News Release

Spok Reports Second Quarter 2023 Results

Strong improvement in net income and adjusted EBITDA

Record level of software operations bookings

Software and Wireless Revenue Growth on a Year-Over-Year Basis

Company increases full year 2023 financial guidance

 

Alexandria, Va. (July 26, 2023) – Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), a global leader in healthcare communications, today announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023. In addition, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.3125 per share, payable on September 8, 2023, to stockholders of record on August 17, 2023.

Recent Highlights:

  • Generated net income of $4.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, compared to net income of $1.9 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the prior year period
  • Generated $8.5 million of adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter, compared to $4.7 million in the second quarter of 2022
  • Software operations bookings totaled $14.0 million for the second quarter, compared to $7.4 million in the second quarter of 2022, a 90% year-over-year increase
  • Second quarter 2023 software operations bookings included 23 six-figure and 3 seven-figure customer contracts
  • Second quarter 2023 software revenue totaled $17.6 million, up more than 24% from the prior quarter and more than 17% from the prior year period
  • Second quarter 2023 wireless average revenue per unit (ARPU) was $7.53, up on a year-over-year basis, with units in service down less than 1% from the prior quarter and 3.5% on a trailing-twelve-month basis
  • Second quarter 2023 wireless revenue of $18.9 million, up 1% from revenue of $18.7 million in the same period in 2022
  • Capital returned to stockholders in the second quarter of 2023 totaled $6.2 million in the form of the Company’s regular quarterly dividend
  • Cash and equivalents balance increased from the prior quarter to $30.9 million on June 30, 2023, and no debt

“I am very proud of the record performance that our team was able to deliver in the second quarter and believe that these results position us well for the second half of the year, as we continue to execute our plan focused on growing revenue, generating cash flow and returning capital to stockholders,” said Vincent D. Kelly, chief executive officer of Spok Holdings, Inc. “Last quarter, our team was able to grow revenue, both in total and within each of our two service lines, on a year-over-year basis, reversing historical trends. We made tremendous progress in several key performance areas, including wireless trends, software bookings and backlog levels. Software operations bookings were up 90% on a year-over-year basis and included  a record 23 new six-figure and 3 new seven-figure customer contracts. We continued our focus on expense management, as we drove expense reductions on a year-over-year basis, while making the necessary investments in product development and sales and marketing to support the growth of our Spok Care Connect and Wireless solutions. I am also very pleased with our performance in Wireless, as we drove sequential and trailing-twelve-month unit churn down to 0.6% and 3.5%, respectively.

“In short, we are firing on all cylinders,” continued Kelly. “Based on our performance in the second quarter we are, once again, increasing our full year 2023 guidance estimates for revenue and adjusted EBITDA generation. We believe we are on track to grow consolidated revenue for 2023, on a year-over-year basis, for the first time in the Company’s history and the low point of our revenue guidance reflects that. We look forward to continued success in the second half of the year and believe our extensive experience operating our established communication solutions will create significant value for stockholders by maximizing revenue and cash flow generation.”

Financial Highlights:

 

For the three months ended June 30,

 

For the six months ended June 30,

(Dollars in thousands)

2023

 

2022

 

Change (%)

 

2023

 

2022

 

Change (%)

Revenue

           

Wireless revenue

 

          

Paging revenue

$           18,271

 

$           18,141

 

0.7 %

 

$          36,796

 

$          36,454

 

0.9 %

Product and other revenue

                   606

 

                   559

 

8.4 %

 

              1,109

 

              1,093

 

1.5 %

Total wireless revenue

$           18,877

 

$           18,700

 

0.9 %

 

$          37,905

 

$          37,547

 

1.0 %

            

Software revenue

           

License

$             3,692

 

$             1,962

 

88.2 %

 

$            5,310

 

$            3,786

 

40.3 %

Professional services

                3,837

 

                3,331

 

15.2 %

 

              7,076

 

              6,667

 

6.1 %

Hardware

                   933

 

                   507

 

84.0 %

 

              1,289

 

              1,096

 

17.6 %

Maintenance

                9,124

 

                9,210

 

(0.9) %

 

            18,063

 

            18,439

 

(2.0) %

Total software revenue

             17,586

 

