Steven Rathgaber, CEO of Cardtronics Inc., said the company's third-quarter financial performance exceeded company expectations. "It was a very solid quarter," Rathgaber told analysts yesterday during a conference call.
The Houston-based ATM ISO, the world's largest based on number of machines, reported a third-quarter net income of $17.4 million, up 176 percent compared with $6.3 million for the same three-month period last year. Revenue for the quarter, which ended September 30, was $136.6 million, up 6.2 percent compared with $128.6 million in 2009's third quarter.
Rathgaber attributed Cardtronics' third-quarter success to solid growth in four areas. They include Allpoint, Cardtronics surcharge-free ATM network, retail location placement, managed services and the ability to increase ATM surcharge fees.
Rathgaber said some Cardtronics ATMs charge surcharge fees of $3 for cash withdrawals, but other ATM locations charge less, depending on a customer's wishes. Cardtronics earned $67.9 million in surcharge revenue during the third quarter compared with $65.8 million in surcharge revenue for the same three-month period last year.
Cardtronics also signed a bank-branding agreement with Scotiabank in Puerto Rico. The company also renewed a similar agreement with Huntington, a regional bank based in Columbus, Ohio.
Cardtronics reported third-quarter bank-branding and surcharge-free network revenues of $20.8 million compared with $17.8 million in 2009's third quarter.
Cardtronics executives reported that 2,340 ATMs were under managed services. The ISO manages clients' machines, but does not own them. In last year's third quarter, the total of ATMs that were part of managed services was 1,621 machines. Cardtronics owned or operated 35,846 transacting ATMs worldwide in the third quarter compared with 34,616 during the same three-month period last year.
The ISO reported 68.2 million in total cash withdrawals for the quarter compared with 65.6 million cash withdrawals in 2009's third quarter. Cash withdrawal transactions per ATM per month, excluding managed services, were 650 compared with 642 for the same three-month period last year.
Because of Cardtronics' performance, company officials expect 2010 revenues to range between $528 million and $529.5 million.
In early afternoon trading today, Cardtronics' stock was selling for $17.31 per share, up 53 cents.
