Record Quarterly Revenue of $50.2 Million, Up 52% Year-over-Year 
DSP Delivered Double-Digit Growth While Exchange Revenue Grew 108%
Adjusted EBITDA Improved by $3.0 Million Year-over-Year to $2.0 Million

(All monetary figures are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated)

TORONTO, Aug. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- illumin Holdings Inc. (TSX: ILLM and OTCQB: ILLMF) (“illumin” or the “Company”), the AI advertising technology platform that enables you to win your next customer, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026.

Second Quarter 2026 Highlights

• Second quarter revenue rose 52% to $50.2 million from $33.1 million in the prior year, driven by higher Exchange service revenue growth, as well as double-digit revenue growth in Managed service and Self service. This growth positions the Company well in both the demand side and supply side of the programmatic marketing industry and provides greater revenue resilience.
• Exchange service revenue increased 108% year-over-year to a record $27.1 million, driven by continued strong demand from new and existing customers and expanded publisher partnerships.
• Combined Managed service and Self service revenue increased approximately 15% year-over-year to $23.1 million, demonstrating broad-based growth across the Company's demand-side platform.
• Self service revenue increased 18% year-over-year to $10.8 million and represented 22% of total revenue.
• Managed service revenue increased 13% year-over-year to $12.3 million, primarily reflecting higher spend from existing customers and new customer wins.
• Gross margin was 35% compared to 43% in the prior year period, reflecting increased contribution from Exchange service and higher volumes.
• Net revenue, or gross profit (revenue less media-related costs), increased 24% year-over-year to $17.6 million.
• Operating expenses were $18.7 million, a decrease of $0.5 million compared to the prior year. However, excluding the impact of revenue-related expenses as a result of the incremental 52% in revenue, these costs were lower by approximately $2.4 million, partially due to the restructuring initiatives we undertook in the quarter.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $2.0 million, an improvement of $3.0 million year-over-year, primarily driven by higher revenue, partly offset by the revenue mix and higher sales costs associated with growth.
• Net income was $19 thousand, compared to a net loss of $5.8 million in Q2 2025, primarily reflecting positive Adjusted EBITDA, a higher foreign exchange gain, and lower severance and share-based compensation expenses.
• On December 31, 2025, the Company commenced a normal course issuer bid (“NCIB”) to purchase for cancellation up to 3,858,045 of its outstanding common shares. Under this NCIB, daily purchases are limited to 25,279 common shares. The NCIB may continue to December 30, 2026 or such earlier time as the NCIB is completed or terminated at the option of the Company. During the six months ended June 30, 2026, under this NCIB, the Company purchased and cancelled 686,558 of its outstanding common shares at an average price of $0.85 per share totaling approximately $0.6 million.
• Cash and cash equivalents totaled $33.7 million as at June 30, 2026, providing substantial liquidity to support the Company’s strategic growth initiatives. The $3.8 million quarter-over-quarter change primarily reflected planned platform investment, working capital timing, and lease payments, partially offset by the positive impact of foreign exchange on cash. Excluding working capital timing, the Company generated positive cash from operations in the quarter, while working capital remained stable at $37.6 million.
  
  

Business Developments

• The Company partnered with Cint Group to integrate brand lift measurement directly into the platform workflow, helping marketers launch studies faster and measure campaign impact while campaigns are active.
• The Company also partnered with Audience Acuity to integrate audience intelligence that helps advertisers discover, activate, and measure audiences with greater precision.
  
  

Tal Hayek, illumin’s Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“The second quarter marked my first full quarter since returning as CEO, and I want to thank the entire illumin team for rising to the challenge and delivering strong execution across the business. Our performance was highlighted by record revenue of $50.2 million and a return to profitability.

We continued to see strength in our supply-side Exchange business and solid growth across our demand-side platform, with both Managed service and Self service achieving double-digit growth. This broad-based performance underscores the resilience of our business model across both sides of programmatic advertising.

Although our evolving revenue mix affected gross margins, disciplined cost management demonstrated our ability to scale efficiently. At the same time, integrations with partners such as Cint Group for brand-lift measurement and Audience Acuity for AI-powered audience intelligence are enhancing our intelligent advertising platform and laying the groundwork for sustainable growth.

