XLMEDIA PLC

Earnings Release • Mar 13, 2018

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RNS Number : 4871H

XLMedia PLC

13 March 2018

For immediate release	13 March 2018

XLMedia PLC

("XLMedia" or "the Group" or "the Company")

Final results for the year ended 31 December 2017

Record revenues driven by organic growth and strategic expansion

XLMedia (AIM: XLM), a leading provider of digital performance marketing services, is pleased to announce its final results for the year ended 31 December 2017.

Financial highlights

·     Revenues increased 33% to $137.6 million (2016: $103.6 million)

·     Gross profit increased 37% to $73.1 million (2016: $53.3 million)

·     Adjusted EBITDA increased 36% to $47.1 million (2016: $34.6 million)

·     Profit before tax increased 27% to $39.3 million (2016: $31.0 million)

·     Declared final dividend of $8.0 million or 3.7105 cents per share to be paid in Pound Sterling (2.6829 pence per share), a total of 7.7331 cents per share for the year (2016: 7.6069 cents per share for the year)

·     Strong balance sheet with $33.8 million working capital and total equity of $116.7 million or 76% of total assets

·     Cash and short-term investments at 31 December 2017 were $43.3 million

·     Earnings per share increased 25% to $0.15 (2016: $0.12)

Operating highlights

·     Significant acquisition momentum during the period continues to drive geographical and sector expansion.  Key transactions included:

o  Personal finance acquisitions - GreedyRates, a Canadian credit card comparison portal, and Money Under 30, a US personal finance website, now both fully integrated

o  Mobile apps acquisition - ClicksMob, a mobile performance-based user acquisition platform

o  Entrance into the high growth cyber security sector - Acquisition of Securethoughts, a US cyber security comparison website

o  Expansion into Romania - Completed the acquisition of a Romanian portfolio of publishing assets, leveraging the Group's affiliate license in a growing regulated market

Post-period end highlights

·     Raised an additional $43.6 million of cash to further accelerate acquisition strategy

·     Acquired a number of leading Finnish gambling related informational websites from Good Game Ltd for a total consideration of up to €15 million

·     Acquired three personal finance websites based in the US for a total consideration of $5.15 million.

Ory Weihs, Chief Executive Officer of XLMedia, commented:

"We are delighted to have delivered another record performance for the Group, underpinned by our clear strategic vision.  Our recent entry into the personal finance sector is already delivering tangible benefits with potential for further upside, while the core activities continue to deliver solid growth.

"Elsewhere, core markets continue to perform well, and alongside the acquisitions and ongoing investment in technology, we are confident these will generate significant returns.

"Further to the fundraising completed in January, we believe we will be able to capitalise on our acquisition pipeline in addition to growing the business organically. The Board remains focused on continuing to deliver further progress and shareholder value."

A webcast of our results presentation will be available on our website later today:  http://www.xlmedia.com/media/

For further information, please contact:

# XLMedia plc # Ory Weihs # www.xlmedia.com	Tel: 020 8817 5283
# Vigo Communications # Jeremy Garcia / Fiona Henson / Kate Rogucheva # www.vigocomms.com	Tel: 020 7830 9703
# Cenkos Securities plc (Nomad and Joint Broker) # Camilla Hume / Mark Connelly # www.cenkos.com	Tel: 020 7397 8900
# Berenberg (Joint Broker) # Chris Bowman / Mark Whitmore  # www.berenberg.com	Tel: 020 3207 7800

Business review

During the course of 2017, XLMedia delivered further progress against the Group's strategic plan of generating organic growth alongside acquisition-led expansion into new markets and verticals. We firmly believe that our continued investment in core infrastructure and technology ensures XLMedia maintains its competitive edge, and contributed to delivering another year of record financial performance for the Group. Along with maintaining strong organic growth, XLMedia also completed a number of strategic acquisitions in 2017, diversifying both sector expertise and broadening our geographical reach.

Acquisitions

During 2017, the Group made its first entry into the personal finance sector through the acquisition of GreedyRates, a Canadian credit card comparison portal, and Money Under 30, a US personal finance website. These acquisitions have now been fully integrated into the Group's operations and we are already seeing the benefits of integration onto the Group's proprietary technology. In addition, post period end, the Group has further enhanced its footprint in this area, having agreed to acquire three US focused personal finance websites, which will further increase the Group's foothold in the North American personal finance domain. These additional websites complement those already in our portfolio as we continue to grow our expertise and presence in the space.

