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spk06: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the VoxTor Q4 and year-end 2023 earnings call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we'll conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call, you require immediate assistance, express star 0 for the operator. This call is being recorded on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jordan Ross, COO. Please go ahead.
spk04: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for the Boxster 2023 fourth quarter and year-end earnings call, where we will discuss our financial results and business highlights. Please note that our annual results were released April 29, 2024, and can be accessed on CDAR Plus and on our website at boxster.com. Joining me today are CEO Gary Ullman and CFO Robin Dyson. We will begin with prepared remarks and then move into Q&A. If we are unable to get to your question, you are always welcome to contact me directly at jordan.boxter.com. Rob and Dyson will begin by reviewing our financial results. After that, Gary Yeoman will provide updates as to how we are progressing towards our objectives through capital market activities, organic growth initiatives, and operational efficiencies. Before we get started, please be advised that some of the information that we will share on this call may contain forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and undertake no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or changes in our expectations. Further, on today's call, we will report using both IFRS and non-GAAP financial measures. We use these non-GAAP financial measures internally for financial and operational decision-making purposes, as we believe that they provide a meaningful measurement of financial performance and valuation. These non-GAAP financial measures are presented in addition to and not as a substitute for financial measures calculated in accordance with IFRFs. To see the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures, please refer to our press release distributed Monday, April 29, 2024, and our management's discussion and analysis, both of which are available on CDAR+. A replay of today's call will also be posted on our website. Finally, please note that all references to amounts or currencies during today's call are to Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Robin Dyson.
spk07: Thank you, Jorgen. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. As noted on our Q3 earnings call, on November 1, 2023, the company completed the sale of its appraisal management business. In accordance with IFRS, this line of business has been accounted for as a discontinued operation. As such, all P&L activity related to this business for the current and prior periods has been carved out of the individual revenue and expense line items in the financial statements and has been reflected as a single line item in the presentation of each of net income loss and comprehensive income loss. Net income from discontinued operations for fiscal 2023 was approximately $12.2 million. Of this, approximately $8.5 million was represents the gain on disposal of the discontinued operation. The annual MD&A presents key financial metrics for both continuing and discontinued operations. The metrics to be discussed on today's call will be based on continuing operations, unless otherwise noted. Moving to our discussion of revenue. Revenue decreased from $20.3 million to $9.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and decreased from $60.2 million to $48.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. These decreases were primarily attributable to the negative impact of significantly increasing interest rates on certain lines of business, and the negative impact on revenue of the amendments made to the services agreement with a previously related party effective January 1st, 2023, which meant amendments also resulted in a significant decrease in direct and indirect operating expense that was required to support this revenue stream. As noted on the previous earnings call, the related party reference with respect to the service agreement is no longer a related party as of April 2023. Gross profit decreased from 9.9 million to 6.1 million for the three months ended December 31st, 2023, and 2022, respectively, and increased to 31.5 million from 27.9 million for the years ended December 31st, 2023, and 2022, respectively. The changes in gross profit are attributable to changes in the composition of revenue streams and the underlying cost to support those revenue streams. Gross profit margin increased to 61% from 49% for the three months ended December 31st, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and increased to 64% from 46% for the years ended December 31st, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Some other highlights. Utilizing proceeds from the sale of the appraisal management business, the company paid down approximately 23 million on principle of its credit facilities. From an ongoing cash flow perspective, this debt reduction will provide annual principal and interest savings of approximately $8.2 million. As discussed on previous earnings calls, in response to market conditions, the company continues to focus on cost reduction, cash management, and the reduction of term debt. Recently, amendments to the company's credit agreement were executed. which amendments waive breaches of covenants that existed prior to the date of the amendment and establish revised covenants. I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Gary Yeoman, to provide business updates.