We also look forward to launching new AI-powered solutions designed to simplify the customer experience and deliver stronger business outcomes. As we enter the third quarter, we expect to build on this momentum and achieve double-digit revenue growth compared with the prior year."

Michael Amaro, Interim Chief Financial Officer, commented:

“The second quarter reflected the early impact of our strategic growth initiatives and the restructuring campaign we undertook to reduce our operating expenses. We achieved record quarterly revenue of over $50 million, surpassing this milestone for the first time, with the DSP service lines delivering double-digit year-over-year revenue growth and Exchange delivering 108% growth. We also returned to positive net income for the first time since Q4 2024. We remain focused on investing in key areas, including technological enhancements, that will support long-term growth while ensuring we remain disciplined with our operating costs. As we continue to scale the business, we believe the Company is moving in the right direction and is well positioned for the future.”

The following table presents a reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA for the periods ended:

Conference Call Details

Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call
Date: Thursday, August 6, 2026
Time: 8:30 AM Eastern Time

To register for the webcast and presentation, please visit:
https://events.illumin.com/q2-2026-earnings-call

Please connect 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure time for any software download that may be needed to hear the webcast. A recording of the conference call webcast will be available after the call by visiting the Company’s website at https://illumin.com/investor-information.

Non-IFRS Measures

This press release makes reference to certain non-IFRS Accounting Standard measures (“non-IFRS measures”). These measures are not recognized measures under IFRS Accounting Standards (“IFRS”), do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Rather, these measures are provided as additional information to complement those IFRS measures by providing further understanding of our results of operations from management’s perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of our financial information reported under IFRS. We use non-IFRS measures including “revenue less media-related costs”, “Gross margin”, and “Adjusted EBITDA” (as well as other measures discussed elsewhere in this press release).

The term “Gross margin” refers to the amount that “revenue less media-related costs” represents as a percentage of total revenue for a given period. Gross margin is used for internal management purposes as an indicator of the performance of the Company’s solution in balancing the goals of delivering excellent results to advertisers while meeting the Company’s margin objectives and, accordingly, the Company believes it is useful supplemental information. “Adjusted EBITDA” refers to net income (loss) after adjusting for finance costs (income), impairment loss, fair value gain, income taxes, foreign exchange loss (gain), depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation, acquisition and related integration costs, severance expenses, adjustments to the carrying value of investment tax credits receivable, and other non-recurring items. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA is useful supplemental information as it provides an indication of the results generated by the Company’s main business activities before taking into consideration how those activities are financed and taxed and prior to taking into consideration depreciation of property and equipment and certain other items listed above. It is a key measure used by the Company’s management and board of directors to understand and evaluate the Company’s operating performance, to prepare annual budgets and to help develop operating plans.

These non-IFRS measures are used to provide investors with supplemental measures of our operating performance and thus highlight trends in our business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS measures. We believe that securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS measures in the evaluation of issuers, and that these non-IFRS measures are relevant to their analysis of the Company.

About illumin:

illumin is redefining how marketers plan, execute and measure digital advertising, bringing every stage of the campaign lifecycle into one strategic platform. Through an intuitive drag-and-drop Canvas, marketers can visually connect strategy, activation and outcomes, and extend live audiences from programmatic advertising into social channels. Combining AI-powered intelligence with transparent insights, illumin gives brands and agencies the clarity to make better decisions, optimize with confidence and prove business impact. With offices in North America, Europe, and South America, illumin supports brands and agencies across global markets. For more information, visit www.illumin.com.

See More. Achieve More.

https://www.illumin.com

Disclaimer with regard to forward looking statements

Certain statements included herein constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.

For further information, please contact:

Michael Amaro
Interim Chief Financial Officer
illumin Holdings Inc.
416-218-9888 (x5414)
investors@illumin.com

Please note that the following financial information is an extract from the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 (the “Financial Statements”) provided for readers’ convenience and should be viewed in conjunction with the Notes to the Financial Statements, which are an integral part of the statements. The full Financial Statements and MD&A for the period may be found by accessing SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.