International Money Express, Inc. Q1 FY2022 Earnings Call

Greetings, and welcome to International Money Express First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Mike Gallentine, Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you, sir.

Good morning, and welcome to our quarterly earnings call. I would like to remind everybody that today's call includes forward-looking statements, including our updated 2022 guidance and actual results may differ materially from expectations. For additional information on International Money Express, which we refer to as Intermex or the company, please see our SEC filings, including the risk factors described therein. All forward-looking statements on this call are based on assumptions and beliefs as of today. You should not rely on our forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Please refer to Slide 2 of our presentation for a description of certain forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to update such information except as required by applicable law. On this conference call, we discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Information required by Reg G under the Securities and Exchange Act for such non-GAAP financial measures is included in the presentation slides, our earnings press release and our annual report on Form 10-K, including reconciliation of certain non-GAAP financial measures to the appropriate GAAP measures. These can be obtained in the Investors section of our website at intermexonline.com. Presenting on today's call will be our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Bob Lisy; and Chief Financial Officer, Andras Bende. Also on the call today are Joseph Aguilar, Chief Operating Officer; Randy Nilsen, Chief Revenue Officer; and Chris Hunt, Chief Information Officer. Let me now turn the call over to Bob.

Good morning all, and thank you for joining us. We appreciate your time and value your interest in Intermex. 2022 is off to an outstanding start for our company. The strength of our first quarter operating results is a demonstration of the powerful connection we have built with our customers through our unique omni-channel suite of money transfer services. The people who rely on Intermex know they can send money home to Latin America and other areas of the world quickly, safely and efficiently. They know they can complete their money transfers by a variety of methods, whether it is through our versatile mobile application or in person from one of our thousands of conveniently located retail locations across the U.S. and Canada. As you see on Slide 3, Intermex continues to achieve unprecedented double-digit growth quarter-after-quarter, year-after-year. We are growing by these key measures and metrics, uninterrupted by economic ups and downs, global pandemics, or geopolitical upheaval. Andras will go into greater detail on these impressive quarter results in a bit later on the call. Moving to Slide 4, we are perfectly positioned to outperform in our sector capitalizing on double-digit average annual growth rate in total remittances to Latin America and are steadily increasing share of that business both digitally and via our retail network. We are a leading money transfer service in four of the top five Latin American markets, including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. These key markets comprise 75% of the money sent to Latin America. With the anticipated completion of the La Nacional acquisition, we will be a market leader in the top five receiving markets in LatAm. More on La Nacional in a bit. Our addressable market includes 24 million people born in Latin America or the Caribbean who live in the United States today. We provide them a valuable service making it possible for our customers to send money home to loved ones to pay for such essentials as housing, food, medical expenses, and more. Intermex is an important part of that transfer of funds evidenced on Slide 5 by the impressive 20% year-over-year growth in the total number of transactions we completed during the first quarter. As shown on Slide 6, in our four core markets, Intermex continues to take share and has achieved a 21.4% market share in those large and key markets in the first quarter of 2022. We aim to complete each one of these important funds transfers without fail 100% of the time. Importantly, we provide those services at locations familiar to our customers close to where they live in a culturally welcoming environment and in their native language. These are all important factors that have contributed to building the consumer trust our brand has achieved resulting in a market-leading operating performance. We have established Intermex as one of the industry's premier remittance services through our targeted and prudent investment in new technology and software, while at the same time expanding the critical and profitable retail side that Intermex customers value very much. The vast majority of our customers prefer to conduct business in person. One key reason is the trust they place in the familiar agent retail. Additionally, many of our centers do not have the