EVERTEC, Inc. (EVTC) FY 2021 MD&A
This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) focuses on discussion of our 2021 results as compared to our 2020 results. For discussion of our 2020 results as compared to our 2019 results, see "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" within our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC on March 1, 2021. See Note 1 of the Notes to Audited Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information about the Company and the basis of presentation of our financial statements. You should read the following discussion and analysis in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere herein. This MD&A contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. See “Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions associated with these statements.
Overview
EVERTEC is a leading full-service transaction-processing business in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Latin America, providing a broad range of merchant acquiring, payment services and business process management services. We believe that we are one of the largest merchant acquirers in Latin America based on total number of transactions and the largest merchant acquirer in the Caribbean. We serve 26 countries in the region out of 11 offices, including our headquarters in Puerto Rico. We own and operate the ATH network, which we believe is one of the leading personal identification number (“PIN”) debit networks in Latin America. We manage a system of electronic payment networks and offer a comprehensive suite of services for core banking, cash processing, and fulfillment in Puerto Rico, that process approximately three billion transactions annually. Additionally, we offer technology outsourcing in all the regions we serve. We serve a diversified customer base of leading financial institutions, merchants, corporations, and government agencies with “mission-critical” technology solutions that enable them to issue, process and accept transactions securely. We believe our business is well-positioned to continue to expand across the fast-growing Latin American region.
We are differentiated, in part, by our diversified business model, which enables us to provide our varied customer base with a broad range of transaction-processing services from a single source across numerous channels and geographic markets. We believe this capability provides several competitive advantages that will enable us to continue to penetrate our existing customer base with complementary new services, win new customers, develop new sales channels, and enter new markets. We believe these competitive advantages include:
•Our ability to provide competitive products;
•Our ability to provide in one package a range of services that traditionally had to be sourced from different vendors;
•Our ability to serve customers with disparate operations in several geographies with technology solutions that enable them to manage their business as one enterprise; and
•Our ability to capture and analyze data across the transaction-processing value chain and use that data to provide value-added services that are differentiated from those offered by pure-play vendors that serve only one portion of the transaction-processing value chain (such as only merchant acquiring or payment services).
Our broad suite of services spans the entire transaction processing value chain and includes a range of front-end customer-facing solutions such as the electronic capture and authorization of transactions at the point-of-sale for both card present transactions and card not present transactions, as well as back-end support services such as the clearing and settlement of transactions and account reconciliation for card issuers. These include: (i) merchant acquiring services, which enable point of sales (“POS”) and e-commerce merchants to accept and process electronic methods of payment such as debit, credit, prepaid and electronic benefit transfer (“EBT”) cards; (ii) payment processing services, which enable financial institutions and other issuers to manage, support and facilitate the processing for credit, debit, prepaid, automated teller machines (“ATM”) and EBT card programs; and (iii) business process management solutions, which provide “mission-critical” technology solutions such as core bank processing, as well as IT outsourcing and cash management services to financial institutions, corporations and governments. We provide these services through scalable, end-to-end technology platforms that we manage and operate in-house and that generates significant operating efficiencies that enable us to maximize profitability.
We sell and distribute our services primarily through a proprietary direct sales force with established customer relationships. We continue to pursue joint ventures and merchant acquiring alliances. We benefit from an attractive business model, the hallmarks of which are recurring revenue, scalability, significant operating margins and moderate capital expenditure requirements. Our revenue is predominantly recurring in nature because of the mission-critical and embedded nature of the services we provide. In addition, we generally negotiate multi-year contracts with our customers. We believe our business model should enable us to continue to grow our business organically in the primary markets we serve without significant incremental capital expenditures.
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Relationship with Popular
On September 30, 2010, EVERTEC Group entered into a 15-year MSA, and several related agreements with Popular. Under the terms of the MSA, Popular agreed to use EVERTEC services on an ongoing exclusive basis for the duration of the agreement. Additionally, Popular granted us a right of first refusal on the development of certain new financial technology products and services for the duration of the MSA. As of December 31, 2021, Popular retained a 16.2% interest in EVERTEC and was our largest shareholder.
On February 24, 2022, we entered into an agreement with Popular to modify and extend the main commercial agreements which had an initial term ending in 2025. These include a 10-year extension of the Merchant Acquiring Independent Sales Organization Agreement (the “ISO Agreement”), a 5-year extension of the ATH Network Participation Agreement, and a 3-year extension of the Master Services Agreement (the “MSA”). The ISO Agreement will now include revenue sharing provisions with BPPR. The MSA modifications include the elimination of the exclusivity requirement, the inclusion of annual MSA minimums through 2028, and adjustments to the existing CPI pricing escalator clause.
Additionally, the Company signed a definitive agreement to sell BPPR certain assets at a price of approximately $197 million (the “APA”). BPPR will pay the purchase price in Evertec stock. The management of infrastructure, information security and communications will continue to be supported by Evertec through its Managed Service Provider (MSP) business offering pursuant to the MSA.
