BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT; www.liquidityservices.com), the world’s largest B2B e-commerce marketplace for business and government surplus, today announced financial results for the first quarter fiscal year 2021 ended December 31, 2020. The Company's Q1-FY21 performance reflected continued customer adoption of our safe and effective e-commerce solutions across all business segments as businesses and governments seek proven digital solutions to stay competitive.

"We are pleased with our continued momentum and how our marketplace solutions are resonating with both large enterprises and small businesses who are embracing our e-commerce platform. Our team has carefully listened to the needs of our customers and we continue to deliver the right tools, services and strong buyer liquidity to ensure sellers and buyers in every major sector of the economy successfully monetize assets. Through our domain expertise, innovative technology platform and integrated services we are driving the continued digital transformation within the retail, industrial and public sector supply chains which comprise a $100 billion market opportunity for Liquidity Services,” said Bill Angrick, Chairman and CEO of Liquidity Services. “Overall, our strategy and platform investments have yielded strong results to date and are well aligned to the needs of where the customer is going in the future in a changing landscape with higher e-commerce demand.

"Our e-commerce marketplace capabilities continue to drive strong recovery for sellers and have enabled us to scale our services quickly as more customers seek more efficient self-service solutions to manage surplus and returned goods in the supply chain. We are proud of the contributions by our team to continue to safely deliver outstanding results for our customers both in our fulfillment centers and remotely during the quarter,” continued Angrick.

“GMV in our GovDeals segment grew a record 36% over the prior year’s comparable quarter, as more government agencies utilized our digital platform to transact higher volumes across a larger breadth of key categories and our growing buyer base and automated asset promotion tools drove higher realized values through our marketplace. GMV in our Retail Supply Chain Group (RSCG) segment grew 30% over the prior year’s comparable quarter, as more large and SMB retail sellers utilized our platform resulting in higher transaction volumes on our marketplace.

"GMV in our Capital Assets Group (CAG) segment increased 5% year-over-year driven by continued growth of our heavy equipment category. Our Machinio segment grew revenue by 14% year-over-year as equipment owners and dealers continue to embrace our digital marketing solutions to acquire buyers at lower costs when compared to traditional marketing channels.

"We are seeing the benefits of increasing scale and are pleased with another quarter of strong Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA results and improved margins as we leverage our new marketplace platform. We are well positioned to help our customers address several macro trends, including the continued growth of online retail; the need for organizations of all sizes to embrace technology to drive supply chain efficiencies and monetize assets; and the increasing focus by business and government customers on sustainability," concluded Angrick.

The Company completed $4.1 million in share repurchases during Q1-FY21 and exited the quarter with a cash position of $77.8 million, a $1.8 million increase from Q4-FY20, and zero debt.

First Quarter Consolidated Operating and Earnings Results
The Company reported Q1-FY21 GMV of $190.4 million, a 28% increase from $148.6 million in the prior year’s comparable period. GMV is an operating measure of the total sales value of all merchandise sold by us or our sellers through our marketplaces and other channels during a given period of time. GAAP Revenue for Q1-FY21 was $55.8 million, a 13% increase from $49.5 million in the prior year. GAAP Net Income (Loss) for Q1-FY21 was $4.5 million, which resulted in diluted earnings (loss) per share of $0.13 based on a weighted average of 34.9 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $(5.2) million and $(0.15), respectively, in the prior year. Non-GAAP Adjusted Net Income (Loss) was $6.0 million or $0.17 adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share, an improvement from $(4.1) million and $(0.12), respectively, in the prior period.

Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes stock compensation expense, impairment and business realignment expenses, acquisition costs, fair value adjustments to acquisition earn-outs, and deferred revenue purchase accounting adjustments, was $8.8 million, a $10.9 million increase from $(2.1) million in the same period last year.

