Thursday, July 29, 2010

Ancestry Second Quarter 2010 Report


Ancestry.com Inc. Second Quarter 2010 Report


PROVO, Utah, July 29, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ancestry.com Inc.(ACOM 18.43-0.10-0.54%), the world's largest online family history resource, today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.
"Greater than anticipated subscriber additions drove impressive performance in the quarter and boosted our revenue and EBITDA expectations for the full year," said Tim Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of Ancestry.com. "It's particularly noteworthy that retention rates and customer behavior trends are remaining consistent despite the rapid subscriber growth in the first half of 2010. As we move forward, we will continue our focus on building awareness of the family history category, improving the customer experience and adding important content collections to Ancestry.com."
Ancestry.com Web Sites Highlights
-- Subscribers totaled 1,311,000 as of June 30, 2010, a 32% increase over
      the end of Q2 2009 and an 8% increase over the end of Q1 2010.
  --  Gross Subscriber additions were 291,000 in Q2 2010, an 81% increase over
      Q2 2009 and a 4% increase over Q1 2010, driven by the continued success
      of marketing programs and the airing of Who Do You Think You Are? early
      in the quarter.
  --  Monthly Subscriber Churn1 increased to 4.3% in Q2 2010, compared to 3.8%
      in Q2 2009 and 3.3% in Q1 2010, as expected, reflecting the large number
      of new monthly subscribers added in the first half of 2010.
  --  Subscriber acquisition cost2 in Q2 2010 was $74.04, compared to $73.27
      in Q2 2009 and $69.57 in Q1 2010.
  --  Average Monthly Revenue per Subscriber3 in Q2 2010 was $18.02, compared
      to $16.42 in Q2 2009 and $16.70 in Q1 2010.

Second Quarter 2010 Financial Highlights
--  Total revenue for the second quarter of 2010 was $74.5 million, an
      increase of 36.4% over $54.6 million in the prior year period, driven by
      growth in our core Ancestry.com Web sites of 41.9%.
  --  Operating income for the second quarter of 2010 was $15.8 million,
      compared to $8.7 million in the prior year period.
  --  Adjusted EBITDA4 for the second quarter of 2010 was $25.3 million,
      compared to $18.4 million in the second quarter of 2009. Adjusted EBITDA
      margin for the second quarter of 2010 was 33.9%, compared to 33.8% in
      the second quarter of 2009.
  --  Net income was $8.5 million, or $0.18 per fully diluted share, for the
      second quarter of 2010 compared to $4.7 million, or $0.12 per fully
      diluted share, in the second quarter of 2009.
  --  Free cash flow5 totaled $14.4 million in the second quarter of 2010
      compared to $6.7 million in the prior year period.
  --  Balance sheet As of June 30, 2010, cash, cash equivalents, and
      short-term investments were $134.0 million and total debt was $76.2
      million.

Recent Business Highlights
  --  The Company closed the acquisition of Genline.se, the leading Swedish
      family history Web site. At closing, Genline had more than 17,000 paying
      members with access to 26 million pages of digitized Swedish church
      records spanning more than 400 years from the 17th to the 20th century.
  --  NBC announced its renewal of Who Do You Think You Are? for a second
      season, which is currently expected to air in the first quarter of 2011.
  --  Season 1 of Who Do You Think You Are? is currently expected to air in
      re-runs starting on August 13, 2010.
  --  The Company added several new important content collections, including
      U.S. Land Ownership Atlases from 1860-1920 and the UK Waterloo Medal
      Roll from 1815.

