US trade show organiser Emerald Holding has reported financial results for the year ended 31 December, 2021, a year in which Emerald successfully organised 63 in-person trade shows, conferences and other events, serving 129,000 attendees and 7,500 exhibiting companies.
Highlights of the year included Emerald completing the acquisition of MJBiz, an event producer serving companies operating in the expanding cannabis industry, on 31 December, 2021, for an initial consideration of $120m.
In terms of headline numbers, Emerald reported a net loss of $78.1m for full year 2021. That compares to a net loss of $633.6m for full year 2020.
Emerald generated free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure, of $83.4m for the full year 2021 as compared to negative free cash flow of $41.1m for the full year 2020. Emerald bought back 2.5m shares at an average price of $4.94 per share during the year.
The company reports that the impact of event cancellations and postponements on operating income was partially offset by claim payments received under Emerald’s event cancellation insurance policy. To date, Emerald has received $184.4m in claim payouts, of which $89.1m was received in 2020 and $95.3m in 2021.
Emerald ended the year with $231.2m in cash and full availability of its $110m revolving credit facility.
Hervé Sedky (pictured), Emerald’s president and CEO, said: “This continues to be an exciting time at Emerald as we plan for a full slate of events in 2022, combined with steadily improving bookings. This points to substantial year-over-year revenue and EBITDA growth as the recovery fully takes hold. “While the recovery is providing a significant tailwind to our financial results, we have also been working to optimise the growth profile of our portfolio through acquisitions and the development of new shows in attractive end markets. In the fourth quarter we acquired the highly coveted MJBiz, the leading B2B media company with the largest, must-attend event in the cannabis industry. We have also had success expanding our high growth, software as a service, B2B eCommerce platform as we strive to engage with our customers 365 days a year while creating a new, high-value revenue stream at Emerald. Lastly, we have made strong progress developing several new trade shows which either extend from existing industries we are in, such as the SIAL America launch in the food category, or will bring us into new, high-growth industries which we will announce and launch in 2022 and 2023. Looking ahead, we expect to continue to evaluate acquisition candidates to further drive improved growth and profitability in the years to come.”
David Doft, Emerald’s CFO, added the company was “in a strong position” as it ended the fourth quarter with more than $231m of cash on its balance sheet, “and we expect to see the continuation of the positive dynamics of our business model play out with the emergence of our full calendar of events”.
Doft added that the business required relatively little in the way of capital expenditures to maintain its shows and grow and he expects Emerald to achieve full-year 2022 revenues in excess of $300m and Adjusted EBITDA in excess of $50m.
The company also reported recently implementing a flexible hybrid work model for employees.
To date, Emerald has cancelled a total of 132 events, 94 of which were scheduled to stage in 2020, and 36 in 2021.
For the fourth quarter of 2021, Emerald reported revenues of $41.1m.