necessary banking relationships to send money online or may be paid in cash or check that are easily negotiated at our retailer. We have not seen much change in these behaviors over the last several years, and we do not see these preferences or consumer behaviors changing dramatically anytime soon. The consistent strong growth in Intermex enjoys is tied directly to growing consumer demand for the accessible omni-channel approach we provide. On Slide 7, the 17% growth in the number of Intermex customers that we achieved during the first quarter reflects the success of our omni-channel strategy. We intend to be there for our customers offering multiple options to send money, whether it be through our retail network or on our new state-of-the-art mobile application recently launched. Regardless of their preference, we provide the same industry-leading customer care. That said, many of our customers have begun to explore the option of sending or receiving remittances digitally. As shown on Slide 8, a full 25% of Intermex transactions during the first quarter were either originated or completed digitally, which is an important measure as we continue to evolve our omni-channel offering to our consumers. To underscore our valuable consumer proposition, unlike certain competitors, we offer the consumer options from which they can choose the most attractive for them. Of course, an important component of Intermex's value chain is the strong relationship with the independent agent who manages and facilitates our retail transactions. Just to size the importance of the network for you, we work with thousands of independent agents across the country. For the first quarter, our agent network was 10% larger compared to the first quarter of 2021. Simply put, the more quality retailers we add, the more transactions we complete. By the way, these are the right agents and the right locations, carefully vetted and recruited for their alignment with our core values and commitment to the best-in-class customer service. We provide our partner agents with the technical support and capabilities they need to swiftly complete transactions in 20 seconds or less. That is the fastest time in the industry. The speed at which Intermex transactions are completed is a key differentiator for our busy retailers. It enables them to process more wires more quickly. Another strong draw for all of our key shareholders is our adherence to compliance protocols. Our agents, as well as our banking partners, rest easily knowing that we have robust safeguards in place to detect and prevent money laundering, fraud, and other transactions deemed unacceptable. We continuously invest to take compliance to the next level, which is one of the key reasons we have long-standing business relationships with a premier list of regional and national banks that trust and respect the regulatory rigor that we have created. We highly value those banking relationships because they underpin our growth given the high volume of business our agents facilitate. Just a word or two on the importance of our partner agents. These are people we rely on as brand ambassadors for Intermex. They choose Intermex over other options because of the attributes I've mentioned. We choose them because they embrace our values and are committed, as we are, to respectful quality customer service. They are the key to our success. The carefully chosen retail network we have created sets us apart from our peers. Turning back now to La Nacional. The acquisition represents a significant step forward in global expansion ambitions. Acquiring La Nacional and LAN Holdings provides Intermex with important geographic diversity while at the same time strengthening our competitive position in key Latin American countries where the lion's share of the business is transacted. Once integrated into our operations, La Nacional and LAN Holdings will make Intermex a leading remittance provider to the Dominican Republic, adding a fifth Latin American country where Intermex will be a leader. As a reminder, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras collectively represent 83% of all the money sent to the region from the U.S. In aggregate, we will have more than a 21% share of these five key markets. Additionally, La Nacional also enables us to enter the European remittance market for the first time, expanding our global reach from 28 to more than 70 countries. Through LAN Holdings, we will be acquiring I-Transfer in Europe, which will make it possible for Intermex customers to send money to Latin America, Africa, and Asia from Spain, Italy, and Germany. We believe this is an excellent opportunity for the company and our shareholders and we expect the La Nacional acquisition to close in the third quarter. So definitely, there’s positive momentum for Intermex. Put it all together and we are creating significant value for our shareholders, achieving consistent strong growth across the board and setting ourselves apart as an undisputed leader in the industry. With that, I will turn it over to Andras to provide more context around the operating results we reported this morning.

