DHI Group First Quarter Revenue Increases 12% Year Over Year as Renewal and Retention Rates Remain Strong

CENTENNIAL, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE: DHX) (“DHI” or the “Company”) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023.

First Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights⁽¹⁾

• Total revenue was $38.6 million, up 12% year over year.

• Total bookings were $53.6 million, up 6% year over year.

• Net income was $0.5 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, a net income margin of 1%, compared to net income of $1.3 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, a net income margin of 4%, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share for the quarter was $0.00, versus $0.01 in the year-ago quarter.

• Adjusted EBITDA was $8.1 million, up 16% year over year, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin was 21%, up from 20% in the year-ago quarter.

• Cash flow from operations was $0.0 million.

• Cash was $5.4 million and total debt was $46.0 million at quarter end.

(1) See definition of bookings and see "Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" related to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share later in this press release.

Commenting on the first quarter, Art Zeile, President and CEO of DHI Group, said:

"For the first quarter, employers in the U.S. posted job openings for approximately 813,000 tech jobs, and the tech unemployment rate for April remained near all-time lows at 2.3%, with approximately two job openings for every one tech worker looking for employment. Even in this difficult macro environment, there continues to be significant demand for technologists across all industries as companies continue to invest in technology initiatives.

"Our first quarter results highlight the fact that our existing customers continue to find value in our subscription offerings as they rely on our offerings to find, attract and hire the best technologists for their job openings. Our revenue renewal rates for Dice and ClearanceJobs remained strong in the mid-90s, and our retention rates remained over 100% as we continued to expand within existing customers. In fact, our average annual revenue per recruitment package customer for both Dice and ClearanceJobs increased in the first quarter, both sequentially and year over year in the first quarter.

"While our new business teams are still seeing longer sales cycles as a result of the current uncertainty in the U.S. economy, we did sign on several large new customers during the first quarter, including Edward Jones, Bechtel, and the Department of Transportation, highlighting the value proposition for our offering among non-tech companies that are looking to hire tech professionals.

"During the quarter, we continued to invest in our industry-leading products, as the total addressable market for our subscription-based offerings remains at over $1 billion in annual spend, and we believe we are just scratching the surface."

Commenting on the first quarter and 2023 guidance, Kevin Bostick, CFO of DHI Group, said:

"As Art mentioned, the current economic uncertainty continues to lengthen our sales cycles and impact our Dice new business. As such, for 2023, we now expect total revenue for the year to grow 5% - 6%, with second quarter revenue expected to grow 4% - 5% year over year. With the current economic environment, we are focusing on the expense side of our business and expect our Adjusted EBITDA margin to increase in the second half of the year and reach 25% as we exit the year. We also expect to reduce our debt outstanding throughout the year."

Conference Call Information

Art Zeile, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Kevin Bostick, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call today, May 10, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the Company’s financial results and recent developments.

The call can be accessed by dialing 844-890-1790 (in the U.S.) or 412-380-7407 (outside the U.S.). Please ask to be placed into the DHI Group, Inc. call. A live webcast of the call will simultaneously be available through the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, https://www.dhigroupinc.com, and available for replay after the call ends.

About DHI Group, Inc.

DHI Group, Inc (NYSE: DHX) is a provider of AI-powered career marketplaces that focus on technology roles. DHI’s two brands, Dice and ClearanceJobs, enable recruiters and hiring managers to efficiently search for and connect with highly skilled technology professionals based on the skills requested. The Company’s patented algorithm manages over 100,000 unique technology skills. Additionally, our marketplaces allow tech professionals to find their ideal next career opportunity, with relevant advice and personalized insights. Learn more at www.dhigroupinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and oral statements made from time to time by our representatives contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, information concerning our possible or assumed future financial condition, liquidity and results of operations, including expectations (financial or otherwise), our strategy, plans, objectives, expectations (financial or otherwise) and intentions, growth potential, and statements regarding our 2023 financial outlook. These statements often include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate” or similar expressions. These statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of our experience in the industry as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to execute our tech-focused strategy, competition from existing and future competitors in the highly competitive markets in which we operate, failure to adapt our business model to keep pace with rapid changes in the recruiting and career services business, failure to maintain and develop our reputation and brand recognition, failure to increase or maintain the number of customers who purchase recruitment packages, cyclicality or downturns in the economy or industries we serve, uncertainty in respect to the regulation of data protection and data privacy, failure to attract qualified professionals to our websites or grow the number of qualified professionals Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings under the headings “Risk Factors,” “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made by the Company or its representatives herein, or elsewhere, speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties come up from time to time, and it is impossible to predict these events or how they may affect us. We have no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof, except as required by applicable federal securities laws.

Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company has provided certain non-GAAP financial information as additional information for its operating results. These measures are not in accordance with, or alternatives to, measures in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and may be different from similarly titled non-GAAP measures reported by other companies. The Company believes that its presentation of non-GAAP measures, such as Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share provides useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to its financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the Company’s management uses these measures for reviewing the financial results of the Company and for budgeting and planning purposes. Non-GAAP results exclude the impact of items that management believes affect the comparability or underlying business trends in our condensed consolidated financial statements in the periods presented. The non-GAAP measures apply to consolidated results or other measures as shown within this document. The Company has provided required reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures elsewhere in the document.

Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share

Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is a non-GAAP performance measure that management believes is useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in the analysis of operating trends. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is computed as diluted earnings per share plus or minus the impacts of certain non-cash and other items, including impairments, costs related to reorganizing the Company, including severance and related costs, gains or losses on investments, proceeds from settlement, and discrete tax items.

Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is not a measurement of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to diluted earnings per share, net income, or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our profitability.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are non-GAAP measures used by management to measure operating performance. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin as performance measures for internal monitoring and planning, including preparation of annual budgets, analyzing investment decisions and evaluating profitability and performance comparisons between us and our competitors. The Company also uses these measures to calculate amounts of performance based compensation under the senior management incentive bonus program. Adjusted EBITDA represents net income plus (to the extent deducted in calculating such net income) interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, and items such as non-cash stock-based compensation, losses resulting from certain dispositions outside the ordinary course of business including prior negative operating results of those divested businesses, certain write-offs in connection with indebtedness, impairment charges with respect to long-lived assets, expenses incurred in connection with an equity offering or any other offering of securities by the Company, extraordinary or non-recurring non-cash expenses or losses, losses from equity method investments, transaction costs in connection with the credit agreement, deferred revenues written off in connection with acquisition purchase accounting adjustments, write-off of non-cash stock-based compensation expense, severance and retention costs related to dispositions and reorganizations of the Company, and losses related to legal claims and fees that are unusual in nature or infrequent, minus (to the extent included in calculating such net income) non-cash income or gains, including income from equity method investments, interest income, business interruption insurance proceeds, and any income or gain resulting from certain dispositions outside the ordinary course of business, including prior positive operating results of those divested businesses, and gains related to legal claims that are unusual in nature or infrequent.

Adjusted EBITDA Margin is computed as Adjusted EBITDA divided by Revenues.

We also consider Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin, as defined above, to be important indicators to investors because they provide information related to our ability to provide cash flows to meet future debt service, capital expenditures, working capital requirements, and to fund future growth. We present Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin as supplemental performance measures because we believe that these measures provide our board of directors, management and investors with additional information to measure our performance, provide comparisons from period to period by excluding potential differences caused by variations in capital structures (affecting interest expense) and tax positions (such as the impact on periods or companies of changes in effective tax rates or net operating losses), and to estimate our value.

We understand that although Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are frequently used by securities analysts, lenders and others in their evaluation of companies, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our liquidity or results as reported under GAAP. Some limitations are:

• Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin do not reflect our cash expenditures, or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;
• Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;
• Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin do not reflect interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments on our debt;
• Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized often will have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and
• Other companies in our industry may calculate Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.

To compensate for these limitations, management evaluates our liquidity by considering the economic effect of excluded expense items independently, as well as in connection with its analysis of cash flows from operations and through the use of other financial measures, such as capital expenditure budget variances, investment spending levels and return on capital analysis.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are not measurements of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to revenue, operating income, net income, net income margin, cash provided by operating activities, or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our profitability or liquidity.

DHI GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
		For the three months ended March 31,
		2023				2022
Revenues		$	38,620			$	34,334
Operating expenses:
Cost of revenues			4,912				4,099
Product development			4,694				3,942
Sales and marketing			16,060				13,941
General and administrative			8,208				7,766
Depreciation			4,173				3,958
Total operating expenses			38,047				33,706
Operating income			573				628
Income from equity method investment			171				155
Interest expense and other			(798	)			(245	)
Income (loss) before income taxes			(54	)			538
Income tax benefit			(514	)			(763	)
Net income		$	460			$	1,301
Basic earnings per share		$	0.01			$	0.03
Diluted earnings per share		$	0.01			$	0.03
Weighted-average basic shares outstanding			43,886				44,702
Weighted-average diluted shares outstanding			45,240				47,170

