Solid Quarter at Augme
Ken Nagy, CFA
On July 10, 2012, Augme Technologies, Inc. (AUGT), the provider of strategic services and mobile marketing technology to leading consumer and healthcare brands, reported financial results for its fiscal 2013 first quarter, ended May 31, 2012.
A concrete first quarter resulted in a 321 percent year over year and approximately 1 percent sequential increase in sales, with revenues expanding to a record $5.078 million for the three months ended May 31, 2012.
Similarly, the Company ended the quarter with over a $20 million annual run rate and its average deal size was $59,000 during the quarter compared to $57,000 for first quarter of fiscal 2012.
Augme’s strength in its first quarter revenues was primarily driven by addition of the Hipcricket operations in August 2011 and the JAGTAG operations in July 2011.
Still, Augme reported a net loss of $7.560 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, with net loss increasing $3.544 million from a net loss of $4.016 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2012.
The increase in net loss was primarily a result of increased selling, general and administrative expenses related to the expansion of the Company both organically and through acquisitions.
Total operating expenses jumped $5.832 million year over year to $10.706 million for the three months ended May 31, 2012.
However, it should be noted that operating expenses during the first quarter decreased $1.784 million or 14 percent sequentially, while the selling, general and administrative portion of total operating expenses dropped 7 percent sequentially as a result of improved efficiencies in selling activities and lower non-cash stock option expense.
Gross margin for the quarter fell to 61.9 percent from 69.9 percent for the three months ended May 31, 2011.
The decrease in gross margin was primarily due to the Company's shifting mix of revenue.
Still, It is important to note that during the first quarter, Augme’s new business momentum and customer retention rate resulted in new order bookings (the dollar value of contracts signed during the first quarter) totaling $6.5 million, of which approximately 69 percent were received from existing customers and 31 percent from new customers.
Furthermore, Augme reported a record quarter end backlog (the dollar value of signed contracts including deferred revenue and unbilled revenue) of $17.4 million as of May 31, 2012, up 11 percent sequentially from $15.7 million for the three months ended February 29, 2012.
Similarly, Augme added more than 50 new customers during the quarter (spread across more than 15 industry verticals) and now supports over 350 customers (which includes 60 Fortune 500 companies and a dozen Fortune 100 companies) and more than 600 regional and national brands.
It important to note that even with the expanding customer base, Augme was able to maintain an over 95 percent retention rate per client basis.
Likewise, revenue per client increased to approximately $67,000 while customers signed 214 contracts and completed over 27,000 campaigns in the first quarter, which was a 52% sequential increase in completed campaigns.
Equally, 87 percent of the brands that completed campaigns with the Company in the fourth quarter increased the number of campaigns with Augme during the first quarter of fiscal 2013.
Based on the weighted average number of basic and diluted common shares of 94.489 million shares, basic and diluted net loss per share resulted in a net loss of $0.08 per basic and diluted share during the first quarter of fiscal 2013. This compared to a basic and diluted net loss per share of $0.06 on a weighted average number of basic and diluted shares of 69.414 million shares during the three months ended May 31, 2011.
As of May 31, 2012, Augme had $3.242 million in cash and equivalents and a working capital deficit of $22.248 million. This compares to $11.428 million in cash and equivalents and a working capital deficit of $15.512 million as of February 29, 2012.
Still, it should be noted that the Company ended the first quarter with its largest-ever pipeline of qualified sales opportunities due to the substantial investments that it has made in sales, client support and other revenue generating functions.
As a result of these quick returns, Augme intends to scale its business more rapidly through increased spending levels. To fund this increased investment, management is evaluating several options to secure additional funding, with a preference for non-dilutive financing.
Additionally, management believes the value of the Company’s foundational mobile technology patent portfolio is becoming more apparent as a result of it signing its first license agreement in April 2012 and the first two patent infringement cases scheduled for trial within the next seven months.
The Company’s IP portfolio now numbers 13 patents with 80 pending patents applications and over 1500 claims in the telecom media space.
Along the same lines, the Company intends to vigorously defend its proprietary technology as well as fortify barriers to entry.
Nevertheless, management remains optimistic that we will continue to achieve increasing sequential growth for the balance of the year with a rate of growth of 10 to 20 percent each quarter.
Furthermore, the Company’s timetable to cash flow breakeven is unchanged and management continues to anticipate reaching this objective by fiscal year end.
To access a free copy of the full AUGT research report, please visit scr.zacks.com.
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