Two days after IAC revealed that its HomeAdvisor unit was combining with and basically taking over Angie's List this winter, the current Angie's List announced today it swung to a net income of $2 million in the first quarter from a $4.6 million net loss in the year-earlier quarter. The move into the black came despite a 12.9% drop in revenue to $73.1 million.
Scott Durchslag, the Indianapolis-based social media company's president and CEO, focused on the gross increase of 860,000 new members during the quarter (only 10,356 of whom were paying) and the fact that operating expenses had fallen 20.7% to $69.6 million. That came largely because the marketing budget was more than halved to $9.8 million.
The number of service providers, such as remodelers and home improvement companies, rose 1% from 1Q16 to reach $55.7 million, but the value of their contracts shrank 8% to $246.6 million.
Angie's List likes to measure its performance in terms of adjusted EBITDA, which it defines as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, non-cash stock-based compensation expense, and legal settlement accruals. By that yardstick, adjusted EBITDA jumped to $10.7 million in the January-to-March period from $4.8 million a year earlier.
The company's balance sheet shows assets totaling $160.1 million. On the side for liabilities and stockholders' equity, there's long-term debt of $55.6 million and an accumulated deficit of $260 million.
Angie's List now has nearly 6 million members nationwide who use the service to get reviews, offers, and information involving 700 service categories.
See also:* HomeAdvisor and Angie's List to merge into one company with two brands
* How much do remodelers rely on social media for leads?