Interest Expense
Interest expense increased $8 million, or 15%, for the three months ended June 30, 2021 as compared to the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to incremental interest associated with the additional unsecured and secured senior notes issued in the second half of 2020. See Note 8 “Debt” for further information.
Loss before Income Tax Benefit
Loss before income tax benefit was $6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, a decrease of $24 million compared to $30 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020, due to the drivers identified above.
Income Tax Benefit
Income tax benefit was $2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $5 million in the prior year period. The effective tax rate for the three months ended June 30, 2021 was approximately (34)% and was primarily driven by foreign and state income taxes payable in jurisdictions where the Company had operations that generated operating income. See Note 7 “Income Taxes” for further information.
Results of Operations for The Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 Compared to The Six Months Ended June 30, 2020
Revenue
Revenues were $1,361 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021 as compared to $1,340 million for the prior year period. The increase of $21 million reflects growth of 3% in our Employer Solutions segment and 3% in our Professional Services segment, partially offset by a decline of 50% in our Hosted Business segment. During the third quarter of 2020, we began measuring revenue growth as it relates to the cloud-based products and solutions that are central to our Alight Worklife platform and next-generation product suite, BPaaS Solutions. These products capitalize on our robust data combined with artificial intelligence & analytics to deliver greater employee engagement and employer outcomes. BPaaS products and services span across both the Employer Solutions and Professional Services segments and for the six months ended June 30, 2021, we recorded BPaaS revenue of $187 million which represents growth of 17% compared to the prior year period. In addition, we also consider bookings, defined as total contract value for customer agreements executed in the period, to be a key indicator of future revenue growth and used as a metric of commercial activity by management and investors. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, total bookings and BPaaS bookings of $762 million and $280 million, respectively, represent growth of 14% and 268%, respectively, compared to the prior year period.
Recurring revenues increased by $20 million, or 2%, from $1,110 million to $1,130 million and are related to growth in both Employer Solutions and Professional Services, partially offset by a decline in the Hosted Business. Project revenues increased by $1 million, or less than 1%, from $230 million to $231 million and are related to growth in Employer Solutions, partially offset by a decline in Professional Services.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization decreased $18 million, or 2%, for the six months ended June 30, 2021 as compared to the prior year period. The decrease was primarily driven by $12 million of lower costs in the Hosted business as clients transition to cloud-based services and lower expenses related to productivity initiatives, including the impact of lower restructuring and integration related costs, partially offset increases in costs associated with the growth in current and future revenues.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $14 million, or 6%, for the six months ended June 30, 2021 as compared to the prior year period. The decrease was primarily driven by lower expenses related to productivity initiatives, including the impact of lower restructuring and integration related costs, partially offset by non-recurring professional expenses related to costs incurred in relation to the Company’s Business Combination Agreement completed in the third quarter of 2021 and higher costs related to investments in commercial functions.