Thanks, Bob, and good morning, everyone. Our record of consistently strong operating results continued unchecked during the first quarter as we fully capitalize on our competitive advantage as an innovator and leader in FinTech and remittances. As shown on Slide 9, year-over-year revenues for the period were up a strong 21%, driven by solid growth in nearly all of our key operating metrics, including agent growth, customer growth, and growth in overall transactions. GAAP net income for the quarter was $11.7 million, up 30% compared with the prior year. On an adjusted basis, net income increased 26% year-over-year. Our strong top line was the key driver but we also did a nice job being efficient from many angles during the quarter, managing down the pace of expense growth, particularly on salaries, bank fees, and efficient use of a much better-priced credit line. We remain focused on effective expense management and economically positive investments in people, products, and support. Importantly, growth in digitally originated transactions was also a contributor. On Slide 10, digitally initiated transactions during the period increased a very strong 105% from the same three-month period last year, helped by the rollout of our new mobile app. We're committed to driving high growth in digital transactions and to guarantee that we can complete money transfers however our customers want and with great customer experience each way. I want to emphasize that seamlessly facilitating digital money transfers is an increasingly important component of our omni-channel suite of remittance services. That said, we're getting more clarity as time passes on unit economics driving digital expansion in our industry. Our approach will be to resist the temptation to overspend in digital customer acquisition. We choose instead to prudently scale digital spend in line with the customer preference we observe across our omni-channel network. Drilling down into other top line drivers, we're continuing to build out our valuable network of retail agents across the country, with an added focus on locations in communities and states in the west of the U.S. We've been focused on increasing agent productivity and efficiency, rolling out the new Intermex direct agency software late last year and adding field sales support personnel to accommodate the new territories we're adding. It's important to remember that we do not compete on price for our customers. Quality, dependability, and choice are more important than being the least expensive. On Slide 11, these efforts drove double-digit growth in customers and transactions and 30% more principal sent totaling more than $4 billion for the quarter. It's also worth noting that the contributions from emerging market countries were up over 28% during the quarter as seen on Slide 12, indicating our ambitions to significantly and consistently outpace the underlying growth rates in these markets. Aside from the peak of the pandemic impact, we are consistently growing at 20% to 30% and sometimes 40% plus every quarter in emerging markets. On Slide 13, first quarter adjusted EBITDA increased 23% to almost $21 million with margins up over 18%. A nice and steady margin expansion over prior year comparatives. Turning now to the balance sheet on Slide 14. Intermex continues to be an efficient operator and strong generator of cash. We ended the quarter with $157 million in cash and an undrawn revolver capacity of $150 million. We always underscore that the cash balance fluctuates based on the day of the week at the quarter end. But anyway or any day you look at it, the balance sheet is in great shape. Looking at capital allocation, our preferred use of cash always is to reinvest in the business to accelerate growth, which we have been doing and will continue to do so, and our earnings already reflect that. We also consider inorganic growth opportunities that have a positive risk-adjusted rate of return. And as discussed earlier, we plan to close La Nacional in the third quarter of this year and we plan to close with cash on hand. As for the deal, we haven't disclosed terms at this point, so we won't share what the impact on cash will be for now. We believe, however, that this is an excellent use of cash to grow the business and will strengthen our market-leading position in Latin America as well as open the door for us in Europe. We expect a very positive return on this investment for our shareholders. As for other uses of cash, we continue to believe that there is value in our common stock at these levels and that our repurchase program makes good sense. With the deal now under SPA and clarity on our medium-term cash needs, we expect to accelerate the pace of buyback activity versus what you would have seen in previous quarters. During the first quarter, the company repurchased approximately 244,000 shares of our common stock for a total of $3.6 million. From its inception in Q3 last year, the company has repurchased approximately 566,000 shares at a weighted average price of $16.24. As noted in the press release, we have adjusted our full year guidance upward based on the strength of our first quarter results combined with the exceptional operating efficiencies we've achieved. While our revenue forecast remains unchanged, everything below that line moves up, as we continue to reap the benefits of a company DNA that's later focused on efficiency. As shown on slide 15, to reiterate, we still expect revenue to be in the $537 million to $546 million range. But for net income, we expect $59 million to $60.5 million, adjusted net income of $67 million to $68.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA in the $101.5 million to $104 million range. Overall, Intermex is creating significant value for shareholders, particularly for those who appreciate the value of solid, sustainable, and consistent growth in revenue and earnings, along with great cash generation in the CapEx-light business model. We're confident in our unbroken record of double-digit growth and expect to build on it. We're in an excellent position to take advantage of the market opportunities by delivering on the promise of our unique and differentiated omni-channel model. With that, let me turn the call back to the operator for questions.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. Our first question is from David Scharf of JMP Securities. Please, go ahead.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. Bob, could you provide an update on what you're observing in terms of competition? A few months ago at the Investor Day, you may have mentioned this, but given your significant market share gains, it would be helpful to know more about the competitive landscape. We often hear about major players like MoneyGram and Western Union, with whom you have minimal competition, as well as digital entrants like Remitly and Wise. However, I'm interested in the competitors that have a presence behind the checkout counter in many of your agent locations, such as Sigue, Transfer Max, and Ria. Could you discuss any noteworthy developments regarding these primary competitors, including their strengths or weaknesses? Additionally, what price changes have you observed from them recently? Thank you.