DHI GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(Unaudited)
(in thousands)
				Three Months Ended March 31,
				2023				2022
Cash flows from (used in) operating activities:
Net income				$	460			$	1,301
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flows from (used in) operating activities:
Depreciation					4,173				3,958
Deferred income taxes					(848	)			(1,823	)
Amortization of deferred financing costs					36				37
Stock-based compensation					2,887				2,235
Income from equity method investment					(171	)			(155	)
Change in accrual for unrecognized tax benefits					60				93
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable					(4,153	)			(3,820	)
Prepaid expenses and other assets					279				386
Capitalized contract costs					683				(483	)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses					(11,382	)			(3,941	)
Income taxes receivable/payable					247				954
Deferred revenue					7,981				10,640
Other, net					(241	)			(164	)
Net cash flows from operating activities					11				9,218
Cash flows from used in investing activities:
Purchases of fixed assets					(4,833	)			(4,091	)
Net cash flows used in investing activities					(4,833	)			(4,091	)
Cash flows from (used in) financing activities:
Payments on long-term debt					(3,000	)			(4,000	)
Proceeds from long-term debt					19,000				14,000
Payments under stock repurchase plan					(3,521	)			(7,499	)
Purchase of treasury stock related to vested restricted and performance stock units					(5,295	)			(4,202	)
Net cash flows from (used in) financing activities					7,184				(1,701	)
Net change in cash and cash equivalents for the period					2,362				3,426
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period					3,006				1,540
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period				$	5,368			$	4,966

DHI GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Unaudited)
(in thousands)
ASSETS		March 31, 2023			December 31, 2022
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents		$	5,368		$	3,006
Accounts receivable, net			24,980			20,494
Prepaid and other current assets			3,815			4,294
Total current assets			34,163			27,794
Fixed assets, net			21,879			21,252
Capitalized contract costs			8,994			9,677
Operating lease right-of-use assets			6,088			6,581
Investments			5,968			5,646
Acquired intangible assets			23,800			23,800
Goodwill			128,100			128,100
Other assets			4,017			3,854
Total assets		$	233,009		$	226,704
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued expenses		$	12,403		$	23,818
Deferred revenue			58,079			50,121
Income taxes payable			280			34
Operating lease liabilities			—			105
Total current liabilities			70,762			74,078
Deferred revenue			765			743
Operating lease liabilities			8,007			8,428
Long-term debt, net			46,000			30,000
Deferred income taxes			4,667			5,515
Accrual for unrecognized tax benefits			829			769
Other long-term liabilities			727			932
Total liabilities			131,757			120,465
Total stockholders’ equity			101,252			106,239
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity		$	233,009		$	226,704

Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Reconciliations

On the pages that follow, the Company has provided certain supplemental information that we believe will assist the reader in assessing our business operations and performance, including certain non-GAAP financial information and required reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measure. A statement of operations and statement of cash flows for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 and balance sheets as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 are provided elsewhere in this press release.

DHI GROUP, INC.
NON-GAAP & SUPPLEMENTAL DATA
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share and customer data)
		Revenue
		Q1 2023				Q1 2022				$ Change			% Change
Dice1		$	26,910			$	24,634			$	2,276		9	%
ClearanceJobs			11,710				9,700				2,010		21	%
Total Revenues		$	38,620			$	34,334			$	4,286		12	%
Net income2		$	460			$	1,301
Net income margin3			1	%			4	%
Diluted earnings per share2		$	0.01			$	0.03
Adjusted diluted earnings per share4		$	—			$	0.01
Adjusted EBITDA4		$	8,054			$	6,930
Adjusted EBITDA margin3 4			21	%			20	%

(1) Includes Dice and Career Events

(2) Net income and diluted earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2023 includes the net positive impact of income from investments and severance and related costs, all net of tax, and discrete tax items of $0.3 million, or $0.01 per diluted share. For the three months ended March 31, 2022, the Company recorded income from investments, severance and related costs, all net of tax, and discrete tax items that positively impacted net income by $0.8 million, or $0.02 per diluted share.

(3) Net income margin and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are calculated by dividing the respective measure by that period's revenues.

(4)  See "Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" elsewhere in this press release.

		Bookings1
		Q1 2023			Q1 2022			$ Change			% Change
Dice		$	37,618		$	36,819		$	799		2	%
ClearanceJobs			15,948			13,865			2,083		15	%
Total Bookings		$	53,566		$	50,684		$	2,882		6	%

(1) Bookings represent the value of all contractually committed services in which the contract start date is during the period and will be recognized as revenue within 12 months of the contract start date. For contracts that extend beyond 12 months, the value of those contracts beyond 12 months is recognized as bookings on each annual anniversary of each contract start date valued as the amount of revenue that will be recognized within 12 months of the respective anniversary date.

