Think Research Corporation Announces Record Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2022 Results

Record Q4 2022 revenue of $21.6M and Adjusted EBITDA of $1.6M

Record full-year 2022 revenue of $78.6M and a full-year Adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.0M

Signed a minimum 5-year SaaS agreement subsequent to year-end, expected to generate a minimum $40M over the term

TORONTO, May 1, 2023 /CNW/ - Think Research Corporation (TSXV: THNK) ("Think" or the "Company"),  a company focused on transforming healthcare through digital health software solutions, is pleased to announce Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2022 results. The Company's Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) along with Audited Financial Statements for Q4 and FY2022 results are posted to SEDAR and are available for further details.

Sachin Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer of Think Research said "We are excited to report record fourth quarter and full-year results for 2022. The hard work and dedication of the Think team to integrate our recent acquisitions into an essential SaaS data and research platform has culminated in the record revenue performance that we reported for Q4 2022 and adjusted EBITDA of $1.6 million. And we are just getting started. Multi-year SaaS contracts signed subsequent to year-end, along with our strong pipeline, position Think for continued growth and improving profitability for the foreseeable future."

Think's Software and Data solutions are increasingly relied on by acute care and community care doctors, nurses and pharmacists to support their practices. Think solutions now reach more than 320,000 clinicians, an increase of 7% compared to 300,000 reported at the end of fiscal 2021.  As Think solutions become increasingly essential to clinicians, the opportunities to convert reach into users are expanding. In certain jurisdiction-wide deployments, Think's platform connects clinicians to the health-care networks that employ them, to patients for virtual care, and to each other for referrals.

Think currently licenses its solutions to approximately 14,200 facilities with over 3 million patients and residents annually receiving better care due to the essential data that Think produces, manages and delivers. Facilities under license increased by 9% compared to 13,000 in the previous year.

Business Outlook

Think's primary revenue streams of Software and Data Solutions and Clinical Research are built on recurring and re-occurring multi-year contracted commitments by government agencies and large enterprise clients such as global pharmaceutical companies. Accordingly, Think's management believes that the Company's financial performance should be sufficiently protected in the short-term against uncertain macroeconomic conditions.

Think's Software and Data Solutions are currently solving both challenging and urgent healthcare service conditions, such as long wait times for care, staff shortages, and limited access to both urgent and primary care.  As a result, the FY2023 revenue pipeline is robust, with significant revenue growth potential existing in the Canadian market and internationally.

The Company plans to grow revenue and improve margins by becoming an increasingly essential data solutions provider for healthcare practitioners globally, supporting them to deliver the best outcomes for patients. To fulfill this objective, the focus of operations is twofold:

• Execute licenses with new flagship enterprise and government customers for Think's core suite of data and software solutions, including its Learning Management System ("LMS") and Digital Front Door solutions.
  
  
• Add more users to current customer agreements by promoting further adoption and daily usage. Currently, more than 320,000 clinicians, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists can access Think's solutions. As more users are converted,  and more users increase usage, Think's solutions become more essential to health systems and customers.

In support of these strategies, the product and business development teams are focused on:

1. Strengthening the utility of Think's software and data solutions, through ongoing product development, platform integration, and content development.
2. Expanding Think's solutions footprint via new enterprise and government licenses in the countries where Think has market presence.

The Company has optimized operations to gain $11.3 million of annualized synergies, which management believes have permanently improved financial performance. As organic revenue expands, this cost optimization has positioned the company for positive Adjusted EBITDA and a path to positive cash flow. Management will continue to seek efficiencies in operations for the foreseeable future.

In support of Think's objective to gain more users while positioning the Data and Software solutions business to become an increasingly essential tool for healthcare practitioners, government agencies and large enterprises, management will continue to review high-value, potential opportunistic tuck-in acquisitions.

