Harte Hanks Reports First Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Rhea-AI Summary

Harte Hanks, Inc. (OTCQX: HRTH) reported Q1 2021 revenues of $43.8 million, an 8% increase from $40.5 million in Q1 2020. The operating loss improved to $884,000, significantly better than the $5.1 million loss last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.2 million, marking a recovery from a $2.4 million loss in the previous year. The Customer Care segment saw substantial growth, contributing $16.5 million in revenue, while Fulfillment & Logistics declined to $14.3 million. Marketing Services also faced challenges with a revenue drop. The CEO highlighted productivity improvements and anticipated cost savings from a new ERP system.

Positive

• 8% increase in revenues to $43.8 million
• Operating loss improved to ($884,000) from ($5.1 million)
• Adjusted EBITDA improved to $2.2 million from ($2.4 million)
• Customer Care segment revenue grew by $8.1 million
• New business wins contributing to revenue growth

Negative

• Revenue decline in Fulfillment & Logistics by approximately $4 million
• Marketing Services revenue and EBITDA declined by $622,000 and $479,000 respectively
• Loss attributable to common stockholders of ($1.9 million), or ($0.28) per share

AUSTIN, Texas, May 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Harte Hanks, Inc. (OTCQX: HRTH), an industry leader in data-driven, omnichannel marketing, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.

First Quarter Operational and Financial Highlights

• Revenues improved by 8% to $43.8 million, compared to $40.5 million in the same period last year.
• Operating loss improved to a loss of ($884,000), compared to operating loss of ($5.1) million in the same period last year.
• EBITDA improved to ($186,000) compared to ($4.0) million in the same period last year.¹
• Adjusted EBITDA improved to $2.2 million compared to ($2.4) million in the same period last year.

The first quarter results by operating segment were as follows:

1. Customer Care, $16.5 million in revenue, 38% of total - Revenue increased by $8.1 million from the previous year and year-over-year EBITDA improved to $2.6 million from ($795,000). Customer Care continued to experience strong revenue tailwinds from COVID related project work, which we expect to temper. New business wins for the quarter include providing COVID-vaccine customer care for a State government and delivering digital customer support technology for a major sports streaming network.
2. Fulfillment & Logistics, $14.3 million in revenue, 33% of total - Revenue declined approximately $4 million compared to the previous year, primarily due to the closure of the direct mail facility during 2020. EBITDA improved to $1.2 million from ($678,000) in the prior year. With the consolidation of our Fulfillment operations into the Kansas City facility complete, we anticipate continued margin improvement in 2021. New business wins for the quarter include a large sampling program for a multibillion-dollar CPG company, and literature fulfillment for a large courier company.
3. Marketing Services, $12.9 million revenue, 29% of total - Revenue and EBITDA declined by $622,000 and $479,000, respectively, from the prior year due to continued softness in client marketing spend related to the pandemic. New business wins for the quarter include projects from two well-respected CPG brands to provide CRM services, including customer analytics, strategic planning, creative execution, and data management, and a B2B CRM engagement with one of the world's largest electronic component distributors.

1	EBITDA is the Company's measure of segment profitability.  For additional information please see the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

Harte Hanks CEO, Andrew Benett, commented: "We have continued to drive productivity increases in our workforce and reduced our real estate footprint. Further, in Q1 we began implementing a new Enterprise Resource Planning system. We anticipate the ERP project to extend into 2022 and expect to realize cost savings along the way." Mr. Benett continued: "We have built a seasoned team to lead our businesses and expect to be operating free cash flow positive for the year."

First Quarter 2021 Results

First quarter revenues were $43.8 million, up from $40.5 million a year ago and down sequentially from $47.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Continued growth in our Customer Care segment led our first quarter performance.

First quarter operating loss was ($884,000), compared to an operating loss of ($5.1) million in the same quarter last year. The improvement resulted from the Company's cost reduction efforts, including a 15% reduction in production and distribution expense.

First quarter Adjusted Operating Income was $1.5 million, compared to a loss of ($3.5) million in the first quarter of 2020. The improvement in Adjusted Operating Income reflects continued cost-cutting actions taken by management. Loss attributable to common stockholders for the first quarter was ($1.9) million, or ($0.28) per basic and diluted share.

Customer Care: Revenue grew across our Customer Care segment in the quarter.  Our Customer Care segment was up $8.1 million year-over-year, as a result of several large projects that we expect to wind down over the course of the year.  Operating income was $2.3 million, which was an increase of $3.3 million compared to an operating loss of ($1.0) million in the same quarter last year.

