STAGWELL INC. (NASDAQ: STGW) REPORTS RESULTS FOR THE THREE AND NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Originally released on

Stagwell Sees Strong Growth in Stagwell Marketing Cloud Group and Performance Media Capabilities; International Revenue Growth of 24% in Q3

Posted $81 million of net new business in Q3; LTM net new business exceeds $250 million

Completed sale of non-core ConcentricLife for $245 million

Revenue of $618 million; Net revenue of $535 million

Net Income of $3 million; Adjusted EBITDA of $102 million

Expects 2023 Adjusted EBITDA of $390 to $410 Million 

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — (NASDAQ: STGW) — Stagwell Inc. (“Stagwell”) today announced financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023.

THIRD QUARTER AND NINE MONTHS HIGHLIGHTS:

• Q3 revenue of $618 million, a decrease of 7% versus the prior year period; YTD revenue of $1,872 million, a decrease of 5% versus the prior year period
• Q3 net revenue of $535 million, a decrease of 4% versus the prior period; YTD net revenue of $1,596 million, a decrease of 3% versus the prior year period
• Q3 organic net revenue declined 7% versus the prior year period and 5% ex-Advocacy; YTD organic net revenue declined 6% versus the prior year period and 4% ex-Advocacy
• Q3 net revenue from international increased 25%, led by increases of 30% in EMEA, 18% in LATAM and 12% in APAC
• Q3 revenue from the Stagwell Marketing Cloud Group capability increased 7%, and net revenue increased 20%
• Q3 revenue from the Performance Media & Data capability increased 8%, and net revenue increased 11%
• Q3 net income of $3 million versus net income of $35 million in the prior year period; YTD net loss of $12 million versus net income of $93 million in the prior year period
• Q3 net income attributable to Stagwell Inc. common shareholders of $653 thousand versus net income of $11 million in the prior year period; YTD net loss attributable to Stagwell Inc. common shareholders of $4 million versus net income of $34 million in the prior year period
• Q3 Adjusted EBITDA of $102 million, a decrease of 12% versus the prior year period; YTD Adjusted EBITDA of $265 million, a decrease of 19% versus the prior year period
• Q3 Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 19% on net revenue, an increase of 210 basis points sequentially; YTD Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 17% on net revenue
• Q3 earnings per share attributable to Stagwell Inc. common shareholders of $0.003
• Q3 Adjusted earnings per share attributable to Stagwell Inc. common shareholders of $0.18; YTD Adjusted earnings per share of $0.45
• Q3 net new business of $81 million; YTD net new business of $209 million

“Stagwell achieved over $100 million of EBITDA in Q3 and is on course to return to growth over the next two quarters as new business continues to flow in and the tech industry pauses and auto and entertainment strikes which have impacted this sector are ebbing,” said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO, Stagwell. “We are already growing in key areas like media and international and made adjustments to again achieve a 19% margin on net revenue.”

“We have trimmed our costs, implemented new systems, reordered our portfolio, and are ready for a strong 2024 as the political cycle kicks in again and as we introduce our cutting-edge AI products within the Stagwell Marketing Cloud. Our disposition of a single non-core asset for $245 million, which has now closed, both improves our balance sheet and readies the company for further growth and expansion through prudent investment.”

Frank Lanuto, Chief Financial Officer, commented: “In the face of continued sector-wide headwinds, we took decisive measures to reduce costs to align with our revenue which resulted in a third quarter adjusted EBITDA margin of 19 percent, in line with our targeted operating range. Continued progress with our initiatives to standardize and centralize our cost structure to the shared services platform will be accretive to margins over the next several quarters. The sale of ConcentricLife will serve to reduce net debt and will support our goal of strengthening the balance sheet and reducing financial leverage.

Financial Outlook

2023 financial guidance is as follows:

• Organic Net Revenue decline of about 4%
• Organic Net Revenue excluding Advocacy decline of about 2.5%
• Adjusted EBITDA of $390 million – $410 million
• Free Cash Flow Conversion of 40% – 50%
• Adjusted EPS of $0.73 – $0.78
• Guidance assumes no impact from foreign exchange, acquisitions or dispositions.

On October 31, 2023, the Company completed the sale of its integrated healthcare marketing agency and pharmaceutical commercialization platform, ConcentricLife, for $245 million in cash.

On November 1, 2023, the Company acquired Movers and Shakers LLC, a business that provides social media marketing solutions, for approximately $15 million, to be paid in cash or up to 30% in shares of Class A Common stock, subject to post-closing adjustments. In connection with the agreement, the previous owners are entitled to contingent consideration up to a maximum value of $35 million, subject to meeting certain future earnings targets, of which a portion may be settled in shares of Class A Common Stock at the Company’s discretion.

Video Webcast

Management will host a video webcast on Thursday, November 2, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. (ET) to discuss results for Stagwell Inc. for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023. The video webcast will be accessible at https://stgw.io/Q3Earnings. An investor presentation has been posted on our website at www.stagwellglobal.com and may be referred to during the webcast.

A recording of the webcast will be accessible one hour after the webcast and available for ninety days at www.stagwellglobal.com.

Stagwell Inc.

Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

Contacts

For Investors: 
Ben Allanson
Ir@stagwellglobal.com

For Press:
Beth Sidhu
Pr@stagwellglobal.com

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to its reported results, Stagwell Inc. has included in this earnings release certain financial results that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defines as “non-GAAP Financial Measures.” Management believes that such non-GAAP financial measures, when read in conjunction with the Company’s reported results, can provide useful supplemental information for investors analyzing period to period comparisons of the Company’s results. Such non-GAAP financial measures include the following:

(1) Organic Revenue: “Organic revenue growth” and “Organic revenue decline” refer to the positive or negative revenue results, respectively, of subtracting the impact of foreign exchange and acquisition (disposition) from total revenue growth. The impact of foreign currency represents the period-over-period change in revenue driven by the fluctuation of foreign exchange rates between such periods and is calculated as the difference between prior period revenue reported and prior period revenue converted utilizing the current period foreign exchange rates. The impact of acquisitions is calculated as follows (a) for entities purchased in the current year, prior year revenue of the acquired entity beginning on the acquisition date, as if we acquired the entity in the prior year, through the end of the reported period and (b) for entities purchased in the prior year, prior year revenue of the acquired entity as if we acquired the entity at the beginning of the reported period through the date of acquisition (prior year revenue for the period we did not own the acquired entity). The impact of divestitures is calculated as the prior year revenue of the disposed entity from the date of disposition, as if the entity was disposed of in the prior year, to the end of the reporting period. “Net Organic revenue growth” and “Net Organic revenue decline” also excludes the impact of Billable costs in analyzing Organic revenue growth (decline) as these costs and their fluctuations are not indicative of the operating performance of our underlying business.

(2) Net New Business: Estimate of annualized revenue for new wins less annualized revenue for losses incurred in the period.

(3) Adjusted EBITDA: defined as Net income excluding non-operating income or expense to achieve operating income, plus depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, deferred acquisition consideration adjustments, and other items. Other items include restructuring costs, acquisition-related expenses, and non-recurring items.

(4) Adjusted Diluted EPS is defined as (i) Net income (loss) attributable to Stagwell Inc. common shareholders, plus net income attributable to Class C shareholders, excluding amortization expense, impairment and other losses, stock-based compensation, deferred acquisition consideration adjustments, discrete tax items, and other items, divided by (ii) (a) the per weighted average number of common shares outstanding plus (b) the weighted average number of Class C shares outstanding, (if dilutive). Other items includes restructuring costs, acquisition-related expenses, and non-recurring items, and subject to the anti-dilution rules.

(5) Free Cash Flow: defined as Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures, change in net working capital, cash taxes, interest, and distributions to minority interests, but excludes contingent M&A payments.

(6) Financial Guidance: The Company provides guidance on a non-GAAP basis as it cannot predict certain elements which are included in reported GAAP results.

Included in this earnings release are tables reconciling reported Stagwell Inc. results to arrive at certain of these non-GAAP financial measures.

This document contains forward-looking statements. within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The Company’s representatives may also make forward-looking statements orally or in writing from time to time. Statements in this document that are not historical facts, including, statements about the Company’s beliefs and expectations, future financial performance and future prospects, business and economic trends, potential acquisitions, and estimates of amounts for redeemable noncontrolling interests and deferred acquisition consideration, constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, which are generally denoted by words such as “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “create,” “estimate,” “expect,” “focus,” “forecast,” “foresee,” “future,” “guidance,” “intend,” “look,” “may,” “opportunity,” “outlook,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” or the negative of such terms or other variations thereof and terms of similar substance used in connection with any discussion of current plans, estimates and projections are subject to change based on a number of factors, including those outlined in this section.

Forward-looking statements in this document are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Although the management of the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. The material assumptions upon which such forward-looking statements are based include, among others, assumptions with respect to general business, economic and market conditions, the competitive environment, anticipated and unanticipated tax consequences and anticipated and unanticipated costs. These forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and are subject to change based on a number of factors, including those outlined in this section. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside the Company’s control. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any of them in light of new information or future events, if any.

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

• risks associated with international, national and regional unfavorable economic conditions that could affect the Company or its clients;
• the continued impact of the coronavirus pandemic (“COVID-19”), and evolving strains of COVID-19 on the economy and demand for the Company’s services, which may precipitate or exacerbate other risks and uncertainties;
• inflation and actions taken by central banks to counter inflation;
• the Company’s ability to attract new clients and retain existing clients;
• the impact of a reduction in client spending and changes in client advertising, marketing and corporate communications requirements;
• financial failure of the Company’s clients;
• the Company’s ability to retain and attract key employees;
• the Company’s ability to compete in the markets in which it operates;
• the Company’s ability to achieve its cost saving initiatives;
• the Company’s implementation of strategic initiatives;
• the Company’s ability to remain in compliance with its debt agreements and the Company’s ability to finance its contingent payment obligations when due and payable, including but not limited to those relating to redeemable noncontrolling interests and deferred acquisition consideration;
• the Company’s ability to manage its growth effectively, including the successful completion and integration of acquisitions that complement and expand the Company’s business capabilities;
• the Company’s ability to develop products incorporating new technologies, including augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality, and realize benefits from such products;
• an inability to realize expected benefits of the combination of the Company’s business with the business of MDC Partners Inc. (the “Transactions”) and other completed, pending, or contemplated acquisitions;
• adverse tax consequences in connection with the Transactions for the Company, its operations and its shareholders, that may differ from the expectations of the Company, including that future changes in tax law, potential increases to corporate tax rates in the United States and disagreements with the tax authorities on the Company’s determination of value and computations of its attributes may result in increased tax costs;
• the occurrence of material Canadian federal income tax (including material “emigration tax”) as a result of the Transactions;
• the Company’s unremediated material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and its ability to establish and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting;
• the Company’s ability to protect client data from security incidents or cyberattacks;
• economic disruptions resulting from war and other geopolitical tensions (such as the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine), terrorist activities and natural disasters;
• stock price volatility; and
• foreign currency fluctuations.

Investors should carefully consider these risk factors, other risk factors described herein, and the additional risk factors outlined in more detail in our 2022 Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 6, 2023, and accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, under the caption “Risk Factors,” and in the Company’s other SEC filings.