Additional publishing acquisitions in 2017 added further diversification with the US cyber security comparison website Securethoughts, and a Romanian network following the Group securing a Romanian affiliate license.

Mobile marketing capabilities - The acquisition of ClicksMob in February 2017 significantly extended XLMedia's addressable market. By combining ClicksMob and Dau-Up, the Group has been able to leverage its expertise within games and social marketing across additional verticals and geographies.

All acquired businesses and assets have been fully integrated into the Group's operations.

Post period end, the Company also announced the acquisition of a number of leading Finnish gambling related informational websites for up to €15 million.

Fundraising and investment

In January 2018, we completed a $43.6 million (£31.7 million) fundraising to further support the continued acquisition strategy. We believe there is a significant opportunity to further strengthen our market share through both organic and acquisitive growth. To that end, we continue to identify and evaluate acquisition targets and foresee this as a core part of our future strategy. We strive for any acquisitions we undertake to be earnings accretive and to simultaneously benefit from greater economies of scale as part of the wider group. 

In total over the course of 2017, we invested $31.3 million in extending our reach - both geographically and into additional verticals - adding websites and channels as well as developing additional capabilities to our technology infrastructure.

Technology

Our proprietary technology platforms remain a critical component in driving growth across the business. We continue to invest in our technology to ensure we maintain our market leading position.

·     Palcon - our proprietary content management system - has been a key success factor for our organic growth. We recently completed the migration of GreedyRates onto Palcon which has led to a 6% increase in returning visitors, while time spent on the site increased by over 25% overall, and by over 70% on mobile devices. The Palcon infrastructure improved the loading time of the site by 43% as well as added features to further improve experience for users. We continue to migrate all acquired assets onto our platform, to improve performance and efficiently manage the acquired websites within our teams.

·     Rampix is our proprietary campaign management platform and was awarded 'Instagram Marketing Partner' for Ad Technology in 2017.

·     Our technology and infrastructure captures data from thousands of sources daily including online traffic sources, targeting methods and channels. Through the constant analysis of this data against successful outcomes, we are able to optimise future campaigns and assets to maximise return on our investment.

Diversification of revenues

A combination of strong organic and acquisitive growth has seen the Group further diversify its revenues, both geographically and by sector.

In 2017, 28% of revenues were derived from Scandinavia (2016: 32%), North America generated 22% (2016: 21%) and other European countries generated 30% of revenues (2016: 27%). Following the acquisition of ClicksMob we have now seen the first significant revenues from APAC, which contributed approximately 8% of Group's revenues in 2017.

Through our strategy to diversify into sectors, gambling accounted for 64% of 2017 revenues (2016: 70%) and 2018 will benefit from full year contribution from recent acquisitions.

Enhanced regulation continued into 2017. We see the trend of increased regulation emerging across all verticals, driven by a number of factors including advertising regulations and privacy protection. In the gambling space, for example, increased regulation presents the Group with both challenges and opportunities and we remain ever vigilant of both. The Group has already implemented strict internal procedures and compliance programmes alongside staff training and we believe XLMedia is well positioned to be one of the first to capitalise on access to newly regulated markets and a stricter backdrop across our key verticals.

The results delivered in 2017 reflect the continued success of our stated strategy and we expect growth to continue in 2018.  

Business Segments review

($'000)	Publishing	Media	Partner Network	Total
2017
Revenues	62,894	66,428	8,310	137,632
% of revenues	45.7%	48.3%	6.0%	100%
Direct profit	50,309	19,982	1,423	71,714
Profit margin	80.0%	30%	17.1%	52.1%
2016
Revenues	46,057	47,645	9,903	103,605
% of revenues	44.5%	45.9%	9.6%	100%
Direct profit	38,384	13,779	1,160	53,323
Profit margin	83.3%	28.9%	11.7%	51.5%

2017 showed significant progress for both the publishing and media divisions, driven by organic growth complemented with recent acquisitions.

Publishing

Publishing revenues grew 37% to $62.9 million (2016: $46.1 million). During 2017 we acquired new websites and domains for $21.1 million. Although the Group has acquired new publishing assets in the period, the majority of the growth reported in 2017 has been organic.

Direct profit margins remained high at $50.3 million or 80% of publishing revenues (2016: $38.4 million, 83%). We expect publishing direct profit to marginally reduce as a percentage, as we continue to invest and develop our existing assets and optimize the recently acquired assets for improved performance going forward.