Fulfillment & Logistics: Operating income for our Fulfillment & Logistics Services segment increased $2.3M on a revenue decrease of $4.2M in the same quarter last year. Operating income in the quarter includes a $750,000 favorable litigation settlement. As we have eliminated the underperforming direct mail locations and consolidated Fulfillment facilities, we expect to see continued improvement in operating income as we complete our facility consolidation in Q2 of this year.

Marketing Services: Revenue and operating income for our Marketing Services segment had slight declines of $622,000 and $448,000 respectively compared to the same quarter last year.  Although we experienced a decline in Q1, we are encouraged by new wins and increases in client spend we saw in March and moving into Q2.

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss these results today at 4:30 p.m. ET. To access the live call, please dial (866) 548-4713 (toll free) or (323) 794-2093 and reference conference ID 6013966. The conference call will also be webcast live in the Investors Events section of the Harte Hanks website and can be accessed from the link here.

Following the conclusion of the live call, a telephonic replay will be available for 48 hours by dialing (844) 512-2921 or (412) 317-6671 and using the pin number 6013966. The replay will also be available for at least 90 days in the Investors Events section of the Harte Hanks website.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Our press release and related earnings conference call contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws. All such statements are qualified by this cautionary note, provided pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Statements other than historical facts are forward-looking and may be identified by words such as "may," "will," "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "seeks," "could," "intends," or words of similar meaning.  These forward-looking statements are based on current information, expectations and estimates and involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from what is expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements.  In that event, our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity could be materially adversely affected and investors in our securities could lose part or all of their investments.  These risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors include: (a) local, national and international economic and business conditions, including (i) the outbreak of diseases, such as the COVID-19 coronavirus, which has curtailed travel to and from certain countries and geographic regions, disrupted business operations resulting from travel restrictions and reduced consumer spending, and uncertainty regarding the duration of the virus' impact, (ii) market conditions that may adversely impact marketing expenditures and (iii) the impact of economic environments and competitive pressures on the financial condition, marketing expenditures and activities of our clients and prospects; (b) the demand for our products and services by clients and prospective clients, including (i) the willingness of existing clients to maintain or increase their spending on products and services that are or remain profitable for us, and (ii) our ability to predict changes in client needs and preferences; (c) economic and other business factors that impact the industry verticals we serve, including competition and consolidation of current and prospective clients, vendors and partners in these verticals; (d) our ability to manage and timely adjust our facilities, capacity, workforce and cost structure to effectively serve our clients; (e) our ability to improve our processes and to provide new products and services in a timely and cost-effective manner though development, license, partnership or acquisition; (f) our ability to protect our facilities against security breaches and other interruptions and to protect sensitive personal information of our clients and their customers; (g) our ability to respond to increasing concern, regulation and legal action over consumer privacy issues, including changing requirements for collection, processing and use of information; (h) the impact of privacy and other regulations, including restrictions on unsolicited marketing communications and other consumer protection laws; (i) fluctuations in fuel prices, paper prices, postal rates and postal delivery schedules; (j) the number of shares, if any, that we may repurchase in connection with our repurchase program; (k) unanticipated developments regarding litigation or other contingent liabilities; (l) our ability to complete anticipated divestitures and reorganizations, including cost-saving initiatives; (m) our ability to realize the expected tax refunds; and (n) other factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 which was filed on March 24, 2021. The forward-looking statements in this press release and our related earnings conference call are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future.

Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

The Company reports its financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). In this press release and our related earnings conference call, however, the Company may use certain non-GAAP measures of financial performance in order to provide investors with a better understanding of operating results and underlying trends to assess the Company's performance and liquidity. We have presented herein a reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

The Company presents the non-GAAP financial measure "Adjusted Operating Loss" as a measure useful to both management and investors in their analysis of the Company's Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) because it facilitates a period-to-period comparison of Operating Revenue and Operating Loss by excluding restructuring expense, impairment expense and stock-based compensation in 2021 and 2020. The most directly comparable measure for this non-GAAP financial measure is Operating Loss.

