ASUR - Asure Announces First Quarter 2023 Results

Reports First Quarter Revenues of $33.1 Million, Up 36% from Prior Year

Raises 2023 Financial Targets and Guidance

AUSTIN, Texas, May 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Asure Software, Inc. (“we”, “us”, “our”, “Asure” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: ASUR) , a leading provider of cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions, reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023.

First Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights

• Revenue of $33.1 million, up 36% from prior-year’s first quarter
• Recurring revenue of $28.0 million, up 22% from prior-year’s first quarter
• Net income of $0.3 million, a $3.4 million improvement from prior-year’s first quarter
• EBITDA ⁽¹⁾ of $6.8 million, up $4.3 million from prior-year’s first quarter
• Adjusted EBITDA ⁽¹⁾ of $8.2 million, up $4.8 million from prior-year’s first quarter
• Gross profit of $24.4 million, up 58% from prior-year’s first quarter
• Non-GAAP ⁽¹⁾ gross profit of $25.7 million (margin of 78%) versus $16.7 million and 68% in prior-year’s first quarter

Recent Business Highlights

• Partnered with Harbor Compliance to simplify federal, state, and local tax registrations and business licensing. This initiative, which is enabled by AsureMarketplace, is expected to alleviate our customers’ administrative burdens by providing a solution for seamless tax payroll registration and compliance with multi-state entity registration requirements.
• Announced integration with ZayZoon to deliver on-demand wages to employees of Asure’s payroll customers. This collaboration enables employees of small businesses to access their earned wages instantly, while promoting financial wellness and providing their employers a distinct competitive advantage for recruitment and retention.

Management Commentary

“Our first quarter results, highlighted by 36% year-over-year revenue growth and strong gains in operating margins, are the result of targeted sales initiatives as well as the positive reception of our increased offerings in AsureMarketplace,” said Asure Chairman and CEO Pat Goepel. “We are investing in the business to enhance the differentiation of our solutions by introducing new products and better user experiences. Moving forward, we will continue working with current and prospective clients to remain intentional with the integrations that we release.

“Financially, we are focused on the dual objectives of organic growth and margin expansion while also monitoring potential acquisitions as market conditions and opportunities arise. As an essential partner for small- and mid-sized businesses, we are committed to providing superior solutions so that our clients can maximize their focus on their core businesses. Over the last year, we have made meaningful progress against that operating plan. Looking ahead, we see significant runway to address a growing end market with a comprehensive set of HCM solutions.”

Asure Increases 2023 Guidance Ranges; Introduces Second Quarter 2023 Guidance

The Company is providing the following guidance for the second quarter and full year 2023 based on first quarter results and recent business trends. This guidance is offered with the knowledge that there is a high level of economic uncertainty in 2023 due to recent inflationary trends and the potential for a recession of unknown severity.

Updated Guidance for 2023

Previous Guidance for 2023

⁽¹⁾ These figures do not adhere to GAAP and are defined on page 3 of this press release.

Management uses GAAP, non-GAAP and adjusted measures when planning, monitoring, and evaluating the Company’s performance. The primary purpose of using non-GAAP and adjusted measures are to provide supplemental information that may prove useful to investors and to enable investors to evaluate the Company’s results in the same way management does.

Management believes that supplementing GAAP disclosures with non-GAAP and adjusted disclosures provides investors with a more complete view of the Company’s operational performance and allows for meaningful period-to-period comparisons and analysis of trends in the Company’s business. Further, to the extent that other companies use similar methods in calculating adjusted financial measures, the provision of supplemental non-GAAP and adjusted information can allow for a comparison of the Company’s relative performance against other companies that also report non-GAAP and adjusted operating results.

Management has not provided a reconciliation of guidance of GAAP to non-GAAP or adjusted disclosures because management is unable to predict the nature and materiality of non-recurring expenses without unreasonable effort.

Management’s projections are based on management’s current beliefs and assumptions about the Company's business, and the industry and the markets in which it operates; there are known and unknown risks and uncertainties associated with these projections. There can be no assurance that our actual results will not differ from the guidance set forth above. The Company assumes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, including its 2023 earnings guidance, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Please refer to the “Use of Forward-Looking Statements” disclosures on page 4 of this press release.

