LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. — Along with sharing how the company performed financially during the fourth quarter and all of last year, DealerTrack Holdings announced this week it has acquired one of the businesses previously owned by R.L. Polk & Co.

With plans to merge the newly acquired entity into subsidiary Chrome Systems, DealerTrack said it has secured Polk's U.S. Price and Spec Business, including Polk's popular Vehicle Comparator Service.  

Executives emphasized the Vehicle Comparator is a highly flexible and customizable service that can deliver up-to-date price and specification details to manufacturer and retailer websites. These details can help visitors perform competitive vehicle comparisons online.

DealerTrack contends the Vehicle Comparator solution is currently used by a majority of automakers and the price and specification data is used by some of the major automotive portal sites.

In addition to the Vehicle Comparator, other services within the U.S. Price and Spec Business include the price and specification data product and AutositePro, which is used for detailed competitive analysis by OEM marketers.

"The Polk U.S. Price and Spec solutions will be a great addition to our comprehensive portfolio of vehicle data and solutions," stated Mark O'Neil, DealerTrack's chairman and chief executive officer.

"Polk has an outstanding reputation in the industry and its Vehicle Comparator is highly regarded for its superior quality and flexibility," O'Neil continued.

Amit Maheshwari, general manager of DealerTrack Data Services, added, "We are committed to helping all facets of the industry realize more vehicle sales and profitability, and we are confident that this acquisition will help us to further deliver on that commitment.

"We look forward in the long term to further develop these products, as online vehicle research and sales services continue to evolve, and extend Chrome's world-class customer service and support to current Polk clients," Maheshwari went on to say.

DealerTrack also pointed out current U.S. Price and Spec Business clients will not see any changes to their current applications or services provided by the business unit.  

"Chrome is renowned throughout the industry for its strong digital vehicle content, enterprise data products and exceptional customer service," declared Stephen Polk, chairman, CEO and president of Polk.

"We are confident current and future customers will be highly satisfied with Chrome's commitment to accurate and timely vehicle data, customer support and technical knowledge," Polk stressed.

DealerTrack Reports 4Q and Full-Year Financial Performance

In other company news announced this week, DealerTrack indicated positive developments connected to both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures coming in the fourth quarter. But it wasn't enough to turn full-year marks from being more negative than the previous year.

Looking first at GAAP results for the fourth quarter, the company's revenue climbed to $62.0 million, up from $53.2 million posted in the year-ago time frame.

However, DealerTrack posted a net loss of $26.4 million, a figure much higher than its loss sustained during the fourth quarter of 2009, which was $0.7 million.

"GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of 2010 was negatively impacted by a non-cash $28.4 million valuation allowance on the company's net U.S. deferred tax assets," company officials explained.

Consequently when looking at GAAP net loss per share in the fourth quarter, DealerTrack's performance swung from a 2-cents-per-share loss a year ago to a loss of 65 cents per share in the closing quarter of 2010.

"GAAP net loss per share for the fourth quarter of 2010 was negatively impacted by 70 cents per share (non-cash) for a valuation allowance on the company's net U.S. deferred tax assets," DealerTrack stressed.

Staying in the fourth quarter but moving over to non-GAAP results, the company noted its adjusted EBITDA for the quarter grew to $14.5 million as compared to $8.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2009.      

Also, DealerTrack's adjusted net income for the quarter was $7.8 million as compared to $4.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2009.  

As a result, officials computed that diluted adjusted net income per share settled at 19 cents for the quarter, up from 12 cents a year ago.

Sliding over to how DealerTrack's financial statement looked for all of 2010, the company again reported higher revenue than the previous year. Management calculated revenue came in at $243.8 million as compared to $225.6 million for 2009.

However, executives conceded that their GAAP net loss for 2010 was $27.8 million. In 2009, their loss was $4.3 million.

"GAAP net loss for 2010 was negatively impacted by a non-cash $28.4 million valuation allowance on the company's net U.S. deferred tax assets," DealerTrack again pointed out.

Because of the overall figures, the company determined the GAAP net loss per share for the year was 69 cents as compared to the 2009 level which was 11 cents per share.

Just like the fourth quarter, officials said "GAAP net loss per share for 2010 was negatively impacted by 70 cents per share (non-cash) for a valuation allowance on the company's net U.S. deferred tax assets."

And looking at non-GAAP results for all of 2010, DealerTrack again posted year-over-year improvements in several areas.

The company's adjusted EBITDA for the year was $42.1 million, as compared to $34.4 million for 2009. Adjusted net income came $21.9 million, marking a climb from $20.0 million compiled last year. And diluted adjusted net income per share for the year was 53 cents as compared to 49 cents for 2009.  

DealerTrack Outlines Guidance for 2011 Performance

To give a glimpse as to how the company expects to fare this year, DealerTrack spelled out its revenue and GAAP and non-GAAP earnings guidance.

When considering expected GAAP results, DealerTrack believes revenue for the year should be between $316.0 million and $324.0 million, with a net of approximately $3.7 million of contra-revenue.

With that figure in mind, executives think 2011 GAAP net income should climb to between $2.9 million and $5.4 million. So DealerTrack's diluted GAAP net income per share for the year should be between 7 cents and 13 cents.

When forecasting expected non-GAAP results for the year, DealerTrack contends adjusted EBITDA could be between $57.0 million and $61.0 million. That projection places the company's adjusted net income for the year estimate between $29.2 million and $31.7 million.

That forecast leaves DealerTrack's expectation for diluted adjusted net income per share between 68 cents and 74 cents.

The company pointed out its GAAP net income and adjusted net income per share projections for the year are based on an assumed 42.8 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding. DealerTrack also said the guidance assumes that for 2011 new-vehicle sales will be approximately 12.8 million units and used-vehicle sales will be approximately 13.0 million units.

Furthermore, O'Neil noted the guidance includes the impact of DealerTrack's recent acquisition of triVIN Holdings, which closed at the end of January.

"We are very pleased with our non-GAAP results for the fourth quarter as our businesses benefited from an improving operating environment," O'Neil asserted.

"We are continuing to see the benefits of our investments as we generated an adjusted EBITDA margin in excess of 20 percent for the second consecutive quarter," he concluded.