Tucows Inc. (NASDAQ:TCX) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Sales and marketing costs increased by $1.2 million year-over-year, mainly driven by the increased investments in the Ting Internet business expansion. Facility and third-party contracting and support costs were up $0.5 million primarily related to Simply Bits, and credit card fees were up $0.2 million, while stock-based compensation increased to $0.5 million. And lastly, foreign exchange impacts increased expenses by $0.4 million this quarter primarily driven by the year-over-year impacts from the revaluation of our foreign-denominated monetary assets and liabilities. As a percentage of revenue, operating expenses increased to 35% for Q3 of this year from 28% for the same period last year. We reported a net loss for the third quarter of 2022 of $8 million or $0.74 per share compared with net income of $1.4 million or $0.13 per share for the same period of last year.

The net loss was driven predominantly by higher interest expenses, including the new preferred debt with Generate Capital, the accelerated build of our fiber network and ongoing ramp of the Ting Internet operations and related higher operational and depreciation expenses. Note, our tax expense reflects our geographic mix with taxes payable in Canada on our legacy domains business. Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 was $7.9 million, down 35% from $12.2 million for Q3 2021. That total breaks down amongst our 3 businesses as follows: adjusted EBITDA for Tucows Domains was $10.4 million, down 9.5% from Q3 of last year. Adjusted EBITDA for Wavelo was negative $0.9 million, a decrease of 151% from a positive $1.8 million last year. Wavelo results reflect the ongoing investment in ramping the business as well as the noncash impact of the amortization of the contract asset related to DISH.

We expect the asset to amortize over the remaining term of the contract. Adjusted EBITDA for Ting was negative $5 million compared with negative $5.5 million in Q3 2021 and adjusted EBITDA level, we expect to continue as we fund our fiber network expansion. And finally, the Corporate category had adjusted EBITDA of $3.4 million this quarter compared with $4.5 million in Q2 last year, with the decline primarily driven by, and as expected, the lower earnout from the sale of the Ting Mobile customers to DISH as customers continue to churn, lower transition services margins and lower contribution for the mobile subscribers retained offset slightly by a onetime recovery from the renegotiation of a supplier contract. Turning to our balance sheet.

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of Q3 were $30.5 million compared with $6.5 million at the end of the second quarter of 2022, and $5.5 million at the end of the third quarter of 2021. This is due to the addition of cash from a funding facility with Generate for use in the Ting business. During the quarter, we had negative $1 million in cash from operations compared with positive $1.5 million in Q3 last year with the decrease being due to our net loss this quarter, along with the increases in deferred income taxes, accounts receivable and inventory. Our cash was more than offset by our investment of $47 million in property and equipment primarily for the accelerated build-out of the Ting Fiber Internet network as well as the continued build of the Wavelo platform.

Note this number reflects the actual cash paid for capital assets in the quarter, which was outsized related to timing of payments in Q2. The gross book value of fixed assets, including capital inventory increased $36 million this quarter. Finally, deferred revenue at the end of Q3 was $147 million, down 2% from $150 million at the end of the second quarter of 2022 and down 3.3% from $152 million for the third quarter of last year. That concludes my remarks, and I’ll now turn it back to Elliot.