TORONTO, May 9, 2024
/CNW/ - Tucows Inc. (NASDAQ: TCX) (TSX: TC), a global internet
services leader, today reported its financial results for the first
quarter ended March 31, 2024. All
figures are in U.S. dollars.
"We finished the first quarter of 2024 with strong
year-over-year growth of revenue, gross margin and adjusted EBITDA,
driven by Wavelo's performance on a fully-migrated Boost subscriber
base, robust subscriber growth at Ting, and a solid quarter from
Tucows Domains," said Elliot Noss,
Tucows President and CEO. "We continue to balance investment in
building the Ting and Wavelo businesses with managing our debt. In
Q1, we continued to deleverage the business with payments on the
syndicated debt using cash flow from Wavelo and Tucows
Domains."
Financial Results
Consolidated net revenue for the first quarter of 2024 increased
8.7% to $87.5 million from
$80.4 million for the first quarter
of 2023. Revenue in all business segments increased, with strong
dollar gains year over year from Domains, Ting and Wavelo.
Gross profit for the first quarter of 2024 increased 30.3% to
$18.3 million from $14.1 million from the first quarter of 2023. The
increase in gross profit was driven primarily by gross profit gains
from Wavelo, as well as gross profit increases for Ting and
Domains. The increase was partially offset by increased network
depreciation and network expenses as the Ting network footprint
expands.
Net loss for the first quarter of 2024 was $26.5 million, or a loss of $2.42 per share, compared with net loss of
$19.1 million, or $1.77 per share, for the first quarter of 2023.
The increased loss is primarily the result of higher taxes and
interest expenses, higher network depreciation, and a slightly
higher operating loss as part of the planned investment in
Ting.
Adjusted EBITDA1 for the first quarter of 2024
increased 38.7% to $4.2 million from
$3.0 million for the first quarter of
2023. The increase in adjusted EBITDA1 was primarily
driven by strong growth and cost management of the Wavelo business.
Cash equivalents, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents
at the end of the first quarter of 2024 were $79.4 million compared with $105.0 million at the end of the fourth quarter
of 2023 and $11.8 million at the end
of the first quarter of 2023.
Summary Financial Results
(In
Thousands of US Dollars, Except Per Share Data)
|
3 Months ended March
31
|
2024
(unaudited)
|
2023
(unaudited)
|
%
Change
|
Net
Revenues
|
87,457
|
80,430
|
9 %
|
Gross
Profit
|
18,316
|
14,061
|
30 %
|
Income Earned on
Sale of Transferred Assets, net
|
3,621
|
4,370
|
(17) %
|
Net Income
(Loss)
|
(26,484)
|
(19,083)
|
(39) %
|
Basic earnings
(Loss) per common share
|
(2.42)
|
(1.77)
|
(37) %
|
Adjusted
EBITDA¹
|
4,202
|
3,030
|
39 %
|
Net cash by (used
in) operating activities
|
(5,678)
|
(5,251)
|
(8) %
|
1.
|
This Non-GAAP financial
measure is described below and reconciled to GAAP net income in the
accompanying table.
|
Summary of Revenues, Gross Profit and Adjusted
EBITDA
(In Thousands of US Dollars)
|
Revenue
|
Gross
Margin
|
Adj.
EBITDA¹
|
3 Months ended March
31
|
3 Months ended March
31
|
3 Months ended March
31
|
2024
(unaudited)
|
2023
(unaudited)
|
2024
(unaudited)
|
2023
(unaudited)
|
2024
(unaudited)
|
2023
(unaudited)
|
Ting Internet
Services:
|
Fiber Internet
Services
|
14,102
|
11,853
|
8,742
|
7,868
|
(9,537)
|
(9,273)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wavelo Platform
Services:
|
Platform
Services
|
9,365
|
6,498
|
9,033
|
6,164
|
|
|
Other Professional
Services
|
25
|
802
|
6
|
110
|
|
|
Total Wavelo
Platform
Services
|
9,390
|
7,300
|
9,039
|
6,274
|
2,787
|
335
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tucows Domain
Services:
|
Wholesale
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Domain
Services
|
48,151
|
46,293
|
9,488
|
9,291
|
|
|
Value Added
Services
|
4,703
|
4,531
|
4,156
|
3,925
|
|
|
Total
Wholesale
|
52,854
|
50,824
|
13,644
|
13,216
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Retail
|
9,028
|
8,418
|
4,892
|
4,305
|
|
|
Total Tucows
Domain
Services
|
61,882
|
59,242
|
18,536
|
17,521
|
10,011
|
10,338
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Corporate:
|
Mobile Services and
Eliminations
|
2,083
|
2,035
|
(654)
|
(523)
|
941
|
1,630
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Network
Expenses:
|
Network, other
costs
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
(7,064)
|
(6,323)
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Network, depreciation
of property and equipment
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
(9,865)
|
(8,436)
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Network, amortization
of intangible assets
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
(365)
|
(378)
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Network,
impairment
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
(53)
|
(1,942)
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Total Network
Expenses
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
(17,347)
|
(17,079)
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
87,457
|
80,430
|
18,316
|
14,061
|
4,202
|
3,030
|
1
|
This Non-GAAP financial
measure is described below and reconciled to GAAP net income in the
accompanying table.
|
Notes:
1. Adjusted EBITDA
Tucows reports all financial information required in accordance
with United States generally
accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Along with this information,
to assist financial statement users in an assessment of our
historical performance, the Company typically discloses and
discusses a non-GAAP financial measure, adjusted EBITDA, in press
releases and on investor conference calls and related events that
exclude certain non-cash and other charges as the Company believes
that the non-GAAP information enhances investors' overall
understanding of our financial performance.
The Company believes that the provision of this supplemental
non-GAAP measure allows investors to evaluate the operational and
financial performance of the Company's core business using similar
evaluation measures to those used by management. The Company uses
adjusted EBITDA to measure its performance and prepare its budgets.
Since adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial performance measure,
the Company's calculation of adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable
to other similarly titled measures of other companies; and should
not be considered in isolation, as a substitute for, or superior to
measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Because adjusted EBITDA is calculated before certain recurring cash
charges, including interest expense and taxes, and is not adjusted
for capital expenditures or other recurring cash requirements of
the business, it should not be considered as a liquidity measure.
Non-GAAP financial measures do not reflect a comprehensive system
of accounting and may differ from non-GAAP financial measures with
the same or similar captions that are used by other companies
and/or analysts and may differ from period to period. The Company
endeavors to compensate for these limitations by providing the
relevant disclosure of the items excluded in the calculation of
adjusted EBITDA to net income based on U.S. GAAP, which should be
considered when evaluating the Company's results. Tucows strongly
encourages investors to review its financial information in its
entirety and not to rely on a single financial measure.
The Company's adjusted EBITDA definition excludes depreciation,
impairment and loss on disposition of property and equipment,
amortization of intangible assets, income tax provision, interest
expense (net), accretion of contingent consideration, stock-based
compensation, asset impairment, gains and losses from unrealized
foreign currency transactions, loss on debt extinguishment and
costs that are not indicative of on-going performance
(profitability), including acquisition and transition costs. Gains
and losses from unrealized foreign currency transactions removes
the unrealized effect of the change in the mark-to-market values on
outstanding unhedged foreign currency contracts, as well as the
unrealized effect from the translation of monetary accounts
denominated in non-U.S. dollars to U.S. dollars.
The following table reconciles income before provision for
income taxes to Adjusted EBITDA (dollars in thousands):
|
3 Months ended March
31
|
2024
(unaudited)
|
2023
(unaudited)
|
Net income (Loss)
for the period
|
(26,484)
|
(19,083)
|
Less:
|
|
|
Provision (recovery)
for income taxes
|
1,774
|
(1,710)
|
Depreciation of
property and equipment
|
9,987
|
8,588
|
Impairment of property
and equipment
|
53
|
1,942
|
Amortization of
intangible assets
|
1,679
|
2,872
|
Interest expense,
net
|
11,879
|
7,880
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
1,873
|
2,246
|
Unrealized loss (gain)
on foreign exchange revaluation of foreign denominated monetary
assets and liabilities
|
390
|
40
|
Acquisition and
transition costs*
|
3,051
|
255
|
|
|
|
Adjusted
EBITDA
|
4,202
|
3,030
|
* Acquisition and other
costs represent transaction-related expenses and transitional
expenses. Expenses include severance or transitional costs
associated with department, operational or overall company
restructuring efforts, including geographic alignments.
|
Management Commentary
Concurrent with the dissemination of its quarterly financial
results news release at 5:05 p.m. ET on
Thursday, May 9, 2024, management's pre-recorded audio
commentary (and transcript), discussing the quarter and outlook for
the Company will be posted to the Tucows website
at http://www.tucows.com/investors/financials.
Following management's prepared commentary, for the subsequent
seven days, until Thursday, May, 16, 2024, shareholders, analysts
and prospective investors can submit questions to Tucows'
management at ir@tucows.com. Management will post responses to
questions in an audio recording and transcript to the Company's
website at http://www.tucows.com/investors/financials, on
Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at
approximately 4 p.m. ET. All
questions will receive a response, however, questions of a more
specific nature may be responded to directly.
About Tucows
Tucows helps connect more people to the benefit of internet
access through communications service technology, domain services,
and fiber-optic internet infrastructure. Ting (https://ting.com)
delivers fixed fiber Internet access with outstanding customer
support. Wavelo (https://wavelo.com) is a telecommunications
software suite for service providers that simplifies the management
of mobile and internet network access; provisioning, billing and
subscription; developer tools; and more. Tucows Domains
(https://tucowsdomains.com) manages approximately 25 million domain
names and millions of value-added services through a global
reseller network of over 35,000 web hosts and ISPs.
Hover (https://hover.com) makes it easy for individuals and
small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses.
More information can be found on Tucows' corporate website
(https://tucows.com).
Tucows, Ting, Wavelo, and Hover are registered trademarks of
Tucows Inc. or its subsidiaries.
This release includes forward-looking statements as that term
is defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including statements regarding our expectations regarding our
future financial results and, including, without limitation, our
expectations regarding our ability to realize synergies from the
Enom acquisition and our expectation for growth of Ting Internet.
These statements are based on management's current expectations and
are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements. Information about other potential
factors that could affect Tucows' business, results of operations
and financial condition is included in the Risk Factors sections of
Tucows' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All
forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the
understanding of their inherent uncertainty. All forward-looking
statements are based on information available to Tucows as of the
date they are made. Tucows assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements, except as may be required by
law.
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SOURCE Tucows Inc.