Well, I think, I would start out with, first of all, that the market or at least a lot of the investment community has a misconception about how strongly retail continues to grow. There's more dollars being added in absolute dollars in retail year-over-year this quarter, last quarter, next quarter, than there is in digital. So, first of all, there's a vibrant retail market. The marketplace has been misled by some of the public players, other than us, who have continued to contract because they've thrown in the towel; they haven’t necessarily been able to compete with retail. So they’ve sort of channeled their efforts and channeled the emphasis and the attention of the investment community on digital. That’s great. We do too. We want to do digital. It’s going to be a big part of our business. That’s why we consider ourselves to be omnichannel. But there’s still a strong, strong market in retail. And so, first of all, don’t think about the market of retail as this melting ice cube or contracting. It’s growing. It’s bigger in absolute terms year-over-year, bigger in absolute dollars in growth than is happening at digital, particularly when we talk about Latin America. Now, you’ve seen the numbers from some of the other public companies and you see that they do, although we don’t compete directly with some of them, because they’re more in big boxes, they still are contributing share back to the market. They’re growing slower than the market. So that is still a factor. And then, when you get to retail, we’ve done a great job through what we’ve always done. There’s not a big change. What we’ve always done is, we’ve been a value-added provider that processes transactions faster with the best technology at retail, answers the customer service line in four seconds, has the best banking relationships and carefully orchestrates the addition of every retailer zip code by zip code. So it doesn’t matter to us much what the competition does. Competition will come and go. Competition will flurry up and discount heavily. Competition will – and we cannot be influenced by that too strongly. It’s not that we’re living in a bubble, but we have to stay focused on our mission, which is a value-added provider, very targeted to where our consumers need our services, and that continues to play out in a very strong market overall, with double-digit growth, whereas still the retail market is much stronger than people think, whereas the – we’re in that market, the key public companies have struggled. There are still some of the small guys that are doing well. I would say, there’s probably some small guys that are growing pretty well, because the market is growing well. I think we’re doing better than any of them in terms of percentage of growth and certainly, in market share. But it’s a strong market at retail, still. Don’t be misled by the numbers you might see from other public companies.

I understand. It's helpful. As a follow-up, I'd like to shift the focus to the product side. I know that getting a payroll card into the hands of employers, which allows payment to senders, has been in development for a number of years. A couple of months ago, you mentioned that you were starting to gain traction with the rollout. Can you share an update on your expectations for that product?

Yes. I'll let Randy Nilsen comment more on it. We continue to make progress with the product, which we believe offers great value for both employers and their workers. Employers often face challenges when it comes to payroll, such as issuing checks or paying in cash, which can be cumbersome. Many of these employers hire workers who are often in need of flexible payment options. We are among the few companies that accept debit cards at retail, and we ensure that our partnered retailers can process these payments as well. This allows consumers, even those who are now using neobanks, to have the option to shop in retail settings. We believe our efforts are progressing well, as there are numerous retailers and employers to engage with. Most employers we target do not have large workforces of tens or hundreds of thousands. It's a numbers game, and we are focused on building our network of employers, similar to our approach with retail. Randy, do you have anything to add?

I agree with Bob. We're in the early stages of developing our infrastructure. This past quarter, we onboarded more employers to our network than in any previous quarter. The fourth quarter of last year was our second-highest month for adding employers who provide the card to their employees. As we increase the number of employers offering our card and using it as a payroll method, more cards will be distributed to employees, and they will begin using them for purchases, generating revenue for us. We're gaining valuable insights and making strong connections with industry leaders. Our reputation is improving, and employers are becoming more aware of us. They appreciate the dual benefits we offer—an efficient and cost-effective payroll solution compared to traditional paper checks, along with convenient money transfer options for their employees. Everything is progressing very well. Additionally, it's worth noting that the General Purpose Reloadable card is currently being piloted at our corporate stores, with plans to roll it out to our retailers soon.

Great. Thank you very much guys.

Yeah. Thanks.

Thank you. The next question is from Mark Palmer of BTIG. Please go ahead.

