By Steven Scheer
TEL AVIV, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Wix.com WIX.O, which helps small businesses build and operate websites, reported higher profit and revenue in the third quarter, but lowered the upper end of its full year revenue forecast range to adjust for recent foreign exchange moves.
It posted on Thursday quarterly net profit of 41 cents a share excluding one-time items, compared with 39 cents a year earlier and in line with analysts’ estimates.
Revenue grew 26% to $196.8 million but was held back by currency effects, particularly weakness in the euro and British pound.
Israel-based Wix offers free basic features for setting up websites but users must pay for extra services such as shopping carts, individual web addresses and site traffic analysis.
Wix has launched several products helping firms to manage their business and Chief Financial Officer Lior Shemesh said another important product would be launched in the first quarter, without giving details.
“We are in a good place for next year with all the new initiatives,” he told Reuters. “2020 can be a better year than 2019.”
Shemesh said Wix’s growth largely stemmed from its product offerings rather than acquisitions.
The company added a net 114,000 premium subscribers in the July-September period to reach 4.4 million paying customers – up 15% over a year earlier. Wix has 160 million registered users, half of which are in the United States.
Shemesh said growth has also been strong in Mexico, Brazil, Britain, central Europe and Japan.
“We see the conversion rate going up and up and we expect that will be one of the drivers of growth in the future,” he said.
Wix, whose shares have risen 50% this year, now sees revenue of $761-$763 million compared with a previous forecast of $761-$765 million. This is up 26% from 2018 and includes foreign currency changes since the company’s last outlook in July.
For the fourth quarter it estimates revenue of $204-$206 million, up 24-25% from a year earlier.
(Additional reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Mark Potter)
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