Conference Call Details

Asure management will host a conference call Monday, May 8, 2023 at?3:30 pm Central (at 4:30 pm Eastern). Asure Chairman and CEO?Pat Goepel?and CFO?John Pence?will participate in the conference call followed by a question-and-answer session. A live webcast of the call will be available on the “Investor Relations” page of the Company’s website. To listen to the earnings call by phone, participants must pre-register with information available on the Company’s website.

About Asure Software, Inc.

Asure (Nasdaq: ASUR) is a leading provider of Human Capital Management (“HCM”) software solutions. We help small and mid-sized companies grow by assisting them in building better teams with skills to stay compliant with ever-changing federal, state, and local tax jurisdictions and labor laws, and better allocate cash so they can spend their financial capital on growing their business rather than back-office overhead expenses. Asure’s Human Capital Management suite, named Asure HCM, includes cloud-based Payroll, Tax Services, and Time & Attendance software and Asure Marketplace as well as human resources (“HR”) services ranging from HR projects to completely outsourcing payroll and HR staff. We also offer these products and services through our network of reseller partners. Visit us at asuresoftware.com.

Non-GAAP and Adjusted Financial Measures

This press release includes information about non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP sales and marketing expense, non-GAAP general and administrative expense, non-GAAP research and development expense, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margin. These non-GAAP and adjusted financial measures are measurements of financial performance that are not prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and computational methods may differ from those used by other companies. Non-GAAP and adjusted financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures and should be read only in conjunction with the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP and adjusted financial measures are reconciled to GAAP in the tables set forth in this release and are subject to reclassifications to conform to current period presentations.

Non-GAAP gross profit differs from gross profit in that it excludes amortization, share-based compensation, and one-time items.

Non-GAAP sales and marketing expense differs from sales and marketing expense in that it excludes share-based compensation and one-time items.

Non-GAAP general and administrative expense differs from general and administrative expense in that it excludes share-based compensation and one-time items.

Non-GAAP research and development expense differs from research and development expense in that it excludes share-based compensation and one-time items.

EBITDA differs from net income (loss) in that it excludes items such as interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Asure is unable to predict with reasonable certainty the ultimate outcome of these exclusions without unreasonable effort.

Adjusted EBITDA differs from EBITDA in that it excludes share-based compensation, other income (expense), net and one-time expenses. Asure is unable to predict with reasonable certainty the ultimate outcome of these exclusions without unreasonable effort.

All adjusted and non-GAAP measures presented as “margin” are computed by dividing the applicable adjusted financial measure by total revenue.

Specifically, as applicable to the respective financial measure, management is adjusting for the following items when calculating non-GAAP and adjusted financial measures as applicable for the periods presented. No additional adjustments have been made for potential income tax effects of the adjustments based on the Company’s current and anticipated de minimis effective federal tax rate, resulting from the Company’s continued losses for federal tax purposes and its tax net operating loss balances.

Share-Based Compensation Expenses. The Company’s compensation strategy includes the use of share-based compensation to attract and retain employees and executives. It is principally aimed at aligning their interests with those of our stockholders and at long-term employee retention, rather than to motivate or reward operational performance for any particular period. Thus, share-based compensation expense varies for reasons that are generally unrelated to operational decisions and performance in any particular period.

Depreciation. The Company excludes depreciation of fixed assets. Also included in the expense is the depreciation of capitalized software costs.

Amortization of Purchased Intangibles. The Company views amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, such as the amortization of the cost associated with an acquired company’s research and development efforts, trade names, customer lists and customer relationships, and acquired lease intangibles, as items arising from pre-acquisition activities determined at the time of an acquisition. While these intangible assets are continually evaluated for impairment, amortization of the cost of purchased intangibles is a static expense, one that is not typically affected by operations during any particular period.

Interest Expense, Net. The Company excludes accrued interest expense, the amortization of debt discounts and deferred financing costs.

Income Taxes. The Company excludes income taxes, both at the federal and state levels.

One-Time Expenses. The Company’s adjusted financial measures exclude the following costs to normalize comparable reporting periods, as these are generally non-recurring expenses that do not reflect the ongoing operational results. These items are typically not budgeted and are infrequent and unusual in nature.