Yes, good morning, and congratulations on a great quarter. In the first months and for that matter quarters after the COVID outbreak, it became apparent that principal sizes on transactions were above normal. And there was some thought that that might normalize over time. But we continue to see principal sizes be larger than what we had seen prior to the pandemic. Just wanted to get your updated thoughts on what may be driving this, the sustainability of it and how it relates to what's going on, on the ground with your customers?

We're noticing that the principal amounts remain higher than what we had typically seen in the past. As time progresses, these higher amounts may be accepted as the new normal. Historically, when principal amounts increased, they didn't usually decrease; they plateaued at a higher level. We don't anticipate a decline in these amounts. Our projections have been conservative regarding the potential for a decrease, but we don't genuinely believe that will happen. Considering the current economic landscape in the United States, we are facing significant inflation, which means costs are increasing and, likely, our workers are earning more. Initially, we thought the stability of our workforce was a factor due to many being essential workers, especially compared to economies like Mexico and Guatemala that recovered more slowly. However, as this trend continues, we view it as likely a new normal. We have also prepared for adjustments if there's any decline, but don’t expect a major drop in principal. As we reflect on previous months, we notice we are now entering periods where we had higher principal amounts last year, meaning that while there may not be significant year-over-year increases, we're comfortable with the status quo. Our company has historically provided higher principal amounts, supported by several pricing and security factors. We foresee stability in these amounts today, but we have budgeted conservatively for the possibility of them decreasing slightly to pre-pandemic levels.

Thank you. And just one more question. We saw, of course, the increase in your guidance for adjusted EBITDA reflecting the efficiencies that you're realizing. At the same time, you reiterated on the top line, everything seems to be very strong in terms of the company's operating performance. Was the reiteration simply conservatism based on macroeconomic factors and whatnot? And are you feeling relative to the range, are you feeling better about the top end of that range as a consequence of the quarter?

I would say that we have moved a bit closer to the top end of the range based on our first quarter performance. We are confident in our efficiency, particularly regarding agency commissions, processing costs, and our management of operational expenses and hiring. These factors are more within our control. We also have a positive outlook on revenue, and after another quarter, we will reassess our position.

I believe your first question relates to the uncertainty surrounding the principal piece, which reflects our conservative approach because it significantly impacts our revenue growth. While we are being a bit cautious at this stage, we feel it is the right course of action. We have a strong confidence in our bottom line as we move forward. Our efficiency remains a hallmark of our operations, and I don’t want the market to misinterpret this as a reduction in our business investments. We have been actively investing, particularly in sectors that will enhance our new initiatives such as our online and card businesses. We continue to allocate resources there. Currently, given the size of our business, achieving a 20% revenue growth translates to substantial opportunities for hiring additional staff and investing while still maintaining a solid bottom line. This is our ongoing strategy. However, as Andras mentioned, we will reassess after this quarter to evaluate our position. At this moment, following just one quarter, we decided to focus on the revenue aspect and adjust our EBITDA and net income bases accordingly.

Very good. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Our next question is from Michael Grondahl of Northland Securities. Please go ahead.

Hey, guys. Good morning. First question is maybe just digging a little bit deeper on inflation gas prices. You talked a little bit about average send, but maybe specifically did you see anything softer March April versus maybe the prior months?

There has been some inconsistency in growth, and we can't comment on April yet, but regarding the first quarter, there was some volatility. We believe this was mainly due to policies implemented by the main bank in Mexico, where they attempted to stabilize the peso. As a result, we observed a slowdown, with people holding back on spending. When the peso weakens, it’s seen as a buying opportunity, but when it strengthens, consumers tend to be more cautious. Therefore, we experienced some variations throughout the quarter. However, we haven’t noticed any sudden effects related to inflation so far. I don’t anticipate seeing any, considering inflation has been rising slowly for over a year. This trend is evident in various aspects of daily life and the economy. Ultimately, the primary impact we can identify is the monetary policy established by the Fed in Mexico aimed at stabilizing the peso.

Got it. And then secondly, I think your agent growth, I know you don't disclose the number of agents, but your agent growth am I correct in thinking at 10% that growth has accelerated a little bit over the last year or two. And could you kind of comment just kind of on your outlook? 10% growth something you can do in 2020, or kind of how do you feel about agent growth going forward?

