Viad Corp Reports Results for the 2023 Second Quarter

Viad Corp (NYSE: VVI), a leading provider of experiential leisure travel and live events and marketing experiences, today reported results for the 2023 second quarter.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue of $320.3 million increased $1.1 million as higher international tourism in Western Canada and Iceland and stronger demand for exhibitions and events more than offset a revenue decline of approximately $16 million due to the sale of ON Services and anticipated shifts in timing of events at GES.
• Net income attributable to Viad of $11.0 million and income before other items of $11.8 million decreased $8.9 million and $10.3 million, respectively, primarily due to anticipated lower GES adjusted EBITDA, higher interest expense, and higher taxes, partially offset by higher Pursuit adjusted EBITDA.
• Consolidated adjusted EBITDA* of $42.9 million declined $4.6 million primarily due to lower GES revenue and increased staffing levels at GES as compared to the 2022 second quarter when a faster than expected recovery in event activity significantly outpaced workforce restaffing, partially offset by stronger visitation and margins at Pursuit.

* Refer to Table Two of this press release for a discussion and reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

Steve Moster, Viad’s president and chief executive officer, commented, “We delivered solid second quarter results and are pleased to once again be raising our full year guidance on stronger than expected GES performance. Pursuit delivered significant year-over-year growth in the quarter, which continues to accelerate as we move through the seasonally strong third quarter.”

Moster continued, “We are very encouraged by the robust demand we’re seeing for Pursuit’s leisure travel markets and the continued growth in GES’ live events, and we remain confident that we will deliver substantial growth this year.”

Pursuit Results

* Refer to Table Two of this press release for a discussion and reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

• Pursuit revenue of $88.5 million increased $10.9 million (14.0%) from the 2022 second quarter primarily due to stronger international visitation.
• Pursuit adjusted EBITDA of $19.5 million improved by $3.9 million from the 2022 second quarter primarily due to higher revenue and improved margin.

Regarding Pursuit’s results, Moster commented, “Pursuit’s revenue and adjusted EBITDA reached a new all-time high for the second quarter reflecting the strength of our Refresh, Build, Buy growth strategy. The new experiences that we’ve acquired or opened from 2019 to present contributed about 30 percent of Pursuit’s second quarter revenue and posted year-over-year growth of 27 percent. Additionally, our same-store experiences posted strong year-over-year revenue growth of 9 percent.”

Moster continued, “Our team did a terrific job maximizing revenue by strategically driving rate while increasing attraction visitation and maintaining strong hotel occupancy during the quarter. Additionally, we continue to benefit from the acceleration of international leisure travel to our markets. Demand for our iconic, unforgettable and inspiring hotels and attractions is strong and with our seasonally robust third quarter ahead, we remain confident in our ability to continue driving significant growth at Pursuit.”

GES Results

* Refer to Table Two of this press release for a discussion and reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

• Total GES revenue of $231.8 million decreased 4.0% from the 2022 second quarter primarily due to the sale of ON Services and 2022 shows that were postponed from the first quarter into the second quarter that returned to their normal first quarter schedules in 2023, partially offset by live event activity strength and major non-annual shows in the 2023 second quarter.
• Total GES adjusted EBITDA of $26.8 million decreased by $8.3 million from the 2022 second quarter primarily due to lower revenue and the rebuilding of the workforce from pandemic levels.

Regarding GES’ results, Moster commented, “GES’ results exceeded our expectations for the second quarter with higher than anticipated same-show revenue growth and the benefits of a series of margin enhancing lean activities. Same-show revenues for events produced by our U.S. Exhibitions team grew to 99 percent of 2019 pre-pandemic levels as compared to 87 percent in the 2022 second quarter. At Spiro, spend from existing corporate clients is also near 2019 pre-pandemic levels, and we continue to win new clients in this large, fragmented market.”

Moster continued, “I continue to be impressed with the team’s focus on margin enhancement and the speed and strength of GES’ recovery from the pandemic. We remain committed to driving meaningful free cash flow through ongoing lean initiatives at GES Exhibitions and profitable growth at Spiro.”

Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Highlights

Our 2023 second quarter cash flow from operations was approximately $28.7 million and our capital expenditures totaled approximately $21 million. We paid approximately $2 million in cash dividends on our convertible preferred equity and our net debt payments were approximately $1 million.

We ended the second quarter with total liquidity of $148.2 million, comprising cash and cash equivalents of $53 million and $95 million of capacity available on our revolving credit facility ($100 million total facility size, less $5 million in letters of credit). Our debt totaled $477.9 million, including $393 million outstanding on our Term Loan B, financing lease obligations of approximately $64 million (which primarily comprises real estate leases at Pursuit), and approximately $21 million in other debt.

Moster commented, “We remain committed to maintaining a solid liquidity position by maximizing our cash flows from operations and selectively investing in high-return opportunities to continue scaling Pursuit through our Refresh, Build, Buy growth strategy.”