Notable Contracts and Events During FY2022

February 9, 2022: Selected by the Children and Youth Mental Health lead agency consortium to provide a mental health platform for improving access to services for children, youth and their families across Ontario. The contract has a minimum term of 3 years through which Think will realize a minimum of $2 million of revenue.

May 19, 2022: Executed a $4.1 million contract with Moderna to deploy education solutions to clinicians. Subsequent to the first announcement, the contract has expanded to approximately $12.6 million, which will continue to be recognized in FY2023, starting in Q1.

June 28, 2022: Contracted by a major U.S.-based pharmacy to deliver business intelligence and support solutions to more than 1,700 pharmacies servicing 5.5 million patients throughout the United States.

September 20, 2022: Announced that its clinical research organization, BioPharma Services, had signed multiple new contracts in the third quarter worth approximately $12.8 million, spanning several health disciplines.

Think completed three financings in 2022:

• May 10, 2022: Closed an initial advance of $10 million from Beedie Investments Ltd ("Beedie Capital") under a convertible term loan facility with a total principal amount of up to $25 million;
• November 21, 2022: Drew down an additional $3 million under the convertible term loan facility with Beedie Capital; and
• December 19, 2022: Raised $2.5 million through a non-brokered private placement of its common shares

Events Subsequent to December 31, 2022

• On March 7, 2023, Think announced a minimum 5-year SaaS and services agreement that is expected to total more than $40 million of revenue over its term. Through this agreement, Think will provide its Digital Front Door and LMS solutions to help the client address its urgent healthcare access and delivery challenges.
• On April 4, 2023 Think announced the extension of its existing credit agreement with the Bank of Nova Scotia for an additional year to September 10, 2024.

Consolidated Financial Highlights

• The Company achieved record revenue of $21.6 million and $78.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022 and FY2022 compared to $19.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2021 and $47.8M for FY2021. Revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2022 increased by 13% compared to the three months ended December 31, 2021 due primarily to organic growth.  Revenue for Q4 of FY2022 increased by $3.2 million or 18% compared to the prior quarter due to stronger performance in Think's Clinical Research and Software and Data Solutions business lines which was partially offset by a decline in Clinical Services revenue.
  
  
• Think's gross profit grew by $13.0 million to $37.4 million, or 53% year-over-year, reflecting revenue growth derived from a full year of operations of companies acquired in 2021 combined with continued organic growth. During the three months ended December 31, 2022, the Company generated gross profit of $10.2 million compared to $9.1 million for the same period in the prior year, an increase of 11%, reflecting higher revenue in Q4 FY2022. The Company's gross profit in Q4 of FY2022 was $10.2 million, a 17% increase over the prior quarter due primarily to higher revenue. 
  
  
• Adjusted EBITDA, a non-IFRS financial measure, increased to a  record $1.6 million and $(1.0) million for Q4 and FY2022 respectively, compared to $(0.2) million in Q4 of the previous year and $(6.6) million in FY2021.  Sequentially, Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 of FY2022 increased by $2.3 million compared to Adjusted EBITDA of ($0.7) million in Q3 2022. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 7% in Q4 of 2022 compared to (4%) in Q3 2022. This improvement in operating results was driven primarily by revenue growth in Think's Software and Data Solutions and Clinical Research business lines paired with cost and operational synergies realized during the period. See "Non-IFRS Financial Measures" below for further details.
  
  
• Net loss was $(5.6) million and $(25.7) million for Q4  and FY2022 respectively compared to $(7.6) million for Q4 2021 and $(29.0) million for FY2021. The decrease in net loss for Q4 of FY2022 is primarily due to an increase in revenue combined with reduced operating expenses due to realized operating synergies in FY2022. Net loss for Q4 of FY2022 decreased by $0.9 million compared to Q3 of FY2022 due to higher revenue and lower operating costs in Q4 of FY2022 being offset by an additional $1.6 million of acquisition, restructuring and other charges booked in Q4 of FY2022.