Popular has agreed to take certain actions after closing to ensure that Evertec is no longer deemed a “subsidiary” of Popular for purposes of the Bank Holding Company Act, including selling shares over the subsequent three months in the open market or converting the shares into non-voting stock to reduce their voting interest to under 4.5%.
The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2022 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
For 2021, we derived approximately 42% of our revenue from our relationship with Popular, which makes the MSA our most significant client contract. “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Our services to Popular account for a significant portion of our revenues, and we expect that our services to Popular will continue to represent a significant portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future.”
2021 Developments
The Company's Board of Directors approved regular quarterly dividends of $0.05 per common share in February, April, July and October of 2021. The Board anticipates declaring this dividend in future quarters on a regular basis; however future declarations of dividends are subject to the Board’s approval and may be adjusted as business needs or market conditions change.
Factors and Trends Affecting the Results of Our Operations
The ongoing migration from cash and paper methods of payment to electronic payments continues to benefit the transaction- processing industry globally. We believe that the penetration of electronic payments in the markets in which we operate is significantly lower relative to the U.S. market, and that this ongoing shift will continue to generate growth opportunities for our business. For example, currently the adoption of banking products, including electronic payments, in the Latin American and Caribbean region is lower relative to the mature U.S. and European markets. We believe that the unbanked and underbanked population in our markets will continue to shrink, and therefore drive incremental penetration and growth of electronic payments in Puerto Rico and other Latin American regions. We also benefit from the outsourcing of technology systems and processes trend for financial institutions and government. Many medium- and small-size institutions in the Latin American markets in which we operate have outdated computer systems and updating these IT legacy systems is financially and logistically challenging, which presents a business opportunity for us.
Finally, our financial condition and results of operations are, in part, dependent on the economic and general conditions of the geographies in which we operate.
The government of Puerto Rico has experienced a prolonged debt crisis, the resolution of which has progressed but has yet to be fully resolved. Given this situation, the Company carefully monitors our receivables with the government as well as general economic trends to understand the impact the crisis has on the economy of Puerto Rico and our card payment volumes. To date
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our receivables with the government of Puerto Rico and overall payment transaction volumes have not been significantly affected by the debt crisis; however, we remain cautious.
Consumer preference for digital payment solutions accelerated in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and the Company has benefited from an increase in transaction volumes from these types of payment solutions as a result. The acceleration of contactless and card-not-present transactions has driven innovation and focus towards our digital channels such as, ATH Movil and ATH Business, where we have introduced new technologies for contactless payment such as QR codes. In Latin America we have expanded the reach of our payment gateway product by localizing into our other geographies to further capitalize on the acceleration of e-commerce and digital payments. In addition, during 2021, the Company benefited from the inflow of Federal Stimulus funds granted as a result of the pandemic, most of which represented direct payments to individuals, increasing disposable income and positively impacting transactional volumes for the Company.
Critical Accounting Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. In connection with the preparation of our financial statements, we are required to make estimates and assumptions about future events and apply judgments that affect the reported amounts of certain assets and liabilities, and in some instances, the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the period.
We base our assumptions, estimates, and judgments on historical experience, current events, and other factors that management believes to be relevant at the time our consolidated financial statements are prepared. However, because future events are inherently uncertain and their effects cannot be determined with certainty, actual results could differ from our assumptions and estimates, and such differences could be material. A summary of significant accounting policies is included in Note 1 of the Notes to Audited Consolidated Financial Statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe that the following accounting estimates are the most critical; require the most difficult, subjective, or complex judgments; and thus, result in estimates that are inherently uncertain.
Revenue Recognition
The Company’s revenue recognition policy follows the guidance from Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC') 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which provide guidance on the recognition, presentation, and disclosure of revenue in consolidated financial statements. Application of this policy requires us to make certain judgements and estimates.
Complex arrangements with nonstandard terms and conditions may require significant contract interpretation to determine the appropriate accounting. Specifically, when another party is involved in providing goods or services to a customer, the Company evaluates, for each performance obligation, whether it is providing the goods or services itself (i.e., as principal), or if it is only arranging on behalf of the other party. Changes in judgement with respect to assumptions and estimates in revenue recognition could impact the amount of revenue recognized.
Valuation of Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
The valuation of goodwill and intangible assets for impairment require the use of significant estimates and assumptions.
The Company may test for goodwill impairment using a qualitative or a quantitative analysis. In a qualitative analysis, the Company assesses whether it is "more likely than not" that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. In the quantitative analysis, the Company compares the estimated fair value of the reporting units to their carrying values, including goodwill. The estimated fair value of the reporting units is computed using a combination of an income approach and a market approach. The income approach involves projecting the cash flows that the reporting unit is expected to generate and converting these cash flows into a present value equivalent through discounting. Significant estimates and assumptions used in the cash flow projection include, among others, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") margins, and the selection of discount rates. Internal projections are based on the Company’s historical experience and estimated future business performance. The discount rate used is based on the weighted-average cost of capital, which reflects the rate of return expected to be earned by market participants and the estimated cost to obtain long-term debt financing. The market approach estimates the value of a reporting unit by using multiples of revenue and EBITDA based on the guidelines of publicly traded companies. Valuation using the market approach requires management to make assumptions related to EBITDA multiples. Comparable businesses are selected based on the market in which the reporting units operate, considering size, profitability and growth.
