iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited Reports 2022 Third-Quarter Unaudited Financial Results

- Enterprise Solutions revenue recorded a 16% QoQ growth –

 - Enterprise Solutions' revenues contribution reached a new record-high of 39% –

HONG KONG, Nov. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited ("iClick" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: ICLK), a leading enterprise and marketing cloud platform in China that empowers worldwide brands with full-stack consumer lifecycle solutions, today announced unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022.

Jian "T.J." Tang, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of iClick, said, "The Company has maintained a prudent cash position in order to operate in this volatile macro environment and embrace opportunities for potential economic recovery. In the third quarter of 2022, the Company recorded sequential growth in its total revenue with Marketing Solutions revenue increasing slightly and Enterprise Solutions revenue growing by 16% quarter-over-quarter. Our core teams and products remain intact, and we continue to strengthen our capabilities in offering valuable services to our clients. We remain confident that strong demand for digital transformation and online advertising will resume as China's economy continues to grow."  

Third Quarter 2022 Results:

Revenue for the third quarter of 2022 was US$41.0 million, compared with US$86.8 million for the third quarter of 2021, mainly due to the decrease in revenue from Marketing Solutions.

Revenue from Marketing Solutions declined to US$25.0 million for the third quarter of 2022, compared with US$66.6 million for the third quarter of 2021, primarily because we strategically reduced lower margin and higher risk businesses within the Marketing Solutions segment. The decline in revenue from Marketing Solutions was also due to the tightened regulation targeting certain industries in which our clients operate and consumer sentiment with respect to the uncertainties of the macro economic environment from pandemic impact, which led to a broad-based advertising market slowdown in China.

Revenue from Enterprise Solutions was US$16.0 million for the third quarter of 2022, compared with US$20.3 million for the third quarter of 2021. The decline in revenue was primarily due to challenges from the pandemic and lockdowns, which affected the progress of our client on-boarding and solution implementation in 2022.

Gross profit for the third quarter of 2022 was US$9.2 million, compared with US$21.7 million for the third quarter of 2021, aligned with the decline in revenue. Gross profit margin decreased to 22.4% for the third quarter of 2022 from 25.0% for the third quarter of 2021, as a result of weak advertising market in China.

Total operating expenses were US$20.8 million for the third quarter of 2022, compared with US$24.1 million for the third quarter of 2021. The change is primarily due to a decrease in share-based compensation expenses as well as savings on staff cost and promotional expenses in connection with our cost optimization.

Operating loss was US$11.6 million for the third quarter of 2022, compared with US$2.3 million for the third quarter of 2021. This decline was as a result of the decrease in gross profit.

Goodwill impairment of US$3.7 million was recorded for the third quarter of 2022 for Marketing Solutions reporting unit. This partial, non-cash impairment charge was primarily due to the tailing impact of COVID-19 lockdowns, which resulted in a shortfall between the carrying value and the estimated fair value of this reporting unit as of September 30, 2022.

Net loss totalled US$19.4 million for the third quarter of 2022, compared with US$2.6 million for the third quarter of 2021, mainly attributed to operating loss of US$11.6 million, goodwill impairment of US$3.7 million and impairment of equity investments of US$3.4 million.

Net loss attributable to the Company's shareholders per basic and diluted ADS for the third quarter of 2022 were US$0.19, compared with a net loss attributable to the Company's shareholders per basic and diluted ADS of US$0.02 for the third quarter of 2021.

Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2022 was a loss of US$8.5 million, compared with earnings of US$3.6 million for the third quarter of 2021. For a reconciliation of the Company's adjusted EBITDA from net loss, its most comparable GAAP measure, please refer to "Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results."

Adjusted net loss for the third quarter of 2022 was US$10.2 million, compared with an adjusted net income of US$0.8 million in the third quarter of 2021. For a reconciliation of the Company's adjusted net (loss)/income from net loss, its most comparable GAAP measure, please refer to "Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results."

Gross billing^[3] was US$61.7 million for the third quarter of 2022, compared with US$195.4 million for the third quarter of 2021, primarily contributed by the contraction in Marketing Solutions segment.

As of September 30, 2022, the Company had cash and cash equivalents, time deposits and restricted cash of US$99.9 million, compared with US$88.7 million as of December 31, 2021.

Share Repurchase Program

On December 22, 2021, the Company announced a share repurchase program in which it may purchase its own ADSs with an aggregate value of up to US$20.0 million from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. As of September 30, 2022, the aggregate value of purchased shares was approximately US$7.3 million.

