends in epay and Money Transfer transactions. Epay continues to see demand for digital media content and strong mobile top-up sales through digital channels, while Money Transfer transactions remained strong as immigrants continue to prioritize sending money home and the Company's physical and digital networks continue to expand. Additionally, in the EFT Segment we saw somewhat of an irregular pattern during the quarter.  The quarter started with fewer travel restrictions which resulted in year-over-year cross border transaction growth midway through the quarter as we passed the first anniversary of the beginning of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.  In the later parts of the quarter, we saw the reestablishment of certain governmentally-inspired restrictions. Accordingly, adjusted EBITDA would have been stronger for the quarter had the reestablished restrictions not been imposed which restricted our more profitable cross border transactions. Despite this most recent round of lockdowns, many European countries have already announced the opening of their borders for both European and non-European tourists in time for the summer travel season.

Based on current trends in the business and the current COVID-19 management mandates, the Company anticipates that its second quarter 2021 adjusted EBITDA will be in the range of approximately $75 million to $85 million.  

Segment and Other Results

The EFT Processing Segment reports the following results for the first quarter 2021 compared with the same period or date in 2020:

• Revenues of $87.1 million, a 40% decrease from $145.8 million (43% decrease on a constant currency basis).
  
  
• Operating loss of $40.1 million, a 918% decrease from operating income of $4.9 million (851% decrease on a constant currency basis).
  
  
• Adjusted EBITDA of ($18.1 million), a 172% decrease from $25.2 million (163% decrease on a constant currency basis).
  
  
• Transactions of 925 million, an 18% increase from 785 million.
  
  
• Total of 45,497 installed ATMs as of March 31, 2021, a 10% decrease from 50,725.  Operated 36,777 active ATMs as of March 31, 2021, a 13% decrease from 42,176.

Revenue, operating income, and adjusted EBITDA declines in the first quarter 2021 were driven by the impact of fewer high-value cross-border transactions in Europe and Asia Pacific related to the COVID-19 pandemic-driven governmentally imposed border closures and lockdowns. Partially offsetting the high-value transaction declines, the EFT segment realized marginal benefit from a significant volume increase in low-value point-of-sale transactions in Europe and low-value payment processing transactions from an Asia Pacific customer's bank wallet and e-commerce. 

The EFT Segment's total installed ATMs were lower than the prior year due to the removal of nearly 2,700 low-margin outsourcing ATMs in India and approximately 2,500 outsourcing ATMs for which the ATM processing was brought in-house. The difference between installed and active ATMs is due to ATMs that have been seasonally closed, or deactivated, due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions.  Euronet-owned active and seasonally de-activated ATMs remained largely consistent year-over-year.  

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