Payfare Announces Unaudited Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results

Payfare generated unaudited net income of $4.9 million, and Adjusted net income per share¹ of $0.15 in Q4 2023. The Company has also provided an update on its Annual Filings.

Toronto, April 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Payfare Inc. ("Payfare" or the "Company") (TSX: PAY) (OTCQX: PYFRF), a leading fintech powering instant payout and digital banking solutions for workforces, today announced summarized unaudited results for the fourth quarter and year ending December 31, 2023.

Unaudited Q4 2023 Highlights:

• Increased revenue to a record $50.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, representing an $11.6 million (+30%) increase compared to the same period in 2022.
• Ended Q4 2023 with 1,400,127 active users¹, up 346,255 (+33%) compared to active users¹ count as at the end of Q4 2022.
• Total gross dollar value (Total GDV)¹ in Q4 2023 was $3.3 billion, an increase of $0.9 billion (+36%) over Q4 2022.
• Net income of $4.9 million, or $0.10 per share, for the three months ended December 31, 2023, up $2.0 million (+69%), compared to the same period in 2022.
• Adjusted net income¹ of $7.4 million, or $0.15 per share, for the three months ended December 31, 2023, representing growth of $2.8 million (+60%) over the prior year period.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $7.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, reflecting a $3.9 million increase (+108%) compared to the same period in 2022.
• Free cash flow¹ of $6.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, which equates to growth of $0.5 million (+8%) over the prior year period.

Unaudited Full Year 2023 Highlights:

• Payfare achieved record revenue of $186.0 million, representing a $56.1 million (+43%) increase over 2022 and met its full year 2023 revenue guidance.
• Total gross dollar value (Total GDV)¹ in 2023 was $11.8 billion, an increase of $3.9 billion (+49%) over 2022.
• Net income of $13.1 million or $0.28 per share, representing an increase of $16.1 million (+547%) compared to 2022.
• Adjusted net income¹ of $23.0 million or $0.48 per share, reflecting an increase of $17.0 million (+283%) compared to 2022.
• Payfare generated Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $21.6 million, representing growth of $17.2 million (+394%) over 2022 and met its full year 2023 Adjusted EBITDA¹ guidance.
• Free cash flow¹ of $17.0 million which equates to growth of $9.9 million (+137%) over the prior year period.

The amounts disclosed in this press release are unaudited as the Company's auditors, KPMG LLP, have not yet completed their audit procedures on the consolidated financial statements as at, and for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Executed Strategic Objectives for Fiscal 2023

• Payfare issued 2023 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA¹ guidance of $185 million to $195 million and $21 million to $24 million, respectively.

Update: Payfare achieved its full year 2023 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA¹ guidance based on unaudited financial results for the year ending 2023.

• The Company is actively working on winning several new significant white label partnerships and establishing infrastructure in international markets including potential expansion with existing partners.

Update: Subsequent to year end, the Company launched new programs in Canada including with Uber (the Uber Pro Card powered by Payfare) and a new embedded finance product with an international big box retailer, to provide earnings payouts to the retailer's delivery gig workforce in Canada.

• Expand into new business verticals including Earned Wage Access ("EWA") for full-time employees.

Update: In Q1 2024, the Company signed a commercial agreement with ADP, a leading global provider of Human Capital Management solutions, to offer EWA to the Canadian market.

• Payfare has made progress with its existing gig platform and banking partners to launch credit or credit-like products for its user base.

Update: The Uber Pro Card powered by Payfare includes the Back-up Balance feature, providing qualifying cardholders access to up to $50 when they need it most at no cost and no interest.  

• Partner with new merchants to expand Payfare's compelling suite of cashback and loyalty rewards for cardholders.

Update: The Company has partnered with Upside (retail technology platform) to launch a cashback rewards program enabling Dasher Direct cardholders to claim personalized price promotion offers on all major spend categories (fuel, restaurants and grocery). The Company has also partnered with Avibra (financial, insurance and wellness platform) providing free and low-cost access to a suite of health and wellness perks to Dasher Direct Cardholders.

Strategic Objectives for 2024:

• Payfare has issued 2024 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA¹ guidance of $235 to $245 million (mid-point 29% over 2023) and $30 to $35 million (mid-point 51% over 2023), respectively.
• The Company is actively working on extending partnerships with existing gig platform partners. Payfare expects to announce meaningful progress on this initiative over the course of the year.
• Continue to expand into new business verticals, including developing and offering Payfare's payment platform and technology solutions for EWA for hourly-paid employees. Payfare expects to execute on its recently signed commercial agreement with ADP to offer EWA to the Canadian market by building out its technology platform. The Company will also continue to work on additional payroll platform and employer integrations over 2024.

Management will use these strategic objectives to measure the Company's progress and will update and supplement these objectives over the course of 2024.

Payfare Provides Update on Annual Filings

Payfare today provided an update to its previously disclosed management cease trade order ("MCTO"), in respect of its delayed filing of its audited annual financial statements, management's discussion and analysis, annual information form, and related certifications, all for the year ended December 31, 2023 (collectively, the "Annual Filings").

