TORONTO, May 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VIQ Solutions Inc. (“VIQ” or the “Company”) (TSX Venture Exchange: VQS and OTC Markets: VQSLF), a global provider of secure, AI-driven, digital voice and video capture technology and services for law enforcement, legal, insurance, courts, and transcription service provider markets, today reported financial results for the 2019 first quarter, as well as the close of an oversubscribed capital financing round. Results are reported in US dollars and are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”).
“Our first quarter results set a new turning point after last year’s transformation,” said Sebastien Pare, VIQ President and CEO. “By March 31, the year end foundation began to reveal its accretive value, both operationally and financially, with much more to come throughout 2019 as the AI platform integration accelerates. First quarter operating performance exceeded our forecast with a favorable adjusted EBITDA.
Sebastien Pare, CEO of the Company further commented on the success of the Company’s capital raising efforts: “The Company’s US$6.5M capital financing (the “Financing”) for acquisitions which was announced in the fall of 2018 has now been completed and was oversubscribed as the Company has closed on subscriptions in the aggregate of US$6.9M.”
“The initial phase of the Financing was completed in November 2018 which resulted in the Company raising gross proceeds of approximately US$5M, the terms of which were disclosed in the Company’s press release dated November 28, 2018 (the “Press Release”). The second phase of the Financing was completed on May 7, 2019 and involved the issuance by the Company of approximately $1.9M of convertible notes with a maturity date of five years from the date of issuance as well as the issuance of 20,998,914 warrants that expire two years from the date of issuance.”
Conference Call Details
VIQ will hold a conference call to discuss Q1 2019 results and year end 2018 results on Thursday May 9 at 16:00 ET. The call will consist of a brief update by VIQ President and CEO Sebastien Paré and Alexie Edwards, VIQ’s new CFO, followed by a question period.
Key Q1 2019 Business Highlights include:
- $6.4M revenue, 112% increase year-over-year.
- 60% of revenue in the United States.
- Gross margin of $3.0M, 155% increase year-over-year, reflecting a larger business base from operating headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona.
- Margins are expected to continue to increase as the AI integration accelerates.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $323K, 421% increase year-over-year.
- Completed the second phase of acquisition financing. Oversubscribed and now closed.
- VIQ announced the first customer group migration into the new cloud NetScribeTM aiAssistTM platform.
- VIQ’s stock market liquidity volume, for the period January 1 to March 31, 2019, was 11.2M shares, up 54% over the same period in 2018. Record high liquidity on more than seven North American exchanges.
Financial Results for Q1 2019
The Consolidated Financial Statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the quarter will be posted on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. The financial information included in this news release is qualified in its entirety and should be read together with the consolidated financial statements for quarter ended March 31st 2019, including the notes thereto.
VIQ will hold a conference call to discuss the quarter and 2018 full year. The call will be held on Thursday May 9 at 16:00 ET. Participants may join the conference call by dialing 1-855-223-2840 within North America or 1-647-788-4945 outside of North America five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. The conference ID is 4464116 “VIQ Solutions Year End and Q1 2019 Overview Call”.
A telephone replay will be available for two business days beginning on May 10. To access the replay, please dial in 1- 855-859-2056 and follow the prompt with the passcode number 4464116.
For further information: Laura Serrano-Haggard, Chief Marketing Officer, VIQ Solutions, lserranohaggard@viqsolutions.com
About VIQ Solutions Inc.
VIQ Solutions is a global expert in video capture software and audio recording with voice-to-text capabilities. VIQ provides a cyber-secure AI technology and service platform to law enforcement, immigration, medical, legal, insurance, courts, and transcription service providers, enabling them to unlock the value of their enterprise digital media and streamline their document-creation workflow, using artificial intelligence tools for measurable business gains.
For more information about VIQ, please visit viqsolutions.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements or information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements or information typically contain statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", "project" or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking statements or information in this news release include, but are not limited to, management’s expectations regarding the acceleration of the AI platform integration and the corresponding increase in the Company’s margins.
Forward-looking statements or information is based on several factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such statements and information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although VIQ believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because VIQ can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In addition to other factors and assumptions which may be identified in this news release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the nature of the acceleration of the AI platform, and that sales and prospects may provide incremental value for shareholders. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions that have been used.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.