Tucows notes earnings and domain business growth

Revenue nudges upward as focus on profit pays off.

Tucows (NASDAQ: TCX) noted first-quarter results (pdf) following the market closed yesterday.

The firm’s headline financials are a bit convoluted since it sold its mobile business to DISH last year in an earnout deal.

Taking out mobile, revenue for the rest of the business was up 4% year over year. Its adjusted EBITDA measure was essentially flat.

Revenue from its domains segment, counting Enom and Tucows, was up 3% year over year. The firm continues to focus on profitability for the segment and noted a 14% increase in gross margin dollars compared to the first quarter of 2020. Adjusted EBITDA for the domains segment was $13.8 million, up $2.3 million and 20% from Q1 2020.

Tucows notes that Q1 is usually its strongest for domain names.

The pandemic has accelerated a shift to online business, which has helped grow the domain business. Tucows notes that the growth is normalizing, and the next quarter will lap the surge seen as the shift began last year.

Tucows continues to turn in solid renewal numbers. Renewal rates in its wholesale segment were 80%, and its retail were a staggering 86%.

The firm manages 25.8 million domains, although not all of them are on its accreditations.