We mentioned in our earlier earnings release that our agents have increased by 10% year-over-year. This doesn't mean we are adding 10% more agents in this quarter specifically; rather, if we had 1,000 agents during the first quarter last year, we now have 1,100 agents. We have seen a 10% increase due to both agents leaving and new agents being added. The pace of adding agents has actually accelerated, and we have invested significantly more in the Western states, which has allowed us to increase our number of freelance salespeople who are bringing on more retailers. This has been a key focus for us, and with the resources we now have, we are actively executing this strategy. Therefore, we expect to continue adding more retailers as the year progresses.

Mike, it's Randy. You might remember that a while back, we mentioned adding about 20% more personnel to help us activate new locations. We began hiring this team in the fourth quarter of last year, and some are starting to find their rhythm. Over the past two quarters, we have seen more agent activations than at any other point in our history. We expect this trend to continue throughout this year.

Got it. And maybe lastly guys, La Nacional, the acquisition, can you disclose what trailing revenues were or 2021 revenues? I know you're not disclosing the price you're paying for it, but just what revenues they did last year?

Yeah. Mike, we're not disclosing that at this point. The only thing we're disclosing is the market share that it's going to help us achieve in the Dominican Republic, which is 20-plus. So, not at this time.

And keep in mind, this is again a cash purchase, cash sitting on the balance sheet, that's not being used today that's going to be used to really productive use. We think La Nacional is going to be a big opportunity for us in that. It's a fifth country that we'll have one of the leading shares in. So now you have Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic in aggregate that will be a 21 share or better. And those are 83% of all the money leaving the US to Latin America goes to those five countries. Secondly, I think it gives us a really strong concentration in the Northeast, which has been strong for us. But their retail locations, retail locations that they personally own versus agent, third-party agents, are not a good thing unless they're highly productive. Well they have a lot of really highly productive branch locations that are really going to be lynchpins for us in a lot of ways in the Northeast. And then lastly, it opens up the European corridor for us. And I think that there's an opportunity in Europe once you have a European license, it's portable throughout the European Union. Today they're in Spain, Italy, and Germany, but we think there's opportunity in other countries. And we also think that Europe may have even a bigger opportunity because of the corridors in which it sends to. I mean because of the nature of the stability and the banking status of the consumer sending bigger online potential. So that European corridor, that we open up with the I-Transfer business, could give us an opportunity to even do more business from an online perspective than it may even at retail. So we think there's a lot of really valuable things that it brings. It's a little bit of a diamond in the rough. It's a business that we think has got with our sort of leveraging of that business the way we have done other things in creating the sort of efficiencies we have in our business has the opportunity to add tremendous value over time for our shareholders.

Sounds very strategic. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, our last question is from Alex Markgraff of KeyBanc Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Hey, guys. Nice to speak with you, and thanks for all the commentary this morning. Macro uncertainty is certainly top of mind for a lot of investors. Can you speak a bit about the resiliency of the remittance market and recessionary period? If you just look at industry data, it suggests a relatively defensive subsector of financial services. We just appreciate any thoughts you have there. And then, related to that, Bob I think you spoke to this a bit, but just curious kind of on what you're watching from a macro data point perspective to gauge the health of your unique customer base.

I joined Intermex during a significant recession in 2008, and the effects continued into 2009, yet we managed to grow the business throughout that time. The remittance sector is generally quite resilient. Although there were a few challenging years, it maintained stability without severe downturns during the recession. Many of our customers are engaged in essential jobs, such as agriculture, which remain crucial regardless of economic conditions. For instance, even in a recession, people continue to consume agricultural products. We also monitor the construction and housing markets closely, as a decline in these areas can affect our industry and necessitate adjustments in our strategy. However, we aren't observing any weakness currently; the housing market is strong, and those who are staying in their homes are investing in renovations, which benefits our consumers by providing more work opportunities. While macroeconomic factors are often seen as a concern, we believe that they shouldn't limit our competitiveness. We adapt and thrive regardless of market conditions, demonstrating resilience even when others might falter. Our revenue has grown from $40 million to over $500 million, even during flat market periods from 2008 to 2015. Success comes from having a strong retail proposition, a strategic market approach, and the determination to remain unaffected by daily fluctuations. There's immense opportunity ahead, especially as the broader market may underestimate the potential in retail growth compared to digital avenues. Our strength in the Western states further positions us well to counter any downturns. We’re confident in our performance regardless of market fluctuations; we prefer a strong market, but we can succeed even in challenging times.