spk03: Thank you, Robin, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Despite facing some significant challenges throughout 2023, I report that we've made reasonable progress in navigating through these turbulent times. Our team's resilience, dedication, and adaptability have been instrumental in achieving these results. As you all know, the economic landscape this past and current year has been marked by high mortgage rates, which have continued to pose challenges to our business and have had a noticeable impact on our revenue. Throughout the year, we've witnessed the impact of these elevated rates on consumer sentiment, purchasing power, and overall market dynamics within the trading of mortgage assets. Notwithstanding these persistent headwinds, I'm happy to share that we continue to navigate these challenges by focusing on what we can control. This includes such things as investing in and growing our technology assets. As a result, we've seen an increase in our gross profit margins. This investment is a testament to our commitment to future-proofing the company with the evolving industry trends, such as real-time mortgage asset pricing, trading, and automated due diligence offerings within the Bluewater platform, new property valuation methodologies leveraging our ANOW and APEX software, and property data validation technologies with our Boxster Verify workflow, to name a few. As we navigate these changes in the industry, we're doubling down on innovation, strategic initiatives, and unwavering dedication to decreasing our debt in order to create long-term value for our shareholders. Furthermore, we've been diligent in managing our financial position and have worked hard to reduce our debt levels by almost 50%, as previously noted by way of the sale of our appraisal management services business. This decision and others are not easy. but ones we must take. Also, we have recently executed an amendment to our credit agreement with the Bank of Montreal. The amendment weighs all previous breaches that existed prior to the date of this amendment and establishes revised covenants. As previously mentioned, we have a great partnership with the Bank of Montreal, and this is a clear indication of their commitment to Boxter and allowing us to achieve future success. I am grateful for this and the rest of our executive team for getting this done. Although this is an important piece of the puzzle, we have several other initiatives going on to reduce our credit facilities further and hope to be able to update you with these details in the very near future. The strategic priority of reducing our debt should position Voxer becoming cash flow positive again in the near future. In addition, in terms of the bottom line, we have successfully decreased the amount of evident loss this year from last, despite having lower revenues, although we still have a ways to go. I am proud of the team for this significant achievement and reflects our dedication to improving operational efficiency and financial management. Looking ahead, I remain optimistic about the future. We proactively implemented measures to mitigate the effects of high mortgage interest rates on our financial performance, and we continue to explore new avenues for growth and innovation. Our commitment to delivering value to our stakeholders remains unwavering, and we are confident in our ability to weather these challenges and emerge stronger than ever. As we move forward, we will remain focused on executing our strategic initiatives, which involves reducing the debt, fostering a culture of innovation, and seizing opportunities for growth in both existing and new markets. Again, in closing, I want to express my sincere gratitude to our dedicated team members whose hard work and dedication have been instrumental in achieving our goals, despite the challenges we've faced. I also want to thank our shareholders and investors for their continued support and confidence during these difficult times. As we continue on this journey, I'm confident that together we will overcome any obstacles that come our way and achieve greater success in the future. With a clear mission to be cash flow and even a positive, along with the proactive measures in place, we are confident in our ability to adapt, thrive, and deliver long-term value to our stakeholders, clients, and employees. Thank you once again for your participation in today's call, and we appreciate your interest in Boxer. We'd be happy now to answer any questions you may have at this time. I'll hand it over to the operators to start the Q&A. Operator?
spk06: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. If you'd like to withdraw your question, please press the star followed by the two. If you're using a speakerphone, please leave the handset before pressing any keys. Again, to ask a question, press star one. One moment, please, for your first question. Your first question comes from Christian Schro from Haight Capital. Please go ahead.
spk01: Hi, good morning. Good morning, Christian.
spk05: My first question would be on the broader demand environment in your sales pipeline. Looking out to Q1 and I guess Q2 here, would you say things have stabilized across your software assets? What are customers saying? Which assets are getting traction in the market? What are you seeing into this year?