		Average Annual Revenue per Recruitment Package Customer1
		Q1 2023			Q1 2022			$ Change			% Change
Dice		$	15,672		$	14,112		$	1,560		11	%
ClearanceJobs		$	20,520		$	18,408		$	2,112		11	%

(1) Calculated by dividing recruitment package customer revenue by the daily average count of recruitment package customers during each month, adjusted to reflect a 30-day month. The simple average of each month is used to derive the amount for each period and then annualized to reflect 12 months.

		Renewal Rates
Renewal Rate on Revenue:		Q1 2023			Q1 2022
Dice		92	%		104	%
ClearanceJobs		95	%		104	%
Renewal Rate on Count:
Dice		82	%		86	%
ClearanceJobs		83	%		87	%
		Retention Rates1
		Q1 2023			Q1 2022
Dice		105	%		114	%
ClearanceJobs		109	%		115	%

(1) For customers that renewed their annual recruitment packages during the period, the retention rate represents the total contract value renewed, relative to the previous total contract value.

		Recruitment Package Customers
		March 31, 2023		March 31, 2022		Change			% Change
Dice		6,171		6,249		(78	)		(1	)%
ClearanceJobs		2,078		1,928		150			8	%

		Deferred Revenue and Backlog1
					Comparison to Prior Year End										Comparison Year Over Year
		March 31, 2023			December 31, 2022			$ Change				% Change			March 31, 2022			$ Change			% Change
Deferred Revenue		$	58,844		$	50,864		$	7,980			16	%		$	56,786		$	2,058		4	%
Contractual commitments not invoiced			65,389			66,391			(1,002	)		(2	) %			49,262			16,127		33	%
Backlog		$	124,233		$	117,255		$	6,978			6	%		$	106,048		$	18,185		17	%

(1) Backlog consists of deferred revenue plus customer contractual commitments not invoiced representing the value of future services to be rendered under committed contracts.

		Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share
		Q1 2023				Q1 2022
Reconciliation of Diluted Earnings per Share to Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share:
Diluted earnings per share		$	0.01			$	0.03
Severance and related costs, net of tax			0.01				—
Discrete tax items			(0.01	)			(0.02	)
Other1			(0.01	)			—
Adjusted diluted earnings per share		$	0.00			$	0.01
Weighted average shares- diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share			45,240				47,170

(1) Adjusts, as applicable, for the share impact of common stock equivalents, where dilutive.

DHI GROUP, INC.
NON-GAAP & SUPPLEMENTAL DATA (CONTINUED)
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share and customer data)
			Adjusted EBITDA
			Q1 2023				Q1 2022
Reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA:
Net income			$	460			$	1,301
Interest expense				798				245
Income tax benefit				(514	)			(763	)
Depreciation				4,173				3,958
Non-cash stock-based compensation				2,887				2,235
Income from equity method investment				(171	)			(155	)
Severance and related costs				421				109
Adjusted EBITDA			$	8,054			$	6,930
Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flows to Adjusted EBITDA:
Net cash provided by operating activities			$	11			$	9,218
Interest expense				798				245
Amortization of deferred financing costs				(36	)			(37	)
Income tax benefit				(514	)			(763	)
Deferred income taxes				848				1,823
Change in accrual for unrecognized tax benefits				(60	)			(93	)
Change in accounts receivable				4,153				3,820
Change in deferred revenue				(7,981	)			(10,640	)
Severance and related costs				421				109
Changes in working capital and other				10,414				3,248
Adjusted EBITDA			$	8,054			$	6,930

Guidance

Earlier in this press release, the Company provided guidance for Adjusted EBITDA margin, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. We are unable to reconcile expected Adjusted EBITDA margin to its nearest GAAP measure without unreasonable efforts because we are unable to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty the actual impact of items such as non-cash stock-based compensation, impairments, income tax expense, gains or losses from equity method investments, severance and retention costs, and legal claims and fees. By their very nature, these items are difficult to anticipate with precision because they are generally associated with unexpected and unplanned events that impact our company and its financial results. Therefore, we are unable to provide a reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure.

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Investor Contact

Todd Kehrli or Jim Byers

MKR Investor Relations, Inc.

212-448-4181

ir@dhigroupinc.com

Media Contact

Rachel Ceccarelli

VP of Engagement

212-448-8288

media@dhigroupinc.com

Source: DHI Group, Inc.