Comscore Reports First Quarter 2023 ResultsRESTON, Va., May 9, 2023 Comscore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting, and evaluating media across platforms, today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023.Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, I am pleased with the progress were making against our strategic and operational priorities, said Jon Carpenter, CEO of Comscore. Our wins over the course of the first quarter, including Warner Bros. Discovery, YouTube and IPG Mediabrands, highlight the breadth of our offerings and the confidence our clients have in the scale, transparency and interoperability of our solutions. We remain focused on execution, delivering best in class cross-platform audience solutions for our clients and value creation for our shareholders.
Q1 2023 Financial Highlights
Revenue for the first quarter was $91.6 million compared to $94.0 million in Q12022
Net loss of $8.7 million compared to $9.3 million in Q12022
Adjusted EBITDA of $5.2 million compared to $6.8 million in Q12022
FX adjusted EBITDA of $6.7 million compared to $6.4 million in Q12022
Maintaining full year guidance for revenue and adjusted EBITDA
Recent Business Developments
Selected by Warner Bros. Discovery as a preferred alternative currency partner for the 2023-2024 upfront season leveraging our unparalleled linear and cross-platform audience measurement solutions
Expanded partnership with IPG Mediabrands MAGNA, which will begin leveraging Comscores local television ratings data to inform TV buys across the organization as the companys only alternative currency provider for local television
Expanded our Comscore Campaign Ratings relationship with YouTube through a new engagement to measure incremental reach on the upcoming NFL Sunday Ticket content addition
Selected by Tubi, Fox Corporations ad-supported video-on-demand streaming service, as a measurement partner for cross-platform campaign measurement via Comscore Campaign Ratings
Entered into a partnership with PubMatic, in which Proximic by Comscores Predictive Audiences and Content Targeting solutions have been integrated into the PubMatic platform, enabling clients to leverage new targeting options and reach key audiences in premium, brand safe environments
First Quarter Summary Results
Revenue in the first quarter was $91.6 million, down 2.6% from $94.0 million in Q12022, primarily due to a decline in Digital Ad Solutions revenue from Q12022 as a result of slower ad spend, which impacted our custom digital solutions and other digital products. Cross Platform Solutions revenue was up from Q12022, with double-digit growth in local TV and continued strength in our movies business.
Our core operating expenses, which include cost of revenues, sales and marketing, research and development and general and administrative expenses, were $91.6 million, a decrease of 6.3% compared to $97.7 million in Q12022. The primary driver of the decline was employee compensation, which decreased from ongoing restructuring efforts and a higher amount of capitalization related to internally developed software.
Net loss for the quarter was $8.7 million, compared to $9.3 million in Q12022. After accounting for dividends on our convertible preferred stock, loss per share attributable to common shares was $(0.13) and $(0.14) for Q12023 and Q1 2022, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $5.2 million, compared to $6.8 million in Q12022, resulting in adjusted EBITDA margins of 5.7% and 7.2%, respectively. Excluding the impact of foreign currency transactions, FX adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $6.7 million, compared to $6.4 million in Q12022. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin exclude stock-based compensation, restructuring costs, amortization of cloud-computing implementation costs, change in fair value of contingent consideration and warrants liability, and other items as presented in the accompanying tables. FX adjusted EBITDA excludes these items as well as gain/loss from foreign currency transactions.
Balance Sheet and Liquidity
As of March 31, 2023, cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $20.7 million. Total debt principal, including $16.0 million in outstanding borrowings under our senior secured revolving credit agreement, was $18.7 million.
2023 Outlook
Based on current trends and expectations, we are maintaining our guidance for full year 2023 revenue and adjusted EBITDA, with revenue growth in the low to mid single digits over 2022 and an adjusted EBITDA margin in the double digits.
We do not provide GAAP net (loss) income on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty our future stock-based compensation expense, fair value adjustments, variable interest expense, litigation and restructuring expense and any unusual gains or losses without unreasonable effort. These items are uncertain, depend on various factors, and could be material to results computed in accordance with GAAP. For this reason, we are unable without unreasonable effort to provide a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA margin to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, GAAP net (loss) income, on a forward-looking basis.
Conference Call Information for Today, Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. ET
Management will host a conference call to discuss the results on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. ET. The live audio webcast along with supplemental information will be accessible at ir.comscore.com/events-presentations. Participants can obtain dial-in information by registering for the call at the same web address and are advised to register in advance of the call to avoid delays. Following the conference call, a replay will be available via webcast at ir.comscore.com/events-presentations.
About Comscore
Comscore is a trusted partner