             15,010

 

17.2 %

 

            31,738

 

            29,988

 

5.8 %

Total revenue

$           36,463

 

$           33,710

 

8.2 %

 

$          69,643

 

$          67,535

 

3.1 %

 

For the three months ended June 30,

 

For the six months ended June 30,

(Dollars in thousands)

2023

 

2022

 

Change (%)

 

2023

 

2022

 

Change (%)

GAAP

           

Operating expenses

$           30,248

 

$           31,298

 

(3.4) %

 

$          58,711

 

$          73,791

 

(20.4) %

Net income (loss)

$             4,733

 

$             1,924

 

146.0 %

 

$            7,850

 

$          (5,290)

 

248.4 %

Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments (as of period end)

$           30,866

 

$           38,432

 

(19.7) %

 

$          30,866

 

$          38,432

 

(19.7) %

Capital returned to stockholders

$             6,230

 

$             6,155

 

1.2 %

 

$          13,163

 

$          12,679

 

3.8 %

            

Non-GAAP

           

Adjusted operating expenses

$           28,875

 

$           29,977

 

(3.7) %

 

$          56,092

 

$          67,041

 

(16.3) %

Adjusted EBITDA

$             8,511

 

$             4,694

 

81.3 %

 

$          15,410

 

$            2,570

 

499.6 %

 

For the three months ended June 30,

 

For the six months ended June 30,

(Dollars in thousands, excluding units and service and ARPU)

2023

 

2022

 

Change (%)

 

2023

 

2022

 

Change (%)

Key Statistics

           

Wireless units in service

                   806

 

                   835

 

(3.5) %

 

                  806

 

                  835

 

(3.5) %

Wireless average revenue per unit (ARPU)

$               7.53

 

$               7.23

 

4.1 %

 

$              7.56

 

$              7.22

 

4.7 %

Software operations bookings(1)

$           14,010

 

$             7,374

 

90.0 %

 

$          19,688

 

$          12,586

 

56.4 %

Software backlog (as of period end)

$           56,980

 

$           44,488

 

28.1 %

 

$          56,980

 

$          44,488

 

28.1 %

1) Software operations bookings includes net new (i.e., new customers or incremental add-on sales to existing customers) sales of license, professional services, equipment, and first-year maintenance.

 

Financial Outlook:

The Company also increased its financial guidance and now expects the following for the full year 2023:

(Unaudited and in millions)

 

Current Guidance

Full Year 2023

 

Prior Guidance

Full Year 2023

  

From

 

To

 

From

 

To

Revenue

        

Wireless

 

$                           74.5

 

$                           75.5

 

$                           73.0

 

$                           75.5

Software

 

$                           60.0

 

$                           62.0

 

$                           58.0

 

$                           62.0

Total Revenue

 

$                         134.5

 

$                         137.5

 

$                         131.0

 

$                         137.5

         

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$                           25.0

 

$                           28.0

 

$                           24.5

 

$                           26.5

2023 Second Quarter Call:

Management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss these financial results on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The presentation is open to all interested parties and may include forward-looking information.

Conference Call Details

Date/Time:

Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. ET

Webcast:

https://www.webcast-eqs.com/register/spok_q22023_en/en

U.S. Toll-Free Dial In:

877-407-0890

International Dial In:

1-201-389-0918

To access the call, please dial in approximately ten minutes before the start of the call. For those unable to join the live call, an OnDemand version of the webcast will be available following the call under the URL link and on the investor relations website

* * * * * * * * 

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains the following non-GAAP financial measures: adjusted operating  expenses and adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted operating expenses excludes depreciation, amortization and accretion expense, impairment of intangible assets and severance and restructuring costs. Adjusted EBITDA represents net income/(loss) before interest income/expense, income tax benefit/expense, depreciation, amortization and accretion expense, stock-based compensation expense, impairment of intangible assets and severance and restructuring. With respect to our expectations under “Financial Guidance” above, reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss) is not available without unreasonable efforts on a forward-looking basis due to the high variability, complexity and uncertainty with respect to certain items included in net income (loss) that are excluded from adjusted EBITDA, in particular, income tax benefit / expense, stock-based compensation expenses, impairment of intangible assets, severance and restructuring and other non-recurring expenses. These items can have unpredictable fluctuations based on unforeseen activity that is out of our control and /or cannot be reasonably predicted.