Media

Media revenues grew 39.4% to $66.4 million (2016: $47.6 million). The growth was primarily driven by the acquisition of ClicksMob in February 2017, but did also include organic growth. Towards the end of 2017 we ceased activities in the division with lower than desired margin which will impact revenue growth of the media segment this year but is expected to have minimal effect on profit targets.

During 2017, we merged ClicksMob and Dau-Up to create an integrated unified mobile unit, focusing on user acquisition for mobile apps and games. The ClicksMob acquisition added diversity across a number of verticals, including e-commerce, travel, entertainment and finance. The acquisition further strengthened Dau-Up's increasing dominance in verticals outside of gaming and added presence in APAC. 

Direct profit for the media segment increased 45% to $20 million or 30% of revenues (2016: $13.8 million, 29%).

Partner Network

As anticipated, our Partner Network revenue decreased 16% to $8.3 million (2016: $9.9 million). In 2016 we undertook a full review of our partners in this network, with a view to implementing more stringent sign up and operations criteria and, where necessary, ceasing activity with certain partners to improve overall quality. Although this review has led to lower revenues, there was no impact on profit.

Our Partner Network serves as a complementary channel, giving us the opportunity to provide marketing services which are not currently offered through our publishing and media networks.

Current Trading and Outlook

The business has established strong foundations for growth, adding both scale and vertical diversity in 2017. Our focused acquisition strategy is closely aligned with the Company's stated strategy and underpins our commitment to maintaining shareholder value.

The Board therefore looks forward to another year of continued execution of our strategy. As such the Board is declaring a dividend of $8.0 million or 3.7105 cents per share payable in Pound Sterling (2.6829 pence per share) on 20 April 2018 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 23 March 2018. The ex-dividend date is 22 March 2018.

Financial review

'000	2017	2016	Change
Revenues	137,632	103,605	+33%
Gross Profit	73,145	53,323	+37%
Operating expenses	32,376	23,226	+39%
Operating income	40,769	30,097	+35%
Adjusted EBITDA	47,120	34,621	+36%
Profit Before Tax	39,345	31,000	+27%

In 2017 XLMedia delivered record revenues of $137.6 million, reflecting an increase of 33% compared to the previous year. 

Gross profit reached $73.1 million or 53% of revenues, representing 37% growth compared to previous year (2016: $53.3 million, 51% of revenues).

Operating expenses for 2017 were $32.4 million, an increase of 39% compared to the previous year (2016: $23.2 million). The increase in costs is primarily attributable to staff and relevant overhead, mainly in research and development and sales and marketing as well as an increased amortisation and impairment expense in general and administration.

Operating expenses included $4.5 million of research and development expenses, reflecting an increase of 100% compared to the same period last year (2016: $2.2 million). These expenses are in addition to investments in technology and internal systems developed during the period of $3.8 million (2016: $3.8 million). The Group expects to continue investment in technology as we see technology a key driver to growth and profit for the coming years. Operating expenses also reflected a 51% increase in sales and marketing expenses to $6.3 million (2016: $4.1 million) mainly for payroll costs. As the Group enters more verticals and geographies, we expect to increase sales and marketing efforts to drive sales in new business for the Group.

Adjusted EBITDA1 reached $47.1 million or 34% of revenues, reflecting an increase of 36% to the previous year (2016: $34.6 million, 33%).

Net finance expenses for 2017 were $1.4 million compared to net finance income of $0.9 million in 2016. The Group has dynamic hedging activity in place to mitigate material exposure to foreign currencies. In 2016 the finance income recorded was driven by fair value gains for forward contracts, although not yet matured. In 2017 the forward contracts recorded a net finance expense.

As a result of the high revenues and gross profit, profit before tax increased by 27% to $39.3 million (2016: $31.0 million). Net income for the period was $31.9 million, reflecting an increase of 25% (2016: $25.6 million). Net income included non-controlling interests of $1.5 million. Following the acquisition of the minority rights in Marmar Media, reported in August 2017, the minority rights going forward will decrease.

As at 31 December 2017 the Company had $43.3 million in cash and short term investments compared to $35.2 million as at 31 December 2016.  The change in cash reflects an increase of $41.1 million provided by operating activity, offset by spending $22.9 million on investments mainly for technology and acquisitions and $13.4 million for financing activities. Financing activities included $15.5 million of dividend payments to shareholders (2016: $12.4 million), payment of $1.8 million dividends to non-controlling interests (2016: $1.8 million), offset by a receipt of $5.0 million long term bank loan.    