Great, I appreciate the thorough thoughts there. Maybe just last question for me. Can you guys maybe just provide a quick update on some of the newer inbound and outbound markets being Africa, Asia, and Canada? I think you're maybe two to three years in on each of those just kind of curious, how you would describe customer behavior go-to-market success in those regions? Are there any more pieces to put in place here, or do you feel like that those regions are kind of fully built out other than maybe adding agent locations?

Sure. This is Randy. The markets you mentioned are still in the early stages for us, and we haven't established any retail locations in Asia, particularly in the Filipino or Vietnamese markets. Currently, we are only partnering online in those areas. In Africa, the entire industry has faced challenges over the last 1.5 years. Changes made by the Central Bank of Nigeria have significantly affected how consumers send money to Nigeria. We are addressing those issues and working on acquiring a license in Nigeria to enhance our competitiveness. For now, our focus in Asia remains online, while we continue to explore opportunities in Africa.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, our last question is from Tim Chiodo of Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

Great. Thank you and good morning. One of the topics, I wanted to cover have been addressed quite well, but I just want to double down on slide 12, which is the emerging market's contribution to growth. So really strong growth in transactions in Q1, and on top of a tough comp. And you just mentioned, some of the prospects ahead for the Dominican Republic and also gave some context around some of the other emerging markets. But maybe you could just recap for everyone, again, just the overall share in those markets relative to your core markets just to demonstrate, how much runway there is there? And if you're able to execute on the same track record that you've done in the core markets that's a bright prospect ahead?

So I just want to make sure, I understand your question. The question being, what are the other market opportunities if they were to attain the same kind of market share that we have in our core?

Sure. I mean, that's surely a part of it. Maybe if you could just talk about what your share is in those markets in aggregate relative to the core, which would be suggest of the runway?

First, it's important to remember that winning in Latin America isn't about sending money to Bolivia or similar countries, which represent only a small part of our business. We're focusing on the countries that drive the majority of our operations, like Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, with Colombia being the next significant player. Although our market share in Colombia is currently low, we have initiatives in place that could increase our presence there, contributing to nearly 90% of the total money sent to Latin America. Other countries like Ecuador, Peru, and Nicaragua add to our strategy, but we need to prioritize regions where people are actively sending money back home to the U.S. We haven't neglected any areas arbitrarily; our choices were based on how to effectively allocate our resources. Currently, investing in Mexico yields the highest returns for wire transfers since no other country sends over $40 billion with comparable margins. Thus, Mexico will remain a focal point for us, along with Guatemala. While emerging markets offer potential, they won't drastically change our operations. When we consider aggregate opportunities across Latin America and extend our focus to Africa, Canada, Europe, and parts of Asia like India and the Philippines—especially where online markets are predominant—new growth avenues appear. We believe there's significant room for expansion, particularly in online services that consumers increasingly prefer. It's essential to clarify that our primary opportunity is still in Mexico. Even a modest increase in market share in Mexico can be more advantageous than larger gains in other smaller markets, primarily due to its size and potential profitability. For instance, if we could grow our share in Mexico to around 25% or increase our share in Guatemala significantly, those markets represent substantial potential for profitability. Guatemala alone is a $9 billion market. While Africa and Asia present growth prospects as we enhance our operations from Canada and Europe, we see great opportunity in retail and online segments alike. Lastly, we aim to cater to consumers' preferences, particularly in Europe, where online services may be more favorable compared to the U.S. We strive to provide an omnichannel experience, allowing consumers to choose how they want to interact with our services as we expand both domestically and internationally.

Excellent. Thank you for all that context and points that taken on the relative sizing.

Thank you, Tim.

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. And I would like to hand the conference back to Mr. Bob Lisy for the closing comments.

Thank you all again for joining us and for the great questions. We appreciate your interest in the company and your support. And we'll speak to you all very soon. Have a great day.

Thank you very much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.