Q2 2024 Highlights

• Revenue was $126.3 million, compared to $140.5 million in Q2 2023.
• Net income was $5.0 million, compared with net loss of $13.0 million in Q2 2023.
• Adjusted EBITDA1 was $25.2 million, compared to $26.0 million in the prior year period.
• Cash provided in operating activities was $35.0 million, compared to cash provided in operating activities of $63.1 million in Q2 2023.
• Free Cash Flow1 was $5.4 million, compared to $26.4 million in Q2 2023.

Toronto, Canada —  WildBrain  reported its second quarter  results for the period ended December 31, 2023.

Josh Scherba, WildBrain President and CEO, said: “We saw another quarter of strong growth in our business, outside of content production and television, reflecting the strength of our franchises, third-party partners and unique assets. Although the content production industry is slower to return to normalization than initially expected, we are encouraged by renewed activity we are now starting to see. More importantly, we’re confident that our strong, known franchises will have enduring appeal for partners and fans, as evidenced by the recent greenlight of a new Peanuts feature film for Apple TV+. We are executing against our strategic plan and leveraging our full platform across Content Creation, Global Licensing and Audience Engagement and remain committed to simplifying our business and focusing on these core capabilities, while also improving our balance sheet and driving shareholder value.”

Nick Gawne, WildBrain CFO, added: “As a result of the slower than anticipated normalization of the content production market and the subsequent impact on our studio business, we have adjusted our Fiscal Year 2024 outlook. We now expect revenue to be down approximately 8% to 12% year over year and expect Adjusted EBITDA to be down approximately 5% to 10% year over year. The adjustment in our outlook is driven by the ongoing reduction in production in our content studios, but we are confident in our content production outlook for Fiscal Year 2025 and 2026, with over 60% and 50% of our pipeline greenlit, respectively. This level of pipeline visibility reflects a return to normal operational levels of our studio and is a positive indicator for our business going forward. We continue to make progress on our key financial goals of addressing our 2024 convertible debentures and reducing our leverage, including through the potential sale of non-core assets.”

Q2 2024 Performance – Executing on Priorities

Q2 2024 Financial Highlights

In Q2 2024, revenue decreased 10% to $126.3 million, compared to $140.5 million in Q2 2023.

Content Creation and Audience Engagement revenue decreased 21% to $56.7 million in Q2 2024, compared to $72.1 million in Q2 2023. Revenue in the quarter was driven by strength in content distribution, offset by fewer productions in the studio reflecting slower activity in the broader content production industry as greenlights slowed.

Global Licensing revenue increased 6% to $60.9 million in Q2 2024, compared to $57.4 million in Q2 2023. Revenue in the quarter was driven by strength in our global licensing agency, WildBrain CPLG, and our owned brands as well as continued strength in Peanuts in the US market.

Legacy WildBrain Spark revenue in Q2 2024 was $14.8 million compared to $16.0 million in Q2 2023, and delivered a sequential improvement from Q1 2024. The YouTube network revenue in the quarter had strong year over year growth and profitability improved as a result of the efforts to refocus the network over the last eighteen months. Similar to the broader content industry, production at the digital studio was a headwind in the quarter. Kids continue to be highly engaged on our YouTube network, with over 56 billion minutes of videos watched in the quarter and the average duration of viewing continuing to improve.

Gross Margin1 for Q2 2024 was 47%, compared with gross margin of 44% in Q2 2023. Gross margins were higher with less animated and live action production revenue and an increase in content distribution and WildBrain CPLG revenue in the current period, compared to the prior-year period.

Cash provided by operating activities in Q2 2024 was $35.0 million, compared to $63.1 million provided by operating activities in Q2 2023. Free Cash Flow1 was $5.4 million in Q2 2024, compared with Free Cash Flow of $26.4 million in Q2 2023, reflecting the timing of trade receivables associated with larger deals in the prior year period.

Adjusted EBITDA1 was down 3% to $25.2 million in Q2 2024, compared with $26.0 million in Q2 2023. The decrease in the quarter was driven by lower revenue, primarily within Content Creation and Audience Engagement, offset by growth in Global Licensing. We continue to moderate our expenses while supporting growth initiatives.

Q2 2024 net income was $5.0 million compared to net loss of $13.0 million in Q2 2023. The increase was primarily driven by lower SG&A, lower shared-based compensation, lower change in fair value of embedded derivatives, offset by lower gross margin dollars and higher finance costs.