Michael Connors
Analyst · Barrington Research. Vincent, your line is open. Please go ahead
Thank you, Barry and good morning everyone. Today, we will review our record results for the fourth quarter and full year, our continued recurring revenue growth, our new enhanced amended credit facility, and our outlook for the first quarter. ISG delivered our best quarterly and full year performance in our 17-year history. For the quarter, ISG delivered record revenues of $74 million, up 11% in constant currency, record net income of $4.3 million, up 20%, record earnings per share of $0.09, record adjusted earnings per share of $0.13, and record adjusted EBITDA of $11 million, up 9%. Our key metrics were equally impressive for the full year with record revenues of $286 million, up 8% in constant currency; record operating income of $29 million, up 17%; record net income of $20 million, up 27%; record adjusted net income of $27 million, up 18%; record earnings per share of $0.39; record adjusted earnings per share of $0.53; and record adjusted EBITDA of $43 million, up 11%. Our record fourth quarter and full year results were accomplished despite an uncertain macro environment and fewer working days in Q4, normally a seasonally lower quarter for ISG. But our diverse and valued suite of products and services from cost optimization to business transformation is making a difference in our performance. Looking at the fourth quarter, our top line growth was driven by double-digit operating growth in both the Americas and Europe as client demand for efficiency and optimization services escalates. We also saw strong growth for our subscription services in research and governance and in network and software advisory services during the quarter. Our recurring revenues in Q4 reached $30 million, up 26% over the prior year and represented 40% of our firm-wide revenues. For the year, we achieved $108 million in recurring revenue, surpassing the $100 million goal we set for ourselves back in 2020. Not surprisingly, FX continues to chip away at our reported results. For the quarter, the impact of revenue was 447 basis points or $3.2 million and $13 million for the full year. Overall, our more profitable mix of products and services, combined with the operating efficiencies we derived from our ISG NEXT operating model resulted in the highest full year EBITDA margin in our firm’s history at 15%. From a client perspective, we served 556 clients in Q4, up 6% and surpassed 900 clients for the year, a new high for our firm. Today, nearly every one of our clients is a digital business. Each is using digital technology to redefine how they operate, how they engage with customers, employees and business partners and how they create new revenue streams through connected products and services. Even in uncertain times, our clients remain committed to continuous digital transformation. Markets and technology are changing fast. There is really no time to hit pause. Every business needs to keep moving forward or be left behind. With intense market pressure to invest in cloud, analytics, customer experience, and AI, our clients are turning to ISG to help them optimize their costs, not only to get lean, but the free up resources to fund their digital ambitions. To meet this need, ISG introduced a wide ranging cost transformation service that builds upon our longstanding expertise in this area. Our offering very successful today focuses on the four key levers to optimize cost: the supplier ecosystem, technology investments, software asset management, and business operations. This approach delivers both short and long-term efficiencies and reduces the peaks and valleys of traditional linear spend models. As I mentioned, these continuous savings can be reinvested in our clients business, particularly for ongoing digital transformation. This is another example of how our 17-year history of being the largest sourcing advisor in the world is paying off. Revenues from our cost optimization services are growing by double-digits. Among our major engagements, we are helping a global healthcare solutions company reduce its $40 million of technology costs by 25% and an automotive supplier reduce its $140 million spend by 20%. There are many more such opportunities in progress and in our pipeline. Turning to our regions, the Americas delivered $44 million of revenue in the quarter, up 12% versus the prior year on the strength of our digital and cost optimization offerings. During the quarter, we saw double-digit growth in our media, health sciences, energy and utilities industries. And among our services network and software advisory, research and GovernX were also up double-digits. Key client engagements during the fourth quarter included McKesson, Stryker, Exelon, and Pfizer. As I mentioned, demand for GovernX, our SaaS based vendor compliance and risk management platform is soaring as clients seek to get the most value out of their supplier ecosystems. During the quarter, a global hospitality giant renewed its annual $1 million plus ISG GovernX subscription at a higher rate for 2023. This client is one of our longest standing GovernX clients, generating more than $25 million in recurring revenue over the last 10 years. We also extended our ISG GovernX contract with one of the top three global tech giants in the world for a further 4 years with a significant increase in annual contract value. ISG also won a new multimillion dollar ISG GovernX engagement with a major U.S. healthcare company to provide our unique vendor management office as a service capability. Additionally, ISG Research has signed a large deal worth more than $1.5 million with a leading services tech provider for a range of go-to-market projects and ISG solutions, including a multiyear ISG ProBenchmark contract. Now turning to Europe, our Q4 revenues of $24 million were up 12% in constant currency over last year. For the quarter, Europe delivered double-digit revenue growth in our media, public sector, consumer services and manufacturing industry verticals and in our GovernX and network and software advisory businesses. Key client engagements in Europe and the fourth quarter included Volkswagen, Deutsche Bonn, Allianz and Nestle. During the quarter, a leading transportation company in Germany, extended the digital labor and automation engagement and awarded ISG in late 2020 for an additional 2 years. ISG will continue as the client’s strategic automation advisor, delivering platform-as-a-service maintenance and licensing services. We also secured a major deal with a global chemicals and industrial solutions manufacturer in Germany to provide network advisory services. Additionally, ISG has been awarded a significant $1 million plus engagement with the Swiss Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunications. We are helping this client optimize their technology portfolio, restructure their underlying cost models, and redefine their organizational structure to ensure lasting improvement. Now turning to Asia-Pacific, our Q4 revenues of $7 million were up 5% in constant currency from last year, with double-digit growth in our network and software advisory business. Asia-Pacific has been a strong performer this year, with full year revenues up 16% in constant currency. In the latest quarter, we saw double-digit growth in our consumer and media industry verticals. Key clients in the quarter included the Australian Taxation Office, [indiscernible] and the insurance company, Bupa. Turning now to another very positive development for ISG, we recently announced that we were able to successfully amend our $140 million credit agreement at more favorable terms. This was made possible by our strong financial position and operating results. The new agreement converts the previous term and revolving loan into an all revolving credit facility. It eliminates $4.3 million of mandatory annual principal payments under the former agreement and extends the maturity date by 3 years to February 2028. This is clearly an excellent outcome, especially during a time of increasing interest rates and a volatile debt market. Now, let me turn to guidance. Continuous digital transformation remains a business imperative and ISG is ideally positioned to meet that need. In addition, we see continuing strong demand for our services as we help our clients optimize their technology and business environments, design their future operating state and leverage the technology and services that will help them realize their objectives. Looking ahead to 2023, our demand pipeline remained strong. Indeed, we hired additional employees in Q4 to meet future demand. We are also mindful of the economic factors that could impact the timing of client decision-making, including inflation, the possibility of recession, geopolitical concerns and talent shortages. In consideration of all of this for the first quarter, we are targeting revenues of between $73 million and $75 million including a negative FX impact of approximately 200 basis points in this range and adjusted EBITDA between $10 million and $11 million. So, with that, let me turn the call over to Bert, who will summarize our financial results. Bert?