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Other identifiable intangible assets with definitive useful lives are evaluated periodically for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable. In this assessment, we consider relevant events and conditions, including, but not limited to macroeconomic trends, industry and market conditions, overall financial performance, regulatory and legal factors, and company-specific events.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
For a description of recent accounting standards, see Note 2 of the Notes to Audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share, as presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, are supplemental measures of our performance that are not required by or presented in accordance with GAAP. They are not measurements of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to total revenues, net income or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP or as alternatives to cash flows from operating activities as measures of our liquidity. Adjusted EBITDA at the segment level is reported to the chief operating decision maker for purposes of making decisions about allocating resources to the segments and assessing their performance. For this reason, Adjusted EBITDA, as it relates to our segments, is presented in conformity with ASC 280, Segment Reporting, and is excluded from the definition of non-GAAP financial measures under the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation G and Item 10(e) of Regulation S-K.
For more information regarding EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share, including a quantitative reconciliation of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share to the most directly comparable GAAP financial performance measure, which is net income, see “—Net Income Reconciliation to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share” and “—Covenant Compliance” below.
Results of Operations
| Years ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | Variance | |||||||||||||
| Revenues | $ | 589,796 | $ | 510,588 | $ | 79,208 | 16 | % | ||||||||
| Operating costs and expenses | ||||||||||||||||
| Cost of revenues, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below | 250,164 | 226,870 | 23,294 | 10 | % | |||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 68,048 | 70,808 | (2,760) | (4) | % | |||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 75,070 | 71,518 | 3,552 | 5 | % | |||||||||||
| Total operating costs and expenses | 393,282 | 369,196 | 24,086 | 7 | % | |||||||||||
| Income from operations | $ | 196,514 | $ | 141,392 | $ | 55,122 | 39 | % |
Revenues
Total revenues in 2021 increased by $79.2 million or 16% to $589.8 million when compared to the prior year. Revenue increased across all of the Company's segments. The increase in Puerto Rico was primarily driven by transactional revenue growth which was positively impacted by the inflow of federal funds and the continuous adoption of the Company's digital solutions, mainly ATH Movil and ATH Business and the expansion of the relationship with FirstBank of Puerto Rico ("FirstBank"). Latin America revenue growth was mainly driven by new business and projects that went into production during 2021, such as Santander in Chile and Mercado Libre in Mexico, as well as organic growth from existing clients and the expansion of the payment gateway Place to Pay. Prior year results were also negatively impacted by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders in all of the regions in which the Company operates
Cost of revenues
Cost of revenues in 2021 increased by $23.3 million or 10% when compared to prior year. The increase is primarily driven by an increase in personnel costs, increases in technology services, higher professional services, and an increase in costs of sales.
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Selling, general and administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses in 2021 decreased by $2.8 million or 4% when compared to prior year. The decrease is almost entirely related to a decrease in professional services as prior year includes higher expenses related to corporate initiatives, partially offset by an increase in personnel costs.
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization expense increased by $3.6 million in 2021 compared to prior year. Increased expense during the year is driven by software amortization due to key projects that have gone into production, as well as increased capital expenditures.
Non-operating income (expenses)
| Years ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | Variance | |||||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | 1,889 | 1,502 | $ | 387 | 26 | % | |||||||||
| Interest expense | (22,810) | (25,074) | 2,264 | (9) | % | |||||||||||
| Earnings of equity method investment | 1,713 | 1,136 | 577 | 51 | % | |||||||||||
| Other income (expenses) | 4,399 | 4,897 | (498) | (10) | % | |||||||||||
| Total non-operating expenses | $ | (14,809) | $ | (17,539) | $ | 2,730 | (16) | % |
Non-operating expenses in 2021 decreased by $2.7 million or 16% to $14.8 million when compared to prior year. The decrease is mainly related to a $2.3 million decrease in interest expense, resulting from the scheduled amortization of debt and a reduction in interest rates.
Income tax expense
| Years ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | Variance | |||||||||||||
| Income tax expense | $ | 20,562 | $ | 19,002 | $ | 1,560 | 8 | % |
Income tax expense in 2021 amounted to $20.6 million, an increase of $1.6 million when compared to prior year. The effective tax rate for the period was 11.3%, compared with 15.3% in the prior year. The decrease in the effective tax rate primarily reflects the impact from the reversal of a liability for uncertain tax positions as a result of the expiration of the statute of limitation in 2021, while the prior year was impacted by the revenue mix towards higher taxed businesses.
Segment Results of Operations
The Company operates in four business segments: Payment Services - Puerto Rico & Caribbean, Payment Services - Latin America (collectively "Payment Services segments"), Merchant Acquiring, and Business Solutions.
