Comscore Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results

• Revenue of $92.5 Million, Up 5 Percent Year-Over-Year

• Activation Revenue Up 38 Percent Year-Over-Year

• Net Income of $2.0 Million Compared to Net Loss of $11.1 Million in the Year-Ago Quarter

• Adjusted EBITDA of $11.3 Million and 12 Percent Margin

Comscore, Inc. , a trusted partner for planning, transacting, and evaluating media across platforms, reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2021.

Third Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights

• Revenue for the third quarter up 5% to $92.5 million compared to $88.0 million in the year-ago quarter
• Net income of $2.0 million compared to a net loss of $11.1 million in the year-ago quarter
• Adjusted EBITDA of $11.3 million compared to $7.3 million in the year-ago quarter
• Reaffirmed full-year 2021 guidance of revenue increase between 3% and 5% over 2020 and adjusted EBITDA margin of 6% to 8%

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Recent Key Renewals, Partnerships and New Business Developments

• MRC audit for Local and National Television measurement is officially underway
• Local TV – Exclusive agreement with Univision as local TV currency in several markets
• Spectrum Reach to move to Comscore as their preferred television currency in all 89 markets by year-end
• Comscore Consumer Intelligence (CCI), a powerful local market audience segmentation and sales tool, is now available in all 210 local TV markets
• Syndicated Digital – New agreements with Talroo and The Publisher Desk and improved renewal rates with small digital publishers
• Agency – New exclusive agreements with Cornerstone Media Group and Imaginuity
• Comscore Campaign Ratings (CCR) is the first and only ad measurement service to integrate Google’s YouTube and YouTube TV inventory in cross-platform measurement including CTV, significantly enhancing our service to advertisers
• Predictive Audiences expands with the inclusion of L2 political segments to help advertisers with cookie-free audience targeting ahead of the 2022 political season
• Out-of-Home – New agreement with Trooh for digital out-of-home measurement and new Activation partnership with Vistar Media to better enable advertisers to reach out-of-home audiences
• Movies – Expansion of Sony relationship
• Comscore’s continued commitment to security and privacy illustrated by obtaining ISO certifications for Information Security and Privacy Information Management Systems (ISO 27001 and ISO 27701)

“This was a strong quarter for Comscore as we reported our highest revenue number in seven quarters and our highest revenue growth rates in eleven quarters. We also reported adjusted EBITDA at a level we haven’t seen in many years. There are significant changes taking place in media measurement and Comscore is front and center. We are listening to our customers and making the investments necessary to provide the next generation of measurement tools while continuing to deliver stable and reliable reporting of today’s viewing audiences. There is a tremendous opportunity for Comscore as it positions itself as the new currency, which we expect will continue to drive revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2021 and into 2022,” said Bill Livek, CEO and Executive Vice Chairman of Comscore.

Third Quarter Summary Results

Revenue in the third quarter of 2021 was $92.5 million, up 5% from $88.0 million in the year-ago quarter, with growth from increases in TV, custom solutions, Lift and Survey, and Activation offset by lower syndicated digital revenue.

Ratings and Planning revenue was $62.1 million in the third quarter of 2021, down 1% from $62.7 million in the year-ago quarter. The decrease was the result of lower syndicated digital and cross-platform audience products offset by higher TV revenue. TV continued to experience higher revenue compared to the prior year from new partnerships and increased agency use. Syndicated digital revenue was lower compared to the prior year, primarily due to our smaller customers who continue to be impacted by ongoing industry changes in ad buying and consolidations, but has stabilized (flat sequentially) when compared to the prior quarter.

Analytics and Optimization revenue was $22.5 million in the third quarter of 2021, up 29% from $17.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was related to higher revenue across all product offerings, including Activation, custom solutions, Lift and Survey. Activation experienced a 38% increase from the year-ago quarter and 7% sequential growth as we continued to bring new solutions to market.

Movies Reporting and Analytics revenue was $7.9 million in the third quarter of 2021, up 1% from $7.8 million in the year-ago quarter, and up 5% sequentially. As theaters have now reopened in most markets worldwide, we believe revenue from the movies business should continue to experience sequential quarterly increases as consumers return to theaters.

Expenses from cost of revenues, sales and marketing, research and development, and general and administrative were $90.3 million, up 6% from $85.2 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase relates primarily to higher data costs associated with our new commercial agreements and higher professional fees. These increases were offset by lower panel costs.

Net income for the third quarter of 2021 was $2.0 million compared to a net loss of $11.1 million reported in the year-ago quarter. After accounting for dividends on our convertible preferred stock, loss per share attributable to common shares was $(0.02), compared to a loss per share attributable to common shares of $(0.16) in the year-ago quarter.

For the third quarter of 2021, non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA was $11.3 million, compared to $7.3 million in the year-ago quarter, resulting in adjusted EBITDA margins of 12% and 8%, respectively. The increase in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the year-ago quarter relates primarily to higher revenue and favorable foreign exchange rates. These increases were partially offset by higher data costs and professional fees. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin exclude stock-based compensation expense, impairment charges, change in fair value of financing derivatives and warrants liability, debt extinguishment costs, amortization of cloud-computing implementation costs, and other items as presented in the accompanying tables.

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Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of September 30, 2021, cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $16.7 million, including $0.8 million in restricted cash. Total debt principal as of September 30, 2021, including $16.0 million in outstanding borrowings under our senior secured revolving credit agreement, was $21.0 million.

2021 Outlook

Based on current trends and expectations, we are reaffirming the revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance provided in the previous quarter. We continue to believe our full-year 2021 revenue growth will be on the lower end of the 3% to 5% range over 2020, and we are targeting an adjusted EBITDA margin of 6% to 8%.

We do not provide GAAP net income (loss) on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty our future stock-based compensation expense, fair value adjustments for financing derivatives and warrants, variable interest expense, litigation and restructuring expense, and any unusual gains or losses without unreasonable effort. These items are uncertain, depend on various factors, and could be material to results computed in accordance with GAAP. For this reason, we are unable without unreasonable effort to provide a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA margin to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, GAAP net income (loss), on a forward-looking basis.

Conference Call Information for Today, Monday, November 8 at 5:00 p.m. ET

Management will provide commentary on the company’s results in a conference call on Monday, November 8, at 5:00 p.m. ET. To access this call, dial +1 844-229-7593 (U.S. and Canada) or +1 314-888-4258 (international) and reference Conference ID # 6067738. Participants are advised to dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the call to register. Additionally, a live webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at ir.comscore.com/events-presentations.

Following the conference call, a replay will be available by dialing +1 855-859-2056 (U.S. and Canada) or +1 404-537-3406 (international) with Conference ID #6067738. The replay will also be available via webcast at ir.comscore.com/events-presentations.

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