We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to Spok’s financial condition and results of operations. We use these non-GAAP measures for financial, operational, and budgetary decision-making purposes, to understand and evaluate our core operating performance and trends, and to generate future operating plans. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures permit us to more thoroughly analyze key financial metrics used to make operational decisions and allow us to assess our core operating results. We believe that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing our financial measures with other software companies who present similar non-GAAP financial measures. We adjust for certain items because we do not regard these costs as reflective of normal costs related to the ongoing operation of the business in the ordinary course. In general, these items possess one or more of the following characteristics: non-cash expenses, factors outside of our control, items that are non-operational in nature, and unusual items not expected to occur in the normal course of business. We believe it is important to exclude these costs, given that they do not represent future operational costs under this strategic business plan. This allows us to assess the underlying performance of our core business under this new strategic business plan.

We do not consider these non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principle of these non-GAAP financial measures is that they exclude significant amounts that are required by GAAP to be recorded in the Company’s financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgment by management about which items are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. In order to compensate for these limitations, management presents non-GAAP financial measures in connection with GAAP results. We urge investors to review the reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures, which are included in this press release, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

Tables to Follow

SPOK HOLDINGS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited and in thousands except share, per share amounts and ARPU)

         
  

For the three months ended

 

For the six months ended

  

6/30/2023

 

6/30/2022

 

6/30/2023

 

6/30/2022

Revenue:

        

Wireless

 

$          18,877   

 

$          18,700   

 

$          37,905   

 

$          37,547   

Software

 

            17,586   

 

            15,010   

 

            31,738   

 

            29,988   

Total revenue

 

            36,463   

 

            33,710   

 

            69,643   

 

            67,535   

Operating expenses:

        

Cost of revenue (exclusive of items shown separately below)

 

              6,727   

 

              6,980   

 

            13,263   

 

            14,784   

Research and development

 

              2,853   

 

              2,624   

 

              5,346   

 

              9,121   

Technology operations

 

              6,452   

 

              6,880   

 

            13,039   

 

            13,893   

Selling and marketing

 

              4,354   

 

              3,874   

 

              8,255   

 

              9,189   

General and administrative

 

              8,489   

 

              9,619   

 

            16,189   

 

            20,054   

Depreciation, amortization and accretion

 

              1,265   

 

                 871   

 

              2,501   

 

              1,805   

Severance and restructuring

 

                 108   

 

                 450   

 

                 118   

 

              4,945   

Total operating expenses

 

            30,248   

 

            31,298   

 

            58,711   

 

            73,791   

% of total revenue

 

83.0 %

 

92.8 %

 

84.3 %

 

109.3 %

Operating income (loss)

 

              6,215   

 

              2,412   

 

            10,932   

 

            (6,256)  

% of total revenue

 

17.0 %

 

7.2 %

 

15.7 %

 

(9.3) %

Interest income

 

                 354   

 

                 170   

 

                 626   

 

                 237   

Other (expense) income

 

               (138)  

 

                   25   

 

                 (85)  

 

                   12   

Income (loss) before income taxes

 

              6,431   

 

              2,607   

 

            11,473   

 

            (6,007)  

(Provision for) benefit from income taxes

 

            (1,698)  

 

               (683)  

 

            (3,623)  

 

                 717   

Net income (loss)

 

$            4,733   

 

$            1,924   

 

$            7,850   

 

$          (5,290)  

Basic net income (loss) per common share

 

$              0.24   

 

$              0.10   

 

$              0.39   

 

$            (0.27)  

Diluted net income (loss) per common share

 

                0.23   

 

                0.10   

 

                0.39   

 

              (0.27)  

Basic weighted average common shares outstanding

 

     19,957,786   

 

     19,693,659   

 

     19,927,782   

 

     19,645,680   

Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding

 

     20,255,248   

 

     19,807,430   

 

     20,266,914   

 

     19,645,680   

Cash dividends declared per common share

 

            0.3125   

 

            0.3125   

 

            0.6250   

 

            0.6250   

SPOK HOLDINGS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands)

