LINK Mobility - Third quarter results 2022
LINK Mobility (LINK) reports revenue growth of 18% to NOK 1,314 million in the third quarter of 2022. Organic revenue growth in fixed currency was 17%, supported by temporarily high OTP volumes from new hyperscaler client and a large increase in aggregator traffic on certain favourable routes. The hyperscaler revenue is expected to be lower in coming quarters, however with an improved gross profit contribution, as higher margin solutions are currently being implemented. Gross profit increased 7% to NOK 346 million and adjusted EBITDA grew 9% to NOK 166 million. Previously announced opex reductions will support adjusted EBITDA growth and margin in coming quarters. LINK retains its 2022 forward-looking statement for an organic revenue growth range of 8-12%.
LINK announced opex and capex initiatives at the Q2 22 reporting and communicated further details in a stock exchange release on 6 October. Opex will be reduced by NOK 48 million in 2023, giving an annual run rate reduction in Q4 23 of NOK 52 million, which amounts to 8% of current LTM adjusted EBITDA. Capex initiatives will further support free cash flow (FCF) and deleveraging. Capex spend will be reduced by NOK 31 million in 2023, resulting in an annual Q4 23 run rate reduction of NOK 37 million. The forecasted capex level before initiatives was NOK 180 million per year.
Reported revenue increased 18% to NOK 1,314 million in the third quarter YoY, with organic revenue growth at 17% in fixed currency. The organic growth was supported by initially high one-time password (OTP) traffic from one new global hyperscaler client and high Global Messaging revenue on favorable price / quality aggregator routes. The OTP revenue contribution is expected to be lower in coming quarters, with a shift to higher margin solutions currently being implanted with hyperscaler. Strong reported NOK revenue growth of 29% in the US (12% revenue growth in fixed currency) also supported group organic figures, whilst Western Europe saw relatively stable retail spend QoQ in France, Italy and Spain.
Gross profit grew 7% to NOK 346 million in Q3 22, with an organic gross profit growth in fixed currency of 4%. The deviation between revenue and gross profit growth reflected high margin Covid traffic replaced by low margin hyperscaler volumes in Central Europe and large growth in low margin Global Messaging aggregator traffic.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 9% to NOK 166 million in the third quarter, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.6% (13.7%). Ongoing opex initiatives will support growth and margin from Q4 22 and throughout 2023.
"We are reporting a satisfactory quarter with good momentum on new customer wins and upselling opportunities. Cost reduction initiatives are on track and will further support adjusted EBITDA growth, free cash flow generation and deleveraging in coming quarters", says Thomas Berge, Interim CEO of LINK.
The quarterly results will be presented in an audio webcast at 10:00 CET today by Thomas Berge, Interim CEO and Morten Edvardsen, Interim CFO.
The audio webcast targets investors, analysts and media. Attendees will be able to post and ask questions directly in a Q&A session following the webcast.
To join the audio webcast and post questions, please go to
https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/hegnarmedia/20221103_7/
The webcast is also available from LINK's investor relations pages
https://linkmobility.com/investor-relations/
To ask questions directly in the Q&A session, please dial in
PIN Code for all countries: 799682
NO: +47 21956342 DK: +45 7876 8490 SE: +46-4-0682-0620 UK: +44 203-7696819 US: +1 646-787-0157
For further information, please contact
Tom Rogn, VP Investor Relations +47 94 85 56 59 tom.rogn@linkmobility.com
About LINK Mobility
LINK is an award-winning, leading global provider of mobile messaging and communications platform as a service (CPaaS) solutions for increased engagement. The company serves enterprise, SME, and government customers. LINK offers a wide range of innovative and scalable mobile solutions, creating valuable digital convergence between businesses and customers, governments and citizens, platforms and users. LINK has 50,000 customer accounts globally and exchanges 15 billion messages a year. LINK is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker LINK. For more information about LINK, please see www.linkmobility.com and follow LINK Mobility on LinkedIn
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act