HOUSTON – Cardtronics Inc. yesterday reported a fourth quarter loss of $43.5 million, and a fiscal year loss of $63.4 million, most of it related to the company’s December initial public offering.
The company, which has emerged as the biggest provider of electronic funds transfer services for credit unions, took a $36 million charge in connection with the IPO’s conversion of preferred shares into common stock.
By most standards, the Cardtronics IPO has been a bust. The company hoped to go public at $12, but settled for $10 instead, which cost it as much as $10 million in proceeds. Since then, shares have slumped all the way to $7. Yesterday, the shares rallied more than 10% after company officials predicted a profitable 2008.
Not counting the one-time charge, Cardtronics reported a $7.4 million loss for the fourth quarter and a $27.1 million loss for the year.
In comparison, Cardtronics reported $2.1 million in net income for the fourth quarter of 2006, and a narrow loss of $800,000 for fiscal 2006.
But Cardtronics, which has accumulated the largest fleet of ATMs in the world–more than 30,000 cash machines–continued to expand its business last year with the acquisition of more than 5,300 ATMs at 7-Eleven convenience stores and numerous affinity deals with credit unions. As a result, fourth quarter revenues surged by 55% to $116 million, compared to the year earlier period, and full-year revenue more than doubled to $293.6 million.
Cardtronics has become the biggest player for EFT for credit unions by virtue of agreements to allow both CO-OP Financial Services and Financial Service Centers Cooperative access to its 7-Eleven ATMs; individual contracts with the Credit Union 24 EFT network; and connections between more than 100 credit unions and Cardtronics’ Allpoint surcharge-free ATM network.