     
  

6/30/2023

 

12/31/2022

     

ASSETS

 

(Unaudited)

 

 

     

Current assets:

    

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$                            30,866

 

$                            35,754

Accounts receivable, net

 

                              25,467

 

                              26,861

Prepaid expenses

 

                                7,371

 

                                6,849

Other current assets

 

                                   841

 

                                   587

Total current assets

 

                              64,545

 

                              70,051

Non-current assets:

    

Property and equipment, net

 

                                7,869

 

                                8,223

Operating lease right-of-use assets

 

                              12,713

 

                              13,876

Goodwill

 

                              99,175

 

                              99,175

Deferred income tax assets, net

 

                              48,992

 

                              52,398

Other non-current assets

 

                                   630

 

                                   754

Total non-current assets

 

                            169,379

 

                            174,426

Total assets

 

$                          233,924

 

$                          244,477

     

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

    
     

Current liabilities:

    

Accounts payable

 

$                              6,768

 

$                              5,880

Accrued compensation and benefits

 

                                8,528

 

                              11,628

Deferred revenue

 

                              23,984

 

                              27,255

Operating lease liabilities

 

                                4,693

 

                                5,096

Other current liabilities

 

                                5,352

 

                                4,573

Total current liabilities

 

                              49,325

 

                              54,432

Non-current liabilities:

    

Asset retirement obligations

 

                                7,455

 

                                7,237

Operating lease liabilities

 

                                9,520

 

                              10,604

Other non-current liabilities

 

                                1,013

 

                                1,107

Total non-current liabilities

 

                              17,988

 

                              18,948

Total liabilities

 

                              67,313

 

                              73,380

Commitments and contingencies

    

Stockholders’ equity:

    

Common stock

 

                                       2

 

                                       2

Additional paid-in capital

 

                            100,612

 

                              99,908

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

 

                               (1,862)

 

                               (1,909)

Retained earnings

 

                              67,859

 

                              73,096

Total stockholders’ equity

 

                            166,611

 

                            171,097

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

 

$                          233,924

 

$                          244,477

SPOK HOLDINGS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited and in thousands)

    

 

For the six months ended

 

6/30/2023

 

6/30/2022

Operating activities:

   

Net income (loss)

$                              7,850

 

$                             (5,290)

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided (used) by operating activities:

   

Depreciation and accretion

                                2,501

 

                                1,805

Deferred income tax expense (benefit)

                                3,602

 

                                 (495)

Stock-based compensation

                                1,859

 

                                2,076

Provisions for credit losses, service credits and other

                                   222

 

                                   861

Changes in assets and liabilities:

   

Accounts receivable

                                1,168

 

                                 (576)

Prepaid expenses and other assets

                                 (653)

 

                                 (416)

Net operating lease liabilities

                                 (324)

 

                                 (109)

Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other

                               (1,745)

 

                               (3,582)

Deferred revenue

                               (3,282)

 

                                 (169)

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

                              11,198

 

                               (5,895)

Investing activities:

   

Purchases of property and equipment

                               (1,815)

 

                               (1,192)

Purchase of short-term investments

                                     —

 

                             (14,967)

Maturity of short-term investments

                                     —

 

                              15,000

Net cash used in investing activities

                               (1,815)

 

                               (1,159)

Financing activities:

   

Cash distributions to stockholders

                             (13,163)

 

                             (12,679)

Proceeds from issuance of common stock under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan

                                     90

 

                                     —

Purchase of common stock for tax withholding on vested equity awards

                               (1,245)

 

                               (1,209)

Net cash used in financing activities

                             (14,318)

 

                             (13,888)

Effect of exchange rate on cash and cash equivalents

                                     47

 

                                 (204)

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

                               (4,888)

 

                             (21,146)

Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period

                              35,754

 

                              44,583

Cash and cash equivalents, end of period

$                            30,866

 

$                            23,437

Supplemental disclosure:

   

Income taxes paid/(refunded)

$                                 253

 

$                                 185

SPOK HOLDINGS, INC.

