First Quarter Revenue of $29.1 Million up 17% YoY
Exchange Service Revenue up 148% YoY
(All monetary figures are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated)
TORONTO, May 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — illumin Holdings Inc. (TSX: ILLM and OTCQB: ILLMF) (“illumin” or the “Company”), the advertising technology platform that enables you to win your next customer, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.
First Quarter 2025 Highlights
- First quarter 2025 revenue rose 17% year-over-year to $29.1 million, driven by higher Exchange service revenue, partially offset by lower Managed service revenue.
- Self-service revenue was $8.4 million, up slightly compared with the year ago period and represented 29% of total revenue.
- The Company on-boarded 18 net new Self-service clients during the quarter, reflecting sales initiatives targeting higher-spend clients and positioning the Company for continued long-term Self service revenue growth.
- Managed service revenue was $8.7 million compared to $11.8 million in the prior year, primarily reflecting more cautious marketing spend related to geo-political and macro-economic uncertainty.
- Exchange service revenue increased by 148% from the prior year to $12.0 million, resulting from increased demand from new customers, an enhanced supplier network, and platform improvements.
- Gross margin was 45% compared to 47% for the same period in 2024, reflecting the change in mix to service lines with lower margins, such as Exchange service.
- Net revenue, or gross profit (revenue less media-related costs), was $13.1 million, up 13% compared with $11.6 million in the prior year period.
- Adjusted EBITDA loss was $0.4 million, compared to $0.0 million in the prior year period, primarily attributable to higher operating costs due to higher sales, sales support functions, and marketing costs, partly offset by higher revenue.
- Net loss was $(1.9) million, compared to $(1.1) million in Q1 2024. The increase in the net loss was primarily a result of higher operating costs due to increased sales and marketing costs and a lower net foreign exchange gain compared to the prior year period, partially offset by higher revenue.
- On December 23, 2024, the Company commenced a new normal course issuer bid (“2024 NCIB”) for its common shares that will remain open until December 22, 2025, or such earlier time as the 2024 NCIB is completed or terminated at the option of the Company. Under the 2024 NCIB, the Company may purchase for cancellation up to 3,914,167 common shares, representing approximately 10% of the Company’s public float as of December 10, 2024. Daily purchases are limited to 12,518 common shares. For the three months ended March 31, 2025, the company purchased nil common shares pursuant to the 2024 NCIB.
Simon Cairns, illumin’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our first quarter revenue rose 17% even after a slower start to the period than we anticipated. We responded by adjusting our marketing tests week to week and made several advances in our selling process and sales team, which enabled us to exit the quarter with solid growth, led by a 148% rise in our Exchange service revenue and supported by solid performance in Self-service.”
“In Exchange service, we continue to create and capture both new and recurring demand at surprising levels, as a result of product and selling investments that have given us some differentiation in a very crowded market. As for Self-service, we successfully added 18 new customers in the quarter, which is in line with our key goal of adding targeted, higher-spend clients in this growth area. Self-service revenue, while up slightly year-over-year, exhibited several solid underlying trends, such as increased customer adoption, spend performance and conversion.”
“We continue to employ the more customer-centric portfolio platform approach that we launched in the second half of 2024, where customers can pick and choose how they want to be supported. Our efforts to market and sell more effectively continue to yield initial positive results, assisted by our ability to offer our clients a broad range of solutions that fit their needs. We continue to invest in our Self-service platform and Exchange service offering, while balancing this with a focus on maintaining liquidity and cost management across our organization.”
“We remain focused on our plan – being aggressive in generating better marketing and sales performance, removing friction from our selling processes and furthering our product stickiness as a Self-first platform supported by complimentary Managed and Exchange services,” concluded Mr. Cairns.
Elliot Muchnik, illumin’s Chief Financial Officer, commented, “For what is typically a seasonally slower quarter, our strong year-over-year increase in total revenue reflects exceptional growth in Exchange service due to our initiatives to drive increased demand in this area. Adjusted EBITDA declined slightly despite higher revenues as we continued to make strategic investments in sales and marketing to bolster our long-term growth. As we look ahead, operational discipline continues to be a priority as we aim to grow our Adjusted EBITDA while preserving our substantial net cash position.”