Settlements, Penalties and Interest. The Company excludes legal settlements, including separation agreements, penalties and interest that are generally one-time in nature and not reflective of the operational results of the business.

Acquisition and Transaction Related Costs. The Company excludes these expenses as they are transaction costs and expenses that are generally one-time in nature and not reflective of the underlying operational results of our business. Examples of these types of expenses include legal, accounting, regulatory, other consulting services, severance and other employee costs.

Other non-recurring Expenses. The Company excludes these as they are generally non-recurring items that are not reflective of the underlying operational results of the business and are generally not anticipated to recur. Some examples of these types of expenses, historically, have included write-offs or impairments of assets, demolition of office space and cybersecurity consultants.

Other (Expense) Income, Net. The Company’s adjusted financial measures exclude Other (Expense) Income, Net because it includes items that are not reflective of the underlying operational results of the business, such as loan forgiveness, adjustments to contingent liabilities and credits earned as part of the CARES Act, passed by Congress in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Use of Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements about our financial results, which may include expected or projected U.S GAAP and non-U.S. GAAP financial and other operating and non-operating results, including, by way of example, revenue, net income, diluted earnings per share, operating cash flow growth, operating margin improvement, deferred revenue growth, expected revenue run rate, bookings, expected tax rates, stock-based compensation expenses, amortization of purchased intangibles, amortization of debt discount and shares outstanding and the provision of 2023 financial guidance. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions, over many of which we have no control. If any such risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, the Company’s results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements we make.

The risks and uncertainties referred to above include—but are not limited to—risks associated with possible fluctuations in the Company’s financial and operating results; the Company’s rate of growth and anticipated revenue run rate, including impact of the current environment; the spread of major pandemics or epidemics; interruptions to supply chains and extended shut down of businesses; political unrest, including the current issues between Russia and Ukraine; reductions in employment and an increase in business failures, specifically among its clients; the Company’s ability to convert deferred revenue and unbilled deferred revenue into revenue and cash flow, and ability to maintain continued growth of deferred revenue and unbilled deferred revenue; errors, interruptions or delays in the Company’s services or the Company’s Web hosting; breaches of the Company’s security measures; domestic and international regulatory developments, including changes to or applicability to our business of privacy and data securities laws, money transmitter laws and anti-money laundering laws; the financial and other impact of any previous and future acquisitions; the nature of the Company’s business model; the Company’s ability to continue to release, gain customer acceptance of and provide support for new and improved versions of the Company’s services; successful customer deployment and utilization of the Company’s existing and future services; changes in the Company’s sales cycle; competition; various financial aspects of the Company’s subscription model; unexpected increases in attrition or decreases in new business; the Company’s ability to realize benefits from strategic partnerships and strategic investments; the emerging markets in which the Company operates; the Company’s ability to hire, retain and motivate employees and manage the Company’s growth; changes in the Company’s customer base; technological developments; litigation and any related claims, negotiations and settlements, including with respect to intellectual property matters or industry-specific regulations; unanticipated changes in the Company’s effective tax rate; regulatory pressures on economic relief enacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that change or cause different interpretations with respect to eligibility for such programs, including the employee retention tax credits; factors affecting the Company’s term loan; fluctuations in the number of Company shares outstanding and the price of such shares; interest rates; collection of receivables; factors affecting the Company’s deferred tax assets and ability to value and utilize them; the potential negative impact of indirect tax exposure; the risks and expenses associated with the Company’s real estate and office facilities space; and general developments in the economy, financial markets, credit markets and the impact of current and future accounting pronouncements and other financial reporting standards. Please review the Company’s risk factors in its annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2023.?

The forward-looking statements, including the financial guidance and 2023 outlook, contained in this press release represent the judgment of the Company as of the date of this press release, and the Company expressly disclaims any intent, obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations with regard to these forward looking statements or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

© 2023 Asure Software, Inc. All rights reserved.

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RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP AND ADJUSTED FINANCIAL MEASURES
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⁽¹⁾ Note that first quarters are seasonally strong as recurring year-end W2/ACA revenue is recognized in this period.

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RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP AND ADJUSTED FINANCIAL MEASURES (cont.)
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⁽¹⁾ Note that first quarters are seasonally strong as recurring year-end W2/ACA revenue is recognized in this period.