CHICAGO, Nov. 3, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Standard Parking Corporation (Nasdaq:STAN), one of the nation's leading providers of parking management, ground transportation and other ancillary services, today announced 2010 third quarter results. Net income attributable to the Company increased 16% compared with the year ago quarter, to $4.8 million, or $0.30 per share. Earnings per share increased 11% over the third quarter of 2009. The Company also generated $12.7 million of free cash flow in the quarter.

Comments

James A. Wilhelm, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We're pleased to see these solid third quarter results. Our ability to deliver such consistent results against the backdrop of a challenging economy is a testament to the soundness of our business model. While we're not anticipating significant short-term improvement in macro-economic conditions, we're confident that as those conditions improve we'll be able to reap the benefits of a full new business pipeline as well as the development of our new SP Plus^® branded service lines and vertical markets. In addition, we continue to evaluate several acquisition candidates. As we look ahead to 2011, our expectations are for another year of solid growth."

Third Quarter Operating Results

Revenue for the third quarter of 2010, excluding reimbursed management contract expense, increased by $4.6 million from the year-ago period to $79.4 million, primarily due to the addition of new airport and transportation locations and the timing of Gameday events. Paid exits at same location leases increased almost 4% over the third quarter of 2009, with growth across most vertical markets.

Gross profit in the 2010 third quarter increased by 5% to $22.4 million from $21.2 million a year ago, as all of our operating divisions reported solid year over year growth. While approximately half of the increase is attributable to the absence of certain legal-related expenses that occurred in the year ago quarter, strong results from our Airport, Gameday and Canadian operations were solid contributors to the third quarter 2010 gross profit growth.

General and administrative expense ("G&A") increased by 2% to $11.5 million from $11.3 million in the 2009 third quarter. Restoration in 2010 of the Company's performance-based compensation program was partially offset by cost efficiencies realized from the Company's rollout of its technology initiatives and associated process improvements.

As a result, operating income increased by 11% to $9.3 million, as compared with $8.4 million in the year ago quarter. Lower interest rates and lower debt balances resulted in a $0.3 million decrease in year-over-year interest expense for the third quarter. 

Net income attributable to the Company for the 2010 third quarter was $4.8 million, or $0.30 per share, as compared with $4.2 million, or $0.27 per share, for the same period of 2009, an increase of 11%.

The Company generated $12.7 million of free cash flow during the third quarter of 2010, as compared with $6.4 million generated in the third quarter of last year. The year-over-year increase was attributable primarily to a reduction in the Company's investment in working capital. Free cash flow was $12.8 million for the first nine months of 2010 and $19.0 million over the last twelve months. The Company continues to expect free cash flow to be in a range of $20 - $25 million for the full year.

Recent Developments

In a competitive bidding process, the City of Tampa selected the Company's SP Plus^® Municipal Services team to serve as Project Manager in connection with the City's conversion of approximately 1,000 on-street single-space parking meters to multi-space parking meters. In addition, SP Plus^® Municipal Services will provide day-to-day maintenance of the new units.

Similarly, the City of Naperville, Illinois awarded SP Plus^® Municipal Services a contract to furnish, install, maintain and provide collection services for multi-space pay stations and a Smart Card vending machine at two commuter rail stations. 

At the Shreveport Regional Airport, the Company was asked to take over management of the parking operations from the incumbent operator with just 96 hours notice over a holiday weekend. Despite the short notice, the transition was completed smoothly. Since the Company's assumption of its management duties, the Airport has reported a revenue increase of more than 15%.

SNC-Lavalin, which manages buildings owned by the Canadian government, recently selected the Company to manage the parking operations at three of those properties, located in Standard Parking's new Ottawa and Quebec markets. 

Year-to-Date Results

Revenue for the first nine months of 2010, excluding reimbursed management contract expense, increased by 4% to $228.9 million from $220.8 million in 2009.

Gross profit for the first nine months of 2010 increased by 5% to $64.3 million from $61.0 million for the same period of 2009, as certain legal-related expenses that impacted 2009 did not recur to the same degree in 2010. Various airport and transportation-related contract wins and the Gameday acquisition were significant contributors to the year-over-year increase. 

