Payfare Announces Strong First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Continued execution on profitability, generating free cash flow¹ of $4.1 million in Q1 2023

TORONTO, May 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Payfare Inc. ("Payfare" or the "Company") (TSX: PAY), a leading fintech powering instant payout and digital banking solutions for the gig workforce, today announced the filing of its Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the quarter ending March 31, 2023. A comprehensive discussion of Payfare's financial position and results of operations are provided in the MD&A, which is filed on SEDAR under Payfare's profile and can be found at www.sedar.com.

Q1 2023 Highlights:

• Increased revenue to a record $42.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, representing a $18.3 million (+76%) increase compared to the same period in 2022. Payfare remains on track to meet its full year 2023 revenue guidance of $185 million to $195 million.
• Ended Q1 2023 with 1,127,460 active users¹, up 431,098 (+62%) compared to active user¹ count as at the end of Q1 2022 and up 73,588 (7%) compared to active users¹ count as at Q4 2022.
• Total gross dollar value (Total GDV)¹ in Q1 2023 was $2.7 billion, an increase of $1.2 billion (+86%) over Q1 2022 and $0.3 billion (+11%) over Q4 2022.
• Net income of $1.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, up $4 million (+148%), compared to the same period in 2022.
• Adjusted net income¹ of $3.5 million, or $0.07 per share, for the three months ended March 31, 2023, representing growth of $4.2 million, or $0.09 per share, over the prior year period.
• Free cash flow¹ of $4.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, which equates to growth of $3.5 million (+561%) over the prior year period.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, reflecting a $3.9 million (+453%) increase compared to the same period in 2022. Payfare remains on track to achieve its full year 2023 Adjusted EBITDA¹ guidance of $21 million to $24 million.
• Introduced Avibra's suite of free and low-cost health and wellness protection and perks access to all DoorDash active cardholders.
• Launched a new cashback rewards program partnering with Upside to provide personalized price promotion offers at fuel stations, restaurants, convenience and grocery stores to DoorDash Dasher Direct cardholders.
• Subsequent to quarter-end, Payfare expanded its partnership with NCR Corporation to deliver self service financial tools for US cardholders by providing access to Allpoint+ cash accepting ATMs, enabling cash deposits in addition to cash withdrawals, and NCR Pay360, an API solution that allows cardholders to access cash via Payfare's digital banking apps.

"We are pleased to once again demonstrate strong free cash flow generation and earnings profitability in the first quarter of 2023," said Marco Margiotta, CEO and Founding Partner of Payfare. "We remain extremely optimistic on the underlying fundamentals of our core business model which we expect to supplement with new partnerships and product shelf enhancements over the balance of the year." 

Conference Call

Management will host a conference call on Thursday May 11, 2023, at 11:30 a.m. ET to discuss these results. A short presentation in connection with the conference call will be made available on the Company's website at https://corp.payfare.com/investors/. Management will also host a live question and answer session on the conference call with analysts.

To access the conference call, please dial [phone] or 1-888-886-7786. Please call the conference telephone number 10-15 minutes prior to the start time so that you are in the queue for an operator to assist in registering and patching you through.

An archived recording of the conference call will be available until June 11, 2023. To listen to the recording, call [phone] or 1-877-674-7070 and enter passcode 202402 #.

About Payfare (TSX:PAY)

Payfare is a global financial technology company powering digital banking and instant payment solutions for today's gig workforce. Payfare partners with leading platforms and marketplaces, such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, to provide financial health for their workforce.

¹Non-IFRS and Supplementary Financial Measures

This press release contains references to "active users", "Total GDV", "adjusted net income (loss)", "adjusted net income (loss) per share", "Adjusted EBITDA" and "free cash flow", which are not measures prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). These supplementary financial measures are provided as additional information to complement IFRS measures by providing a further understanding of our results of operations from management's perspective, to provide investors and security analysts with supplemental measures to evaluate the financial performance of the Company and highlight trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS financial measures. Management also uses non-IFRS and supplementary financial measures to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, prepare annual operating budgets and strategic business plans and to evaluate and price potential acquisitions. Accordingly, non-IFRS and supplementary financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our financial information reported under IFRS. Such measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and, therefore, may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other corporations. The non-IFRS and supplementary financial measures are not subject to standard industry definition and our definitions and method of calculation may differ from other issuers and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

The Company determines the number of users to its services based on active users. "Active users" represent users who have loaded earnings and direct deposits on their card in the period. "Total GDV" is defined as the aggregate dollar amount of active user earnings and direct deposits loaded on their payment card during the period.

