ACIW ACI Worldwide Inc

Q1 2024 HIGHLIGHTS

• Revenue up 9% versus Q1 2023
• Net income (loss) improved $24 million over Q1 2023 to a loss of $8 million
• Adjusted EBITDA up 93% versus Q1 2023
• Cash flow from operating activities up 208% versus Q1 2023
• Repurchased 2 million shares for $63 million
• Raising guidance range for full-year 2024

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software, announced financial results today for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

"Q1 results exceeded our expectations, and we are increasing the high end of our full year targets," said Thomas Warsop, president and CEO of ACI Worldwide. "We continue to see strength in the Bank segment, particularly in our Real-Time Payments and Fraud Management solutions, which both grew more than 20% in the quarter. Overall, we are pleased to have delivered on our commitments in the quarter, with strong results across key financial metrics, including revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth and operating cash flow generation. Looking forward, our pipeline continues to strengthen, we are focused on the execution of our strategy, and we are confident in our ability to capitalize on the significant opportunities in front of us."

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

In Q1 2024, revenue was $316 million, up 9% from Q1 2023. Recurring revenue of $264 million represented 83% of total revenue in the quarter. Net loss was $8 million versus $32 million in Q1 2023. Adjusted EBITDA in Q1 2024 was $48 million, up 93% from Q1 2023. Cash flow from operating activities in Q1 2024 was $123 million, up 208% from Q1 2023.

• Bank segment revenue increased 20% in Q1 2024, with Fraud Management and Real Time Payment products growing 23% and 28%, respectively. Bank segment adjusted EBITDA grew 69% versus Q1 2023.

• Merchant segment revenue grew 3% in Q1 2024 and Merchant segment adjusted EBITDA increased 63%, versus Q1 2023.

• Biller segment revenue increased 5% in Q1 2024 and Biller segment adjusted EBITDA increased 4% versus Q1 2023.

ACI ended Q1 2024 with $183 million in cash on hand and a debt balance of $1 billion, which represents a net debt leverage ratio of 2.0x. The company repurchased 2 million shares for approximately $63 million in capital in Q1 2024 and to date in Q2 2024 has repurchased an additional 1 million shares. At the end of the quarter, the company had approximately $109 million remaining available on the share repurchase authorization.

RAISING 2024 GUIDANCE RANGE

For the full year of 2024, we are raising the top end of our guidance for both revenue and adjusted EBITDA. We now expect revenue to be in the range of $1.547 billion to $1.581 billion, up from the range of $1.547 billion to $1.576 billion. We now expect adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $418 million to $433 million, up from the range of $418 million to $428 million. For Q2 2024, we expect revenue to be between $345 million and $355 million and adjusted EBITDA of $60 million to $70 million.

CONFERENCE CALL TO DISCUSS FINANCIAL RESULTS

Today, management will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss these results. Interested persons may access a real-time audio broadcast of the teleconference at http://investor.aciworldwide.com/ or use the following number for dial-in participation: toll-free 1 (888) 660-6377 and conference code 3153574.

About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide is a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software. Our proven, secure and scalable software solutions enable leading corporations, fintechs, and financial disruptors to process and manage digital payments, power omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, and manage fraud and risk. We combine our global footprint with a local presence to drive the real-time digital transformation of payments and commerce.

© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2024.

ACI, ACI Worldwide, ACI Payments, Inc., ACI Pay, Speedpay and all ACI product/solution names are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both. Other parties' trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

To supplement our financial results presented on a GAAP basis, we use the non-GAAP measures indicated in the tables, which exclude significant transaction-related expenses, as well as other significant non-cash expenses such as depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation, that we believe are helpful in understanding our past financial performance and our future results. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to our GAAP results and are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. Management generally compensates for limitations in the use of non-GAAP financial measures by relying on comparable GAAP financial measures and providing investors with a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures only in addition to and in conjunction with results presented in accordance with GAAP.

We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures reflect an additional way to view aspects of our operations that, when viewed with our GAAP results, provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business. Certain non-GAAP measures include:

• Adjusted EBITDA: net income (loss) plus income tax expense (benefit), net interest income (expense), net other income (expense), depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation, as well as significant transaction-related expenses. Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, net income (loss).

• Net Adjusted EBITDA Margin: Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue net of pass-through interchange revenue. Net Adjusted EBITDA Margin should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, net income (loss).

