Cision Reports Second Quarter 2019 Results; Provides Updated Full Year 2019 Outlook

CHICAGO, Aug. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cision Ltd. (NYSE: CISN), a leading global provider of earned media software and services to public relations and marketing communications professionals, today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Financial Highlights

Second Quarter 2019

• Revenue increased 1.6% to $190.5 million
• Revenue, excluding the impact of purchase accounting, increased 3.5% to $194.3 million
• Operating income decreased 20.8% to $17.6 million
• Net loss was $7.8 million versus a prior year net loss of $6.6 million
• Adjusted EBITDA was $66.1 million
• Adjusted net income increased 0.3% to $29.5 million
• Adjusted net income per share was $0.20

"We are pleased to have delivered another strong quarter of financial results. Our business continues to perform well, with second quarter 2019 organic constant currency revenue growth of 3.4% versus the prior year," said Kevin Akeroyd, Cision's Chief Executive Officer. "We are well positioned for the remainder of 2019 and continue to make solid progress on both our operational priorities and delivering world-class products and services to our public relations and marketing communications customers."

Second Quarter Business Statistics and Operational Highlights

• Americas revenues increased 2.6% to $130.2 million
• EMEA revenues decreased 0.7% to $51.6 million
• APAC revenues increased 1.1% to $8.7 million
• Average pro forma subscription customers increased 2.5% to approximately 46,340
• Average annualized pro forma revenue per subscription customer, excluding the impact of currency, increased 2.1% to approximately $11,510
• Customers that purchased services from us on a transaction basis decreased 9.2% to approximately 37,422
• Average quarterly pro forma revenue per customer that purchased services from us on a transaction basis, excluding the impact of currency, increased 6.2% to approximately $1,535

Subscription and Transaction Customer Trends

All of the figures below are proforma for our acquisitions and divestitures 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 Third 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, we have provided an initial outlook for our third quarter ending September 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.

The above outlook assumes the inclusion of results from our acquisitions from the date of their respective acquisitions through the quarter ended September 30, 2019 and year ended December 31, 2019, and the inclusion of results from our e-mail marketing assets from January 1, 2019 through the date of its divestiture. The updated outlook above assumes LIBOR of approximately 2.3%, EURIBOR of approximately 0%, and the following exchange rates with respect to the British Pound, the Euro and the Canadian Dollar for fiscal year 2019:          

A number of foreign currencies, including the British Pound, the Euro, 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 $3.0 million and $1.0 million, respectively. 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 second quarter 2019 financial results on Thursday, August 8, 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 August 8, 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 10133402. The replay will be available through August 22, 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 4,800 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.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Non-GAAP results are presented only as a supplement to our financial statements based on US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Non-GAAP financial information is provided to enhance the reader's understanding of our financial performance, but none of these non-GAAP financial measures are recognized terms under GAAP, and non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of the most directly comparable GAAP measures to non-GAAP measures, such as Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted net income per share, are provided within the schedules attached to this release. We use non-GAAP measures in our operational and financial decision-making, believing that it is useful to exclude certain items in order to focus on what we deem to be a more reliable indicator of ongoing operating performance and our ability to generate cash flow from operations. As a result, internal management reports used during monthly operating reviews include Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted net income per share. Additionally, we believe that the presentation of non-GAAP measures provides information that is useful to investors as it indicates, for example, our ability to meet capital expenditures and working capital requirements and otherwise meet our obligations as they become due. Investors are cautioned that non-GAAP financial measures are not a substitute for GAAP disclosures. This communication also includes certain forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures. We are unable to present without unreasonable efforts a reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP financial information to the corresponding GAAP financial information because management cannot reliably predict all of the necessary information. Forward-looking non-GAAP financial information is based on numerous assumptions, including assumptions with respect to general business, economic, market, regulatory and financial conditions and various other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this information. Non-GAAP measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties in their evaluation of companies comparable to Cision, many of which present non-GAAP measures when reporting their results. These measures can be useful in evaluating our performance against our peer companies because we believe the measures provide users with valuable insight into key components of GAAP financial disclosures. However, non-GAAP measures have limitations as an analytical tool. Non-GAAP measures are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. They are not presentations made in accordance with GAAP, are not measures of financial condition or liquidity, and should not be considered as an alternative to profit or loss for the period determined in accordance with GAAP or operating cash flows determined in accordance with GAAP. As a result, you should not consider such performance measures in isolation from, or as a substitute analysis for, results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP.

Investor Contact:
Jack Pearlstein
Chief Financial Officer
Jack.Pearlstein@cision.com

Media Contact:
Jenn Deering Davis
VP, Communications
Jenn.Deering.Davis@cision.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/467136/cision_logo.jpg