Release Date: May 14, 2025
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
- Yellow Pages Ltd (YLWDF, Financial) reported a favorable bending of the revenue curve for the fifth consecutive quarter, indicating improved revenue change rates.
- The company maintained a strong cash balance of approximately $49 million at the end of April, despite regular seasonal disbursements.
- The board declared a dividend of $0.25 per common share, reflecting confidence in the company's financial stability.
- The sales force headcount increased by 9%, supporting revenue generation and customer acquisition efforts.
- Average spend per customer increased, contributing positively to revenue despite a decline in customer count.
Negative Points
- Total revenues decreased by 7.6% year over year, amounting to $50.8 million for the first quarter.
- Digital revenues declined by 6.8% year over year, primarily due to a decrease in digital customer count.
- Print revenues decreased by 10.5% year over year, driven by a reduction in the number of print customers.
- Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 22.3% to $11.9 million, with margins dropping from 27.8% to 23.4% compared to the same period last year.
- Net income fell to $5 million for the first quarter of 2025, down from $8.4 million in the same period last year, due to lower adjusted EBITDA and increased restructuring charges.
Q & A Highlights
Q: Can you provide an overview of Yellow Pages' financial performance for the first quarter of 2025?
A: David Eckert, CEO, highlighted that Yellow Pages reported a favorable bending of the revenue curve for the fifth consecutive quarter, indicating improved revenue change rates. The adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was 23.4% of revenue, despite ongoing investments in revenue initiatives. The company maintained a strong cash balance of approximately $49 million at the end of April.
Q: What are the key factors contributing to the revenue decline in the first quarter?
A: Franco Sciannamblo, CFO, explained that the 7.6% year-over-year revenue decrease to $50.8 million was mainly due to declines in higher-margin digital media and print products, as well as lower-margin digital services. The digital revenues decreased by 6.8%, while print revenues fell by 10.5%, primarily due to a decrease in customer count, although average spend per customer increased.
Q: How is Yellow Pages addressing the decline in customer count and revenue?
A: Sherilyn King, SVP of Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service, noted that the company is focusing on metrics such as sales force size, deceleration of customer count decline, new customer acquisitions, stable renewal rates, and strong average spend per customer. These efforts are expected to support medium and long-term growth.
Q: What impact did the revenue decline have on Yellow Pages' profitability?
A: Franco Sciannamblo, CFO, stated that adjusted EBITDA decreased by 22.3% to $11.9 million, with the margin dropping to 23.4% from 27.8% the previous year. This was due to revenue pressures, changes in product mix, and investments in sales force capacity, partially offset by price increases and cost optimizations.
Q: What are the company's plans regarding dividends?
A: Sherilyn King announced that the board declared a dividend of $0.25 per common share, payable on June 16, 2025, to shareholders of record as of May 27, 2025.
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