• Diluted EPS adjusted for non-cash and significant transaction related items: diluted EPS plus tax effected significant transaction related items, amortization of acquired intangibles and software, and non-cash stock-based compensation. Diluted EPS adjusted for non-cash and significant transaction related items should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, diluted EPS.

• Recurring Revenue: revenue from software as a service and platform as a service fees and maintenance fees. Recurring revenue should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, total revenue.

• ARR: New annual recurring revenue expected to be generated from new accounts, new applications, and add-on sales bookings contracts signed in the period.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Generally, forward-looking statements do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and may include words or phrases such as “believes,” “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” and words and phrases of similar impact. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to: (i) our pipeline continues to strengthen, we are focused on continued execution of our strategy, and confident in our ability to capitalize on the significant opportunities in front of us and (ii) statements regarding Q2 2024 and full year 2024 revenue and adjusted EBITDA financial guidance.

All of the foregoing forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by the risk factors discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors include, but are not limited to, increased competition, business interruptions or failure of our information technology and communication systems, security breaches or viruses, our ability to attract and retain senior management personnel and skilled technical employees, future acquisitions, strategic partnerships and investments, divestitures and other restructuring activities, implementation and success of our strategy, impact if we convert some or all on-premise licenses from fixed-term to subscription model, anti-takeover provisions, exposure to credit or operating risks arising from certain payment funding methods, customer reluctance to switch to a new vendor, our ability to adequately defend our intellectual property, litigation, consent orders and other compliance agreements, our offshore software development activities, risks from operating internationally, including fluctuations in currency exchange rates, events in eastern Europe and the Middle East, adverse changes in the global economy, compliance of our products with applicable legislation, governmental regulations and industry standards, the complexity of our products and services and the risk that they may contain hidden defects, complex regulations applicable to our payments business, our compliance with privacy and cybersecurity regulations, exposure to unknown tax liabilities, changes in tax laws and regulations, consolidations and failures in the financial services industry, volatility in our stock price, demand for our products, failure to obtain renewals of customer contracts or to obtain such renewals on favorable terms, delay or cancellation of customer projects or inaccurate project completion estimates, impairment of our goodwill or intangible assets, the accuracy of management’s backlog estimates, the cyclical nature of our revenue and earnings and the accuracy of forecasts due to the concentration of revenue-generating activity during the final weeks of each quarter, restrictions and other financial covenants in our debt agreements, our existing levels of debt, events outside of our control including natural disasters, wars, and outbreaks of disease, and revenues or revenue mix. For a detailed discussion of these risk factors, parties that are relying on the forward-looking statements should review our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

 

ACI WORLDWIDE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(unaudited and in thousands)

 

 

March 31, 2024

 

December 31, 2023

ASSETS

 

 

 

Current assets

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

$

183,393

 

$

164,239

Receivables, net of allowances

 

345,125

 

 

452,337

Settlement assets

 

700,733

 

 

723,039

Prepaid expenses

 

34,416

 

 

31,479

Other current assets

 

34,935

 

 

35,551

Total current assets

 

1,298,602

 

 

1,406,645

Noncurrent assets

 

 

 

Accrued receivables, net

 

290,186

 

 

313,983

Property and equipment, net

 

36,924

 

 

37,856

Operating lease right-of-use assets

 

33,153

 

 

34,338

Software, net

 

112,368

 

 

108,418

Goodwill

 

1,226,026

 

 

1,226,026

Intangible assets, net

 

186,782

 

 

195,646

Deferred income taxes, net

 

56,017

 

 

58,499

Other noncurrent assets

 

60,143

 

 

63,328

TOTAL ASSETS

$

3,300,201

 

$

3,444,739

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

 

 

Current liabilities

 

 

 

Accounts payable

$

44,292

 

$

45,964

Settlement liabilities

 

699,804

 

 

721,164

Employee compensation

 

26,938

 

 

53,892

Current portion of long-term debt

 

34,875

 

 

74,405

Deferred revenue

 

77,147

 

 

59,580

Other current liabilities

 

65,764

 

 

82,244

Total current liabilities

 

948,820

 

 

1,037,249

Noncurrent liabilities

 

 

 

Deferred revenue

 

20,117

 

 

24,780

Long-term debt

 

981,851

 

 

963,599

Deferred income taxes, net

 

39,465

 

 

40,735

Operating lease liabilities

 

27,378

 

 

29,074

Other noncurrent liabilities

 

