Solium Releases 2018 Third Quarter Financial Results

Financial figures expressed in U.S. dollars ("USD")

• Quarterly revenue increased by 38% to $28.3 million
• Cash position strong at $96.1 million
• Quarterly adjusted EBITDA increased from $2.1 million to $5.4 million
• Major projects on track

CALGARY, Nov. 6, 2018 /CNW/ - Solium Capital Inc. (TSX: SUM) ("Solium" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2018.

Financial and operating highlights for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2018, compared to the same periods in 2017:

• Revenue increased by 38% to $28.3 million in the third quarter of 2018 and by 29% to $81.3 million for the nine month period ended September 30, 2018;
  
  
• Earnings from operations increased from $1.0 million to $2.6 million in the third quarter of 2018 and decreased from $6.3 million to $2.7 million for the nine month period ended September 30, 2018;
  
  
• Net earnings increased by $2.6 million to $2.3 million in the third quarter of 2018 and decreased by $0.8 million to $3.0 million for the nine month period ended September 30, 2018;
  
  
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ increased to $5.4 million in the third quarter of 2018 and to $11.1 million for the nine month period ended September 30, 2018;
  
  
• Cash on hand as at September 30, 2018 totaled $96.1 million.

Key factors affecting the results in the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2018:

• License revenue – License and subscription fees increased by $5.4 million or 38% during the third quarter of 2018 and by $11.6 million or 28% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, as compared to the same periods in 2017. Based on local currencies, the growth was 38% during the third quarter and 26% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. Growth in license revenue is largely driven by organic growth from new sales in all regions, the U.S. white label agreements and revenue from the acquired Capshare and Advanced-HR businesses.
  
  
• Transaction activity – In addition to the recurring license revenue that Solium collects for the use of its technology platforms, the Company also collects re-occurring transaction based revenue. Transaction based revenue increased by $1.6 million or 27% during the third quarter of 2018 and by $4.8 million or 24% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, as compared to the same periods in 2017. The per-participant trading activity was 18% higher in the third quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017 and 18% higher than the historical five-year Q3 average.
  
  
• Operating costs – Operating expenses (excluding 2017 sales tax adjustment) increased by $5.2 million or 25% during the third quarter of 2018 and by $20.8 million or 36% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, when compared to the same periods in 2017. The increases are primarily driven by planned hiring to support the U.S. white label agreements; costs from the new businesses of Capshare, Solium Analytics and Advanced-HR; and the resulting incremental systems and infrastructure costs. The Company also incurred costs in the first half of 2018 associated with an investment opportunity that did not materialize, further contributing to the nine month period increase over 2017. The Company had 769 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) at the end of the third quarter of 2018 compared to 611 FTEs at the end of the third quarter of 2017.

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 and nine month periods ended September 30, 2018.

Selected financial information for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2018:
(Expressed in thousands of USD except share, per share amounts and percentages)

	Three Months Ended September 30,			Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2018 $	2017 $	% Change	2018 $	2017 $	% Change
Revenue	28,257	20,542	38%	81,258	63,210	29%
Operating expenses	25,660	19,566	31%	78,567	56,868	38%
Adjusted EBITDA^1	5,419	2,055	164%	11,118	10,721	4%
Earnings (loss) from operations	2,597	976	166%	2,691	6,342	(58%)
Net earnings (loss)	2,310	(306)	NM^(3)	3,052	3,816	(20%)
Net earnings (loss) per share^2
Basic	0.041	(0.006)	NM^(3)	0.054	0.076	(29%)
Diluted	0.040	(0.006)	NM^(3)	0.053	0.075	(29%)
Issued and outstanding (thousands)
Common shares				56,577	50,984	11%
Diluted^2				60,635	54,781	11%

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.

	Three Months Ended September 30,
	Canada		U.S		International		Consolidated
	2018	2017	2018	2017	2018	2017	2018	2017
Revenues	8,113	7,122	15,783	10,166	4,361	3,254	28,257	20,542
Adjusted EBITDA^1	2,894	1,932	2,226	1,059	299	(936)	5,419	2,055
Adjusted EBITDA %^1	36%	27%	14%	10%	7%	(29%)	19%	10%
Earnings (loss) from operations	1,857	959	874	1,152	(134)	(1,135)	2,597	976

	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	Canada		U.S		International		Consolidated
	2018	2017	2018	2017	2018	2017	2018	2017
Revenues	25,543	21,944	42,366	30,424	13,349	10,842	81,258	63,210
Adjusted EBITDA^1	7,054	7,020	2,826	4,374	1,238	(673)	11,118	10,721
Adjusted EBITDA %^1	28%	32%	7%	14%	9%	(6%)	14%	17%
Earnings (loss) from operations	3,905	4,874	(1,108)	2,730	(106)	(1,262)	2,691	6,342

(1) Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS financial measure. See definition and reconciliation to net earnings (loss) in Note 1 on page 4.