The following table presents a reconciliation of Net loss to Adjusted EBITDA for the periods ended:
| Three months ended | ||||||||
| March 31, | March 31, | |||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Net loss for the period | $ | (1,854 | ) | $ | (1,138 | ) | ||
| Adjustments: | ||||||||
| Finance income, net | (337 | ) | (506 | ) | ||||
| Foreign exchange gain | (311 | ) | (1,386 | ) | ||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 1,382 | 1,365 | ||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (63 | ) | 378 | |||||
| Share-based compensation | 737 | 699 | ||||||
| Severance expenses | 34 | 90 | ||||||
| Nasdaq-related costs1 | – | 423 | ||||||
| Other non-recurring expenses | 1 | 89 | ||||||
| Total adjustments | 1,443 | 1,152 | ||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | (411 | ) | $ | 14 | |||
(1) Nasdaq-related costs are listing fees and directors’ and officers’ insurance specific to the Company’s Nasdaq listing and have been reclassed below Adjusted EBITDA as they are not recurring.
Conference Call Details:
Date: Friday, May 9, 2025
Time: 8:30AM Eastern Time
To register for the conference call webcast and presentation, please visit:
https://events.illumin.com/q1-2025-earnings-call
Please connect 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure time for any software download that may be needed to hear the webcast.
A recording of the conference call webcast will be available after the call by visiting the Company’s website at https://illumin.com/investor-information/.
Non-IFRS Measures
This press release makes reference to certain non-IFRS Accounting Standard measures (“non-IFRS measures”). These measures are not recognized measures under IFRS Accounting Standards (“IFRS”), do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Rather, these measures are provided as additional information to complement those IFRS measures by providing further understanding of our results of operations from management’s perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of our financial information reported under IFRS. We use non-IFRS measures including “revenue less media-related costs”, “Gross margin”, and “Adjusted EBITDA” (as well as other measures discussed elsewhere in this press release).
The term “Gross margin” refers to the amount that “revenue less media-related costs” represents as a percentage of total revenue for a given period. Gross margin is used for internal management purposes as an indicator of the performance of the Company’s solution in balancing the goals of delivering excellent results to advertisers while meeting the Company’s margin objectives and, accordingly, the Company believes it is useful supplemental information.
“Adjusted EBITDA” refers to net income (loss) after adjusting for finance costs (income), impairment loss, fair value gain, income taxes, foreign exchange loss (gain), depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation, acquisition and related integration costs, severance expenses and adjustments to the carrying value of investment tax credits receivable. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA is useful supplemental information as it provides an indication of the results generated by the Company’s main business activities before taking into consideration how those activities are financed and taxed and prior to taking into consideration depreciation of property and equipment and certain other items listed above. It is a key measure used by the Company’s management and board of directors to understand and evaluate the Company’s operating performance, to prepare annual budgets and to help develop operating plans.
These non-IFRS measures are used to provide investors with supplemental measures of our operating performance and thus highlight trends in our business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS measures. We believe that securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS measures in the evaluation of issuers, and that these non-IFRS measures are relevant to their analysis of the Company.
About illumin:
illumin is evolving the digital advertising landscape by empowering marketers to achieve transformative results through its customer-centric approach. Featuring a unified canvas built around the open web, illumin lets brands and agencies seamlessly plan, build, and execute campaigns across the entire marketing funnel—connecting programmatic channels, email, and social media within a single platform. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, illumin serves clients across North America, Latin America, and Europe. For more information, visit illumin.com.
Disclaimer with regard to forward looking statements
Certain statements included herein constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.
For further information, please contact:
| Steve Hosein Investor Relations illumin Holdings Inc. 416-218-9888 ext. 5313 investors@illumin.com | David Hanover Investor Relations – U.S. KCSA Strategic Communications 212-896-1220 dhanover@kcsa.com |
Please note that the following financial information is an extract from the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 (the “Financial Statements”) provided for readers’ convenience and should be viewed in conjunction with the Notes to the Financial Statements, which are an integral part of the statements. The full Financial Statements and MD&A for the period may be found by accessing SEDAR+ at http://www.sedarplus.com.
