News

Access to Money reports net losses for the fourth quarter and 2010

March 29, 2011

Access to Money Inc. yesterday reported a smaller net loss on lower revenues for the 2010 fiscal year, which Richard Stern, the president and CEO, called disappointing. Stern added, however, that Access to Money's initiatives in 2010 should "bear fruit in 2011."

For the 12-month period that ended Dec. 31, the Cherry Hill, N.J.-based independent ATM deployer (IAD), recorded a net loss of $1.3 million compared with a net loss of $6.6 million in 2009. The IAD reported 2010 revenue of $78.0 million, down 7.4 percent compared with revenue of $84.2 million in 2009.

Stern primarily attributed the $6.2 million drop in revenue to fewer company ATMs, which affected transactions. The company operated 10,794 machines last year compared with 11,265 in 2009. Access to Money reported approximately 39.8 million transactions in 2010 compared with approximately 43.3 million in 2009. Withdrawals last year fell to 31.9 million compared with 34.6 million in 2009.

Stern added that the most significant contributors to Access to Money's financial results were the loss of a major contract and "front-loaded costs associated with renewing an agreement with The Pantry, convenience-store chain." In a United States Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Access to Money reported it lost a contract to deploy ATMs with Cumberland Farms Inc., a Framingham, Mass, convenience-store chain.

In 2010's fourth quarter, the IAD reported that net sales were lower by $1 million to $5.8 million, down 14.8 percent, compared with 2009's fourth-quarter net sales of $6.8 million.

"This decrease was driven by the combined impact of having no sales in the 2010 quarter with a major customer that had sales in the fourth quarter of 2009 and additional contract-related expense associated with the renewal of another customer that occurred in 2010, which had no corresponding expense in 2009," company officials said in a statement.

Also in 2010's fourth quarter, Access to Money reported a much larger net loss of $1.9 million compared with a net loss of $165,000 for the same three-month period in 2009.

When the company released its 2009 fourth-quarter and yearend numbers on March 22, 2010, Stern said the financial results were "extremely gratifying to us." 

This time there was a much darker tone, yet at the same time an upbeat feeling for the future.

"2010 was both a year of disappointment and a year of optimism for Access to Money," Stern said. "While we finished the year with less than acceptable financial results, the reasons associated with this can be offset by opportunities that should bear fruit in 2011."

The company has launched a surcharge-free ATM program designed to increase transaction counts at every location, Stern said.

"We already have started to deploy these new ATMs, which are equipped with the ability to offer customers surcharge-free transactions while providing us with the reimbursement for these transactions," he added. Each ATM will be equipped with a full-motion video topper to increase revenue opportunities. The company's relationship with Dunkin Donuts to install ATMs in its franchise locations also has been expanded.

"We expect to place many more machines in Dunkin Donuts locations in 2011 as compared to what was installed in 2010," Stern said. He added that Access to Money is gaining traction deploying ATMs for small financial institutions.