IZEA Reports Record Second Quarter Revenue, Up 135%
First Half Bookings of $10.5 Million, Up 146%
(firmenpresse) - ORLANDO, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 08/12/15 -- IZEA, Inc. (OTCQB: IZEA), operator of the premier online marketplace that connects brands and publishers with influential content creators, today announced record results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2015.
Bookings for the quarter grew 141% year-over-year to a record $6.2 million, up from $2.6 million in Q2 2014.
Sponsored Social bookings for the quarter grew 50% year over year to $3.8 million, up from $2.6 million.
Revenue for the quarter increased 135% to a record $4.6 million compared to Q2 2014.
Sponsored Social represented $2.4 million in Q2 revenue; Content represented $2.2 million in revenue.
New opportunity pipeline, a representation of new client proposals generated within the quarter, grew to $32.3 million, up from $12.8 million in Q2 2014, an increase of 159%.
Gross profit margin for Content increased from 9% in Q2 2014 under Ebyline, Inc. to 11% in Q2 2015 operating under IZEA.
IZEAx aggregate network reach increased to 2.97 billion fans and followers at the end of the quarter, up 9.6% compared with Q1 2015 and 460% year-over-year.
IZEAx registered users increased 15% to 514,000 from Q1 2015 to Q2 2015 and increased 679% from 66,000 in Q2 2014.
Launched new IZEA corporate website and revamped marketing materials with expanded offering.
Signed two new IZEAx partners and expanded into Australia via WeConnect partnership.
Established a new client development presence in Canada and booked a first sale within the first 90 days.
Announced content platform partnership with Percolate, a leading marketing platform provider.
Appointment of Chris Staymates as VP of Engineering and Jill Golder, CFO of Ruby Tuesday, as a Board Member.
IZEA ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $2.5 million, receivables of $3.3 million and an untapped $5 million credit facility with Bridge Bank. In July, the company announced a warrant conversion offer to existing warrant holders. The company has received signed commitments in excess of $12 million from over 80% of the warrant holders. The transaction is scheduled to close on August 14, 2015. In conjunction with the warrant conversion, the company has officially applied for an up-listing to the NASDAQ capital market.
"In the second quarter, we built off the momentum from the $19.4 million sales pipeline we had generated in Q1. We saw continued growth in both our Sponsored Social and Virtual Newsroom content offerings and have already exceeded IZEA's 2014 total annual revenue by the end of Q2 2015. In June 2015, we delivered our first month in excess of $2.5 million in bookings, another milestone for our growing sales team," commented Ted Murphy, IZEA's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
"While revenue was up 135% for Q2, the concentration of sales towards the end of the quarter did impact revenue recognition within the term. At the end of the quarter, the company had unearned revenue of $2.7 million, with an additional $2.5 million of booked business not yet billed. We expect much of this to be recognized in the coming months," said Murphy. "Our annualized run-rate based on Q2 bookings is $24.8 million and our team remains confident in our ability to achieve $25 million in bookings for the 2015 fiscal year."
"In addition to strong overall sales, IZEA continues to see impressive growth of average deal size. The company's average deal size for the first half of 2015 climbed 67% over the first half of 2014. We also had a major product cross-selling win with a global top 20 website and secured the biggest individual contract in our history with a leading international hotel chain. IZEA is becoming a more integral component of our client's marketing strategy, leading to larger individual contracts and longer engagements. All of this is positively impacting our ability to scale and driving the significantly increased revenue per employee," said Ryan Schram, IZEA's Chief Operating Officer.
Revenue for the second quarter of 2015 was $4,627,742 compared to $1,969,235 for the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 135% due to the increase in our Sponsored Social and Content sales. Gross profit for the quarter was $1,710,382, up from $1,312,579 during the same period in 2014 -- an increase of 30.3%.
Operating expenses for the second quarter of 2015 were $3,910,929, compared to $2,519,797 during the same period in 2014, primarily due to investments in additional sales and engineering staff along with the assumption of Ebyline's operating expenses as well as increased legal expenses.
Operating EBITDA was $(1,722,490) for the quarter compared to $(932,344) 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 $(1,985,291) compared to net income of $2,029,135 during the same period last year, primarily due to a $2,989,103 difference in the gain on the change in the fair value of derivatives between periods and the increase in operating expenses in 2015. Cash used for operating activities was $1,484,723 during the three months ended June 30, 2015.
Basic and diluted loss per common share for the quarter was $(.03), compared to basic and diluted income per common share of $.04 and $.03, respectively, for the second quarter of 2014.
The Company will host a conference call today at 5:00 p.m. ET, during which IZEA management will discuss the financial results and be available to answer any questions from investors.
Electronic replay of the conference call will be available through August 19, 2015 by dialing 1-858-384-5517 and entering PIN number 13617395. IZEA will also post a downloadable file onto the Investor Relations area of .
IZEA operates the premier online marketplace that connects brands with influential content creators. IZEA creators range from leading bloggers and social media personalities to A-List celebrities and professional journalists. Creators are compensated for developing and distributing unique content on behalf of brands including long form text, videos, photos and status updates. Brands receive influential consumer content and engaging, shareable stories that drive awareness. For more information about IZEA, visit .
"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.
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. Please read the full statement and disclosures here: .
IZEA Investor Relations
Budd Zuckerman
Genesis Select
(303) 415-0200
IZEA Media Relations
Brent Diggins
Allison+Partners
(623) 201-5554
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Datum: 12.08.2015 - 20:00 Uhr
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