Highest Quarterly Revenue in Company History of $4.1Million
Orlando, Florida (May 14, 2015) – IZEA, Inc. (OTCQB: IZEA), operator of the premiere online marketplace that connects brands and publishers with influential content creators, today announced record results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2015.
Financial Highlights Include:
- Revenue for the quarter increased 111% to a record $4.1 million compared to Q1 2014.
- Sponsored Social represented $2.7 million in revenue, a 48% year-over-year increase.
- Content represented $1.4 million in revenue or 33% of total revenue.
- Bookings for the quarter grew 155% year-over-year to a record $4.3 million, up from $1.7 million in 2014.
- New opportunity pipeline for the quarter increased 77% year-over-year to $19.4 million.
First Quarter Operational Highlights:
- Completed acquisition of Ebyline, Inc. and added Content revenue stream.
- IZEAx aggregate network reach increased to 2.7 billion fans and followers at the end of the quarter, up 17% compared with Q4 2014 and 486% year-over-year.
- IZEAx registered users increased 83% to 446,000 compared to 243,000 in Q4 2014, an increase of 792% year-over-year.
- Announced 3 new IZEAx partners, including Meredith Studios, Frederator and Bent Pixels
- 103 team members compared to 60 one year ago.
“The first quarter represented multiple milestone events for IZEA. We completed the acquisition of Ebyline, Inc., launched initial integration with Vine, and delivered our first month in excess of $2.0 million in bookings. There is a tremendous amount of momentum and excitement right now as we realize the benefits of the strategic investments in team members and technology we made last year,” commented Ted Murphy, IZEA’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“We are seeing some early success in cross-selling Sponsored Social with Content from the Ebyline acquisition. IZEA benefitted from this cross-selling in our Q1 revenue and bookings numbers, but the contribution was limited to February and March, as the acquisition did not close until the end of January. Looking forward, we will continue ramping up our client development team, particularly as it relates to business to business specific content sales. We remain focused on top line growth, while prudently managing our expenses and investments in people and technology. I continue to be confident in our ability to grow IZEA bookings to $25 million and revenue to $23 million for the 2015 fiscal year.”
First Quarter 2015 Results:
Revenue for the first quarter of 2015 was $4,135,494 compared to $1,957,040 for the first quarter of 2014, an increase of 111% due to the increase in our Sponsored Social and Content sales. Gross profit for the quarter was $1,694,003, up from $1,307,507 during the same period in 2014 – an increase of 29.6%.
Operating expenses for the first quarter of 2015 were $3,442,001, compared to $2,005,007 during the same period in 2014, due to investments in additional sales and engineering staff along with increased advertising, marketing and public relations efforts and the assumption of Ebyline’s operating expenses.
Operating EBITDA was $(1,394,514) for the quarter compared to $(504,330) during the same period last year, primarily due to investments in new hires and technology along with the assumption of Ebyline overhead. Net loss for the quarter was $(4,270,912) compared to $(569,311) during the same period last year, primarily due to a ($2,505,951) loss on the change in the fair value of derivatives and the increase in operating expenses. Cash used for operating activities was $1,528,112 during the three months ended March 31, 2015.
Basic and diluted income per common share for the quarter was $(.07), compared to basic and diluted loss per common share of $(.02) for the first quarter of 2014.
Investor Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call today at 5:00p.m. ET, during which IZEA management will discuss the financial results and be available to answer any questions from investors.
Conference Date: 05/14/15
Conference Start Time: 5:00 pm Eastern
Dial-In Number: 1-201-689-8471
Electronic replay of the conference call will be available through June 15, 2015 by dialing 1-858-384-5517 and entering PIN number 13609312. IZEA will also post a downloadable file onto the Investor Relations area of http://corp.izea.com.
Financial Methodology & Related Disclosures
“EBITDA” is a non-GAAP financial measure within the meaning of Regulation G promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. EBITDA is commonly defined as “earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.” We believe that EBITDA provides useful information to investors as it excludes transactions not related to the core cash operating business activities including non-cash transactions.
We believe that excluding these transactions allows investors to meaningfully trend and analyze the performance of our core cash operations. All companies do not calculate EBITDA in the same manner, and EBITDA as presented by IZEA may not be comparable to EBITDA presented by other companies. IZEA defines EBITDA as earnings or loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, non-cash stock related compensation, gain or loss on asset disposals or impairment and all other income and expense items such as loss on exchanges and changes in fair value of derivatives, if applicable.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release that are forward-looking include the company’s estimated levels of bookings and revenues for the 2015 fiscal year. These forward-looking statements are based largely on IZEA’s current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond IZEA’s control. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, competitive conditions in the social sponsorship segment in which IZEA operates, failure to popularize one or more of the marketplace platforms of IZEA, inability to obtain additional capital on a timely basis, difficulties in integrating Ebyline’s platforms and operations and achieving the expected benefits from the acquisition, and changing economic conditions that are less favorable than expected. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information contained in this press release will in fact occur.
