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spk01: Thank you for joining us today for Zoom Technologies' first quarter 2023 update conference call. With us representing the company today is Amit Bahansky, Zoom's founder and chairman. At the conclusion of today's prepared remarks, Amit will answer some questions that were sent to us by investors and other questions we think are relevant to investors as well. Before we begin with prepared remarks, just a couple of comments. Today's call will contain forward-looking statements that are based on current assumptions and subjects to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. The company undertakes no obligation to update these statements except as required by law. Information about these risks and uncertainties are included in the company's filings, as well as periodic filings with regulators, which you can find on CDAR and Zoom's websites. Today's discussion will include adjusted financial measures, which are non-IFRS measures. These should be considered as a supplement to and not a substitute for IFRS financial measures. Finally, today's event is being recorded and will be available for replay through the webcast information provided in the press release. With that said, let me now turn the call over to Amit Bohansky, founder and chairman of Zoom. Amit, please proceed.
spk03: Thank you, Ben, and good morning to all of you. For those new to the Zoom story, I wanted to provide an overview of our business. Zoom offers a mobile-first user acquisition platform integrated with the majority of global digital media channels to app owners focused on user acquisition to more efficiently manage their budgets and deliver them, paying customers, and growing ROI. Our main unique selling proposition is that we act as a layer on the mobile media ecosystem, integrating and unifying hundreds of media sources into one unified place, offering advertisers a user acquisition control center for managing all new customer acquisition campaigns. Zoom serves advertisers significant resources that would otherwise be spent operating multiple advertising systems, consolidating data sources, and thereby maximizing data collection and data insights while minimizing the resources spent on operations. Our data and platform concept has translated to strong ROI and KPI results for our clients. Now, I would like to speak with you regarding our first quarter of 2023 results and share some of our plans going forward. The first quarter was a challenging one due to the macroeconomic headwinds which affect the entire market. As we have mentioned in previous calls, the advertising sector is one of the first areas that companies reduce budgets in. In times of uncertainty, but also one of the first to ramp up as companies begin to feel more secure. While we remain optimistic regarding the long-term growth prospects of the advertising technology space, especially for mobile app area, we continue to expect more challenges in the near term and believe the recovery will take longer. Significantly, as our first quarter of last year was a high point preliminary attributable, to the fintech and crypto segments. Overall revenue is down on a quarter-over-quarter comparison. Financial results. Now I will review the first quarter financial results in detail. Revenue. Revenue for first quarter were $8.6 million, a 47% decline compared to Q1 of 2022. We are lapping difficult comparison from the first Q of 2022, in which we grew an amazing 140%. As I mentioned earlier, we were negatively affected by the global slowdown, in particular the areas of fintech and crypto. Growth margins. Growth profit margin for the first quarter was 40% compared to 30% to the same period in 2022, an increase of 1,000 basis points. We had a lower revenue from our cryptocurrency customers, which carry lower gross margins. Research and development. Research and development expenses for the third quarter were $1.2 million, a 20% decrease relative to Q1 of 2022, reflecting lower depreciation and other R&D expenses.
spk02: S-G-N-A. Spelling, general, and administrative.
spk03: S-G-N-A expenses for the first quarter were $3.1 million, a 16% increase year over year, preliminary, reflecting increase in the expenses incurred as a result of new employees joining the company, preliminary after the acquisition of Albert. Other expenses. Impairment. Other expenses impairment for the first quarter were $2.8 million, reflecting software costs right off of the amount of $2.8 million. EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA is used as a primary performance measure by the company's management to ensure it has the right structure to support future growth. We define adjusted EBITDA as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, one-time payment, and amortization, as adjusted for share-based payments and non-recurring operating expenses. Adjusted EBITDA in the first year of 2023 was $0.2 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $1.9 million for the same period of 2022. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA was primarily attributed to a decrease in revenue. A full reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA is available in our MD&A filing.
spk02: Cash.
spk03: We have $2.7 million in cash on the balance sheet as of March 31, 2023, We continue to feel comfortable with the current cash balance.
spk02: Now for some concluding remarks.
spk03: We remain optimistic about Zoom's long-term growth prospects, including the growth of our product strategy. Our focus in the short term will be healthy bottom line growth and improving cash flow, all while managing our balance sheet properly. We view this strategy as an important way to build shareholder value and weather the macroeconomics environment. Over the past two months, since Mr. Almeny assumed office, the management and the board are reviewing all aspects of the business to a certain status, potential, required resources, and the competitive landscape we face. We are considering potential changes to optimize business lines and product offerings for improved growth and profitability. As the date hereof, the plan has yet to be finalized. Once these decisions are finalized and the corresponding measures are implemented, we believe they will lead to improved bottom line and cash flow for the company. Before I move to questions, I want to thank all of our employees for their hard work and dedication, as well as our investors who have supported us. With that said, I will answer some of our investor questions and some questions that may be of interest to our investors.
spk01: Thank you, Amit. We have some questions for you. As a result of the impairment, the financial approach shows significant net loss. Can you provide some more detail about this impairment line?
spk03: Sure. Due to changes in market conditions and shifts in the marketing tech industry, the company decided to relocate resources and adjust its investment focus from certain self-serve components to others within the current solutions. Restructuring. This restructuring meant allocation of resources to areas of greater and faster growth potential, and this continued investment in other initiatives of the company worked on. The decision affected the recoverability of software development costs invested, which were determined to no longer be recoverable, as such an amount of $2.8 million of software development costs were written off entirely. market dynamics, including macroeconomics, cycles, and shifts in the technology in the marketing tech space have influenced the viability and growth prospects of several components within the current solution, which have led the company to decide on restructuring.
spk01: Okay. You spoke about streamlining some expenses and consolidating some businesses. Can you provide some more specifics there?
spk03: As previously mentioned, under the guidance of Mr. Almeny, our management team is diligently conducting a comprehensive analysis of all aspects of our business. The primary objective is to gain insights into the necessary adaptions required for our current operations and previous plans in response to the evolving market conditions. For instance, During the latter half of the previous year, we observed a decline in revenue. At the time, it was unclear how long these downturns would persist and significantly the subsequent impact on customer demand, which directly affects our customers.
spk02: Additionally, examine the implications of our customers' inclination to invest in technology and services
spk03: as well as specific stock sectors affected. Furthermore, the tech industry, particularly the ad tech segment, is experiencing rapid transformations due to the growing effectiveness and utility of artificial intelligence across multiple sectors. This development has shed light on our own AI marketing solution, Albert, as well as the recent a proliferation of enhanced capabilities that had become more widely accessible within the past six months. Regardless, we are unable to provide specific details at this time, as the analysis is still in progress. Once our management and board have determined the appropriate course of action, the market will be duly informed, so the appropriate
spk02: and requisite disclosure.
spk03: That is all questions we have.
spk01: All right. Thanks, Amit. Yeah, that's all the questions we have today. My thanks to everyone for participating in today's call, and we look forward to hopefully speaking with you again shortly.
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