"EBITDA" means net income (loss) before amortization and depreciation expenses, foreign exchange loss (gain), amortization of deferred income, finance and interest costs (income)current tax expense and change in fair value of derivative liability.

"Adjusted EBITDA" adjusts EBITDA for stock-based compensation expense, transactional gains or losses on assets, asset impairment charges, loss on extinguishment of debts, gains or losses from changes in fair value of derivative financial instruments and contingent consideration liabilities measured at fair value through profit or loss, gains or losses from disposals of equipment, net income or loss from equity accounted investees, restructuring costs and non-recurring expense items. Non-recurring expense items are transactions or events which management believes will not re-occur within the foreseeable future and includes legal and professional fees related to claim settlements, acquisition, divestiture and going public transaction. The table below reconciles net income (loss) to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.

	Three Months Ended March 31,
In CAD $	2023		2022
Net income (loss)	$   1,288,876		$ (2,704,538)
Add:
Current tax expense	17,269		-
Finance income	(482,882)		(65,335)
Other income	(7,790)		(39,962)
Foreign exchange loss	55,231		1,426
Amortization of intangible assets	571,983		189,281
Depreciation of building, property and equipment	35,516		33,004
EBITDA	1,478,203		(2,586,124)
Adjustments:
Restructuring expense/other	614,490		-
Share based compensation	941,693		1,726,922
Adjusted EBITDA	$   3,034,386		$ (859,202)

"Adjusted net income (loss)" adjusts net income (loss) for share-based compensation expense, amortization and depreciation expenses, transactional gains or losses on assets, asset impairment charges, loss on extinguishment of debts, gains or losses from changes in fair value of derivative financial instruments and contingent consideration liabilities measured at fair value through profit or loss, gains or losses from disposals of equipment, net income or loss from equity accounted investees, restructuring costs and non-recurring expense items. Non-recurring expense items are transactions or events which management believes will not re-occur within the foreseeable future and includes legal and professional fees related to claim settlements, acquisition, divestiture and going public transaction. The table below reconciles net income (loss) to Adjusted net income (loss) for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.

	Three Months Ended March 31,
In CAD $	2023		2022
Net income (loss)	$   1,288,876		$ (2,704,538)
Add:
Amortization of intangible assets	571,983		189,281
Depreciation of building, property  and equipment	35,516		33,004
Restructuring expense/other	614,490		-
Share based compensation	941,693		1,726,922
Adjusted net income (loss)	$   3,452,558		$ (755,331)

"Adjusted net income (loss)" per share is calculated as Adjusted net income (loss) divided by the basic weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period.

The Company defines its free cash flow as cash from operating activities less cash used in investing activities (including additions to intangible assets and purchase of building, property and equipment). The table below reconciles cash from operating activities to free cash flow for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.

	Three months ended March 31,
In CAD $	2023		2022
Cash from operating activities	$        5,317,928		$        1,344,966
Less: Cash used in investing activities	-		-
Purchase of building, property and equipment	(1,283)		(73,087)
Additions to intangible assets	(1,192,097)		(648,182)
Free cash flow	$        4,124,548		$           623,697

Additional information on these measure may be found under the heading "Definitions – IFRS, Additional GAAP and Non-GAAP Measures" in the MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2023 which is available under Payfare's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and is incorporated by reference to this press release.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects Payfare's current expectations regarding future events as of the date hereof. Such forward-looking information may include but are not limited to statements regarding underlying fundamentals of core business model, new partnerships and product shelf enhancements over the balance of the year, guidance information for 2023, the launch of new features and partnerships, and expansion into new business verticals which include Earned Wage Access for full time employees. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Payfare's control, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks include the factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" section in Payfare's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022. Other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially include the inability of Payfare to launch and market its new programs or platforms that are planned in a timely manner, the lack of experience or resources to enter into Earned Wage Access vertical, Payfare's inability to manage the increased volume of new cardholder sign-ups, active users or transactions, the decline in third party ranking of Payfare's mobile apps, the impact of inflation and rising costs of goods and services on Payfare's business model which may impact management's expectations on active user growth in the year 2023 and beyond, the imposition of new restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Payfare's ability to finance and support new programs and platforms, a general decline in the credit markets, gig economy or confidence in the banking sector in North America. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The purpose of guidance contained in this news release is solely to outline management's current expectations and outlook for its 2023 financial performance, and not to forecast or project future results. Readers are cautioned that such guidance is not appropriate for any other purpose Payfare does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.

SOURCE Payfare

Please visit www.payfare.com or contact: Cihan Tuncay, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Development, 1 [phone], [email protected]