spk03: Yeah, obviously the market hasn't changed substantially. But we have a lot of new innovations. Obviously, we expect Blue Water, our trading platform, to come to fruition, to start blossoming and take hold. Lots of new things that we're doing. We're seeing an improvement in flow in bulk sales. And now with Al Qureshi's new additions where he's doing pre- and post-closed due diligence, there's a lot of things that are very attractive in the marketplace. And so Al and his team have weathered, you know, some very challenging times. Interest rates have had, you know, a very difficult challenge for him. But we believe it will be overcome. And so, you know, blue water we think is on the rise. One of the reasons that we sold our valuation business is that, as I've said in the past, is that Fannie and Freddie are now going to be relying more on sketches and floor plan layouts with data collection and augmented by automated valuation models. For that, they don't need appraisers. And so one of the reasons we bought Apex, because they have the largest digitized web-based sketching platform in the country, To that end, we've also incorporated floor plan layouts, again, fully digitized and web-based. And so, and with the data collection tool that has already been pre-approved by Fannie, you know, completed by now. So, essentially, we're not going to see, you know, a significant growth in that, but, you know, in the future, we think it's going to be as much as 50% of all valuations are going to fly in that way. Because we're not an AMC anymore, which was by choice, we'll now be able to provide all of our digitized technology platforms and license it to other AMCs who do not have the ability to be able to develop these platforms. Again, we believe it's the only web-based platform that exists. And so, it won't be a significant contribution in 2023, but it's going to grow, and we think that it's going to far outpace wherever we were previously using the appraisal valuation. On the tax side, we're still working very, very closely with the province of Ontario to institute our PTA, and we are fully confident that that will generate significant revenue with very high profit margins. this year and we're hoping um before the end of the second quarter that will be implemented again when you're dealing with the provincial government time is not it's something you have to uh have patience for um because you know their time and our time or not are always always commensurate with each other but we have a bunch of meetings today and we believe that that um, platform will be introduced and hopefully in the second quarter. And that's going to mean significant, uh, bottom line and top line revenue for us. Um, a now continues to, as I say, grow with the digitized sketching on floor plan layouts. And they're also trying to increase on, you know, on the direct appraisal, um, and, and our title business. I mean, I guess I shouldn't address that. Um, You know, Jim Albertelli, our former CEO, is now back to the law firm, and we're not, you know, getting the referrals that we used to get from him. In fact, you know, negligible today. It hasn't had any impact. In fact, our profit and gross margins have increased with our title business because of it. And so we're now, you know, somewhat independent from that business that was there previously with Albertelli Law. You know, in addition to that, we're continuing to develop a full technology platform for a fully digitized loan officer. Right now, our pre-docs are out and selling. Our technology now is completed for our starter kits. And so Jim Adams, and Ryan Marshall are working diligently to move forward with that platform. And we expect very significant improvements over the next, you know, 10 months of this year, nine months of this year, whatever is left. But we're very, you know, optimistic about that. So, when I go through, you know, all of our businesses, Title is improving through digitized, you know, loan officer, Al Qureshi's business, as I mentioned before, will be, you know, improving significantly with pre and post goals due diligence, you know, and an uptick, you know, on flow and bulk deals. So, we're happy about that. Title, as I mentioned, you know, valuation is going to be improved with our direct appraisal results, you know, and again, you know, with the the sketching and floor plans, and taxes with our PTA. So all of the businesses that we are working, that we have left, you know, are, you know, focusing on technology. And I must say, and I've been remiss in saying, that our data business, which is run by Chad Brown, is continuing to make significant gains and growth with selling our data products. And so we're starting to realize, you know, very good gains in that area. So, again, a big part of our business. So each one of our businesses now, one by one, we're eliminating the, you know, boots on the ground business and focusing in on technology. So, you know, significant growth in Q2, no. But, again, that was a combined elimination of our costs on debt because, you know, we have to be, you know, we'd be remiss in not mentioning that, you know, with the interest rates increase, it's virtually double our cost of debt. And so, as Robin mentioned in the outset, I mean, $8.5 million is what we were paying in interest and principal on our valuation business that we sold. we were probably averaging in the neighborhood of between 4 and 4.5 million of profit. So while the bottom line shows that, you know, that there is a decrease, the cash-free cash flow and cash flow positive by removing debt is going to have a tremendous impact. We can't keep going back to the market and asking for money. We have to be cash flow positive along with EBITDA positive. And so our focus is on removing debt, focusing on technology, and, you know, trying to realize incremental gains each and every month as we go through 2024. Great.
spk05: That's a lot of helpful context on the suite. My second question, and you're getting it, Gary, is more on the profitability and cost profile. So maybe what would you expect the gross profit margin to trend that, maybe from 61% this past quarter. And then in terms of the operating profile, the headcount and that, do you think Q4 is a good run rate for the expense profile, or is there work to do either way on that side?
spk03: So, you know, Q4, Q1, you know, basically since I took over as CEO, you know, late last spring, We've reduced our headcount, Christian, from, you know, 525 people to 150 people. We're going to continue to, you know, to wean off of non-based technology businesses. And so while a lot of the new businesses that are up and running and our service offerings were there, there's no question that Blue Water is and Al's team are significantly impactful on the, you know, on the profit and or loss of our business. I'm very confident in Al and his team and what they're doing. I'm very supportive of that platform. It's going to have significant corollary benefits to all of our individual businesses as every time they get involved. in bulk transactions and that there are opportunities brought to us for tax valuation and title. And so I'm confident that that team will be up and running. It's certainly not moving, you know, in the time that Al wants or we all want. But there's no question that if you look at what he has built up in the pipeline for these opportunities and for the quality of new clients coming on, it really does give us significant, you know, optimism for the future. So, going forward, 2024, obviously, we're not going to get any forward guidance on it, but, you know, we're working towards, like I say, eliminating our debt. And, you know, focusing on being cash flow positive and EBITDA positive, probably not going to be substantively different from the first quarter. It will be better. It definitely should be better. But how much, we're not sure. Again, a lot depends on getting these transactions across the line with Blue Water. It has a, you know, tremendous impact on us.