Current assets as at 31 December 2017 were $67.1 million (31 December 2016: $56.7 million), and non-current assets were $87.4 million (31 December 2016: $70.4 million). The increase in non-current assets is attributed mainly to investments in domains and websites as well as the ClicksMob acquisition.

Total equity as at 31 December 2017 reached $116.7 million, or 76% of total assets (2016: 81%). Earlier this year, the Group announced the successful placing of 16 million new ordinary shares to raise $43.6 million. Together with the cash on the balance sheet, the Group is well positioned to continue executing its strategic plan.

1 Earnings Before interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization and impairment and adjusted to exclude share based 

payments 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION

				As of 31 December
				2017		2016
				USD in thousands
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents				38,416		32,095
Short-term investments				4,861		3,091
Trade receivables				18,950		17,075
Other receivables				4,665		3,463
Financial derivatives				200		1,002
				67,092		56,726
Non-current assets:
Long-term investments				681		609
Property and equipment				1,230		1,229
Goodwill				30,052		26,302
Deposit for acquisition of websites				-		9,300
Domains and websites				45,762		26,739
Other intangible assets				8,585		5,948
Deferred taxes				862		85
Other assets				244		171
				87,416		70,383
				154,508		127,109

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION

				As of 31 December
				2017		2016
				USD in thousands
Liabilities and equity
Current liabilities:
Trade payables				9,813		9,274
Other liabilities and accounts payable				10,972		9,721
Income tax payable				8,573		4,475
Financial derivatives				1,425		-
Current maturity of long term bank loan				2,500		-
				33,283		23,470
Non-current liabilities:
Long term bank loan				2,500		-
Income tax payable				1,825		-
Deferred taxes				42		126
Other liabilities				201		228
				4,568		354
Equity
Share capital				*)		*)
Share premium				68,417		66,812
Capital reserve from share-based transactions				1,227		1,208
Capital reserve from transaction with non-controlling interests				(2,445)		(506)
Retained earnings				49,167		34,349
Equity attributable to equity holders of the Company				116,366		101,863
Non-controlling interests				291		1,422
Total equity				116,657		103,285
				154,508		127,109

*) Lower than USD 1 thousand.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

				Year ended 31 December
				2017			2016
				USD in thousands (except per share data)
Revenues				137,632		103,605
Cost of revenues				64,487		50,282
Gross profit				73,145		53,323
Research and development expenses				4,474		2,228
Selling and marketing expenses				6,263		4,142
General and administrative expenses				21,639		16,856
				32,376		23,226
Operating income				40,769		30,097
Finance expenses				(2,113)		(403)
Finance income				689		1,306
Finance income (expenses), net				(1,424)		903
Profit before taxes on income				39,345		31,000
Taxes on income				7,474		5,416
Net income and other comprehensive income				31,871		25,584
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the Company				30,323		23,937
Non-controlling interests				1,548		1,647
				31,871		25,584
Earnings per share attributable to equity holders of the Company:
Basic and diluted earnings per share (in USD)				0.15		0.12

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

		Year ended 31 December
		2017		2016
		USD in thousands
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income		31,871		25,584
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Adjustments to the profit or loss items:
Depreciation amortisation and impairment		5,932		3,878
Finance expense (income), net		2,813		(906)
Cost of share-based payment		419		646
Taxes on income		7,474		5,416
Exchange differences on balances of cash and cash equivalents		(1,545)		589
		15,093		9,623
Changes in asset and liability items:
Increase in trade receivables		(1,875)		(987)
Increase in other receivables		(982)		(930)
Increase (decrease) in trade payables		539		(1,872)
Increase in other accounts payable		286		1,032
Increase (decrease) in other long-term liabilities		(27)		73
		(2,059)		(2,684)
Cash received (paid) during the year for:
Interest received		17		139
Taxes paid		(4,154)		(5,710)
Taxes received		305		-
		(3,832)		(5,571)
Net cash provided by operating activities		41,073		26,952