Conference Call

The Company will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on November 30, 2022 (9:00 PM Beijing/Hong Kong time on November 30, 2022). Participants may join the call through either of the below methods:

1. Dial-in to the conference call:

Participants are asked to pre-register for the call via the following link:
https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10027062-wh4b2i.html 

Please note that registered participants will receive their dial in number upon registration.

2. Webcast: 

Participants may also join a live and archived webcast of the call through the below link:
https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/28t5xvzq

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on iClick's investor relations website at https://ir.i-click.com.

A webcast replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the end of the call through November 30, 2023. The webcast replay can be accessed through the above link.

About iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited

Founded in 2009, iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited (NASDAQ: ICLK) is a leading enterprise and marketing cloud platform in China. iClick's mission is to empower worldwide brands to unlock the enormous market potential of smart retail. With its leading proprietary technologies, iClick's full suite of data-driven solutions helps brands drive significant business growth and profitability throughout the full consumer lifecycle. Headquartered in Hong Kong, iClick currently operates in eleven locations across Asia and Europe. For more information, please visit https://ir.i-click.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company uses adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net (loss)/income, and diluted adjusted net (loss)/income per ADS, each a non-GAAP financial measure, in evaluating the Company's operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. The Company believes that adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net (loss)/income, and diluted adjusted net (loss)/income per ADS help identify underlying trends in the Company's business that could otherwise be distorted by the effect of the expenses and gains that the Company includes in net loss. The Company believes that adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net (loss)/income provide useful information about the Company's operating results, enhance the overall understanding of the Company's past performance and future prospects, assess operating performance on a consistent basis, and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by the Company's management in its financial and operational decision-making.

Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net (loss)/income, and diluted adjusted net (loss)/income per ADS should not be considered in isolation or construed as an alternative to net loss or any other measure of performance or as an indicator of the Company's operating performance. Investors are encouraged to review the historical non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net (loss)/income, and diluted adjusted net (loss)/income per ADS presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to the Company's data. The Company encourages investors and others to review the Company's financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.

For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP results" set forth at the end of this press release.

These non-GAAP financial measures were presented with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures together for facilitating a more comprehensive understanding of operating performance between periods.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements, including those related to the Company's business strategies, operations and financial performance. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's fluctuations in growth; its success in its strategic shift away from Marketing Solutions to focus on Enterprise Solutions; its success in implementing its SaaS + X business model; its success in structuring a CRM & Marketing Cloud platform; relative percentage of its gross billing recognized as revenue under the gross and net models; its ability to retain existing clients or attract new ones; its ability to retain content distribution channels and negotiate favourable contractual terms; market competition; market acceptance of online marketing technology solutions and enterprise solutions; effectiveness of its algorithms and data engines; its ability to collect and use data from various sources; ability to integrate and realize synergies from acquisitions, investments or strategic partnership; the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak and its potential impact on the Company's business and financial performance; fluctuations in foreign exchange rates; general economic conditions in China and other jurisdictions where the Company operates; and the regulatory landscape in China and other jurisdictions where the Company operates. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's annual report on Form 20-F and other filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

(financial tables follow)

ICLICK INTERACTIVE ASIA GROUP LIMITED
Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results
(US$'000, except share data and per share data, or otherwise noted, unaudited)

Adjusted EBITDA represents net loss before (i) depreciation and amortization, (ii) interest expense, (iii) interest income, (iv) income tax expense, (v) share-based compensation, (vi) goodwill impairment, (vii) other losses/(gains), net, (viii) convertible notes and shares issuance cost, (ix) net loss attributable to non-controlling interests, (x) share of losses from an equity investee, and (xi) cost related to new business setup or acquisitions.

The table below sets forth a reconciliation of the Company's adjusted EBITDA from net loss for the periods indicated:

Adjusted net (loss)/income represents net loss before (i) share-based compensation, (ii) goodwill impairment, (iii) other losses/(gains), net, (iv) convertible notes and shares issuance cost, (v) net loss attributable to non-controlling interests, and (vi) share of losses from an equity investee, and (vii) cost related to new business setup or acquisitions. There is no material tax effects on these non-GAAP adjustments.

The table below sets forth a reconciliation of the Company's adjusted net (loss)/income from net loss for the periods indicated:

The diluted adjusted net (loss)/income per ADS for the periods indicated are calculated as follows:

SOURCE iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited