CHICAGO, May 2019 – /PRNewswire/ — Cision Ltd. (NYSE: CISN), a leading global provider of software and services to public relations and marketing communications professionals, today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.
Financial Highlights
First Quarter 2019
Revenue increased 3.6% to $185.8 million
Revenue, excluding the impact of purchase accounting, increased 4.8% to $188.9 million
Operating income decreased 40.7% to $7.2 million
Net income was $11.6 million versus a prior year net loss of $0.4 million
Adjusted EBITDA increased 8.4% to $63.1 million
Adjusted net income increased 16.9% to $27.0 million
Adjusted net income per share was $0.19
“We are pleased to have delivered strong financial results for the first quarter of 2019, including record organic constant currency revenue growth of 4.9% versus the prior year, with solid growth in both the core business and in each of Falcon and TrendKite,” said Kevin Akeroyd, Cision’s Chief Executive Officer. “We have dramatically improved the value proposition we bring to our public relations and marketing communications customers, and these new offerings will feature prominently in our plans to further extend our industry leadership position. Over the coming quarters, our priorities will be on completing our outstanding integration work, while driving towards our long-term financial goals and objectives.”
First Quarter Business Statistics and Operational Highlights
Americas revenues increased 3.8% to $126.4 million
EMEA revenues increased 2.1% to $51.6 million
APAC revenues increased 11.8% to $7.8 million
Non-core revenues declined 53.6% to $0.6 million
Average pro forma subscription customers increased 5.5% to approximately 45,300
Average annualized pro forma revenue per subscription customer, excluding the impact of currency, increased 0.7% to approximately $11,600
Customers that purchased services from us on a transaction basis decreased 6.4% to approximately 37,700
Average quarterly pro forma revenue per customer that purchased services from us on a transaction basis, excluding the impact of currency, increased 4.7% to approximately $1,440
Cross-sell bookings of software, distribution and insights in the US increased 8.4% to $3.0 million
Subscription and Transaction Customer Trends
All of the figures below include our acquisitions of Falcon.io (“Falcon”) and TrendKite, Inc. (“TrendKite”) and exclude the divestiture of our email marketing business for all periods shown and have been further adjusted to exclude the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency.
Updated Full Year 2019 Outlook and Initial Second Quarter 2019 Outlook
Our updated outlook for the full fiscal year ending December 31, 2019 appears below (all figures in millions, except share and per share amounts). Additionally, due to our acquisitions of Falcon and TrendKite and the divestiture of our email marketing assets that were all completed in the first quarter of 2019, we have provided an initial outlook for our second quarter ending June 30, 2019. These estimates are based on a number of assumptions that management believes to be reasonable and reflect our expectations as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates as a result of various factors, and Cision refers you to the cautionary language regarding “Forward Looking Statements” included in this press release when considering this information.
A number of foreign currencies, including the Euro, the Canadian Dollar and the Swedish Kroner, have recently weakened against the US dollar. The negative impact of these changes in foreign exchange rates to our updated full year 2019 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA outlook since issuing our prior full year 2019 outlook is approximately $2.0 million and $1.0 million, respectively. We left both our full year 2019 revenue outlook, excluding the impact from purchase accounting and our full year 2019 Adjusted EBTDA outlook unchanged despite this anticipated currency headwind. Additionally, our outlook for 2019 excludes any additional acquisitions, divestitures, or other unanticipated events. See our discussion of non-GAAP financial measures included in this release.
Conference Call and Webcast
As previously announced, we will hold a conference call and webcast to review our first quarter 2019 financial results on Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 5:00 pm EDT. To hear the live event, visit the Cision investor website at http://investors.cision.com, or by dialing 1-877-443-4809 (participant dial in toll free) or 1-412-317-5235 (participant dial in International). For those accessing the call via Cision’s investor website, we suggest logging in at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the live event. For those dialing in, participants should ask to be joined into the Cision Ltd. earnings call. A replay of the earnings webcast will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live event on May 9, 2019. To access the webcast recording / conference replay, visit http://investors.cision.com or you can dial 1-877-344-7529 (US), 1-412-317-0088 (International), or 1-855-669-9658 (Canada). The replay access code for the earnings call is 10131339. The replay will be available through May 23, 2019.
Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our future financial and operating performance outlook for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019, as well as information relating to the acquisitions of Falcon.io and TrendKite and our divestiture of certain e-mail marketing assets and our realization of the expected benefits therefrom. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “seek,” “aim,” “strive,” “believe,” “see,” “project,” “predict,” “estimate,” “expect,” “continue,” “strategy,” “future,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “target,” similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these statements, as actual results may vary materially. A detailed discussion of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from the forward-looking statements is described under the caption “Risk Factors” in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed on March 1, 2019, along with our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this communication is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date of this report. We do not assume any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws. Please consult our public filings at www.sec.gov or www.Cision.com.
About Cision
Cision Ltd. (NYSE: CISN) is a leading global provider of earned media software and services to public relations and marketing communications professionals. Cision’s software allows users to identify key influencers, craft and distribute strategic content, and measure meaningful impact. Cision has over 4,500 employees with offices in 22 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. For more information about its award-winning products and services, including the Cision Communications Cloud®, visit www.cision.com and follow Cision on Twitter @Cision.