Revenue Performance Highlights by Line of Business:

• Software and Data Solutions Revenue grew by 22% and 18% compared to the fourth quarter of FY2021 and the third quarter of FY2022 respectively, reflecting overall growth in recurring and re-occurring revenue, partially offset by the variability of the timing of milestones associated with professional services revenue. ARR grew from $13.5 million on December 31, 2021 to $14.8 million on December 31, 2022 due to organic growth in Think's SaaS solutions.
  
  
• Clinical Research Operations revenue grew by 22% in Q4 of FY2022 compared to Q4 of FY2021 and by 27% compared to Q3 of FY2022. Revenue in the comparable periods was depressed due to the operational impacts of COVID-19, which were only fully resolved in late Q3 of FY2022.
  
  
• Clinical Services revenue declined by 24% in Q4 of FY2022 compared to the comparable period in FY2021 due to specific operational challenges that have since been addressed. Clinical services revenue in Q4 of FY2022 was 9% below the immediately preceding quarter due primarily to the seasonal impacts of fewer surgeries in December.

Consolidated Expense Details:

• In the fourth quarter of FY2022, operating expenses excluding depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation fell to $8.6 million or 40% of revenue compared to $9.3 million, or 49% of revenue for the same period of FY2021. The comparative figures for the third quarter of FY2022 were $9.4 million and 51% of revenue.
  
  
• Think continued to focus on reducing cash operating expenses through realized cost synergies, which had an annualized value of 11.3 million in FY2022, and which management believes will enable Think to realize significant expense leverage over larger revenue streams going forward.
  
  
• General and administration expenses increased to $27.0 million for FY2022 compared to $21.6 million for the previous year, an increase of 25% or $5.4 million. This increase was driven primarily by including a full year of expenses for the BioPharma acquisition in FY2022, higher vendor costs to support increased revenue, and lower government support associated with the COVID-19 pandemic that was unavailable in FY2022. General and administration expenses for Q4 2022 decreased by $0.6 million to $6.2 million compared to $6.8 million in Q4 FY2021 due primarily to lower stock-based compensation that was partially offset by higher levels of spending on other items such as information technology and insurance costs. Sequentially, general and administration expenses decreased by $0.2 million from $6.6 million in Q3 FY2022. This decrease was primarily attributable to lower stock-based compensation recognized in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter of FY2022.
  
  
• Research and development expenses for FY2022 decreased by $0.5 million to $6.8 million compared to $7.3 million in FY2021 driven by a reduction in personnel costs associated with Think's cost synergy plan during the year. Research and development expenses in Q4 FY2022 declined to $0.8 million compared to $1.7 million in Q4 FY2021 due primarily to recording annual government support programs in Q4 FY2022, when Think received approval for expenses that included prior periods. Sequentially, research and development expenses declined by 54% from $1.7 million in Q3 of FY2022 to $0.8 million in Q4, again due to the recording of government support programs in Q4 FY2022.
  
  
• Sales and marketing expenses for FY2022 decreased by 3% to 9.1 million compared to $9.4 million in FY2021, reflecting a reduction in personnel costs associated with Think's cost synergy plans that was partially offset by recording a full year of expense related to acquisitions during the previous year. Sales and marketing costs declined for Q4, 2022 by 27%, or $0.8 million, to $2.1 million compared to $2.9 million recorded in Q4 FY2021, due primarily to lower personnel costs in FY2022 from realized cost synergies during the first half of FY2022. Sales and marketing expenses of $2.1 million in Q4 of FY2022 were approximately equal to expenses of $2.3 million incurred in Q3 of FY2022 due to the continuation of activities to elevate the Think brand along with lead generation activities to support future sales.

Selected Financial Information

The tables above and below include non-IFRS financial measures and non-IFRS ratios. See the "Cautionary Note Regarding Non-IFRS Financial Measures" section of this press release for the relevant definition of each non-IFRS financial measure and non-IFRS ratio.