General and administrative expenses for the first nine months of 2010 increased 3% to $35.3 million from $34.4 million a year earlier, reflecting the restoration in 2010 of performance-based compensation bonuses as well as the G&A attributable to the acquired Gameday operations. These year-over-year increases were partially offset by the absence of certain 2009 legal-related expenses that did not recur in 2010 as well as by cost efficiencies the Company is realizing from its investments in technology and process improvements.

As a result, operating income for the first nine months of 2010 increased by 10% to $24.4 million from $22.2 million in the same period of 2009. 

Net income attributable to the Company increased by 13% to $12.2 million for the first nine months of 2010 as compared with $10.8 million for the first nine months of last year. On a per share basis, the year-over-year increase was 12% from $0.69 last year to $0.77 in 2010. 

Financial Outlook

The Company reaffirms 2010 earnings per share guidance in the range of $1.05 - $1.10 per share and free cash flow in the range of $20 - $25 million.

Conference Call 

The Company's quarterly earnings conference call will be held at 10:00 a.m. (Central Time) on Thursday, November 4, 2010 and will be available live and in replay to all analyst/investors through a webcast service. To listen to the live call, individuals are directed to the Company's investor relations page at www.standardparking.com at least 15 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, replays will be available shortly after the call on the Standard Parking website and can be accessed for 30 days after the call.

Standard Parking is a leading national provider of parking facility management, ground transportation and other ancillary services. The Company, with approximately 12,000 employees, manages approximately 2,200 facilities, containing over 1.2 million parking spaces in approximately 340 cities across the United States and four Canadian provinces, including parking-related and shuttle bus operations serving more than 60 airports.

More information about Standard Parking is available at www.standardparking.com. You should not construe the information on this website to be a part of this release. Standard Parking's annual reports filed on Form 10-K, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its current reports on Form 8-K are available on the Internet at www.sec.gov and can also be accessed through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website.

DISCLOSURE NOTICE: The information contained in this document is as of November 3, 2010. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information or future events or developments.

This document and tables contain forward-looking information about the Company's financial results that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by the fact that they use words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "will" and similar terms and phrases in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. These forward-looking statements are made based on management's expectations and beliefs concerning future events affecting the Company and are subject to uncertainties and factors relating to the operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond management's control. These uncertainties and factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements. The following factors are among those that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements:recent turmoil in the credit markets and financial services industry; changes in general economic and business conditions or demographic trends; the financial difficulties or bankruptcy of our major clients, including the impact on our ability to collect receivables; availability, terms and deployment of capital; the loss, or renewal on less favorable terms, of management contracts and leases; our ability to renew our insurance policies on acceptable terms, the extent to which our clients choose to obtain insurance coverage through us and our ability to successfully manage self-insured losses; seasonal trends, especially in the first quarter of the year; the impact of public and private regulations; our ability to form and maintain relationships with large real estate owners, managers and developers; integration of future acquisitions in light of challenges in retaining key employees, synchronizing business processes and efficiently integrating facilities, marketing and operations; the ability to obtain performance bonds on acceptable terms to guarantee our performance under certain contracts; extraordinary events affecting parking at facilities that we manage, including emergency safety measures, military or terrorist attacks and natural disasters; changes in federal and state regulations including those affecting airports, parking lots at airports or automobile use; the loss of key employees; and development of new, competitive parking-related services. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties, and other matters can be found in the Company's Annual Reports on Form 10-K and in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its current reports on Form 8-K.

The Company defines free cash flow as net cash from operating activities, less cash used for investing activities (exclusive of acquisitions), plus the effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents. Due to the adoption, effective January 1, 2009, of Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 810, Consolidation (formerly FAS 160), the calculation of Free Cash Flow has been modified to deduct for the distribution to noncontrolling interest, which was previously reported as part of net cash from operating activities.

CONTACT:  Standard Parking Corporation

          G. Marc Baumann, Executive Vice President and

           Chief Financial Officer

          (312) 274-2199

          mbaumann@standardparking.com