spk01: All right. Thank you for taking my question this morning. Thank you.
spk06: Your next question comes from Marius Skonechny, microcapexplosion.com. Please go ahead.
spk02: So you just talked about Q1 and the timing of transactions on Blue Water. Last call you mentioned that the timing of these things might make the quarter cash flow positive. So are you saying that the timing of these things was moved to Q2?
spk03: I guess I'm You're not saying it. I'm more than saying it. No, we didn't get things across the line that we hoped.
spk02: Okay. And then you mentioned many times your goal is to significantly reduce the debt, whether it's through sale of some of the non-strategic business units or assets, or maybe you have a choice that you could sell part of a business to a strategic. Are you getting... any interest in, you know, some of your business, parts of your businesses, or even the entire company? And if so, why would anybody, like what kind of benefit do you bring to others that might express interest in your businesses?
spk03: So first of all, Marius, whatever we are going to do is always going to be in the best interest of the shareholders, all right, and the long-term health and wealth of our company. You know, they're mutually beneficial, those two areas. And there's substantive interest in a lot of our businesses right now because, you know, while it's not apparent in our results today, there's many, many things that we have. No one, no one on this planet matches Blue Water with the technology that they have. the ability to access trades, you know, bulk deals, flow, post and pre-post due diligence. With the platform that Alice has developed, nobody on the planet offers that. With Jeff Young and the taxation thing, no one has real property tax analytics. No one has today an ability to to review every property right now in Canada, or in Ontario specifically, and basically come up with predictive analytics on whether property assessments and therefore taxes are too high, too low, and by how much. It's a very proprietary technology that is based on 40 years of assessment case law in Ontario, and it's of significant demand, not only by the province, but by all of the municipalities. Many people would love to be able to get their hands on that and on that. The same thing goes with sketches. Right now we're in material discussions with a large insurance adjuster that would absolutely love the APEX and floor plan layout technology. And so to be able to, you know, sell or license, sorry, not sell, but license that technology, not just to the valuation industry like Fannie and Freddie and all of the AMCs that need it, but also, you know, cross paths and move into the insurance industry is very formidable for us. And many, many people would love that technology. The data business that Venutech has and, you know, the evolution of Title II Box and Revo Gateway is of significant demand. We're currently providing these platforms to all of the major title agencies right now. And so, you know, clearly, you know, we're one step ahead of the marketplace. So when I look at everything we're doing, You know, and again, with Marty Haldane and what they've done with building direct, appraisal direct, which is basically bypassing AMCs and going directly by using appraisal panels that we have, you know, basically created ourselves, there's, you know, significant savings and, you know, and not only savings but an opportunity to do things more affordably more quickly, more accurate. And so certainly we're exploring ideas to even sell that technology to AMCs so that they can use it and participate in this without not having anything at all. In fact, what we want to be is a technology provider. We want to be able to have the ability to sell, or sorry, not sell, but license our technology for use in all avenues of the business that we're in. And so I can tell you that there is a significant demand, you know, for our businesses, each and every one of them. And so what we have to do is we want to be true to the shareholders because we think we're going to be significantly profitable in the future, is that trying to, you know, I guess subtract some of the non-strategic, non-technology assets so that we can – reduce our debt, or potentially to partner someday with a very strategic investor where by virtue of we have to give up a piece of the business, the overall profitability will be more than what we're getting now by virtue of that strategic investment. So we'll continue to look at areas to augment, you know, our balance sheet, reduce the debt by finding strategic partners. So I guess the long-winded answer is that our businesses are in big demand. We have unique service offerings that many of our competitors do not have. We think we're one step of the game. And so, you know, through all of that, and, you know, I will tell you, a very challenging year where we, you know, reduced, you know, almost 80% of our staff. We have changed the whole system. C-suite, the chief executive officer, the chief legal officer, the chief financial officer, the chief revenue officer, chief of staff. And we didn't hire anyone new. Everyone that was within the company stepped up and took on those jobs. We cut close to $11 million a year just on our corporate expenses. So we paid a very, very heavy price. Everyone has had to work around the board. I realize that the overall results for Q4 are not what everyone wants, but, you know, we're surviving. The bank is behind it. We entered into a new, you know, loan agreement that shows that they're supporting us. When every business technology in the, you know, the prop tech space are flailing, we have a clear vision. And, you know, decided path on where we want to go and what we're going to do. And it will be profitable. And it will have high margins. And, you know, our hope is that by the end of this year, we'll be definitely in the 70s as far as gross profit margins. And so we're, you know, our future is bright. And, you know, we paid heavy prices, and now we have to wait for the technology pieces that we've, you know, banked on to catch up. And it will catch up, but it never can be quick enough.
