WINNIPEG, MB – May 12, 2022 – Farmers Edge Inc. (“Farmers Edge” or the “Company”) (TSX: FDGE), a pure-play digital agriculture company reported its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2022. All amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars. See “Key Performance Indicators and Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures” below.
Business Highlights
- New Digital Agronomy acres added for the three months ended March 31, 2022 were 1.6 million, including 0.9 million new Progressive Grower Program (“PGP”) acres. An additional 0.3 million new acres were signed in April 2022.
- 0.5 million new carbon acres were signed in North America.
- Conversions of acres from the PGP 21 program with an effective date of April 1, 2022 were 63%.
- Subscribed acres were 17.3 million which was lower than year end primarily due to 2.3 million discontinued low value acres in Brazil and the complete closure of operations in the Ukraine and Russia.
- ARR of $59.5 was slightly lower than December 31, 2021 and up $7.3 million (15%) from March 31, 2021.
“The demand for our higher value fertility products and Smart carbon program remained strong,” said Wade Barnes, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Farmers Edge. “We are encouraged by PGP 2021 conversions and continue working on refining our business model, expanding the channel partner network, pre-qualifying customers enrolling in the new PGP programs, and reducing costs while improving operational efficiency and effectiveness.”
OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
(1) Revenues included $1.5 million subsidies revenue related to commercial partner agreements for the three months ended March 31, 2021. There was no similar item in Q1 2022.
(2) Operating Expenses include Cost of revenue, Data and technology infrastructure expenses, Selling and marketing expenses, Product research and development expenses, and General and administrative expenses including restructuring expenses and non-recurring legal fees as set out on the Company’s Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss in its Financial Statements.
(3) Non-recurring items include restructuring expenses of $1.0 million and legal fees of $0.8 million in Q1 2022 and $0.5 million in Q1 2021 related to costs incurred to become a public company.
(4) Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow are non-GAAP financial measures. See “Key Performance Indicators and Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures” for more information on each non-GAAP financial measure. A quantitative reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net loss and Free Cash Flow, the most directly comparable IFRS financial measures are disclosed in our financial statements to which Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow relates, is included.
(5) Dilutive securities have been excluded from the calculation of diluted loss per share because including them would be anti-dilutive. The loss per share – basic and diluted for the periods ended March 31, 2021 and 2022 have been retrospectively adjusted to reflect the consolidation of common shares on a 7:1 basis, which occurred at the time of the IPO.
(6) Digital Agronomy Acres, Other Acres, Total Subscribed Acres and ARR are supplementary financial measures. See “Key Performance Indicators and Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures” for more information on each supplementary financial measure. These numbers are unaudited.
- Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2022 (after adjusting for partner subsidies) were up $0.2 million, a reflection of additional crop input e-commerce sales, offset mainly by expected lower fertility revenue in Q1 2022 of $1.0 million due to a higher soil test completion rate in Q4 2021 and the impact of lost acres in 2021.
- The Adjusted EBITDA loss for the first quarter of 2022 was $17.8 million (2021 – $8.1 million), which reflects lower revenue and higher expenses primarily related to higher people costs, added CommoditAg operating expenses, and other public company costs.
- Adjusted Free Cash Flow deficiency was $16.3 million (2021 – deficiency of $16.1 million) in the first quarter of 2022, which reflected lower Adjusted EBITDA and higher capital expenditures to avoid potential supply chain disruption, which was largely offset by improved working capital performance.
- The Net loss was $22.2 million (2021 -$17.3 million loss). Management has identified approximately $8.0 million of annual cost savings opportunities.
- The company has entered into a credit agreement (the “Agreement”) with Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Fairfax”) in respect of the previously-announced $75 million secured credit facility (the “Facility”). The Company has received the conditional acceptance of the Facility from the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) under section 501(c) of the TSX Company Manual.
Conference Call Notice
Farmers Edge will hold a live audio webcast at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday May 16, 2022 to discuss the Company’s financial results and business highlights. All interested parties are invited to listen to the live audio webcast at https://www.gowebcasting.com/11811. Following the event, a replay of the webcast will be available on the Farmers Edge Investor Relations website.
Key Performance Indicators & Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures
This press release makes reference to certain non-GAAP and other financial measures and key performance indicators (“KPIs”). These measures are not recognized measures under IFRS and 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 make reference to the following non-GAAP measures: “Adjusted EBITDA” and “Free Cash Flow”. This press release also makes reference to “Annual Recurring Revenue” or “ARR” and “Digital Agronomy Acres”, “Other Acres” and “Subscribed Acres”, which are operating metrics used in our industry. These non-GAAP measures and KPIs are used to provide investors with supplemental measures of our operating performance and thus highlight trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS measures. We also believe that securities analysts, investors and other interested parties frequently use non-GAAP measures in the evaluation of issuers. Our management also uses non-GAAP measures and KPIs in order to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, to prepare annual operating budgets and forecasts and to determine components of management compensation.