Conference Call Details:

CEO Sachin Aggarwal and CFO John Hayes with host a conference call to discuss the results, with a Q&A session to follow.

TIME: 8:30AM EST, Monday May 1^st, 2023

Conference Call Participant Details:
To join the conference call without operator assistance, you may register and enter your phone number HERE to receive an instant automated call back.
Participants can also dial direct to be entered to the call by an Operator: 
Toronto: 416-764-8659
North American Toll Free: 1-888-664-6392
Webinar URL: https://app.webinar.net/3Vv24ZxgO0d

About Think Research Corporation

Think Research Corporation is an industry leader in delivering knowledge-based digital health software solutions. The Company's focused mission is to organize the world's health knowledge so everyone gets the best care. Its evidence-based healthcare technology solutions support the clinical decision-making process and standardize care, to facilitate better health care outcomes. The Company gathers, develops, and delivers knowledge-based solutions globally to customers which typically includes enterprise clients, hospitals, health regions, healthcare professionals, and / or governments. The Company has gathered a significant amount of data by building its repository of knowledge through its network and group of companies, including acquired companies.

Think licenses its solutions to over 14,200 facilities for over 320,000 primary care, acute care, and long-term care doctors, nurses and pharmacists that rely on the content and data provided by Think to support their practices.  Over 3 million patients and residents annually receive better care due to the essential data that Think produces, manages and delivers.

In addition, the Company collects and manages pharmaceutical and clinical trial data via the BioPharma Services entity that Think acquired on September 10, 2021.  BioPharma Services is a leading provider of bioequivalence and Phase 1 clinical research services to pharmaceutical companies globally. Think's other services include a network of digital-first primary care clinics and medical clinics that provide elective surgery. Visit: www.thinkresearch.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

This press release makes reference to certain non-GAAP financial measures and non-GAAP ratios. These measures and ratios are not recognized measures under International Financial Reporting 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 and ratios are provided as additional information to complement those IFRS measures by providing further understanding of the Company's results of operations from management's perspective. Non-IFRS measures and ratios have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company's financial information reported under IFRS and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements for the periods indicated. The Company uses non-IFRS financial measures and ratios, including "EBITDA", "Adjusted EBITDA" and "Adjusted EBITDA Margin" to provide investors with supplemental measures of its operating performance and to eliminate items that have less bearing on operating performance or operating conditions and thus highlight trends in its core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS financial measures. Specifically, the Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin, when viewed with the Company's results under IFRS and the accompanying reconciliations, provides useful information about the Company's business by removing potential distortions that may arise from transactions that are not operational in nature. By eliminating potential differences in results of operations between periods caused by factors such as restructuring, impairment and other charges, the Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin can provide a useful additional basis for comparing the current performance of the underlying operations being evaluated. The Company's agreements with lenders include certain financial performance covenants which include EBITDA (as defined in the Company's credit agreement with its lenders) as a component of the covenant calculations and require the Company to maintain certain levels of EBITDA on a consolidated basis. The Company believes that securities analysts, investors and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS financial measures and ratios in the evaluation of issuers. The Company's management also uses non-IFRS financial measures and ratios in order to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period.

Non-GAAP financial measures and non-GAAP ratios used in this MD&A include:

"EBITDA" means net income (loss) before amortization and depreciation expenses, finance and interest costs, and provision for income taxes.

"Adjusted EBITDA" adjusts EBITDA for non-cash stock-based compensation expense, gains or losses arising from redemption of securities issued by the Company, asset impairment charges, gains or losses from disposals of property and equipment, foreign exchange gains or losses, impairment charges on property and equipment, business acquisition costs, and restructuring charges.

"Adjusted EBITDA Margin" means Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue of the Company for the applicable period.

A reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to IFRS net income (loss) is presented under "Select Information and Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures" in the Company's MD&A filed on SEDAR.

For more information: https://www.thinkresearch.com/ca/investors/

SOURCE Think Research Corporation

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