Comscore’s fourth-quarter loss widened as it took a charge related to goodwill and as revenue declined.
The fourth-quarter loss was $32.7 million, or $6.69 a share, compared to a loss of $3.8 million or 80 cents a share, a year ago.
The results include a $34.1 million non-cash impairment charge related to goodwill and $4.3 million in dividends paid to convertible redeemable preferred stockholders, the company said.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose to $16.4 million from $12 million a year ago.
Revenue fell 3.2% to $95.1 million. The company said it had declines in Cross-Platform Solutions revenue from lower renewals of its national TV offering, partially offset by growth in its movies business. Revenues from Comscore’s Proximic unit and its Comscore Campaign Ratings product were up more than 50%.
For 2024, Comscore said it expected revenues to be between $375 million and $390 million and for adjusted EBITDA margins to be between 12% and 15%.
The company said it expected growth in Cross Platform Solutions revenue from its local TV offering and an increase in Digital Ad Solutions revenue from its Activation and CCR products.
“We anticipate that our national TV revenue will continue to be impacted by the linear ad spend pressure that major networks are experiencing, and that demand for custom digital products will continue to be unpredictable due to the macroeconomic environment,” the company said.
Comscore said it expects first-quarter revenue to be down, with revenue growth happening in the back half of the year.
"As we reflect on 2023, there is a lot to be proud of. While we fell short of our top line revenue goals for the year, we made substantial progress on changing the way we operate, which allowed us to achieve our adjusted EBITDA goals,” said CEO Jon Carpenter.
"As we begin 2024, I remain confident that we are moving the business in the right direction as we execute on our turnaround,“ Carpenter said. “We’re focused on providing the fast and accurate cross-platform data that helps our clients buy, sell and optimize media more effectively. Our double-digit growth in local TV, coupled with accelerated growth of our Comscore Campaign Ratings product and our Proximic offerings — a combined 34% over 2022 — are clear signs that the value we're able to offer to a rapidly changing advertising ecosystem is meeting a large and growing need.”