UNITS IN SERVICE, MARKET SEGMENTS,

AND AVERAGE REVENUE PER UNIT (ARPU) (a)

(Unaudited and in thousands)

                 
  

For the three months ended

  

6/30/2023

 

3/31/2023

 

12/31/2022

 

9/30/2022

 

6/30/2022

 

3/31/2022

 

12/31/2021

 

9/30/2021

Account size ending units in service (000’s)

                

1 to 100 units

 

           48   

 

           48   

 

           50   

 

           51   

 

           53   

 

           54   

 

           55   

 

           57   

101 to 1,000 units

 

         144   

 

         149   

 

         147   

 

         147   

 

         149   

 

         150   

 

         154   

 

         154   

>1,000 units

 

         614   

 

         614   

 

         620   

 

         626   

 

         633   

 

         634   

 

         638   

 

         642   

Total

 

         806   

 

         811   

 

         817   

 

         824   

 

         835   

 

         838   

 

         847   

 

         853   

                 

Market segment as a percent of total ending units in service

                

Healthcare

 

86.1 %

 

85.7 %

 

85.4 %

 

85.0 %

 

85.0 %

 

84.7 %

 

84.7 %

 

84.6 %

Government

 

4.2 %

 

4.3 %

 

4.4 %

 

4.1 %

 

4.2 %

 

4.7 %

 

4.8 %

 

4.8 %

Large enterprise

 

4.0 %

 

4.1 %

 

4.0 %

 

3.9 %

 

4.0 %

 

3.9 %

 

3.9 %

 

4.1 %

Other(b)

 

5.7 %

 

5.9 %

 

6.1 %

 

7.0 %

 

6.8 %

 

6.7 %

 

6.6 %

 

6.4 %

Total

 

1R

              
                 

Account size ARPU

                

1 to 100 units

 

$    11.91   

 

$    12.03   

 

$    11.95   

 

$    11.80   

 

$    11.41   

 

$    11.52   

 

$    11.58   

 

$    11.67   

101 to 1,000 units

 

        8.56   

 

        8.75   

 

        8.66   

 

        8.44   

 

        8.27   

 

        8.24   

 

        8.30   

 

        8.38   

>1,000 units

 

        6.94   

 

        6.95   

 

        6.86   

 

        6.69   

 

        6.63   

 

        6.64   

 

        6.63   

 

        6.65   

Total

 

$      7.53   

 

$      7.59   

 

$      7.50   

 

$      7.40   

 

$      7.23   

 

$      7.24   

 

$      7.26   

 

$      7.29   

                 

(a) Slight variations in totals are due to rounding.

(b) Other includes hospitality, resort and indirect units

RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED OPERATING EXPENSES

(Unaudited and in thousands)

         
  

For the three months ended

 

For the six months ended

  

6/30/2023

 

6/30/2022

 

6/30/2023

 

6/30/2022

Operating expenses

 

$             30,248

 

$             31,298

 

$             58,711

 

$            73,791

Add back:

        

Depreciation, amortization and accretion

 

               (1,265)

 

                  (871)

 

               (2,501)

 

               (1,805)

Severance and restructuring

 

                  (108)

 

                  (450)

 

                  (118)

 

               (4,945)

Adjusted operating expenses

 

$             28,875

 

$             29,977

 

$             56,092

 

$            67,041

RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED EBITDA

(Unaudited and in thousands)

         
  

For the three months ended

 

For the six months ended

  

6/30/2023

 

6/30/2022

 

6/30/2023

 

6/30/2022

Net income (loss)

 

$               4,733

 

$               1,924

 

$               7,850

 

$             (5,290)

Add back:

        

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes

 

                 1,698

 

                    683

 

                 3,623

 

                  (717)

Other expense (income)

 

                    138

 

                    (25)

 

                      85

 

                    (12)

Interest income

 

                  (354)

 

                  (170)

 

                  (626)

 

                  (237)

Depreciation, amortization and accretion

 

                 1,265

 

                    871

 

                 2,501

 

                1,805

EBITDA

 

$               7,480

 

$               3,283

 

$             13,433

 

$             (4,451)

Adjustments:

        

Stock-based compensation

 

                    923

 

                    961

 

                 1,859

 

                2,076

Severance and restructuring

 

                    108

 

                    450

 

                    118

 

                4,945

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$               8,511

 

$               4,694

 

$             15,410

 

$              2,570