The Company also presents the non-GAAP financial measure "Adjusted EBITDA" as a supplemental measure of operating performance in order to provide an improved understanding of underlying performance trends. The Company defines "Adjusted EBITDA" as earnings before interest expense net , income tax expense (benefit), depreciation expense, restructuring expense, impairment expense, stock-based compensation expense, and other non-cash expenses. The most directly comparable measure for Adjusted EBITDA is Net Income (Loss). We believe Adjusted EBITDA is an important performance metric because it facilitates the analysis of our results, exclusive of certain non-cash items, including items which do not directly correlate to our business operations; however, we urge investors to review the reconciliation of non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA to the comparable GAAP Net Income (Loss), which is included in this press release, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate the Company's financial performance.

The foregoing measures do not serve as a substitute and should not be construed as a substitute for GAAP performance, but provide supplemental information concerning our performance that our investors and we find useful. The Company evaluates its operating performance based on several measures, including these non-GAAP financial measures. The Company believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures in this press release and earnings conference call presentations are useful supplemental financial measures of operating performance for investors because they facilitate investors' ability to evaluate the operational strength of the Company's business. However, there are limitations to the use of these non-GAAP measures, including that they may not be calculated the same by other companies in our industry limiting their use as a tool to compare results. Any supplemental non-GAAP financial measures referred to herein are not calculated in accordance with GAAP and they should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for the most comparable GAAP financial measures.

As used herein, "Harte Hanks" or "the Company" refers to Harte Hanks, Inc. and/or its applicable operating subsidiaries, as the context may require. Harte Hanks' logo and name are trademarks of Harte Hanks.

EBITDA is the Company's measure of segment profitability. For additional information please see the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

About Harte Hanks:
Harte Hanks is a global marketing services firm specializing in multi-channel marketing solutions that connect our clients with their customers in powerful ways. Experts in defining, executing and optimizing the customer journey, Harte Hanks offers end-to-end marketing services including consulting, strategic assessment, data, analytics, digital, social, mobile, print, direct mail and contact center. From visionary thinking to tactical execution, Harte Hanks delivers smarter customer interactions for some of the 'world's leading brands. Harte Hanks has approximately 2,500 employees located in North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. For more information, visit Harte Hanks at www.hartehanks.com, call 800-456-9748, or email us at pr@hartehanks.com.

Investor Relations Contact:
Sheila Ennis
Abernathy MacGregor
415-745-3294
sbe@abmac.com

 

Harte Hanks, Inc
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
		Three Months Ended March 31,
In thousands, except per share data		2021		2020
Revenue		$          43,754		$     40,522
Operating expenses
Labor		26,352		23,948
Production and distribution		11,269		13,246
Advertising, selling, general and administrative		4,121		5,948
Restructuring expense		2,198		1,366
Depreciation Expense		698		1,121
Total operating expenses		44,638		45,629
Operating loss		(884)		(5,107)
Other expenses
Interest expense, net		268		312
Other, net		15		757
Total other expenses		283		1,069
Loss before income taxes		(1,167)		(6,176)
Income tax expense (benefit)		591		(11,294)
Net (loss) income		(1,758)		5,118
Less: Preferred Stock dividends		122		123
Less: Earnings attributable to participating securities		-		683
(Loss) income attributable to common stockholders		$           (1,880)		$      4,312
(Loss) earnings per common share
Basic		$             (0.28)		$        0.68
Diluted		$             (0.28)		$        0.67
Weighted-average common shares outstanding
Basic		6,651		6,320
Diluted		6,651		6,481

 

Harte Hanks, Inc
Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited)
		Three Months Ended March 31,
In thousands, except per share data		2021		2020
Net income (loss) income		$       (1,758)		$      5,118
Income tax expense (benefit)		591		(11,294)
Interest expense, net		268		312
Other, net		15		757
Depreciation expense		698		1,121
EBITDA		$          (186)		$     (3,986)
Restructuring expense		$        2,198		$      1,366
Stock-based compensation		222		216
Adjusted EBITDA		$        2,234		$     (2,404)
Operating loss		$          (884)		$     (5,107)
Restructuring expense		2,198		1,366
Stock-based compensation		222		216
Adjusted operating income (loss)		$        1,536		$     (3,525)
Adjusted operating margin (a)		3.5%		-8.7%
(a) Adjusted Operating Margin equals Adjusted Operating Income (loss) divided by Revenues

 