illumin Holdings Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
(Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars)
For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024
| March 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |||||
| Assets | ||||||
| Current assets | ||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 54,013 | $ | 55,952 | ||
| Accounts receivable | 27,663 | 44,650 | ||||
| Income tax receivable | 417 | 613 | ||||
| Prepaid expenses and other | 3,439 | 2,864 | ||||
| 85,532 | 104,079 | |||||
| Non-current assets | ||||||
| Other assets | 117 | 115 | ||||
| Property and equipment | 7,102 | 7,406 | ||||
| Intangible assets | 11,099 | 9,352 | ||||
| Goodwill | 4,870 | 4,870 | ||||
| 108,720 | 125,822 | |||||
| Liabilities | ||||||
| Current liabilities | ||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | 24,534 | 39,148 | ||||
| Income tax payable | 80 | 137 | ||||
| Borrowings | 15 | 48 | ||||
| Lease obligations | 1,212 | 1,513 | ||||
| 25,841 | 40,846 | |||||
| Non-current liabilities | ||||||
| Deferred tax liability | 661 | 1,241 | ||||
| Lease obligations | 4,553 | 4,702 | ||||
| 31,055 | 46,789 | |||||
| Shareholders’ equity | 77,283 | 79,033 | ||||
| 108,720 | 125,822 | |||||
illumin Holdings Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss
(Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share amounts)
For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Revenue | $ | 29,081 | $ | 24,952 | ||||
| Media-related costs | 15,935 | 13,327 | ||||||
| Gross profit | 13,146 | 11,625 | ||||||
| Operating expenses | ||||||||
| Sales and marketing | 7,348 | 5,753 | ||||||
| Technology | 4,338 | 4,086 | ||||||
| General and administrative | 1,906 | 2,374 | ||||||
| Share-based compensation | 737 | 699 | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 1,382 | 1,365 | ||||||
| 15,711 | 14,277 | |||||||
| Loss from operations | (2,565 | ) | (2,652 | ) | ||||
| Finance income, net | (337 | ) | (506 | ) | ||||
| Foreign exchange gain | (311 | ) | (1,386 | ) | ||||
| (648 | ) | (1,892 | ) | |||||
| Net loss before income taxes | (1,917 | ) | (760 | ) | ||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (63 | ) | 378 | |||||
| Net loss for the period | (1,854 | ) | (1,138 | ) | ||||
| Basic and diluted net loss per share | (0.04 | ) | (0.02 | ) | ||||
| Other Comprehensive Loss | ||||||||
| Items that may be subsequently reclassified to net loss: | ||||||||
| Exchange loss on translating foreign operations | (389 | ) | (164 | ) | ||||
| Comprehensive loss for the period | (2,243 | ) | (1,302 | ) | ||||
illumin Holdings Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars)
For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Cash provided by (used in) | ||||||||
| Operating activities | ||||||||
| Net loss for the period | $ | (1,854 | ) | $ | (1,138 | ) | ||
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash flows | ||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 1,382 | 1,365 | ||||||
| Finance income, net | (337 | ) | (506 | ) | ||||
| Share-based compensation | 737 | 699 | ||||||
| Foreign exchange gain | (311 | ) | (1,386 | ) | ||||
| Severance expense | 34 | 90 | ||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (63 | ) | 378 | |||||
| Change in non-cash operating working capital | ||||||||
| Accounts receivable | 16,769 | 10,447 | ||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other | (522 | ) | 427 | |||||
| Other assets | – | (1 | ) | |||||
| Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | (14,759 | ) | (6,151 | ) | ||||
| Income taxes paid, net | (349 | ) | (52 | ) | ||||
| Interest received | 363 | 495 | ||||||
| 1,090 | 4,667 | |||||||
| Investing activities | ||||||||
| Additions to property and equipment | (47 | ) | (775 | ) | ||||
| Additions to intangible assets | (2,465 | ) | (1,761 | ) | ||||
| (2,512 | ) | (2,536 | ) | |||||
| Financing activities | ||||||||
| Repayment of international loans | (33 | ) | (33 | ) | ||||
| Payment of leases | (533 | ) | (510 | ) | ||||
| Repurchase of common shares for cancellation | – | (1,912 | ) | |||||
| Proceeds from the exercise of stock options | 138 | 4 | ||||||
| (428 | ) | (2,451 | ) | |||||
| Decrease in cash and cash equivalents | (1,850 | ) | (320 | ) | ||||
| Impact of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents | (89 | ) | 405 | |||||
| Cash and cash equivalents – beginning of period | 55,952 | 55,455 | ||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents – end of period | 54,013 | 55,540 | ||||||
| Supplemental disclosure of non-cash transactions | ||||||||
| Unpaid additions (reversals) to property and equipment, net | 313 | (734 | ) | |||||
