ShoreTel Reports Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2013

Online, August 12, 2013 (Newswire.com) - ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple unified communications (UC) platforms, including business phone systems, applications, and mobile UC solutions, today announced financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, revenue was a record US$85.6 million, an increase of 9 per cent sequentially over the third quarter of fiscal 2013 and an increase of 9 per cent from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. Non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013 was US$3.4 million, or US$0.06 per share which excludes stock-based compensation charges, amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles, other charges and related tax adjustments. This compares with a non-GAAP net loss of US$0.2 million, or US$0.00 per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.

For the 2013 fiscal year, revenue was a record of US$313.5 million, up 27 per cent from fiscal year 2012. The non-GAAP net loss for fiscal year 2013 was US$1.6 million, or US$0.03 per share, which excludes stock-based compensation charges, amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles, litigation settlement costs, severance and other charges, and related tax adjustments. This compares with a non-GAAP net loss of US$1.4 million, or US$0.03 per share, in fiscal 2012.

"Fiscal year 2013 showcased the first full year of cloud revenues from our ShoreTel Sky offering, which have been growing steadily over the last six quarters and were up 35 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter," said Peter Blackmore, CEO of ShoreTel. "We reported a very strong and profitable quarter with record revenues of US$85.6 million, up 9 per cent sequentially, driven by record premise revenues and the addition of nearly 1,200 new customers in the fourth quarter." Blackmore continued, "With our continued focus on improving operating efficiencies and sales productivity we drove our non-GAAP operating expenses to 57 per cent of revenue in the fourth quarter. Coupled with the projected growth in our target markets, we are positioned for continued profitability in fiscal 2014."

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2013 Financial Highlights

Non-GAAP gross margin for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013, which excludes stock-based compensation charges, amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles, other charges and related tax adjustments, was 61.4 per cent, compared with 62.6 per cent in the year-ago quarter. GAAP gross margin for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013 was 59.9 per cent, compared with 60.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012.

GAAP net loss was US$2.3 million, or US$0.04 per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, compared with a GAAP net loss of US$5.0 million, or US$0.09 per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.

As of 30 June 2013, the company had US$51.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and generated US$5.9 million in cash flow from operations in the quarter.

Fiscal Year 2013 Financial Highlights

Non-GAAP gross margin, which excludes stock-based compensation charges, amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles, other charges and related tax adjustments, was 62 per cent for the 2013 fiscal year, compared with 65.4 per cent for the 2012 fiscal year. GAAP gross margin for the 2013 fiscal year was 60.1 per cent, compared with 64.3 per cent for the 2012 fiscal year.
Non-GAAP operating income for fiscal year 2013 was US$0.2 million, compared with non-GAAP operating income of US$0.2 million for the 2012 fiscal year.

GAAP net loss for fiscal 2013 was US$25.7 million, or US$0.44 per share, which included non-cash stock-based compensation charges of US$10.6 million, amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles of US$7.6 million, severance charges of US$3.0 million, US$1.9 million charge for a change in estimates for sales, telecom taxes and regulatory fees as well as other charges, and compared to a GAAP net loss of US$20.7 million, or US$0.41 per share, in fiscal 2012. For fiscal year 2013, the company generated US$10.3 million in cash flow from operations.

Line of Business Results

ShoreTel Sky

ShoreTel Sky revenues of US$19.3 million were up 6 per cent sequentially over the third quarter of fiscal 2013 which brought our fiscal year 2013 revenue growth to 26 per cent over fiscal year 2012 on an organic basis. The total number of installed customer seats increased 49 per cent over the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. Revenue churn on an annualised basis remains very low at 3 per cent.

Premise Business

Premise revenues of US$66.3 million increased 10 per cent sequentially from the third fiscal quarter and were up 3 per cent from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. Non-GAAP gross margins in the premise business were 67.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, compared with 67.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. The company continued to increase its market share according to Synergy Research. In its latest report, Synergy estimates that the company's share of the United States Enterprise IP Telephony market increased from 6.4 per cent in the December quarter of 2012 to 8.0 per cent in the March quarter of 2013.