Harte Hanks, Inc
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
		March 31,		December 31,
In thousands, except per share data		2021		2020
ASSETS
Current Assets
Cash and cash equivalents		$          24,913		$            29,408
Restricted cash		1,582		4,154
Accounts receivable (less allowance for doubtful accounts of $349 at March 31, 2021 and $241 at December 31, 2020)		45,405		41,533
Contract assets		326		613
Inventory		42		46
Prepaid expenses		3,986		2,256
Prepaid income tax and income tax receivable		6,822		7,388
Other current assets		814		840
Total current assets		83,890		86,238
Net property, plant and equipment		5,951		5,878
Right-of-use assets		24,190		24,750
Other assets		2,831		2,632
Total assets		$         116,862		$          119,498
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' DEFICIT
Current liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued expenses		$          16,136		$            16,294
Accrued payroll and related expenses		6,811		5,248
Short-term debt		8,730		4,926
Deferred revenue and customer advances		5,203		4,661
Customer postage and program deposits		6,105		6,497
Other current liabilities		2,947		2,903
Short-term lease liabilities		7,130		6,663
Total current liabilities		53,062		47,192
Long-term debt, net of current portion		18,370		22,174
Pensions		66,544		67,490
Long-term lease liabilities, net of current portion		20,582		21,295
Other long-term liabilities		3,004		4,747
Total liabilities		161,562		162,898
Preferred stock		9,723		9,723
Stockholders' deficit
Common stock		12,121		12,121
Additional paid-in capital		367,243		383,043
Retained earnings		794,365		796,123
Less treasury stock		(1,162,819)		(1,178,799)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss		(65,333)		(65,611)
Total stockholders' deficit		$         (54,423)		$           (53,123)
Total liabilities, preferred stock and stockholders' deficit		$         116,862		$          119,498

 

Harte Hanks, Inc.
Statement of Operations by Segments (Unaudited)
Quarter ended March 31,		Marketing Services		Customer Care		Fulfillment & Logistics Services (1)		Restructuring		Unallocated Corporate		Total
						(In thousands)
2021
Revenues		$      12,878		$   16,544		$                  14,332		$                  —		$                     —		$    43,754
Segment Operating Expense		$      11,041		$   13,074		$                  12,174		$                  —		$               5,453		$    41,742
Restructuring		$              —		$           —		$                           —		$            2,198		$                     —		$      2,198
Contribution margin		$        1,837		$     3,470		$                     2,158		$          (2,198)		$             (5,453)		$        (186)
Overhead Allocation		$        1,255		$        870		$                        941		$                  —		$             (3,066)		$            —
EBITDA		$           582		$     2,600		$                     1,217		$          (2,198)		$             (2,387)		$        (186)
Depreciation		$           151		$        254		$                        167		$                  —		$                  126		$         698
Operating income (loss)		$           431		$     2,346		$                     1,050		$          (2,198)		$             (2,513)		$        (884)
(1) Operating expense in this segment includes $750 thousand favorable litigation settlement as well as the related legal expenses.
2020
Revenues		$      13,500		$     8,480		$                  18,542		$                  —		$                     —		$    40,522
Segment Operating Expense		$      11,092		$     8,346		$                  18,142		$                  —		$               5,562		$    43,142
Restructuring		$              —		$           —		$                           —		$            1,366		$                     —		$      1,366
Contribution margin		$        2,408		$        134		$                        400		$          (1,366)		$             (5,562)		$    (3,986)
Overhead Allocation		$        1,347		$        929		$                     1,078		$                  —		$             (3,354)		$            —
EBITDA		$        1,061		$       (795)		$                      (678)		$          (1,366)		$             (2,208)		$    (3,986)
Depreciation		$           182		$        217		$                        552		$                  —		$                  170		$      1,121
Operating income (loss)		$           879		$   (1,012)		$                   (1,230)		$          (1,366)		$             (2,378)		$    (5,107)

 

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SOURCE Harte Hanks

FAQ

What were Harte Hanks' Q1 2021 earnings results?

Harte Hanks reported Q1 2021 revenues of $43.8 million, an 8% increase from the previous year, with an operating loss of ($884,000).

How did the Customer Care segment perform in Q1 2021?

The Customer Care segment generated $16.5 million in revenue, an increase of $8.1 million year-over-year.

What is the financial outlook for Harte Hanks after Q1 2021?

Harte Hanks expects continued improvement in operating income and plans to operate free cash flow positive for the year.

What challenges did Harte Hanks face in Q1 2021?

The company faced a revenue decline in Fulfillment & Logistics and a decrease in Marketing Services revenue due to reduced client marketing spend.

What new business wins did Harte Hanks secure in Q1 2021?

Harte Hanks secured projects including COVID-vaccine customer care for a state government and digital customer support technology for a sports streaming network.