Emerald Holding, Inc., parent of Outdoor Retailer, Overland Expo and Surf Expo, reported fourth-quarter 2024 revenues were $106.8 million, an increase of 5.2 percent versus the fourth quarter 2023. The increase was reportedly driven primarily by $6.1 million in organic revenue growth and $4.8 million in revenue from acquisitions, offset by scheduling adjustments of $3.7 million and prior-year revenue of $1.9 million related to discontinued events that were not contributing to profitability.

  • Fourth quarter 2024 Organic Revenues from the Connections reportable segment were $87.4 million, an increase of $4.7 million or 5.7 percent versus the fourth quarter 2023, said to be due primarily to an increase in recurring revenues.
  • Fourth quarter 2024 Organic Revenues from the All Other category were $12.5 million, an increase of $1.4 million or 12.6 percent versus the fourth quarter 2023, due to a $1.1 million increase in Content revenues and a $0.3 million increase in Commerce revenues.

Fourth quarter 2024 net income was $5.1 million, compared to net loss of $17.9 million for the fourth quarter 2023, principally due to lower provision for income taxes.

Fourth quarter 2024 Adjusted EBITDA was $33.1 million, compared to $35.8 million for the fourth quarter 2023. Adjusted EBITDA, excluding event cancellation insurance for the fourth quarter 2024 was $32.6 million, compared to $35.8 million for the fourth quarter 2023.

Full-Year Summary
Full-year 2024 revenues were $398.8 million, an increase of $16.0 million or 4.2 percent versus the full year 2023, driven primarily by $21.3 million in organic revenue growth and $13.5 million in revenue from acquisitions, offset by prior-year revenue of $18.2 million related to discontinued events that were not contributing to profitability and by $0.6 million in revenue from an event canceled in 2024 year due to a hurricane.

  • Organic Revenues, a non-GAAP measure that takes into account the impact of acquisitions, scheduling adjustments, and discontinued events, amounted to $385.3 million for 2024, an increase of $21.3 million, or 5.9 percent, from $364.0 million for 2023.
  • Organic Revenues from the Connections reportable segment were $341.6 million, an increase of $20.2 million or 6.3 percent versus the full year 2023, due primarily to an increase in recurring revenues of $17.3 million and $2.8 million from new event launches.
  • Organic Revenues from the All Other category were $43.7 million, an increase of $1.1 million or 2.6 percent versus the full year 2023, due to a $1.8 million increase in Commerce revenues, offset by a $0.7 million decrease in Content revenues.

Net income came in at $2.2 million for 2024, compared to a net loss of $8.2 million for 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, was $101.7 million for 2024, compared to $97.8 million for 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA, excluding event cancellation insurance, a non-GAAP measure, was $100.2 million for 2024, increased by 5.5 percent compared to $95.0 million in 2023. The year-over-year increase was reportedly a result of cost management and the discontinuation of several small, non-core and unprofitable events.

Balance Sheet Summary
Emerald Holding, Inc. ended the year with $194.8 million in cash and full availability of its $110.0 million revolving credit facility.

Outlook
For the full year 2025, the company expects to generate $450 million to $460 million of revenue and $120 million to $125 million of Adjusted EBITDA, which includes the contribution of approximately $40 million to revenue and ~$15 million to Adjusted EBITDA from the following acquisitions.

Acquisition of This is Beyond and Insurtech Insights
On March 13, 2025, Emerald signed an agreement to acquire This is Beyond, a London-based luxury travel event business. Emerald also completed the acquisition of Insurtech Insights on March 13, 2025, an operator of large-scale insurance technology conferences across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The combined acquisitions have a total initial purchase price of £124 million, or approximately $160 million at current exchange rates.

This is Beyons provides luxury travel vendors and operators to meet vetted, decision-making buyers and supply travel leaders in a forum to build relationships, create new business ideas, and generate revenue. The company produces seven events globally, including Pure Life Experiences, which focuses on the high-end experiential travel sector, and LE Miami, which focuses on the high-end contemporary travel sector. The acquisition reportedly provides Emerald with a leading niche in the global luxury travel business and further supports Emerald’s portfolio diversification efforts. The company expects to close the transaction by the end of the second quarter, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Insurtech Insights reportedly operates three large-scale insurance technology conferences in New York, London and Hong Kong. Conferences provide insurance professionals with insights, inspiration and networking opportunities, while attendees include insurance brokers and agents from the top insurers and solutions providers globally. The acquisition closed on March 13, 2025.

Dividend
On February 25, 2025, Emerald’s Board of Directors declared a dividend for the quarter ending March 31, 2025, of $0.015 per share payable on March 20, 2025, to holders of Emerald’s common stock as of March 10, 2025.

Emerald Share Repurchase Program
Emerald’s Board of Directors previously approved an extension and expansion of the company’s share repurchase program that allows for the repurchase of $25.0 million of its common stock through December 31, 2025. In the three months ended December 31, 2024, Emerald bought back 1,776,884 shares for $8.4 million at an average price of $4.68 per share.

Since the restart of the share repurchase program in 2021 through December 31, 2024, the company has repurchased 13.3 million shares of common stock for an aggregate of $53.7 million.

Debt Refinancing
On January 30, 2025, Emerald announced that it completed the refinancing of its First Lien Term Loan and extended the maturity date of its revolving credit facility. Emerald and a syndicate of lenders and Bank of America, as administrative agent, refinanced the company’s existing $409 million First Lien Term Loan with a new upsized, seven-year, $515.0 million senior secured term loan facility, scheduled to mature on January 30, 2032. The company also extended the maturity of its $110.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility by five years, now set to mature on January 30, 2030.

Image courtesy Surf Expo