Business Highlights

Gains Share in Both the U.S. Enterprise IP and U.S. UC as a Service Industries

The company continues to gain share in the IP telephony industry in the United States according to recent data published by Synergy Research Group. In its market share summary report for the first calendar quarter of 2013, Synergy found that ShoreTel had both the highest sequential market share and revenue growth rates for Enterprise IP Telephony compared to Avaya Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc. and Mitel Networks Corporation. In addition, ShoreTel gained share in the Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) Private Network segment and retains the number one position in that segment.

Moves into Testing Phase for ShoreTel Connect

ShoreTel completed development of the technical solution for its hybrid premise-to-cloud offering, ShoreTel Connect. Platform development and internal testing are complete, and external testing with customers and reseller partners will commence in the September 2013 quarter. Upon completion of the testing phase and rollout of general availability, customers will have the option to choose premise- or cloud-based UC solutions and applications as well as the ability to include the best of both in an integrated solution. ShoreTel expects to make the first ShoreTel Connect applications available beginning in early 2014.

Introduces New Business-Grade iPad and iPhone Docking Station

The ShoreTel Dock transforms Apple® handhelds that are running the ShoreTel Mobility app into powerful business desk phones and enterprise collaboration tools. Employees can simply slide their ShoreTel Mobility enabled iPhone® or iPad® into the ShoreTel Dock and get instant access to the comfort, battery life and call quality of a business desk phone. The ShoreTel Dock is expected to start shipping in the September 2013 quarter.

New DECT Phones Launched in May 2013

The ShoreTel IP Phone 930D is a feature-rich cordless DECT phone solution well-suited for those needing a full telephony feature set along with in-building roaming capabilities. Designed for use in the front office or corporate environments, the ShoreTel IP Phone 930D solution seamlessly adds cordless handsets to any ShoreTel 14 installation. DECT handsets use a dedicated frequency band that is less congested than alternative wireless technologies and provide secure communication with voice and data encryption.

400 Series Phones Launched in July 2013

The new line of ShoreTel 400 series IP phones includes four new IP phone models that expand the ShoreTel portfolio to deliver new functionality and enhanced usability, including visual voice mail, an advanced user interface, and built-in diagnostics. The intuitive user interface of the 400 series IP phones extends the proven ergonomic advantages of ShoreTel IP phones, with a larger display and keypad and a lighter handset.

Business Outlook

ShoreTel is providing the following outlook for the quarter ending 30 September 2013:

 Revenue is expected to be in the range of US$77 million to US$83 million.

 GAAP gross margin is expected to be in the range of 59.5 per cent to 60.5 per cent, including approximately US$1.2 million in stock-based compensation charges and amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles. Non-GAAP gross margin, which excludes stock-based compensation, amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles and other charges, is expected to be in the range of 61 per cent to 62 per cent.

 GAAP operating expenses are expected to be in the range of US$53 million to US$54 million, including approximately US$4 million in stock-based compensation charges, amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles and other charges. Non-GAAP operating expenses, which exclude stock-based compensation and other charges, are expected to be in the range of US$49 million to US$50 million.
Conference Call Information

The company hosted a corresponding conference call and live webcast on Thursday, 8 August 2013 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. To access the conference call, dial +1-877-317-6789 for callers in the U.S. and +1-412-317-6789 for international callers and provide the operator with the conference identification number 10031474. An archived recording is available in the Investor Relations section of the company's corporate web site at www.shoretel.com until the company's announcement of its financial results for the next quarter. An audio telephonic replay of the conference call is available now until approximately 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time on 16 August 2013 by dialling +1-877-344-7529 or +1-412-317-0088 for international callers and providing the conference identification number 10031474.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

ShoreTel reports all required financial information in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), but it believes that evaluating its ongoing operating results may be difficult to understand if limited to reviewing only GAAP financial measures. Many investors have requested that ShoreTel disclose this non-GAAP information because it is useful in understanding the company's performance as it excludes non-cash charges, other non-recurring adjustments and related tax adjustments, that many investors feel may obscure the company's true operating performance. Likewise, management uses these non-GAAP measures to manage and assess the profitability of its business and does not consider stock-based compensation charges and amortisation charges related to acquisition-related intangible assets, which are non-cash charges, or other non-recurring items in managing its core operations. Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.