Emerald Holding, Inc. reported revenues of $98.5 million for the first quarter of 2022, an increase of $85.6 million, or 663.6 percent, from $12.9 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2021.
In the first quarter of 2022, Emerald traded 31 in-person trade shows, conferences and other events, serving more than 141,000 attendees and 5,700 exhibiting companies. The company traditionally has hosted over 140 yearly events in the outdoor lifestyle space, including Outdoor Retailer, Surf Expo, The Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show, Impressions, Swim Collective, and Active Collective.
Net income of $22.6 million for the first quarter 2022 compared to a net loss of $15.3 million for the first quarter 2021. First-quarter net income included non-cash charges of $7.9 million and $0 for 2022 and 2021, respectively, related to the impairment of goodwill and certain intangible assets.
Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, of $54.4 million for the first quarter 2022, compared to a negative $2.5 million for the first quarter 2021.
Cash generation increased as bookings for returning events accelerated. Cash provided by operations of $33.0 million for the first quarter 2022 compared to $1.6 million for the first quarter 2021. Emerald generated free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure, of $29.8 million for the first quarter 2022 as compared to $0.6 million for the first quarter 2021.
Emerald bought back 0.3 million shares at an average price of $3.63 per share during the first quarter 2022.
Emerald continues to pursue the collection of the remaining unpaid amounts of filed insurance claims for its canceled and impacted 2020 and 2021 events. To date, it has submitted $347.5 million in claims, which represents the net amount of budgeted gross revenues less avoided costs for impacted or canceled events previously scheduled to take place in 2020 and 2021. Insurance claim payments received to date total $213.1 million, of which $89.1 million was received in 2020, $95.3 million was received in 2021, and $28.8 million was received in the first quarter 2022.
Emerald ended the quarter with $254.4 million in cash and full availability of its $110 million revolving credit facility.
Hervé Sedky, Emerald’s president and chief executive officer, said, “We are pleased with our first-quarter results which clearly demonstrate that we are in the midst of a robust recovery, highlighted by several of our events that have delivered, or are tracking ahead, of their pre-pandemic levels. Continued strong attendee turnout is also driving improved NPS scores for our exhibitors and providing a catalyst for rebooking of future events which we believe strengthens our ability to achieve our full-year 2022 financial guidance. While our business and industry are recovering, we remain focused on transforming Emerald and accelerating organic growth through new show launches and accretive M&A. Along those lines, I am very pleased with our launch of SIAL America in March, which is our entry into the high growth food and beverage category. The show met all of our internal metrics for exhibitors, attendees, and one-on-one meetings and positioned the show for a successful second edition next March. Our plan is to launch three more new events in 2022 as we believe new show launches can add two to three points to organic growth annually over the next few years. We will also continue to evaluate acquisition candidates in high-growth industries which will further Emerald’s objectives to continue diversifying across end markets, similar to our recent acquisition of MJBiz, which provides entry into serving the high-growth Cannabis industry. Looking forward, we have a robust M&A pipeline and expect to be active over the balance of the year as we strive to accelerate growth and profitability.”
David Doft, Emerald’s CFO, added, “2022 has presented a welcome change to the events landscape as we work to stage a full calendar of live events while benefiting from our business model as we generate strong free cash flows as our bookings for future events accelerates. Of note, we ended the first quarter in a solid financial position with more than $254 million of cash on our balance sheet, having generated $29.8 million in free cash flow in the quarter. This strong cash position provides the flexibility to invest in our business to drive organic growth while diversifying into new, high growth industries through accretive M&A. One area that we are particularly excited about is the build-out of our 365-day content platform which is delivering accelerated growth as we share best practices and launch new advertising and sponsorship offerings across our verticals. We are also pleased with our e-commerce platform, Elastic, which has provided new customer signings and a subscription-based revenue stream to our business. Taken together, we believe we have real momentum at Emerald and continue to expect to achieve full-year 2022 revenues in excess of $300 million and Adjusted EBITDA in excess of $50 million, excluding any insurance recoveries which would be incremental to this, which is burdened by $10 million of anticipated investment through the year on growth initiatives, as well as $70 million in free cash flow which is an attractive feature of our business model.”
Photo courtesy Emerald/SIAL America