The Payment Services - Puerto Rico & Caribbean segment revenues are comprised of revenues related to providing access to the ATH debit network and other card networks to financial institutions, including related services such as authorization, processing, management and recording of ATM and point of sale ("POS") transactions, ATM management and monitoring, ATH Movil and ATH Business. The segment revenues also include revenues from card processing services (such as credit and debit card processing, authorization and settlement and fraud monitoring and control to debit or credit issuers), payment processing services (such as payment and billing products for merchants, businesses, and financial institutions) and EBT (which principally consist of services to the government of Puerto Rico for the delivery of benefits to participants). For ATH debit network and processing services, revenues are primarily driven by the number of transactions processed. Revenues are derived primarily from network fees, transaction switching and processing fees, and the leasing of POS devices. For card issuer processing, revenues are primarily dependent upon the number of cardholder accounts on file, transactions and authorizations processed, the number of cards embossed and other processing services. For EBT services, revenues are primarily derived from the number of beneficiaries on file.
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The Payment Services - Latin America segment revenues consist of revenues related to providing access to the ATH network of ATMs and other card networks to financial institutions, including related services such as authorization, processing, management and recording of ATM and POS transactions, and ATM management and monitoring. The segment revenues also include revenues from card processing services (such as credit and debit card processing, authorization and settlement and fraud monitoring and control to debit or credit issuers), payment processing services (such as payment and billing products for merchants, businesses, and financial institutions), as well as licensed software solutions for risk and fraud management and card payment processing. For network and processing services, revenues are primarily driven by the number of transactions processed. Revenues are derived primarily from network fees, transaction switching and processing fees, and the leasing of POS devices. For card issuer processing, revenues are primarily dependent upon the number of cardholder accounts on file, transactions and authorizations processed, the number of cards embossed, and other processing services.
The Merchant Acquiring segment consists of revenues from services that allow merchants to accept electronic methods of payment. In the Merchant Acquiring segment, revenues include a discount fee and membership fees charged to merchants, debit network fees, fees from payment and collection platforms, and rental fees from POS devices and other equipment, net of credit card interchange and assessment fees charged by credit cards associations (such as VISA or MasterCard) or payment networks. The discount fee is generally a percentage of the transaction value. EVERTEC also charges merchants for other services that are unrelated to the number of transactions or the transaction value.
The Business Solutions segment consists of revenues from a full suite of business process management solutions in various product areas such as core bank processing, network hosting and management, IT professional services, business process outsourcing, item processing, cash processing, and fulfillment. Core bank processing and network services revenues are derived in part from a recurrent fixed fee, from fees based on the number of accounts on file (i.e., savings or checking accounts, loans, etc.), or computer resources utilized. Revenues from other processing services within the Business Solutions segment are generally volume-based and depend on factors such as the number of accounts processed. In addition, EVERTEC is a reseller of hardware and software products and these resale transactions are generally non-recurring.
In addition to the four operating segments described above, management identified certain functional cost areas that operate independently and do not constitute businesses in themselves. These areas could neither be concluded as operating segments nor could they be combined with any other operating segments. Therefore, these areas are aggregated and presented as “Corporate and Other” category in the financial statements alongside the operating segments. The Corporate and Other category consists of corporate overhead expenses, intersegment eliminations, certain leveraged activities and other non-operating and miscellaneous expenses that are not included in the operating segments. The overhead and leveraged costs relate to activities such as:
•marketing,
•corporate finance and accounting,
•human resources,
•legal,
•risk management functions,
•internal audit,
•corporate debt related costs,
•non-operating depreciation and amortization expenses generated as a result of merger and acquisition activity,
•intersegment revenues and expenses, and
•other non-recurring fees and expenses that are not considered when management evaluates financial performance at a segment level.
The Chief Operating Decision Maker ("CODM") reviews the operating segments separate financial information to assess performance and to allocate resources. Management evaluates the operating results of each of its operating segments based upon revenues and Adjusted Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("Adjusted EBITDA"). Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA further adjusted to exclude unusual items and other adjustments. Adjusted EBITDA, as it relates to operating segments, is presented in conformity with ASC 280, Segment Reporting, given that it is reported to the CODM for purposes of allocating resources. Segment asset disclosure is not used by the CODM as a measure of segment performance since the segment evaluation is driven by revenues and adjusted EBITDA. As such, segment assets are not disclosed in the notes to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
See Note 24 of the Audited Consolidated Financial Statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the reconciliation of EBITDA to consolidated net income.
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The following tables set forth information about the Company’s operations by its four business segments for the periods indicated below.
Payment Services - Puerto Rico & Caribbean
| Years ended December 31, | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | |||
| Revenues | $155,392 | $124,771 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA | 89,939 | 66,947 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 57.9 | % | 53.7 | % |
Payment Services - Puerto Rico & Caribbean segment revenues in 2021 grew by $30.6 million to $155.4 million when compared to prior year. The increase was driven by higher transactional revenue when compared to the prior year which was impacted by a decline in transaction volumes due to the impact of COVID-19, while the current year is benefiting from incremental federal stimulus and increased consumer demand. Revenue during the year has also benefited from an incremental $6.3 million recognized from ATH Movil and ATH Business, as well as an increase in transaction processing and monitoring revenue recognized for services provided to the Payment Services - Latin America Segment. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $23.0 million to $89.9 million primarily due to the increase in revenue, partially offset by higher operating expenses driven by higher equipment expenses.