(2) Net earnings (loss) per share and diluted shares outstanding are discussed in further detail in Notes 2 and 3 on page 4, respectively.

(3) NM denotes as not meaningful.

During the three month period ended September 30, 2018 the Company had an overall increase in cash and cash equivalents of $5.6 million (2017: $3.3 million) and an overall decrease of cash and cash equivalents during the nine month period ended September 30, 2018 of $4.1 million (2017: increase $6.6 million).

Total cash from operating activities was $4.7 million for the three month period ended September 30, 2018 (2017: $3.2 million) and $5.8 million for the nine month period ended September 30, 2018 (2017: $6.5 million). Cash from financing activities was $0.7 million for the three month period ended September 30, 2018 (2017: $0.6 million) and $1.8 million for the nine month period ended September 30, 2018 (2017: $1.7 million). Cash used in investing activities was $1.2 million for the three month period ended September 30, 2018 (2017: $3.0 million) and $9.6 million for the nine month period ended September 30, 2018 (2017: $5.6 million). The cash used in investing activities in 2018 is primarily as a result of the Advanced-HR acquisition.

Working capital including cash and cash equivalents as at September 30, 2018 was $90.7 million (December 31, 2017: $93.8 million). Included in working capital was trade and other receivables of $20.9 million (December 31, 2017: $15.0 million) and trade payables and other accruals of $12.7 million (December 31, 2017: $12.2 million).

Management change

Kelly Schmitt, the Company's Chief Financial Officer who was on parental leave, resigned effective October 18, 2018. As part of its governance process the Company has begun the process to recruit a new Chief Financial Officer and during this transition, Sujeet Kini, who has been the Company's Interim Chief Financial Officer since April 2, 2018, will continue in the role of Interim Chief Financial Officer.

Outlook

In Q4 2016 and Q2 2017, Solium entered into white label license agreements with U.S. partners Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial Services Inc., respectively. 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 continues to invest for future revenue growth, and expects this to continue through the course of 2018 and into 2019, 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.

Notes:
1.	Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") and Adjusted EBITDA are non-IFRS financial measures which do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA provide useful information to users as they reflect the net earnings prior to the effect of non-operating expenses such as finance income, income taxes, depreciation of property and equipment, depreciation of right of use assets, amortization of intangible assets, amortization of contract costs, foreign exchange gain or loss (on translation of working capital), share-based payments, adjustment of earn-out payable, and sales tax adjustment. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA in measuring the financial performance of the Company. Management monitors Adjusted EBITDA against budget and past results on a regular basis. The measure is a component in determining the annual bonus pool for staff and management   The following is a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net earnings (loss):

		Three months ended September 30,		Nine months ended September 30,
		2018	2017	2018	2017
	Adjusted EBITDA	5,419	2,055	11,118	10,721
	Foreign exchange (loss) gain	(652)	(649)	175	(604)
	Share-based payments	(872)	(629)	(2,518)	(1,651)
	Adjustment of earn-out payable	926	-	926	-
	Sales tax adjustment included in operating expense	-	941	-	941
	EBITDA	4,821	1,718	9,701	9,407
	Finance income	298	223	853	606
	Depreciation of property and equipment	(523)	(621)	(1,635)	(1,345)
	Depreciation of right of use assets	(474)	-	(1,420)	-
	Amortization of intangible assets	(772)	(618)	(2,289)	(1,889)
	Amortization of contract costs	(181)	(152)	(565)	(435)
	Income taxes	(859)	(856)	(1,593)	(2,528)
	Net earnings (loss)	2,310	(306)	3,052	3,816

2.	Diluted net earnings (loss) per share is calculated using the treasury stock method.
3.	Diluted shares as presented equals issued and outstanding common shares plus the effects of dilutive outstanding stock options and restricted share units.

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 continue to invest for future revenue growth, the Company's acquisition strategy and the Company's ability to compete in the private company market and planned hiring of a new Chief Financial Officer.  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 and period ended September 30, 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.

Investor relations: Heidi Christensen Brown, NATIONAL Capital Markets, 416.848.1389, [email protected]