2023 Outlook

Regarding Viad’s outlook, Moster commented, “We are pleased to be raising our full year guidance based on GES’ second quarter performance and our outlook for continued strong demand for GES’ live events and Pursuit’s leisure travel markets over the balance of the year.”

Moster continued, “For the third quarter, we expect another record-breaking quarter at Pursuit with significant growth in adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by lower GES revenue due to show rotation and the sale of ON Services.”

Our guidance for Viad consolidated is as follows:

Our guidance for Pursuit is as follows:

Our guidance for GES is as follows:

Conference Call Details

Management will host a conference call to review second quarter 2023 results on Thursday, August 3, 2023, at 5 p.m. (Eastern Time).

To join the live conference call, please register at least 10 minutes before the start of the call using the following link: https://conferencingportals.com/event/tQSnvHGq. After registering, an email confirmation will be sent that includes dial-in information as well as unique codes for entry into the live call. Registration will be open throughout the call.

A live audio webcast of the call will also be available in listen-only mode through the “Investors" section of our website. A replay of the webcast will be available on our website shortly after the call and, for a limited time, by calling (800) 770-2030 or (647) 362-9199 and entering the conference ID 90039.

Additionally, we will post a supplemental presentation, containing highlights of our results, trends and outlook, on the “Investors” section of our website prior to the conference call. We will refer to this presentation during the call.

About Viad

Viad (NYSE: VVI), is a leading global provider of extraordinary experiences, including hospitality and leisure activities, experiential marketing, and live events through two businesses: Pursuit and GES. Our business strategy focuses on delivering extraordinary experiences for our teams, clients and guests, and significant and sustainable growth and above-market returns for our shareholders. Viad is an S&P SmallCap 600 company.

Pursuit is a collection of inspiring and unforgettable travel experiences in Alaska, Nevada, and Montana in the United States, in and around Banff, Jasper, and Vancouver in Canada, and in Reykjavik, Iceland. Pursuit’s collection includes attractions, lodges and hotels, and sightseeing tours that connect guests with iconic places.

GES is a global, full-service live events company offering a comprehensive range of services to the world's leading brands and event organizers through two reportable segments, Spiro and GES Exhibitions. Spiro is an experiential marketing agency that partners with leading brands around the world to manage and elevate their global experiential marketing activities. GES Exhibitions is a global exhibition services company that partners with leading exhibition and conference organizers as a full-service provider of strategic and logistics solutions to manage the complexity of their shows with teams throughout North America, Europe, and the Middle East.

For more information, visit www.viad.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements. Words, and variations of words, such as “will,” “may,” “expect,” “would,” “could,” “might,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “deliver,” “seek,” “aim,” “potential,” “target,” “outlook,” and similar expressions are intended to identify our forward-looking statements. Similarly, statements that describe our business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions, or goals also are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts and are subject to a host of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following:

• general economic uncertainty in key global markets and a worsening of global economic conditions;
• travel industry disruptions;
• the impact of our overall level of indebtedness, as well as our financial flexibility;
• identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting;
• seasonality of our businesses;
• the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our financial condition, liquidity, and cash flow;
• our ability to anticipate and adjust for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our businesses;
• unanticipated delays and cost overruns of our capital projects, and our ability to achieve established financial and strategic goals for such projects;
• our exposure to labor shortages, turnover, and labor cost increases;
• the importance of key members of our account teams to our business relationships;
• our ability to manage our business and continue our growth if we lose any of our key personnel;
• the competitive nature of the industries in which we operate;
• our dependence on large exhibition event clients;
• adverse effects of show rotation on our periodic results and operating margins;
• transportation disruptions and increases in transportation costs;
• natural disasters, weather conditions, accidents, and other catastrophic events;
• our exposure to labor cost increases and work stoppages related to unionized employees;
• our multi-employer pension plan funding obligations;
• our ability to successfully integrate and achieve established financial and strategic goals from acquisitions;
• our exposure to cybersecurity attacks and threats;
• our exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations;
• liabilities relating to prior and discontinued operations; and
• compliance with laws governing the storage, collection, handling, and transfer of personal data and our exposure to legal claims and fines for data breaches or improper handling of such data.

For a more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may affect our business or financial results, please see Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and in subsequent filings we make with the SEC. We disclaim and do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement in this press release except as required by applicable law or regulation.

Forward-Looking Non-GAAP Measures

The company has not quantitatively reconciled its guidance for adjusted EBITDA to its respective most comparable GAAP financial measure because certain reconciling items that impact this metric, including provision for income taxes, interest expense, restructuring or impairment charges, acquisition-related costs, and attraction start-up costs have not occurred, are out of the company’s control, or cannot be reasonably predicted. Accordingly, reconciliations to the nearest GAAP financial measure are not available without unreasonable effort. Please note that the unavailable reconciling items could significantly impact the company’s results as reported under GAAP.