Q1-FY21 comparative year-over-year consolidated financial results reflect increased volumes across all of our segments, with the largest increases in our GovDeals and RSCG segments, as businesses and government agencies continued to embrace our safe and effective e-commerce solutions to operate in the COVID-19 environment. Our full-service and self-service consignment model increased to 84% of our total GMV, up from 79% in Q1-FY20. This mix shift and improved margins from higher recovery rates on assets sold drove a 31% improvement in gross profit and our gross profit margin as a percentage of revenue increased from 51% in Q1-FY20 to 60% in Q1-FY21. Our profitability reflects our overall growth across our segments and reduced operating expenses related to our re-aligned organizational structure, including efficiencies in our CAG segment and corporate functions.

First Quarter Segment Operating and Earnings Results
We present operating results in four reportable segments: GovDeals, RSCG, CAG and Machinio. Each offers separately branded marketplaces to enable sellers to achieve channel marketing objectives to reach buyers. Across our segments, we offer our sellers various pricing and transaction models and a suite of services, and our revenues vary depending upon the pricing models employed and the level of service selected by sellers. Segment gross profit is calculated as total revenue less cost of goods sold (excludes depreciation and amortization).

Additional First Quarter 2021 Operational Results

• Registered Buyers — At the end of Q1-FY21, registered buyers totaled approximately 3,839,000, representing a 5.8% increase over the approximately 3,630,000 registered buyers at the end of Q1-FY20.
• Auction Participants — Auction participants, defined as registered buyers who have bid in an auction during the period (a registered buyer who bids in more than one auction is counted as an auction participant in each auction in which he or she bids), increased to approximately 517,000 in Q1-FY21, a 14.1% increase from the approximately 453,000 auction participants in Q1-FY20.
• Completed Transactions — Completed transactions increased to approximately 152,000 in Q1-FY21, an 11.8% increase from the approximately 136,000 completed transactions in Q1-FY20.

Business Outlook

We continue to see a solid pipeline, strong customer relationships and indicators of positive performance going forward. Our platform investments have yielded the improved operational and financial results we are seeing. Despite these factors and our recent quarterly results, our current view of trends still depends on numerous factors that can be impacted by the global and U.S. economies, COVID-19, and any possible shifts in related business dynamics and government spending. We are well positioned for our customers' changing needs in the current environment. In spite of the current positive trends in our business and underlying positive, long-term macro-drivers, the timing of business activity across our segments and historic seasonality trends are difficult to predict, especially for any given quarter, given the macro-uncertainties still being faced across the global stage. We will therefore not provide quarterly guidance and will reassess future guidance on a quarterly basis.

Financial results for Q2-FY21 are expected to improve year-over-year. We remain optimistic about our prospects given our strong position in our key markets and marketplaces, our enhanced platform services and the trends pointing towards a long-lasting shift to online commerce by businesses and governments alike. We continue to be highly focused on creating efficiencies and benefits for our sellers and buyers with platform services and support that will deliver to them optimal liquidity and further enable our growth through an asset light, low-touch marketplace solution. As e-commerce penetration continues to grow substantially, our online platform and cloud-based solutions should become even more relevant and necessary for the evolving global economy.

Liquidity Services
Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures

Non-GAAP EBITDA and Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA. Non-GAAP EBITDA is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure and is equal to net income (loss) plus interest and other income, net; provision for income taxes; and depreciation and amortization. Our definition of Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA differs from Non-GAAP EBITDA because we further adjust Non-GAAP EBITDA for stock compensation expense, acquisition costs such as transaction expenses and changes in earn-out estimates, business realignment expenses, deferred revenue purchase accounting adjustments, and goodwill and long-lived asset impairment.

About Liquidity Services

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) operates leading e-commerce marketplaces that enable buyers and sellers to transact in an efficient, automated environment offering over 600 product categories. The company employs innovative e-commerce marketplace solutions to manage, value and sell inventory and equipment for business and government sellers. Our superior service, unmatched scale and ability to deliver results enable us to forge trusted, long-term relationships with over 14,000 sellers worldwide. With over $8 billion in completed transactions, and more than 3.8 million buyers in almost 197 countries and territories, we are the proven leader in delivering smart B2B e-commerce solutions.