spk01: Thank you for that. I don't have any more questions. Thank you.
spk06: Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have a question, please press star one. Your next question comes from Brendan O'Dwyer from Hold Brothers Capital. Please go ahead.
spk00: Morning, guys. Thanks for doing this. Just want to find out what the current state of AOL is.
spk03: Yeah, I mean, it's up and alive and it's running. Jim Adams is working with it. What's unique about AOL is that we built AOL a BestX platform to basically augment the selling of AOL. And what that is, is a very detailed algorithm that was developed by the title team, which basically, you know, clearly enunciates what the cost of title is in each and every state in the nation, and what is the best form of title to extract for that property when it does sell. or when there is an event, whether it's a refi or whatever. And so that bad facts is, first of all, clearly brings some comparability for the new purchasers to, you know, implement. And number two, in the event that AOL is not the best form of title in a specific instance, because in some states, it may not play. And depending upon if it's a new purchase or a refi or whatever, maybe the existing title insurance is okay. But offering best bets along with AOL is going to take and is going to generate a significant amount of business. Now, there's been lots of talk, you know, and we've been reading everything that You know, there's a company out there called Alita that's, you know, purporting to sell attorney opinion letters. To our knowledge, they have not sold anything. And we are very optimistic in the future that we'll have an opportunity to work with that right group to provide AOL, the AOL opportunity and experience using our technology. So we're aware, you know, of what's going on. We've had discussions. We're not panicking. Our feet are on the ground. And we're optimistic that there will be a very amendable solution for all in rolling out our attorney opinion letter.
spk00: Have you seen any results or change since you guys basically changed the way you rolled out the product and tried to inform markets for participants about the product?
spk03: Yeah, it's starting to grow. I mean, it's not in wild abandon right now, but, you know, we, you know, of course, as you are probably aware, we basically, you know, whittled down the existing platform that we had We got rid of all of the shared services that was previously provided to the law firm. We whittled down our staff to about 15 people from, you know, close to over 50 people. And we're basically building it back up. And so Jim Adams is making sure that as we go, we're profitable. Again, we're just rolling out the BestX platform because we know that's going to augment and help us. And so, yeah, it's starting to go. You know, we're not getting hundreds or thousands a month right now, but we are selling it. And, you know, we've hired a dedicated person to go out and move it. And then, you know, as I said before, there's guys like Blue Water who are involved, you know, in transactions and are very active in supporting and helping us and enabling us to roll out AOL. So it's alive and kicking. We're happy that we have it. And, you know, we'll see some growing results in the future.
spk01: Thank you. You're welcome.
spk06: And there are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back over to Gary, Chairman and CEO for closing remarks.
spk03: Okay. Thank you all for calling in. And I'm certain that there's still probably lots of questions that you have, and certainly you can reach out to Jordan and myself after the call. We are very much aware of what our obligations are, and that is to be cash flow and even a positive and move towards that. And we'll do everything within our power, within reason, and make sure that we achieve that in 2024. We're still extremely optimistic with our technology offerings, and the types of clients and the quality of our clients that we have going forward is growing. It sounds like a tired cliche to have, you know, to continue to ask for your support. But we do because we are positive. It was a really tough year. It was a real significant cleansing and basically changing of how we do business and who we do business with and what form or fashion that's going to take place. None of it was easy. And so to all of my team, that worked around the clock by, again, replacing the whole C-suite with existing people and not have to hire anymore. And to improve on the results that we have, increase our growth margins, our profit will come. There's a lot of adjustments that we had to do on the balance sheet and that that we know will be behind us now for 2023. And 2024 will be a better year. We're happy that the bank has worked with it. We know and, you know, the bank is, you know, certainly expecting a further reduction, you know, in our debt facility, which we will do. And we're confident that all of that is going to take place. We're going to make some really relevant, strategic, and beneficial changes for the company and obviously the shareholders alike. So thank you all very much for calling in today. And thank you for your continued support.
spk06: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for joining, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.
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