Adjusted EBITDA is the net loss before income tax expense, other income, finance costs, foreign exchange (gain) loss, depreciation and amortization after adjusting for the effects of any unusual non-recurring items. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and its more directly comparable financial measure that is disclosed in our financial statements is net loss. The Company’s management and Board use this measure to evaluate consolidated operating results. In addition, this measure is used to make operating decisions as it is an indicator of the performance of the business and how much cash is being used by the Company and assists in determining resource allocation decisions. This measure may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. See reconciliation under “Results from Operations”.
Free Cash Flow is net loss, adjusted for other income excluding government subsidies and financial assistance, finance costs, foreign exchange (gain) loss, depreciation and amortization as set out in the Company’s consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss in the financial statements, stock-based compensation, net additions to property and equipment and intangible assets, repayment of right‑of‑use obligations, and any unusual non‑recurring items. Free Cash Flow is a non-GAAP financial measure and its more directly comparable financial measure that is disclosed in our financial statements is net loss during the period. The Company’s management and Board use this measure to assess the availability of the Company’s cash. See reconciliation in “Results of Operations”.
Adjusted Free Cash Flow is net loss, adjusted for other income excluding government subsidies and financial assistance, finance costs, foreign exchange (gain) loss, depreciation and amortization as set out in the Company’s consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss in the financial statements, stock-based compensation, net additions to property and equipment and intangible assets, repayment of right‑of‑use obligations, any unusual non‑recurring items and changes in non-cash working capital. Free Cash Flow is a non-GAAP financial measure and its more directly comparable financial measure that is disclosed in our financial statements is net loss during the period. The Company’s management and Board use this measure to assess the availability of the Company’s cash. See reconciliation in “Results of Operations”.
Adjusted Free Cash Flow is useful as a performance measure to analyze the cash used in operations before the seasonal impact of changes in working capital items or other unusual items.
Adjusted EBITDA and Net Loss
(1) This table provides a quantitative reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net loss, the most directly comparable IFRS financial measure disclosed in our financial statements to which Adjusted EBITDA relates.
(2) Non-recurring items include restructuring expenses of $1.0 million and legal fees of $0.8 million in Q1 2022 and $0.5 million in Q1 2021 related to costs incurred to become a public company.
Free Cash Flow
(1) Non-recurring items include restructuring expenses of $1.0 million and legal fees of $0.8 million in Q1 2022 and $0.5 million in Q1 2021 related to costs incurred to become a public company.
(2) This table provides a quantitative reconciliation of Adjusted Free Cash Flow to net loss during the period, the most directly comparable IFRS financial measure disclosed in our financial statements to which Adjusted Free Cash Flow relates.
About Farmers Edge
Farmers Edge is leading the next agricultural revolution with the industry’s broadest portfolio of proprietary technological innovations, spanning hardware, software, and services. Powered by a unique combination of connected field sensors, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and agronomic expertise, the Company’s digital platform turns data into actions and intelligent insights, delivering value to all stakeholders of the agricultural ecosystem. Farmers Edge disruptive technologies accelerate digital transformation on the farm and beyond, protecting our global resources and ensuring sustainable food production for a rapidly growing population.
For more information, please visit www.farmersedge.ca and SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
Forward-Looking Information
This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such information includes, but is not limited to, statements related to the Company’s anticipated results and future cost savings and its future business prospects, partnerships and opportunities, including the planned further expansion into the carbon credit market, and the anticipated benefits therefrom. Words such as “expect,”, “anticipate”, “intend,”, “may,”, “will”, “estimate” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking information. This information is based on the Company’s reasonable assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it and the statements are made as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed under “Forward-Looking Information” and “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent Annual Information Form and under the “Risk Factors” section in the Company’s management discussion and analysis filed today, May 12, 2022, each of which are available on the Company’s website (www.farmersedge.ca/investor-relations/) and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The Company cautions that the list of risk factors and uncertainties is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect the Company’s results. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions associated with these statements carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.
For further information:
Farmers Edge Investor Relations:
InvestorRelations@FarmersEdge.ca
(204) 992-7019
Farmers Edge Media Relations:
Richard Berman
Richard@VerbFactory.com
(647) 294-8372