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

		Year ended 31 December
		2017		2016
		USD in thousands
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of property and equipment		(388)		(479)
Payment for acquired business		(5,100)		-
Payment of contingent consideration in respect of acquired company		-		(5,500)
Acquisition of domains, websites, technology and other intangible assets		(16,160)		(6,742)
Deposit on account of acquisition of domains and websites		-		(9,300)
Collection of receivable from sale of assets		300		300
Short- term and long-term investments, net		(1,595)		4,333
Net cash used in investing activities		(22,943)		(17,388)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Dividend paid to equity holders of the Company		(15,505)		(12,362)
Acquisition of non-controlling interests		(2,250)		-
Dividend paid to non-controlling interests		(1,804)		(1,805)
Exercise of options		1,205		1,546
Receipt of long-term loan from banks		5,000		-
Net cash used in financing activities		(13,354)		(12,621)
Exchange differences on balances of cash and cash equivalents		1,545		(589)
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		6,321		(3,646)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year		32,095		35,741
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year		38,416		32,095

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1:         GENERAL

The Group is an online performance marketing company. The Group attracts paying users from multiple online and mobile channels and directs them to online businesses who, in turn, convert such traffic into paying customers.

Online traffic is attracted by the Group's publications and advertisements and are then directed, by the Group to its customers in return for mainly a share of the revenue generated by such user, a fee generated per user acquired, fixed fees or a hybrid of any of these models.

For further information regarding online marketing and the Group's business segments see Note 2.

The Company is incorporated in Jersey, and commenced its operations in 2012.

On 21 March 2014, the Company completed an Initial Public Offering ("IPO") on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

In January 2018, the Company issued 16,000,000 Ordinary shares at a price of 198 pence per Ordinary share. The total gross funds raised were approximately GBP 31.7 million (USD 43.6 million) and the related cost amounted to approximately GBP 1.1 million (USD 1.5 million)

NOTE 2:         OPERATING SEGMENTS

(a) General:

The operating segments are identified on the basis of information that is reviewed by the chief operating decision maker ("CODM") to make decisions about resources to be allocated and assess its performance. Accordingly, for management purposes, the Group is organised into operating segments based on the products and services of the business units and has operating segments as follows:

Publishing	-	The Group owns over 2,300 informational websites in 18 languages. These websites refer potential customers to online businesses. The sites' content, written by professional writers, is designed to attract online traffic which the Group then directs to its customers online businesses.

Media	-	The Group's Media division acquires online advertising targeted at potential online traffic with the objective of directing it to the Group's users. The Group buys advertising space on search engines, websites, mobile and social networks and places adverts referring potential users to the Group's customers' websites or to its own websites.
Partners Network	-	The Group manages marketing partners, whose role is to direct online traffic to the Group's customers for which the Group receives revenues. The Group is responsible for paying its partners. The Group's partner programme enables affiliates to have a single point of contact, collection and negotiation for the traffic generated by them, rather than engaging with multilateral negotiation, operations and collection from online operators.

Segment performance (segment profit) is evaluated based on revenues less direct operating costs.

Items that were not allocated are managed on a group basis.

		Publishing		Media		Partners Network		Total
		USD in thousands
Year ended 31 December 2017:
Revenues		62,894		66,428		8,310		137,632
Segment profit		50,309		19,982		1,423		71,714
Unallocated corporate expenses								(30,945)
Finance income, net								(1,424)
Profit before taxes on income								39,345
Year ended 31 December 2016:
Revenues		46,057		47,645		9,903		103,605
Segment profit		38,384		13,779		1,160		53,323
Unallocated corporate expenses								(23,226)
Finance income, net								903
Profit before taxes on income								31,000

NOTE 2:         OPERATING SEGMENTS (Cont.)

(c)       Geographic information:

Revenues classified by geographical areas based on internet user location:

		Year ended 31 December
		2017		2016
		USD in thousands
Scandinavia		38,250		33,054
Other European countries		41,621		28,295
North America		29,665		21,724
Oceania		3,493		4,951
Asia		10,940		178
Other countries		3,766		2,037
Total revenues from identified locations		127,735		90,239
Revenues from unidentified locations		9,897		13,366
Total revenues		137,632		103,605

NOTE 3:         SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

(a)    In January 2018, the Company announced that it has agreed to acquire a network of leading Finnish gambling informational websites for a total cash consideration of up to EUR 15 million.

(b)   In January 2018, the Company granted 3,000,000 options to employees (including to the Company's CEO and other key management personal), exercisable to 3,000,000 ordinary share in an exercise price of GBP 2.02 per share. 

(c)    In January 2018, the Company raised from the issuance of Ordinary shares a net amount of approximately GBP 30.6 million, see Note 1.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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