Payment Services - Latin America
| Years ended December 31, | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | |||
| Revenues | $105,963 | $84,641 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA | 42,502 | 32,778 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 40.1 | % | 38.7 | % |
Payment Services - Latin America segment revenues increased by $21.3 million when compared to prior year mainly due to revenues generated from new client implementations that went into production in early 2021, organic growth from existing clients, cross selling with existing clients and the continued expansion of Place to Pay our e-commerce gateway into new geographies. Adjusted EBITDA increased $9.7 million when compared to prior year primarily due to the increase in revenues, partially offset by an increase in expenses coming from the Payment Services - Puerto Rico & Caribbean segment to support the new client implementations in the region.
Merchant Acquiring
| Years ended December 31, | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | |||
| Revenues | $143,965 | $109,788 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA | 73,872 | 55,106 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 51.3 | % | 50.2 | % |
Merchant acquiring segment revenue increased $34.2 million to $144.0 million in 2021 primarily driven by an increase in transactional revenue due to higher sales volume, as the Company continues to benefit from the impact of COVID-19 related federal stimulus, and revenue generated from the expanded relationship with FirstBank. Adjusted EBITDA increased $18.8 million driven by the increase in revenues, partially offset by an increase in operating expenses driven by the increased transaction volume.
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Business Solutions
| Years ended December 31, | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | |||
| Revenues | $243,807 | $234,965 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA | 116,488 | 114,802 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 47.8 | % | 48.9 | % |
Business Solutions segment revenues increased $8.8 million to $243.8 million when compared to prior year. Revenue growth in the segment was a result of an increase in core banking revenues and an increase in IT consulting services revenue, as we continue to benefit from the shift towards digital services and several one-time hardware and software sales amounting to $3.0 million, partially offset by revenue recognized in the prior year for a one-time contract with the Puerto Rico Department of Education that amounted to $4.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased $1.7 million to $116.5 million compared to prior year as a result of higher revenues, partially offset by an increase in costs of sales.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Liquidity
Our principal source of liquidity is cash generated from operations, and our primary liquidity requirements are the funding of working capital needs, capital expenditures, and acquisitions. We also have a $125.0 million Revolving Facility, of which $119.1 million was available for borrowing as of December 31, 2021. The Company issues letters of credit against our Revolving Facility which reduce our availability of funds to be drawn.
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $266.4 million, of which $96.3 million resides in our subsidiaries located outside of Puerto Rico for purposes of (i) funding the respective subsidiary’s current business operations and (ii) funding potential future investment outside of Puerto Rico. We intend to indefinitely reinvest these funds outside of Puerto Rico, and based on our liquidity forecast, we will not need to repatriate this cash to fund the Puerto Rico operations or to meet debt-service obligations. However, if in the future we determine that we no longer need to maintain cash balances within our foreign subsidiaries, we may elect to distribute such cash to the Company in Puerto Rico. Distributions from the foreign subsidiaries to Puerto Rico may be subject to tax withholding and other tax consequences. Additionally, our credit agreement imposes certain restrictions on the distribution of dividends from subsidiaries.
Our primary use of cash is for operating expenses, working capital requirements, capital expenditures, acquisitions, dividend payments, share repurchases, debt service, and other transactions as opportunities present themselves.
Based on our current level of operations, we believe our cash flows from operations and the available secured Revolving Facility will be adequate to meet our liquidity needs for the next twelve months. However, our ability to fund future operating expenses, dividend payments, capital expenditures, mergers and acquisitions, and our ability to make scheduled payments of interest, to pay principal on or refinance our indebtedness and to satisfy any other of our present or future debt obligations will depend on our future operating performance, which may be affected by general economic, financial, and other factors beyond our control, including the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
The following table presents our cash flows from operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
| Years ended December 31, | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | |||||
| Cash provided by operating activities | $ | 228,420 | $ | 199,089 | |||
| Cash used in investing activities | (83,820) | (48,634) | |||||
| Cash used in financing activities | (81,285) | (62,617) | |||||
| Effect of foreign exchange rate on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | 1,497 | 2,146 | |||||
| Increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | $ | 64,812 | $ | 89,984 |
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Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $228.4 million, an increase of $29.3 million compared to 2020. The increase was primarily driven by the increase in net income and a decrease in cash used for prepaid software maintenance contracts.
Net cash used in investing activities increased $35.2 million to $83.8 million. The increase is primarily attributable to the acquisition of a $14.8 million customer relationship, an increase in additions to software of $10.2 million, an increase in additions to property, plant, and equipment of $8.0 million and the purchase of $3.0 million in available-for-sale debt securities during the period.
Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $81.3 million, compared to $62.6 million in prior year. The $18.7 million increase is mainly attributable to a $17.1 million increase in cash used to repurchase common stock.
