ADDING And REPLACING Digital Media Solutions, Inc. Announces Q4 And Full Year 2022 Financial Results And The Completion Of Asset Purchases

  • Fourth-quarter net revenue of $100.8 million
  • Full year 2022 revenue of $391.1 million, exceeding guidance
  • Fourth-quarter net loss of $25.1 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $7.1 million
  • Full year 2022 net loss of $52.5 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $25.7 million
  • Fourth-quarter gross margin of 24.8% and Variable Marketing Margin (VMM) of 30.6%
  • Full year gross margin of 26.4% and VMM of 32.7%
  • Closed previously announced acquisition of HomeQuote.io marketplace and ClickDealer international ad network

CLEARWATER, Fla. —March 31, 2023— Add after last paragraph of release: SUPPLEMENT section to include quarterly data for the Non-GAAP Financial Measures tables.

The updated release reads:

Digital Media Solutions, Inc. Announces Q4 And Full Year 2022 Financial Results And The Completion Of Asset Purchases From Customer Direct Group

  • Fourth-quarter net revenue of $100.8 million
  • Full year 2022 revenue of $391.1 million, exceeding guidance
  • Fourth-quarter net loss of $25.1 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $7.1 million
  • Full year 2022 net loss of $52.5 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $25.7 million
  • Fourth-quarter gross margin of 24.8% and Variable Marketing Margin (VMM) of 30.6%
  • Full year gross margin of 26.4% and VMM of 32.7%
  • Closed previously announced acquisition of HomeQuote.io marketplace and ClickDealer international ad network

Digital Media Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of technology-enabled digital performance advertising solutions connecting consumers and advertisers, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022, along with the completion of asset purchases from Customer Direct Group.

DMS serves 285 scaled enterprise customers and over 7,000 SMBs across the P&C Insurance, Health Insurance, Ecommerce, Career and Education, and Consumer Finance verticals with digital performance marketing solutions.

“We are proud of our results in a dynamic operating environment, exceeding guidance for full year 2022 net revenue. Our results demonstrate the strength of our agnostic solutions, which are highlighted by the diversity in our customers and the end markets we serve. We are excited to add the HomeQuote.io marketplace and ClickDealer’s international performance ad network to the DMS ecosystem,” said Joe Marinucci, CEO of DMS. “Home improvement and related home services represent an enormous addressable market opportunity for future growth. ClickDealer’s international ad network will expand our Brand Direct business globally, allowing us to serve more advertisers and consumers in key verticals and end markets. Both businesses will continue to benefit from our proprietary technology, first-party data, and expansive and agnostic media reach.”

“Diversity in both our customer base and verticals we serve allows DMS to remain agile to move as markets dictate, giving us a competitive advantage. Earlier this year, we focused on strengthening our balance sheet, which provides ample flexibility to continue to invest in our strategic growth initiatives. Given the length of the current market cycle, we continue to be diligently focused on managing our operating expenses as a major financial performance lever that is fully under our control,” Rick Rodick, CFO, added.

Additionally, DMS successfully raised new equity financing to strengthen the company's balance sheet. This financing includes participation by DMS co-founders along with strategic investors and will better position the company to execute on its growth initiatives in 2023 and beyond. For additional information, see the private placement of convertible preferred stock press release at https://investors.digitalmediasolutions.com.

Fourth Quarter 2022 Performance:

(All comparisons are relative to the fourth quarter of 2021)

  • Net revenue of $100.8 million, down 15.3%
  • Gross profit margin of 24.8%, a decrease of 4.9 PPTS
  • Variable Marketing Margin of 30.6%, an increase of 0.2 PPTS
  • Operating expenses totaled $50.1 million, a decrease of $4.7 million
  • Net loss of $25.1 million compared to net income of $3.9 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $7.1 million compared to $14.7 million
  • EPS of $(0.38) compared to $(0.11)
  • Ended the quarter with $48.8 million in cash and cash equivalents, and total debt of $256.8 million

Fourth Quarter 2022 Segment Performance (including intra-company revenue):

(All comparisons are relative to the fourth quarter of 2021)

  • Brand Direct Solutions generated revenue of $55.9 million, down 23.1%. Gross margin was 21.3%, down from 23.7%.
  • Marketplace Solutions generated revenue of $50.3 million, down 14.6%. Gross margin was 22.0%, down from 28.4%.
  • Technology Solutions generated revenue of $2.3 million, down 37.4%. Gross margin was 83.4%, up from 37.6%.

Full Year 2022 Performance:

(All comparisons are relative to the full year of 2021)

  • Net revenue of $391.1 million, down 8.6%
  • Gross profit margin of 26.4%, a decrease of 2.8 PPTS
  • Variable Marketing Margin of 32.7%, a decrease of 2.7 PPTS
  • Operating expenses totaled $155.8 million, a decrease of $29.3 million
  • Net loss of $52.5 million compared to net income of $6.2 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $25.7 million compared to $58.0 million
  • EPS of $(0.84) compared to $0.06
  • Ended the year with $48.8 million in cash and cash equivalents, and total debt of $256.8 million

Full Year 2022 Segment Performance (including intra-company revenue):

(All comparisons are relative to the full year of 2021)

  • Brand Direct Solutions generated revenue of $204.2 million, down 19.5%. Gross margin was 21.0%, down from 23.0%.
  • Marketplace Solutions generated revenue of $216.4 million, down 3.5%. Gross margin was 24.1%, down from 27.0%.
  • Technology Solutions generated revenue of $9.8 million, up 1.7%. Gross margin was 85.4%, up from 63.2%.