The delay in the Annual Filings is due solely to the delay in receiving the System and Organization Controls ("SOC 1") auditor's report from its material vendor (the "Vendor") which is required in order for the Company's auditors to complete their required audit procedures to issue their opinion.

Based on the updated timing for the delivery of the SOC 1 report confirmed by the Vendor's auditors, Payfare now anticipates that it will complete its Annual Filings by May 22, 2024. The Company will issue a news release announcing completion of filing of the Annual Filings at such time as they are completed and filed.

The delay in the Company's Annual Filings is not expected to impact the filing of the Company's quarter ended March 31, 2024 unaudited financial statements and the related management's discussions and analysis for such interim period (the "Q1 Filings"). The Q1 Filings are anticipated to be filed on or about May 8, 2024. Work is already underway by the Company to ensure timely reporting for this period.

Until the Company files the Annual Filings, it will comply with the alternative information guidelines set out under National Policy 12-203 – Cease Trade Orders for Continuous Disclosure Defaults, including issuing bi-weekly default status reports by way of news releases such as this one, which will be filed on SEDAR+.

Conference Call

Management will host a conference call on Monday April 29, 2024, at 8:00 AM ET to discuss the unaudited 2023 financial results. A short presentation in connection with the conference call will be made available on the Company's website at https://corp.payfare.com/investors/. Management will also host a live question and answer session on the conference call with analysts.

To access the conference call, please dial (289) 514-5100 or 1-800-717-1738. Please call the conference telephone number 10-15 minutes prior to the start time so that you are in the queue for an operator to assist in registering and patching you through. An archived recording of the conference call will be available until May 29, 2024. To listen to the recording, call 416-764-8692 or 1-877-674-7070 and enter passcode 10007.

Summary Unaudited 2023 Financial Results

The tables below display a summary of the Company's select unaudited consolidated statements of financial position data as at December 31, 2023 and 2022 and an unaudited summary of consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

⁽¹⁾  Prior period comparatives have been restated – See "Correction of Prior Period Financial Statements Resulting in an Increase to Prior Period Cash and Cash Equivalents Balance" below.

⁽¹⁾ See Definitions in "Non-IFRS and Supplementary Financial Measures"

Correction of Prior Period Financial Statements Resulting in an Increase to Prior Period Cash and Cash Equivalents Balance

The Company has restated the comparative information in the consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 for identified errors, as described in (i) and (ii) below. The corrections had no impact on the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The corrections had the following impact on the consolidated statement of financial position as at December 31, 2022 and January 1, 2022:      

The corrections had the following impact on the consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022:

(i)  Pre-funded deposits:

In connection with finalizing the unaudited 2023 consolidated financial statements, the Company identified an error associated with the classification of cash and cash equivalents with reference to IAS 7, Statement of Cash Flows and an Agenda decision issued in March 2022 by the IFRS Interpretation Committee which provided clarification on the interpretation of the standard which was finalized in March 2022. This resulted in the majority of the balance previously classified as "Cash – restricted" to be reclassified to "Pre-funded deposits". In addition, certain balances that were previously presented as "cash – restricted" now meet the definition of cash equivalents as the funds are liquid in nature with short-term withdrawal restrictions. As a result, these amounts were reclassified from "Cash – restricted" to cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, prepaid and other assets, and accounts payable and accrued liabilities. The correction had no impact on the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (loss) for the year ended December 31, 2022.

(ii) Finance costs:

In connection with finalizing the unaudited interim financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company identified an error associated with finance costs related to a debt amendment that occurred in February, 2021.  As a result, certain finance costs should have been recorded during the year ended December 31, 2021, with an associated accounts payable balance. The payable was repaid during the three months ended March 31, 2023.  The comparative statements of financial position have been restated to reflect the correction of this error.

The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company concluded, after consultation with the Company's management and its independent auditors, that the Company's previously-issued audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022 ("Fiscal 2022"), prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Statements ("IFRS") contained errors as described above. The corrections had no impact on the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income for the year ended December 31, 2022. As noted above, the Company intends to file its annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 as soon as possible which will reflect the correction of the below noted errors in the comparative period. 

About Payfare (TSX:PAY, OTCQX: PYFRF)

Payfare is a global financial technology company powering digital banking and instant payment solutions for today's gig workforce. Payfare partners with leading platforms and marketplaces, such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, to provide financial health for their workforce.