Capital Resources
Our principal capital expenditures are for software (purchased and internally developed), additions to property and equipment in the form of hardware and technology infrastructure, and acquisitions. We invested approximately $66.9 million, $48.6 million, and $59.9 million, for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Generally, we fund capital expenditures with cash flow generated from operations and, if necessary, borrowings under our Revolving Facility.
Dividend Payments
The Company pays a regular quarterly dividend on common stock, subject to the declaration thereof by our Board each quarter. Any declaration and payment of future dividends to holders of our common stock will be at the discretion of our Board and will depend on many factors, including our financial condition, earnings, available cash, business opportunities, legal requirements, restrictions in our debt agreements and other contracts, capital requirements, level of indebtedness and other factors that our
Board deems relevant. Refer to the table below for details regarding our dividends in 2021 and 2020:
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | Dividend per share | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 20, 2020 | March 4, 2020 | April 3, 2020 | $0.05 | |||
| April 21, 2020 | May 4, 2020 | June 5, 2020 | 0.05 | |||
| July 24, 2020 | August 3, 2020 | September 4, 2020 | 0.05 | |||
| October 20, 2020 | November 2, 2020 | December 4, 2020 | 0.05 | |||
| February 18, 2021 | March 1, 2021 | March 26, 2021 | 0.05 | |||
| April 22, 2021 | May 3, 2021 | June 4, 2021 | 0.05 | |||
| July 22, 2021 | August 2, 2021 | September 3, 2021 | 0.05 | |||
| October 21, 2021 | November 1, 2021 | December 3, 2021 | 0.05 |
Stock Repurchase
During 2021, the Company repurchased 614,288 shares of the Company’s common stock at a cost of $24.4 million. The Company funded such repurchase with cash on hand. On February 24, 2022, the Company announced an increase to the share repurchase authorization to an aggregate $150 million expiring on December 31, 2023. Prior to this increase, the share repurchase program had approximately $76 million remaining.
Repurchases may be accomplished through open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions, accelerated share repurchase programs and other means.
Financial Obligations
Secured Credit Facilities
On November 27, 2018, EVERTEC and EVERTEC Group (“Borrower”) entered into a credit agreement providing for the secured credit facilities, consisting of a $220.0 million term loan A facility that matures on November 27, 2023 ("2023 Term A Loan"), a $325.0 million term loan B facility that matures on November 27, 2024 ("2024 Term B Loan") and a $125.0 million
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revolving credit facility (the "Revolving Facility") that matures on November 27, 2023, with a syndicate of lenders and Bank of America, N.A. (“Bank of America”), as administrative agent, collateral agent, swingline lender and line of credit issuer (collectively the “2018 Credit Agreement”). The material terms and conditions of the secured credit facilities are summarized below.
Scheduled Amortization Payments
The 2023 Term A Loan provides for amortization in the amount of 1.25% of the original principal amount of the 2023 Term A Loan during each of the first twelve quarters starting from the quarter ending March 31, 2019, 1.875% during each of the four subsequent quarters and 2.50% during each of the final three quarters, with the balance payable on the final maturity date.
The 2024 Term B Loan provides for quarterly amortization payments totaling 1.00% per annum of the original principal amount of the 2024 Term B Loan, with the balance payable on the final maturity date.
Voluntary Prepayments and Reduction and Termination of Commitments
The 2018 Credit Agreement allows EVERTEC Group to prepay loans and permanently reduce the loan commitments under the secured credit facilities at any time, subject to the payment of customary LIBOR breakage costs, if any, provided that, in connection with certain refinancing or repricing of the 2024 Term B on or prior to the date which is six months after the closing date of the 2018 Credit Agreement, a prepayment premium of 1.00% will be required.
Additionally, the 2018 Credit Agreement requires mandatory repayment of outstanding principal balances based on a percentage of excess cash flow provided that no such prepayment shall be due if the resulting amount of the excess cash flows multiplied by the applicable percentage is less than $10 million. On March 8, 2021 and March 5, 2020, in connection with this mandatory repayment clause, the Company repaid $17.8 million and $17.0 million, respectively, as a result of the excess cash flow calculation performed for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Interest
The interest rates under the 2023 Term A Loan and revolving credit facility are based on, at EVERTEC Group’s option, (a) adjusted LIBOR plus an interest margin of 2.25% or (b) the greater of (i) Bank of America’s “prime rate,” (ii) the Federal Funds Effective Rate plus 0.5% and (iii) adjusted LIBOR plus 1.0% (“ABR”) plus an interest margin of 1.25%. The interest rates under the 2024 Term B Loan are based on, at EVERTEC Group’s option, (a) adjusted LIBOR plus an interest margin of 3.50% or (b) ABR plus an interest margin of 2.50%. The interest margins under the 2023 Term A Loan and Revolving Facility are subject to reduction based on achievement of specified total secured net leverage ratio.
