WEX Comes Off Q3 With Strong Results

WEX announced its third quarter earnings, which continued to demonstrate strength as WEX’s hold in the fleet (and more recently health care) sectors expands.  The company reported total revenue up 16 percent  to $221.1 million from $191.5 million during the same quater of last year.

“We finished the third quarter strong, reporting results that reflect steadfast execution against our strategic objectives to expand, globalize and scale the business. We are seeing growth across the fleet business, both domestically and abroad, with favorable trends in new private label and co-branded agreements, as well as continued traction of our integrated offering withWEX Fleet One,” WEX CEO Melissa Smith noted on the strong earning performance .

Smith told PYMNTS shortly after the earnings were announced.  She noted that the strong performance that WEX demonstrated was inline with the performance goals she’d outlined for the company earlier in the year–an aggressive growth oriented program target towards M&A activity, building the domestic and international portfolio and target investment into areas such as healthcare  This, combined with a loyal and customer base (WEX customer turnover percentage is in the low single digits) means that they are a consistent and consistently expanding business.

“The secret is out,” Smith noted.

Smith was also excited for the possibilities the company’s recent acquisitions like ExxonMobile’s commerical fleet card portfolio in Europe, bring to teh company.

“Through our acquisition of ExxonMobil’s European commercial fleet card portfolio and our relationship with Shell, we are enhancing our on-the-ground presence, while improving our competitive positioning in Europe and Asia.”

Apart from fleet expansion in the U.S. and abroad, WEX has also sought to vertical jump into healthcare.

“Additionally, we extended our addressable market in the complex healthcare payments space through the acquisition of Evolution1. As we further diversify the business, both globally and into new verticals, we are positioning WEX for accelerating growth.”

Evolution1 performed more strongly during 2014 than it was projected to and was revenue positive for the company.  Smith also noted during PYMNTs brief interview that Evolution1 will possibly drive some activity in Q4, when the company’s main fleet business is traditionally somewhat slower.

“The end of the year sees many of Evolution1’s customer-based bill programs either adding new members or having existing members renew and update their membership.  We expect to see activity there in Q4.”

Apart from expansions in revenue and share price, WEX saw its vehicles in service jump 6 percent to 8 million. Fuel transactions were up 2 percent from the same time last year in 2013 to 98.5 million, wile payment processing transactions jumped 5 percent to 80.4 million.  Expenditure per payment processing transaction was generally flat at $85.12, but retail fuel price was on the decline to $3.61 per galled, down from $3.70 during Q3 2013.

“We are very pleased with our continued strong financial performance and are encouraged by the growth that we have seen since third quarter 2013. Looking ahead, we expect to maintain strong momentum as we continue to evaluate investment opportunities that will allow us to enhance our business while focusing on our strategic priorities. As we expand our business both internationally and domestically, we will continue to diversify our portfolio and pursue strong growth,” said Steve Elder,WEX senior vice president and chief financial officer.