¹Non-IFRS and Supplementary Financial Measures

Our financial results are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. This press release contains references to "active users", "Total GDV", "adjusted net income", "adjusted net income per share", "EBITDA", "Adjusted EBITDA" and "free cash flow", which are not measures prescribed by IFRS Accounting Standards. These supplementary financial measures are provided as additional information to complement IFRS measures by providing a further understanding of our results of operations from management's perspective, to provide investors and security analysts with supplemental measures to evaluate the financial performance of the Company and highlight trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS financial measures. Management also uses non-IFRS and supplementary financial measures to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, prepare annual operating budgets and strategic business plans and to evaluate and price potential acquisitions. Accordingly, non-IFRS and supplementary financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our financial information reported under IFRS. Such measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and, therefore, may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other corporations. The non-IFRS and supplementary financial measures are not subject to standard industry definition and our definitions and method of calculation may differ from other issuers and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

The Company determines the number of users to its services based on active users. "Active users" represent users who have loaded earnings and direct deposits on their card in the period. "Total GDV" is defined as the aggregate dollar amount of active user earnings and direct deposits loaded on their payment card during the period.

"EBITDA" means net income (loss) before amortization and depreciation expenses, foreign exchange gain (loss), amortization of deferred income, finance and interest income/ costs, current tax expense and change in fair value of derivative liability.

"Adjusted EBITDA" adjusts EBITDA for stock-based compensation expense, restructuring costs and non-recurring expense items. Non-recurring expense items are transactions or events which management believes will not re-occur within the foreseeable future and includes legal and professional fees related to claim settlements, acquisition, divestiture, asset impairment charges and going public transaction.

The table below reconciles net income (loss) to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. All figures are unaudited.

"Adjusted net income (loss)" adjusts net income (loss) for share-based compensation expense, restructuring costs and non-recurring expense items. Non-recurring expense items are transactions or events which management believes will not re-occur within the foreseeable future and includes legal and professional fees related to claim settlements, acquisition, divestiture, asset impairment charges and going public transaction.

The table below reconciles net income (loss) to Adjusted net income for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. All figures are unaudited.

"Adjusted net income (loss)" per share is calculated as Adjusted net income (loss) divided by the basic weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period.

The Company defines its free cash flow as cash from operating activities less cash used in investing activities (including additions to intangible assets and purchase of building, property and equipment). The table below reconciles cash from operating activities to free cash flow for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. All figures are unaudited.

⁽¹⁾  Prior period comparatives have been restated

Additional information on these measure may be found under the heading "Definitions – IFRS, Additional GAAP and Non-GAAP Measures" in the interim MD&A for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 which is available under Payfare's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Unaudited Financial Information and Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains unaudited financial information which has not been audited or reviewed by the Company's auditors, nor have the auditors expressed any opinion regarding such unaudited financial information. Security holders, potential security holders and other prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on unaudited financial information, which is still subject to audit completion.

This press release also contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects Payfare's current expectations regarding future events as of the date hereof. Such forward-looking information may include but are not limited to statements regarding Company's future audited financial statements and the timing of its Annual Filings and the auditor's report in respect thereof, the delivery of the SOC 1 report by the Vendor, Payfare's compliance with the MCTO and NP 12-203, the timing of filing of Payfare's interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the quarter ending March 31, 2024, the Company's future financial conditions, results of operations, plans, objectives, performance or business developments and includes statements on the launch of new programs, new services and platforms, guidance information, the acceleration of growth, strategic objectives for 2024 and target revenue and Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("Adjusted EBITDA") ranges for 2024, diversifying the Company's customer base and verticals, the operational roll-out of the "Uber Pro" program, achieving continued profitability, the development and roll-out of further new margin enhancing products, integrate additional low-cost, expedited payout options for gig workers, expansion into the earned wage access vertical for hourly paid employees, new partnerships and new merchant relationships, and establishing infrastructure in international markets to facilitate global expansion and continued improvements in gross profits. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Payfare's control, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks include the factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" section in Payfare's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022 and factors discussed from time to time in Payfare's filings with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under Payfare's profile on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca. Other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially include the inability of Payfare to obtain the SOC 1 report from the Vendor, or obtain a report which is free from material deficiencies or findings, the inability of Payfare to complete its Annual Filings, the need for Payfare to materially change its unaudited results that are disclosed in this press release, the revoking of the MCTO by the Ontario Securities Commission, the inability of Payfare to launch its new programs or platforms including for earned wage access in a timely manner, the lack of experience or resources to enter into the EWA vertical, the regulatory uncertainty around EWA services, the economic viability of new programs and platforms, cash-back, incentive, "win-back" and/or marketing campaigns are reduced or discontinued by the respective gig platform clients or do not have the intended impact that the Company has expected or forecasted, the inability to scale Payfare's operations to manage the increased volume of new cardholder sign-ups, active users or transactions, regulatory constraints when providing earned wage access programs, the impact of an inflationary recession and rising costs of goods and services on Payfare's business model, Payfare's ability to finance and support new programs and platforms, a general decline in the credit markets or gig economy in North America, the availability of talent and the retention of employees to support Payfare's plans, and industry competitors who may have superior technology or are quicker to take advantage of certain market opportunities. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The purpose of guidance contained in this news release is to assist investors, shareholders, and others in understanding certain financial metrics relating to expected 2024 financial results for evaluating the performance of our business. Readers are cautioned that such guidance is not appropriate for any other purpose Payfare does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.

SOURCE Payfare Inc.