Guarantees and Collateral
EVERTEC Group’s obligations under the secured credit facilities and under any cash management, interest rate protection or other hedging arrangements entered into with a lender, or any affiliate thereof are guaranteed by EVERTEC and each of EVERTEC’s existing wholly owned subsidiaries (other than EVERTEC Group) and subsequently acquired or organized subsidiaries, subject to certain exceptions.
Subject to certain exceptions, the secured credit facilities are secured to the extent legally permissible by substantially all of the assets of (1) EVERTEC, including a perfected pledge of all of the limited liability company interests of EVERTEC Intermediate Holdings, LLC (“Holdings”), (2) Holdings, including a perfected pledge of all of the limited liability company interests of EVERTEC Group and (3) EVERTEC Group and the subsidiary guarantors, including but not limited to: (a) a pledge of substantially all capital stock held by EVERTEC Group or any guarantor and (b) a perfected security interest in substantially all tangible and intangible assets of EVERTEC Group and each guarantor.
Covenants
The secured credit facilities contain affirmative and negative covenants that the Company believes are usual and customary for a secured credit agreement. The negative covenants in the secured credit facilities include, among other things, limitations (subject to exceptions) on the ability of EVERTEC and its restricted subsidiaries to:
•declare dividends and make other distributions;
•redeem or repurchase capital stock;
•grant liens;
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•make loans or investments (including acquisitions);
•merge or enter into acquisitions;
•sell assets;
•enter into any sale or lease-back transactions;
•incur additional indebtedness;
•prepay, redeem or repurchase certain indebtedness;
•modify the terms of certain debt;
•restrict dividends from subsidiaries;
•change the business of EVERTEC or its subsidiaries; and
•enter into transactions with their affiliates.
In addition, the 2023 Term A Loan and the Revolving Facility require EVERTEC to maintain a maximum total secured net leverage ratio of 4.25 to 1.00 for any quarter that ended on or prior to September 30, 2020. Beginning with the quarter ended December 31, 2020 and for fiscal quarters ending thereafter, 4.00 to 1.00.
The unpaid principal balance at December 31, 2021 of the 2023 Term A Loan and the 2024 Term B Loan was $171.6 million, and $295.8 million, respectively. The additional borrowing capacity for the Revolving Facility at December 31, 2021 was $119.1 million. The Company issues letters of credit against the Revolving Facility which reduce the additional borrowing capacity of the Revolving Facility.
Events of Default
The events of default under the secured credit facilities include, without limitation, nonpayment, material misrepresentation, breach of covenants, insolvency, bankruptcy, certain judgments, change of control (as defined in the 2018 Credit Agreement) and cross-events of default on material indebtedness.
Notes payable
In December 2019, EVERTEC Group entered into two non interest-bearing financing agreements amounting to $2.4 million to purchase software and maintenance. As of December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020, the outstanding principal balance of the notes payable was $0.8 million and $1.5 million, respectively. These notes are included in accounts payable in the Company's consolidated balance sheets.
Interest Rate Swaps
As of December 31, 2021, the Company has an interest rate swap agreement, entered into in December 2018, which converts a portion of the interest rate payments on the Company's 2024 Term B Loan from variable to fixed:
| Swap Agreement | Effective date | Maturity Date | Notional Amount | Variable Rate | Fixed Rate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Swap | April 2020 | November 2024 | $250 million | 1-month LIBOR | 2.89% |
The Company has accounted for this agreement as a cash flow hedge.
Additionally, the Company had an interest rate swap agreement that matured in April 2020, with a notional amount of $200 million and a fixed rate of 1.9225%. The Company accounted for this swap as a cash flow hedge from inception to maturity.
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the carrying amount of the derivatives included on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet was $13.4 million and $25.6 million, respectively. The fair value of these derivatives is estimated using Level 2 inputs in the fair value hierarchy on a recurring basis.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company reclassified losses of $7.1 million from accumulated other comprehensive loss into interest expense. Based on current LIBOR rates, the Company expects to reclassify losses of $7.0 million from accumulated other comprehensive loss into interest expense over the next 12 months. Refer to Note 14 for tabular disclosure of the fair value of derivatives and to Note 16 for tabular disclosure of gains (losses) recorded on cash flow hedging activities.
At December 31, 2021, the cash flow hedge is considered highly effective.
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Leases
The Company has operating leases for certain office facilities, buildings, telecommunications and other equipment; and finance leases for certain equipment. The Company’s lease contracts have remaining terms ranging from 1 year to 8 years, some of which may include options to extend the leases for up to 5 years, and some which may include the option to terminate the lease within 1 year.
The following table presents the balance of operating lease obligations:
| December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (In thousands) | 2021 | 2020 | ||||
| Operating lease liability - current | 5,580 | 5,830 | ||||
| Operating lease liability - long-term | 16,456 | 22,402 | ||||
| Total operating lease liabilities | $ | 22,036 | $ | 28,232 |
See Note 23 of the Notes to Audited Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding operating lease obligations.
Covenant Compliance
As of December 31, 2021, the total secured net leverage ratio was 1.4 to 1.00. As of the date of filing of this Form 10-K, no event has occurred that constitutes an Event of Default or Default.