Business Outlook
The Company's financial and operating expectations for the third quarter and full year 2010 are as follows:
Third Quarter 2010
--  Revenue in the range of $75.0 to $77.0 million
  --  Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $24.0 to $26.0 million
  --  Ending subscribers of approximately 1,345,000

Full Year 2010
--  Revenue in the range of $290 to $295 million (increased from the
      previously expected range of $275 to $280 million)
  --  Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $93 to $97 million (increased from the
      previously expected range of $90 to $95 million)
  --  Ending subscribers in the range of 1,360,000 to 1,370,000 (increased
      from the previously expected range of 1,280,000 to 1,300,000)

About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com Inc. (ACOM 18.43-0.10-0.54%) is the world's largest online family history resource, with more than one million paying subscribers. More than 5 billion records have been added to the site in the past 13 years. Ancestry users have created more than 18 million family trees containing over 1.8 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries, including its flagship Web site atwww.ancestry.com.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Family Tree Magazine Giveaway Sweepstakes, Plus Free Webinar!

There are some neat upcoming events coming soon from the folks at Family Tree Magazine:

Sweepstakes!
From ShopFamilyTree.com press release:

Online genealogy store ShopFamilyTree.com is giving away a $250 shopping spree to one lucky family history buff.  The Genealogy Giveaway Sweepstakes runs through August 31, 2010, and contestants may enter here every day to increase their chances of winning.

The winner will be able to choose from hundreds of genealogy books, CDs, and DVDs, including:
  • The forthcoming books Grave Humor and The Family Tree Sourcebook 
  • Family Tree VIP membership
  • 10 years of Family Tree Magazine commemorative DVD
  • Live and recorded genealogy webinars
  • Google Earth for Genealogy DVD by Lisa Louise Cooke
  • RootsMagic software products
  • Books from Genealogical Publishing Co.
The randomly selected winner will be announced in early September.  Please note that the sweepstakes is open to all US residents 18 or older.  Complete sweepstakes rules can be viewed here.

Also from Family Tree Magazine:

Free Webinar on August 11!

For the first time ever, Family Tree Magazine is hosting a no-holds-barred Q and A session with its readers!  Sign up for Ask the Editors: Family Tree Magazine Answers Your Questions, a free, hour-long webinar, to meet the editors of your favorite genealogy magazine and get a behind-the-scenes tour.  Ask us any question you have about genealogy, research methods or Family Tree Magazine.  While we can't guarantee resolutions to research problems, we'll try to tackle anything you throw our way during the session on Wednesday, August 11, at 7 p.m. Eastern.


Family Tree University Classes taught by Lisa Louise Cooke



There's still time to join the Advanced Google for Genealogists class that runs through 8/15/10
Google Tools for Genealogists begins 8/16/10
Mastering Google Search begins 9/13/10

Hope to see you in class!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

New Episode 93 Features Craig Manson

What do you not know that you wish you knew, but you've lost hope that you ever will? An ancestor's burial location, date of birth or village of origin? For Craig Manson author of the GeneaBlogie blog it was the name of his great great grandfather.
"I wanted people to know that these things are possible...I want to inspire people not to give up on things that that they think are absolutely unknowable. And that's what I thought. I thought the name of my great great grandfather was absolutely unknowable, and I would never learn it. But I did eventually."

Listen to the newest episode #93 of The Genealogy Gems Podcast to more about what Craig has to say about how he locates new information on a regular basis to  keep learning those "knowable" genealogical facts about his family. 

Monday, July 5, 2010

Noted Author and Genealogist Dave Obee on Episode 92

Dave Obee was just a few yards away when I called him on his cell phone for our scheduled interview for The Genealogy Gems Podcast.  But in the sea of family historians at the recent Ontario Genealogy Society Conference he might have well been miles away.  Thank goodness for cell phones!

I didn't want to miss my chance to speak with one of the most in demand Canadian speakers around.  With more than 300 genealogy talks under his belt and eight books to his credit, it's safe to safe Obee has things to say that genealogists everywhere will want and need to hear.

Even if you don't have Canadian ancestors you are going to want to tune in.  It's a wonderful overview of Canada's vibrant history, and refresher of good solid genealogical strategies and principles.  And don't miss Dave Obee's book Destination Canada - a must read for genealogists researching ancestor's that immigrated to or through Canada.

Listen to Episode 92 now (below), which also includes genealogy news, and listener email questions!  Who knows, you may just hear the answer you've been looking for!