Solium Releases 2018 First Quarter Financial Results

• Quarterly revenue increased by 23% to $26.1 million
• Quarterly adjusted EBITDA decreased from $5.0 million to $3.5 million
• Cash position strong at $87.0 million
• Major projects on track

CALGARY, May 9, 2018 /CNW/ - Solium Capital Inc. (TSX: SUM) ("Solium" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.

Financial and operating highlights for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, compared to the same period in 2017:

• Revenue increased by 23% to $26.1 million for the first quarter of 2018;
  
  
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ decreased by 30% to $3.5 million in the first quarter of 2018;
  
  
• Earnings from operations decreased by 77% to $0.8 million for the first quarter of 2018;
  
  
• Net earnings decreased by 50% to $1.3 million in the first quarter of 2018; and
  
  
• Cash on hand as at March 31, 2018 totaled $87.0 million.

Key factors affecting the results in the quarter ended March 31, 2018:

• License revenue – License and subscription fees increased by $3.5 million or 27% during the first quarter of 2018, as compared to the same period in 2017. Based on local currencies, the growth was 22% as compared to 2017. Growth in license revenue is largely driven by the U.S. white label agreements, organic growth from new sales in all regions, revenue from the acquired Capshare business and migration of customers from NASDAQ Private Market, LLC to Solium.
  
  
• Transaction activity – In addition to the recurring license revenue that Solium collects for the use of its Shareworks platform, the Company also collects re-occurring transaction based revenue. Transaction based revenue increased by $1.0 million or 14% during the first quarter of 2018, as compared to the same period in 2017. The per-participant trading activity was 3% higher in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017 and 7% higher than the historical five-year Q1 average.
  
  
• Operating costs – Operating expenses increased by $7.5 million or 42% during the first quarter of 2018, as compared to the same period in 2017. The increase is primarily as a result of planned hiring to support the U.S. white label agreements and the acquisition of Capshare. The Company had 713 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) at the end of the first quarter of 2018 compared to 553 FTEs at the end of the first quarter of 2017.

Acquisition:

• In February 2018, the Company acquired Advanced-HR, a U.S. company that provides compensation data and compensation planning software for private and venture backed companies. Advanced-HR provides compensation data through its products OptionDriver and OptionImpact to over 2,500 private companies and 120 venture capital firms.

Changes in significant accounting policies:

The Company has adopted IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers and IFRS 16 Leases effective January 1, 2018. IFRS 9 Financial Instruments is also effective from January 1, 2018 but does not have an impact on the Company's financial information. For more information, refer to note 3 of the Company's Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

Selected financial information for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018:

(Expressed in thousands of USD except per share amounts and percentages)

Regional breakdown of results:
(Expressed in thousands of USD except percentages)

Currently included in the International reportable segment are the results relating to the U.K., Europe, Australia, and Hong Kong operations.

During the first quarter of 2018, the Company had an overall decrease to cash and cash equivalents of $13.2 million (2017: increase $1.1 million). Total cash used in operating activities inclusive of working capital changes was $3.6 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 (2017: cash inflow $1.5 million). Cash from financing activities was nil in 2018 (2017: $0.2 million). Cash outflow from investing activities was $7.6 million in 2018 (2017: $1.2 million) mainly as a result of the Advanced-HR acquisition.

Working capital including cash and cash equivalents as at March 31, 2018 was $85.2 million (December 31, 2017: $93.8 million). Included in working capital was trade and other receivables of $18.6 million (December 31, 2017: $15.0 million) and trade payables and other accruals of $8.8 million (December 31, 2017: $12.2 million).

Outlook

In Q4 2016 and Q2 2017, respectively, Solium entered into white label license agreements with U.S. partners Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial Services Inc. Solium added significant headcount and committed additional resources to ensure the success of these projects, and some hiring is anticipated to continue throughout 2018. The first customers for both partners were migrated to Shareworks in December 2017, and the Company is now actively migrating clients on a monthly basis. Solium remains on track to migrate all clients by the end of 2019.

Solium has made three key investments recently to accelerate its position in the private company market. In October 2017, Solium announced the acquisition of Capshare Inc. The acquisition positions Solium to compete in the rapidly emerging early-stage angel and venture backed private company market. Shareworks is well positioned as the leading platform for late-stage private companies, including those seeking an Initial Public Offering. Capshare will allow Solium to provide a targeted solution that meets the unique requirements of earlier stage private companies. In Q3 2017, Solium also incorporated Solium Analytics LLC to provide 409A business valuation services to private companies. In February 2018, Solium announced the acquisition of Advanced-HR. Through the acquisition, Solium's private market clients will have the ability to access equity data and benchmarks to guide them in compensating their employees. Solium plans to commit additional resources to the Capshare, Analytics and Advanced-HR businesses.

Solium continues to be in an investment phase and remains committed to investing for future revenue growth over the course of 2018, resulting in further pressure on profitability in the near-term. The Company continues to invest in its capabilities and infrastructure – ensuring best-in-class technology and service – to drive long term investor returns.

About Solium Capital Inc.

Solium Capital Inc. (TSX: SUM) provides cloud-enabled services for global equity administration, financial reporting and compliance.  From offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and Hong Kong, our innovative software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology powers share plan administration and equity transactions for more than 3,000 corporate clients with employee participants in more than 100 countries.  Follow us @Solium and visit us at solium.com.

Certain statements included in this press release constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements or information typically contain statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Specific forward-looking statements in this press release include statements with respect to the projects with Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial Services Inc. including the financial impact of new hires and plans to hire additional employees, the anticipated timing of completing migrating the Morgan Stanley and UBS customers to Shareworks, the Company's investment strategy, including plans to commit additional resources to the Solium Analytics LLC, Capshare Inc. and Advanced-HR businesses, the Company's acquisition strategy and the Company's ability to compete in the private company market.  Such forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including assumptions with respect to the ability of the Company to identify, hire, train, motivate and retain qualified personnel, the Company's ability to maintain or accurately forecast revenue from its products and services, the competitive environment in which the Company operates, and the Company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits from its investment in the partnerships with Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial Services Inc. and its investments to accelerate its position in the private company market. Although Solium believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements or information because Solium can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements and information are based on Solium's current expectations, estimates and projections, and are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including general business and economic conditions, actions of competitors and partners, the regulatory environment and product capability and acceptance. The foregoing is not exhaustive and other risks are detailed from time to time in other continuous disclosure documents of the Company, including the Company's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2017. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company does not intend to nor does it assume any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements or forward looking information, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or otherwise, except as required by law.

The Management's Discussion and Analysis and the Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 referred to herein will be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under Solium Capital Inc., or at www.solium.com.

SOURCE Solium Capital Inc.