IRVINE, Calif. -

Autobytel president and chief executive officer Jeffrey Coats didn’t exaggerate when he called 2011 a “milestone year” for the sales lead provider.

Autobytel posted its first profitable year since 2004 when it finished with net income for 2011 of $416,000 or 1 cent per diluted share.

To reinforce Coats’ declaration, Autobytel pointed out that in 2010, it sustained a net loss of $8.6 million or 19 cents per share.

Coats told a conference call filled with Wall Street analysts that “2011 was a milestone year for Autobytel. We were profitable for the last three quarters of the year and posted our first full-year profit since 2004. Our turnaround is the result of a variety of factors.”

Coats then articulated three reasons, including enhanced purchase requests that are delivered to dealer and manufacturer customers. Coats also touched on how the consumer experience at Autobytel.com has significantly improved, further enhancing those leads that make their way to showrooms and OEM channels.

Furthermore, the company has been “optimizing operating efficiencies and keeping a tight line on costs,” according to Coats.

“We have come a long way and reached an important reflection point. Autobytel is now well-positioned to benefit from our ability to help dealers and manufacturers sell more cars and trucks through our high-quality purchase requests,” the company’s top boss declared.

More Full-Year Results

How did Autobytel generate a profitable year? The company tabulated that its total 2011 revenues rose 24 percent to $63.8 million, up from $51.5 million for 2010.

Officials indicated Autobytel’s purchase request revenues increased 25 percent from the prior year, and advertising revenues of $3.9 million were approximately the same as in the prior year.

As Coats mentioned, the company lowered its total 2011 operating expenses to $25.3 million, which included a $451,000 credit to expense related to litigation settlements. The company’s total operating expenses for 2010 were $28.5 million, which included a $2.9 million credit to expenses related to litigation settlements ($2.7 million of which was the final payment under one of these settlements in the first quarter of 2010), and $1.5 million in severance and related expenses.

Autobytel added that its cash flow provided by operations was $2.2 million for 2011, compared with cash flow used in operations of $4.3 million for 2010.

Fourth-Quarter Performance

Autobytel closed 2011 with an 11-percent jump in revenues to $16.2 million, up from $14.7 million in the year-ago quarter. The company explained that the rise principally reflected increased revenues from wholesale purchase requests sold directly to manufacturers.

Officials determined that purchase request revenues increased 10 percent to $15.1 million, up from $13.8 million in the prior-year fourth quarter. They also said fourth-quarter advertising revenues grew to $1.1 million, up from $856,000 in the prior year.

Autobytel’s fourth-quarter gross profit grew 20 percent to $6.9 million from $5.8 million for the prior year’s fourth quarter. Gross margin improved to 42.5 percent of total revenues, rising from 39.3 percent in the year-ago period.

Officials contend the improvement in gross margin is due, in part, to a greater level of internally generated purchase requests.

The company’s fourth-quarter total operating expenses declined to $6.5 million from $9.0 million. Autobytel pointed out operating expenses in the year-ago period included approximately $1.0 million in severance and stock compensation costs related to a workforce reduction and $347,000 of direct expenses related to the acquisition of Cyber Ventures.

As a result of those figures, Autobytel computed that its fourth-quarter net income totaled $341,000 or 1 cent per diluted share. The turnaround was again significant versus the year-ago quarter when the company incurred a net loss of $3.3 million or 7 cents per share.

Officials went on to mention that cash flow provided by operations was $2.1 million for the fourth quarter, compared with cash used in operations of $586,000 for the prior-year fourth quarter.

Furthermore, Autobytel’s cash and cash equivalents grew to $11.2 million at Dec. 31, up from $9.2 million at Sept. 30 and $8.8 million at Dec. 31, 2010.

Bright Expectations

Looking forward, Coats said he firmly believes the industry’s turnaround will aid Autobytel’s continued positive performance.

“The auto industry is healthier now than it has been for some time and we have reason to believe the positive momentum will continue,” Coats stressed. “Consumers appear to be ready to enter the market more than they have in a long time. We believe this is likely to be spurred by pent-up demand, replacement of aging vehicles, expected new-vehicle introductions and expanding credit market.

“Our core business of delivering high-quality purchase requests to dealers and OEMs continues to perform well,” he continued.

“Autobytel is now healthy and vibrant, and we are confident that we are continuing to significantly upgrade the quality of purchase requests we deliver to our customers. By leveraging the growing auto market, we will continue to drive improved operating performance,” he concluded.