Comscore reports second quarter 2022 results

Comscore, Inc. , a trusted partner for planning, transacting, and evaluating media across platforms, today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022.

Q2 2022 Financial highlights

• Revenue for the second quarter was $91.4 million compared to $87.7 million in Q2 2021
• Cross Platform Solutions revenue grew 13.2% year over year to $39.8 million driven by local and national TV measurement and the continued rebound in our Movies business
• Digital Ad Solutions revenue declined 1.7% to $51.6 million due to slower ad spend, which impacted Activation and other digital products
• Net loss of $5.1 million compared to a net loss of $18.5 million in Q2 2021
• Adjusted EBITDA of $6.5 million compared to $2.6 million in Q2 2021

Recent business developments

Cross Platform Solutions

• Comscore’s ongoing currency trials with Discovery, Warner Media and NBCU are proceeding well.
• Horizon Media is exclusively testing Comscore’s local TV measurement solution as a new form of currency for 2023 planning and buying following their commitment to transact up to 15% of upfronts with alternative currencies.
• Publicis is testing Comscore’s first generation Cross Platform Planning tool, with the goal to align local, national and cross-platform delivery.
• Gray Media expanded its local market TV subscription in 11 new local markets. Additionally, our independent agency growth was strong, signing 12 new agencies and expanding markets with nine existing independent agency accounts in Q2.

 Digital Ad Solutions

• SiriusXM’s AdsWizz has agreed to integrate Comscore’s cookie-free Predictive Audiences targeting and AI contextual categorization engine for publishers and marketers across AdsWizz’s podcast ecosystem.
• We added CTV measurement to our Video Metrix Multi-Platform product, including YouTube traffic sharing measurement, for India, Spain, the UK, Italy, France and Germany. Comscore is the first international measurement provider to deliver complete audience measurement across YouTube’s largest platforms at the device level for PC, mobile and CTV.
• In Q2 we launched phase 1 of Total Digital, the new user interface for our syndicated digital suite. This new platform integrates a portion of our digital suite and all social measurement solutions into a unified, user-friendly dashboard that provides marketers, agencies and publishers with an always-on view of how consumers are engaging with content and advertising.

“I was honored to step into the CEO role in July and remain excited about the opportunity ahead for Comscore. This is a critical time for the industry and we are committed and focused on delivering innovative products and solutions that our customers want and driving the growth and profitability our shareholders expect. The quarter highlights the momentum in our business, particularly in Cross Platform Solutions, which includes our growing local and national television businesses. While there is still work to be done, I am excited and energized about the opportunity ahead,” said Jon Carpenter, CEO of Comscore.

Second quarter summary results
Revenue in the second quarter was $91.4 million, up 4.3% from $87.7 million in Q2 2021, with growth from increases in TV, Movies and Custom Digital Solutions partially offset by lower revenue from Activation and other digital products due to slower ad spend. Expenses from cost of revenues, sales and marketing, research and development and general and administrative were $96.0 million, up 4.0% from $92.3 million in Q2 2021.

Net loss for the quarter was $5.1 million, compared to net loss of $18.5 million in Q2 2021. After accounting for dividends on our convertible preferred stock, loss per share attributable to common shares was $(0.10), compared to a loss per share of $(0.28) in Q2 2021.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $6.5 million, compared to $2.6 million in Q2 2021, resulting in adjusted EBITDA margins of 7.1% and 3.0%, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin exclude stock-based compensation, change in fair value of contingent consideration, financing derivatives and warrants liability, debt extinguishment costs, amortization of cloud-computing implementation costs, and other items as presented in the accompanying tables.

Balance sheet and liquidity
As of June 30, 2022, cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $20.1 million. Total debt principal, including $16.0 million in outstanding borrowings under our senior secured revolving credit agreement, was $20.7 million.

2022 Outlook
Based on current trends and expectations, we believe 2022 total revenue will increase between 5% and 7% over 2021 and that our adjusted EBITDA margin will exceed 9%.

We do not provide GAAP net loss 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, on a forward-looking basis. BCS Bureau