Comscore Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results and Announces Leadership Transition

RESTON, Va., Nov. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Comscore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms, today reported financial results for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2019. The company also announced today that Bill Livek has been appointed by Comscore's board of directors as chief executive officer and executive vice chairman, effective immediately, bringing his 40 years of experience in the world of media and consumer measurement to the CEO role.

Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results

• Revenue for the third quarter was $94.3 million compared to $102.9 million in the prior-year quarter
• Net loss of $10.6 million, or $(0.16) per share, compared to a net loss of $24.6 million, or $(0.42) per share in the year-ago quarter
• Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter increased 23.2% year-over-year to $6.4 million
• Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of $58.5 million increased 16.5% since Dec. 31, 2018
• Cost actions taken beginning to flow through; on track to be fully realized in 2020

"This was a transformative quarter for Comscore, as we made substantial progress in refocusing our product portfolio to provide our customers and partners with innovative solutions. During my tenure as interim chief executive officer, we significantly reduced our core operating costs, right-sized our organizational structure, and executed on a strategy that we believe will allow us to achieve breakeven operating cashflow by the end of the year," said Dale Fuller, director and former interim chief executive officer of Comscore. "I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have served as Comscore's interim CEO and believe we are a stronger organization to continue our transformation and bring innovative products and services to our customers. After much consideration, I believe I am best able to serve Comscore and its mission as a member of the board of directors."

"I would like to thank Dale for his guidance and leadership throughout this transition," said Bill Livek, Comscore's chief executive officer and executive vice chairman. "I am excited about the prospects that lie ahead for Comscore and the opportunities we continue to believe are ripe for disruption. I look forward to capitalizing on these opportunities and creating meaningful value for our stakeholders."

Third Quarter Summary Results

Total revenue in the third quarter of 2019 was $94.3 million, down from $102.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Ratings and Planning revenue decreased to $65.3 million in the third quarter of 2019, compared to $70.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The decrease was the result of a decline in syndicated digital products. TV and cross-platform products were flat compared to the same period last year as a result of higher local TV revenue and increased delivery of cross-platform products, offset by lower national TV revenue.

Analytics and Optimization revenue declined to $18.3 million in the third quarter of 2019, compared to $22.2 million in the year-ago quarter. The decrease was related to lower digital custom marketing solution sales and deliveries in the third quarter of 2019 as compared to the prior-year period. This decrease was offset, in part, by increased revenue from Activation products.

Movies Reporting and Analytics revenue was $10.7 million in the third quarter of 2019, compared to $10.2 million in the year-ago quarter.

During the third quarter of 2019, the company announced a settlement with the SEC, resolving a previously disclosed investigation into financial accounting and disclosure practices between February 2014 and February 2016. In agreeing to the settlement, which includes a civil monetary penalty of $5.0 million, the company neither admitted nor denied the SEC's allegations. Following a separate proceeding by the SEC, the company received a clawback of $2.1 million from its former chief executive officer.

Net loss for the third quarter of 2019 was $10.6 million, or $(0.16) per share, compared to a net loss of $24.6 million, or $(0.42) per share reported in the year-ago quarter.

For the third quarter of 2019, non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA was $6.4 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $5.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA excludes stock-based compensation expense; settlement of certain litigation (including the clawback referenced above); investigation, litigation and audit-related expense; restructuring expense; change in fair value of financing derivatives and warrants liability; and other items as presented in the accompanying tables.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of September 30, 2019, cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $58.5 million, including $4.7 million in restricted cash and $2.1 million from the clawback related to the SEC proceeding. Total debt principal as of September 30, 2019, including $204.0 million of senior secured convertible notes, was $213.2 million.  

Conference Call Information for Today, Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 5:00 p.m. ET

Management will provide commentary on the company's results in a conference call today at 5:00 p.m. ET. To access the call, dial +1 844-229-7593 (domestic) or +1 314-888-4258 (international) and reference conference ID # 2225657. Participants are advised to dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the call to register. Additionally, a live webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website at ir.comscore.com/events-presentations. Following the conference call, a replay will be available by dialing +1 855-859-2056 (domestic) or +1 404-537-3406 (international) with passcode # 2225657. The replay will also be available via webcast at ir.comscore.com/events-presentations.

About Comscore

Comscore (Nasdaq: SCOR) is a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms. With a data footprint that combines digital, linear TV, over-the-top and theatrical viewership intelligence with advanced audience insights, Comscore allows media buyers and sellers to quantify their multiscreen behavior and make business decisions with confidence. A proven leader in measuring digital and TV audiences and advertising at scale, Comscore is the industry's emerging, third-party source for reliable and comprehensive cross-platform measurement.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal and state securities laws, including, without limitation, Comscore's expectations, forecasts, plans and opinions regarding product development and innovation, organizational restructuring, the company's ability to achieve breakeven operating cash flow in 2019, strategic plans, future prospects and market opportunities, and value creation for the company's stakeholders. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ materially from expectations, including, but not limited to, Comscore's ability to achieve its expected strategic, financial and operational plans. For additional discussion of risk factors, please refer to Comscore's respective Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings that Comscore makes from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available on the SEC's website (www.sec.gov).

Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date such statements are made. Comscore does not intend or undertake, and expressly disclaims, any duty or obligation to publicly update any forward- looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or new information after the date of this press release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, we are disclosing herein non-GAAP net income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA, which are non-GAAP financial measures used by our management to understand and evaluate our core operating performance and trends. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results, as they permit our investors to view our core business performance using the same metrics that management uses to evaluate our performance. Nevertheless, our use of these non-GAAP financial measures has limitations as an analytical tool, and investors should not consider these measures in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Instead, you should consider these measures alongside GAAP-based financial performance measures, net income (loss), various cash flow metrics, and our other GAAP financial results.

Set forth below are reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. These reconciliations should be carefully evaluated.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The following table presents a reconciliation of net loss (GAAP) to adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods identified:

The following table presents a reconciliation of net loss (GAAP) to non-GAAP net loss for each of the periods identified:

We do not provide GAAP net income (loss) on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty our future stock-based compensation expense, investigation, audit-related and litigation expense, fair value adjustments for financing derivatives and warrants, variable interest expense for outstanding senior secured convertible notes, 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 non-GAAP net loss to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, GAAP net income (loss), on a forward-looking basis.

Supplemental Non-GAAP Disclosure

The following tables present a reconciliation of certain non-GAAP expense line items (to be discussed on today's conference call) to the most directly comparable GAAP expense line items. GAAP expense line items have been adjusted to exclude the effects of stock-based compensation.

We do not provide GAAP cost of revenues, selling and marketing, research and development, general and administrative, and restructuring expense on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty our future stock-based compensation expense without unreasonable effort. Stock-based compensation expense is uncertain, depends 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 non-GAAP operating expense to the most directly comparable GAAP measure on a forward-looking basis.

Revenues

Revenues from our three offerings of products and services are as follows:

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SOURCE Comscore