Verisign Adds 2.65 Million Net New .COM & .NET Domains In Q1 2016

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) today reported financial results and details about .com and .net registrations and renewals for the first quarter of 2016.

Business Highlights:

• Verisign Registry Services added 2.65 million net new names during the first quarter, ending with 142.5 million .com and .net domain names in the domain name base, which represents a 7.1 percent increase over the base at the end of the first quarter in 2015.
• In the first quarter, Verisign processed 10.0 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, as compared to 8.7 million for the same quarter in 2015.
• The final .com and .net renewal rate for the fourth quarter of 2015 was 73.3 percent compared with 72.5 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 $282 million for the first quarter of 2016, up 9.1 percent from the same quarter in 2015. Verisign reported net income of $107 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted “EPS”) of $0.82 for the first quarter of 2016, compared to net income of $88 million and diluted EPS of $0.66 for the same quarter in 2015. The operating margin was 59.2 percent for the first quarter of 2016 compared to 55.8 percent for the same quarter in 2015.

“The Company’s strong and consistent financial performance reflects the focus and discipline of our teams in executing our strategy,” commented Jim Bidzos, Executive Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Verisign reported, on a non-GAAP basis, net income of $112 million and diluted EPS of $0.85 for the first quarter of 2016, compared to net income of $99 million and diluted EPS of $0.74 for the same quarter in 2015. The non-GAAP operating margin was 63.3 percent for the first quarter of 2016 compared to 59.7 percent for the same quarter in 2015. A table reconciling the GAAP to the non-GAAP results (which excludes items described below) is appended to this release.

Financial Highlights:

• Verisign ended the first quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.9 billion, a decrease of $20 million from year-end 2015.
• Cash flow from operations was $144 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared with $133 million for the same quarter in 2015.
• Deferred revenues on March 31, 2016, totaled $992 million, an increase of $31 million from year-end 2015.
• During the first quarter, Verisign repurchased 1.8 million shares of its common stock for $150 million. At March 31, 2016, $916 million remained available and authorized under the current share repurchase program which has no expiration.
• For purposes of calculating diluted EPS, the first quarter diluted share count included 21.1 million shares related to subordinated convertible debentures, compared with 15.8 million shares for the same quarter in 2015. These represent diluted shares and not shares that have been issued.