25,517

 

 

25,005

Total liabilities

 

2,043,148

 

 

2,120,442

Commitments and contingencies

 

 

 

Stockholders’ equity

 

 

 

Preferred stock

 

—

 

 

—

Common stock

 

702

 

 

702

Additional paid-in capital

 

714,936

 

 

712,994

Retained earnings

 

1,387,216

 

 

1,394,967

Treasury stock

 

(733,927)

 

 

(674,896)

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

 

(111,874)

 

 

(109,470)

Total stockholders’ equity

 

1,257,053

 

 

1,324,297

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

$

3,300,201

 

$

3,444,739

 

ACI WORLDWIDE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(unaudited and in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

 

Three Months Ended March 31,

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

Revenues

 

 

 

Software as a service and platform as a service

$

215,732

 

$

204,930

License

 

29,973

 

 

18,331

Maintenance

 

47,754

 

 

50,103

Services

 

22,560

 

 

16,312

Total revenues

 

316,019

 

 

289,676

Operating expenses

 

 

 

Cost of revenue (1)

 

191,107

 

 

178,554

Research and development

 

34,993

 

 

37,118

Selling and marketing

 

26,750

 

 

35,435

General and administrative

 

26,000

 

 

31,382

Depreciation and amortization

 

27,609

 

 

31,539

Total operating expenses

 

306,459

 

 

314,028

Operating income (loss)

 

9,560

 

 

(24,352)

Other income (expense)

 

 

 

Interest expense

 

(19,010)

 

 

(18,892)

Interest income

 

4,009

 

 

3,505

Other, net

 

(2,025)

 

 

(3,395)

Total other income (expense)

 

(17,026)

 

 

(18,782)

Loss before income taxes

 

(7,466)

 

 

(43,134)

Income tax expense (benefit)

 

285

 

 

(10,826)

Net loss

$

(7,751)

 

$

(32,308)

Loss per common share

 

 

 

Basic

$

(0.07)

 

$

(0.30)

Diluted

$

(0.07)

 

$

(0.30)

Weighted average common shares outstanding

 

 

 

Basic

 

106,799

 

 

108,156

Diluted

 

106,799

 

 

108,156

(1) The cost of revenue excludes charges for depreciation and amortization.

ACI WORLDWIDE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(unaudited and in thousands)

 

 

Three Months Ended March 31,

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

Cash flows from operating activities:

 

 

 

Net loss

$

(7,751)

 

$

(32,308)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash flows from operating activities:

 

 

 

Depreciation

 

3,631

 

 

6,131

Amortization

 

23,978

 

 

25,408

Amortization of operating lease right-of-use assets

 

2,568

 

 

2,767

Amortization of deferred debt issuance costs

 

936

 

 

1,115

Deferred income taxes

 

1,006

 

 

(10,382)

Stock-based compensation expense

 

8,099

 

 

5,301

Other

 

(1,311)

 

 

(290)

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

Receivables

 

127,269

 

 

88,960

Accounts payable

 

(448)

 

 

(1,308)

Accrued employee compensation

 

(26,453)

 

 

(15,593)

Deferred revenue

 

13,907

 

 

10,202

Other current and noncurrent assets and liabilities

 

(22,190)

 

 

(39,935)

Net cash flows from operating activities

 

123,241

 

 

40,068

Cash flows from investing activities:

 

 

 

Purchases of property and equipment

 

(3,208)

 

 

(2,258)

Purchases of software and distribution rights

 

(14,582)

 

 

(6,481)

Net cash flows from investing activities

 

(17,790)

 

 

(8,739)

Cash flows from financing activities:

 

 

 

Proceeds from issuance of common stock

 

693

 

 

707

Proceeds from exercises of stock options

 

475

 

 

78

Repurchase of stock-based compensation awards for tax withholdings

 

(3,302)

 

 

(3,001)

Repurchases of common stock

 

(62,515)

 

 

—

Proceeds from revolving credit facility

 

164,000

 

 

50,000

Repayment of revolving credit facility

 

(152,000)

 

 

(45,000)

Proceeds from term portion of credit agreement

 

500,000

 

 

—

Repayment of term portion of credit agreement

 

(529,073)

 

 

(14,606)

Payments for debt issuance costs

 

(5,141)

 

 

—

Payments on or proceeds from other debt, net

 

(2,694)

 

 

(5,670)

Net decrease in settlement assets and liabilities

 

(18,933)