First Quarter and Second Quarter 2023 Guidance:

DMS anticipates Revenue, Gross Margin, Variable Marketing Margin and Adjusted EBITDA to be in the following ranges:

Our guidance for Q1 2023 reflects typical seasonality along with continued challenging market conditions in our P&C vertical. Q2 reflects the financial contribution we expect to realize from closing the Homequote.io and ClickDealer acquisition. We are not providing full year 2023 guidance at this time.

First Quarter 2023:

  • Net Revenue: $90 – $92 million
  • Gross Margin: 24% – 26%
  • Variable Marketing Margin: 30% – 35%
  • Adjusted EBITDA: $3 – $5 million

Second Quarter 2023:

  • Net Revenue: $108 – $112 million
  • Gross Margin: 24% – 26%
  • Variable Marketing Margin: 30% – 35%
  • Adjusted EBITDA: $6 – $8 million

Adjusted EBITDA and Variable Marketing Margin are non-GAAP financial measures. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA and Variable Marketing Margin provide useful information to investors and help explain and isolate the core operating performance of the business — refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section below. For guidance purposes, the Company is not providing a quantitative reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures in reliance on the “unreasonable efforts” exception for forward-looking non-GAAP measures set forth in SEC rules because certain financial information, the probable significance of which cannot be determined, is not available and cannot be reasonably estimated without unreasonable effort and expense.

Conference Call and Webcast Information:

The U.S. toll-free dial-in for the conference call is 1-844-200-6205, and the international dial-in number is 1-646-904-5544. The access code is 437128. A live webcast of the conference call will be available on the investor relations page of the company's website at https://investors.digitalmediasolutions.com.

A replay will be available after the conclusion of the call on March 31, 2023, through April 7, 2023. The U.S. toll-free replay dial-in number is 1-866-813-9403, and the international replay dial-in number is 1-929-458-6194. The replay access code is 447159.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are made in reliance upon such acts and the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1955. DMS’s actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. These forward statements are often identified by words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, DMS’s expectations with respect to its and ClickDealer’s future performance and its ability to implement its strategy and are based on the beliefs and expectations of our management team from the information available at the time such statements are made. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Most of these factors are outside DMS’s control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) DMS’s ability to attain the expected financial benefits from the ClickDealer transaction, (2) any impacts to the ClickDealer business from our acquisition thereof, (3) the COVID-19 pandemic or other public health crises; (4) management of our international expansion as a result of the ClickDealer acquisition; (5) changes in client demand for our services and our ability to adapt to such changes; (6) the entry of new competitors in the market; (7) the ability to maintain and attract consumers and advertisers in the face of changing economic or competitive conditions; (8) the ability to maintain, grow and protect the data DMS obtains from consumers and advertisers, and to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations in newly entered markets; (9) the performance of DMS’s technology infrastructure; (10) the ability to protect DMS’s intellectual property rights; (11) the ability to successfully source, complete and integrate acquisitions; (12) the ability to improve and maintain adequate internal controls over financial and management systems, and remediate material weaknesses therein, including any integration of the ClickDealer business; (13) changes in applicable laws or regulations and the ability to maintain compliance; (14) our substantial levels of indebtedness; (15) volatility in the trading price on the NYSE of our common stock and warrants; (16) fluctuations in value of our private placement warrants; and (17) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in DMS’s filings with the SEC, including those under “Risk Factors” in DMS’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and its subsequent filings with the SEC. There may be additional risks that we consider immaterial or which are unknown, and it is not possible to predict or identify all such risks. DMS cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. DMS cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. DMS does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

About DMS:

Digital Media Solutions, Inc. is a leading provider of data-driven, technology-enabled digital performance advertising solutions connecting consumers and advertisers within the auto, home, health, and life insurance, plus a long list of top consumer verticals. The DMS first-party data asset, proprietary advertising technology, significant proprietary media distribution, and data-driven processes help digital advertising clients de-risk their advertising spend while scaling their customer bases. Learn more at https://digitalmediasolutions.com.

For more, read the full press release here.

For inquiries related to media, contact marketing@dmsgroup.com.

For inquiries related to investor relations, contact investors@dmsgroup.com.

General Inquiries: 
press@dmsgroup.com 

About the author

Digital Media Solutions

Digital Media Solutions, Inc. (DMS) drives better business results by connecting high-intent consumers with advertisers across our core verticals; Insurance (auto, home, health), Education and Consumer/Ecommerce. Our innovative solutions help consumers shop and save, while helping our advertisers achieve above average return on ad spend. Learn more at https://digitalmediasolutions.com.