In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we refer to the term “Adjusted EBITDA” to mean EBITDA as so defined and calculated for purposes of determining compliance with the total secured net leverage ratio based on the financial information for the last twelve months at the end of each quarter.
Net Income Reconciliation to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share (Non-GAAP Measures)
We define “EBITDA” as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. We define “Adjusted EBITDA” as EBITDA further adjusted to exclude unusual items and other adjustments described below. Adjusted EBITDA by segment is reported to the chief operating decision maker for purposes of making decisions about allocating resources to the segments and assessing their performance. For this reason, Adjusted EBITDA, as it relates to our segments, is presented in conformity with Accounting Standards Codification 280, Segment Reporting, and is excluded from the definition of non-GAAP financial measures under the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation G and Item 10(e) of Regulation S-K. We define “Adjusted Net Income” as net income adjusted to exclude unusual items and other adjustments described below. We define “Adjusted Earnings per common share” as Adjusted Net Income divided by diluted shares outstanding.
We present EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA because we consider them important supplemental measures of our performance and believe they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties in the evaluation of ourselves and other companies in our industry. In addition, our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA is substantially consistent with the equivalent measurements that are contained in the secured credit facilities in testing EVERTEC Group’s compliance with covenants therein such as the total secured net leverage ratio. We use Adjusted Net Income to measure our overall profitability because we believe it better reflects our comparable operating performance by excluding the impact of the non-cash amortization and depreciation that was created as a result of merger and acquisition activity. In addition, in evaluating EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share, you should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses such as those excluded in calculating them. Further, our presentation of these measures should not be construed as an inference that our future operating results will not be affected by unusual or nonrecurring items.
Some of the limitations of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted earnings per common share are as follows:
•they do not reflect cash outlays for capital expenditures or future contractual commitments;
•they do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, working capital;
•although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect cash requirements for such replacements;
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•in the case of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, they do not reflect interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest, or principal payments, on indebtedness;
•in the case of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, they do not reflect income tax expense or the cash necessary to pay income taxes; and
•other companies, including other companies in our industry, may not use EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Earnings per common share or may calculate EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share differently than as presented in this Report, limiting their usefulness as a comparative measure.
EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share are not measurements of liquidity or financial performance under GAAP. You should not consider EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share as alternatives to cash flows from operating activities or any other performance measures determined in accordance with GAAP, as an indicator of cash flows, as a measure of liquidity or as an alternative to operating or net income determined in accordance with GAAP.
A reconciliation of net income to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per common share is provided below:
| Year Ended December 31, 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| (Dollar amounts in thousands) | |||
| Net income | $ | 161,143 | |
| Income tax expense | 20,562 | ||
| Interest expense, net | 20,921 | ||
| Depreciation and amortization | 75,070 | ||
| EBITDA | 277,696 | ||
| Equity income (1) | (395) | ||
| Compensation and benefits (2) | 15,144 | ||
| Transaction, refinancing and other fees (3) | 2,373 | ||
| Adjusted EBITDA | 294,818 | ||
| Operating depreciation and amortization (4) | (43,438) | ||
| Cash interest expense, net (5) | (19,804) | ||
| Income tax expense (6) | (31,684) | ||
| Non-controlling interest (7) | (161) | ||
| Adjusted net income | $ | 199,731 | |
| Net income per common share (GAAP): | |||
| Diluted | $ | 2.21 | |
| Adjusted Earnings per common share (Non-GAAP): | |||
| Diluted | $ | 2.74 | |
| Shares used in computing adjusted earnings per common share: | |||
| Diluted | 72,870,585 |
1)Represents the elimination of non-cash equity earnings from our 19.99% equity investment in Dominican Republic, Consorcio de Tarjetas Dominicanas, S.A. (“CONTADO”), net of cash dividends received.
2)Primarily represents share-based compensation and severance payments.
3)Represents fees and expenses associated with corporate transactions as defined in the 2018 Credit Agreement, recorded as part of selling, general and administrative expenses, a software impairment charge, and a gain from sale of assets.
4)Represents operating depreciation and amortization expense, which excludes amounts generated as a result of the merger and acquisition activity.
5)Represents interest expense, less interest income, as they appear on our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income, adjusted to exclude non-cash amortization of the debt issue costs, premium and accretion of discount.
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6)Represents income tax expense calculated on adjusted pre-tax income using the applicable GAAP tax rate, adjusted for certain discrete items.
7)Represents the 35% non-controlling equity interest in Evertec Colombia, net of amortization for intangibles created as part of the purchase.
Seasonality
Our payment businesses generally experience moderate increased activity during the traditional holiday shopping periods and around other nationally recognized holidays, which follow consumer spending patterns.
Effect of Inflation
While inflationary increases in certain input costs, such as occupancy, labor and benefits, and general administrative costs, have an impact on our operating results, inflation has had minimal net impact on our operating results during the last three years as overall inflation has been partially offset by increased margins on incremental revenue and cost reduction actions. We cannot assure you, however, that we will not be affected by general inflation in the future.