 

 

(2,834)

Net cash flows from financing activities

 

(108,490)

 

 

(20,326)

Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash

 

2,314

 

 

2,557

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

 

(725)

 

 

13,560

Cash and cash equivalents, including settlement deposits, beginning of period

 

238,821

 

 

214,672

Cash and cash equivalents, including settlement deposits, end of period

$

238,096

 

$

228,232

Reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents to the Consolidated Balance Sheets

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

$

183,393

 

$

142,412

Settlement deposits

 

54,703

 

 

85,820

Total cash and cash equivalents

$

238,096

 

$

228,232

 

Three Months Ended March 31,

Adjusted EBITDA (millions)

 

2024

 

 

2023

Net loss

$

(7.8)

 

$

(32.3)

Plus:

 

 

 

Income tax expense (benefit)

 

0.3

 

 

(10.8)

Net interest expense

 

15.0

 

 

15.4

Net other (income) expense

 

2.0

 

 

3.4

Depreciation expense

 

3.6

 

 

6.1

Amortization expense

 

24.0

 

 

25.4

Non-cash stock-based compensation expense

 

8.1

 

 

5.3

Adjusted EBITDA before significant transaction-related expenses

$

45.2

 

$

12.5

Significant transaction-related expenses:

 

 

 

Cost reduction strategies

$

2.6

 

$

8.3

European datacenter migration

 

—

 

 

1.0

Other

 

0.3

 

 

3.1

Adjusted EBITDA

$

48.1

 

$

24.9

Revenue, net of interchange:

 

 

 

Revenue

$

316.0

 

$

289.7

Interchange

 

112.4

 

 

106.2

Revenue, net of interchange

$

203.6

 

$

183.5

 

 

 

 

Net Adjusted EBITDA Margin

 

24 %

 

 

14 %

 

Three Months Ended March 31,

Segment Information (millions)

 

2024

 

 

2023

Revenue

 

 

 

Banks

$

105.4

 

$

88.0

Merchants

 

35.7

 

 

34.8

Billers

 

174.9

 

 

166.9

Total

$

316.0

 

$

289.7

Recurring Revenue

 

 

 

Banks

$

54.8

 

$

55.6

Merchants

 

33.8

 

 

32.5

Billers

 

174.9

 

 

166.9

Total

$

263.5

 

$

255.0

Segment Adjusted EBITDA

 

 

 

Banks

$

41.6

 

$

24.7

Merchants

 

10.7

 

 

6.5

Billers

 

30.7

 

 

29.6

 

Three Months Ended March 31,

 

2024

 

2023

EPS Impact of Non-cash and Significant Transaction-related Items (millions)

EPS Impact

 

$ in Millions (Net of Tax)

 

EPS Impact

 

$ in Millions (Net of Tax)

GAAP net loss

$

(0.07)

 

$

(7.8)

 

$

(0.30)

 

$

(32.3)

Adjusted for:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Significant transaction-related expenses

 

0.02

 

 

2.2

 

 

0.09

 

 

9.5

Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles

 

0.06

 

 

6.4

 

 

0.06

 

 

6.4

Amortization of acquisition-related software

 

0.03

 

 

3.4

 

 

0.04

 

 

4.4

Non-cash stock-based compensation

 

0.06

 

 

6.2

 

 

0.04

 

 

4.0

Total adjustments

$

0.17

 

$

18.2

 

$

0.23

 

$

24.3

Diluted EPS adjusted for non-cash and significant transaction-related items

$

0.10

 

$

10.4

 

$

(0.07)

 

$

(8.0)

 

Three Months Ended March 31,

Recurring Revenue (millions)

 

2024

 

 

2023

SaaS and PaaS fees

$

215.7

 

$

204.9

Maintenance fees

 

47.8

 

 

50.1

Recurring Revenue

$

263.5

 

$

255.0

New Bookings (millions)1

Three Months Ended March 31,

 

TTM Ended March 31,

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

Annual recurring revenue (ARR) bookings

$

6.4

 

$

11.4

 

$

68.4

 

$

94.9

License and services bookings

 

27.2

 

 

23.0

 

 

243.4

 

 

186.1

1 Amounts for the TTM ended March 31, 2023 are adjusted for the divestiture of Corporate Online Banking in September 2022

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240430890328/en/

Investor Relations John Kraft SVP, Head of Strategy and Finance 239-403-4627 / john.kraft@aciworldwide.com