Startek Reports Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Startek, Inc. (NYSE:SRT, Financial) ("Startek" or the "Company"), a global customer experience (CX) solutions provider, is reporting financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023. As a result of current and planned divestitures, the Company has classified Middle East and Argentina operations as 'Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations'. Accordingly net revenue, gross profit, gross margin, SG&A expenses and adjusted EBITDA are reported for the continuing operations and net income, EPS, adjusted net income/(loss) and adjusted EPS are reported after consolidating continuing and discontinued operations.

Second Quarter 2023 Financial Summary ($ in millions, excl. margin items)

[1] Reflects net income (loss) and EPS attributable to Startek shareholders.
[2] Reflects Adjusted net income and adjusted EPS attributable to Startek shareholders.
[3] Refer to the reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP financial measures.

Management Commentary

"The second quarter marked continued progress as we ramped up new client wins from the start of the year, while continuing to expand our margin profile and significantly de-lever our balance sheet,” said Bharat Rao, Global CEO of Startek. “While volatility within the broader economic environment has impacted decision-making and elongated sales cycles, our near-shore and offshore capabilities proved to be an attractive and cost-effective offering, particularly in the U.S. where we saw continued expansion. We also unveiled our new visual identity to mark the start of our next chapter as a unified brand across the globe. This is a culmination of all the tireless efforts our organization has made to strategically position the Company for the future, and we’ve been very pleased with the initial response to our new branding.

“As we move into the back-half of the year, we remain highly focused on capturing cost efficiencies from the consolidation efforts we’ve made across our digital and sales teams. Despite the difficult macro conditions, our sales team remains hard at work expanding our pipeline and developing relationships that we can capitalize on over the long-term. Our near-shore and offshore offerings have the ability to provide significant cost savings for our clients, so we’ve been making a strong marketing push to ensure Startek is under consideration when companies are evaluating their customer experience needs. We are also continuing to invest in our technology and are actively pursuing partnerships that can bolster our service offerings and better leverage cutting edge technology like artificial intelligence and automation.

“Overall, I’m very pleased with the position Startek is in today. Our mission is to offer a best-in-class customer experience to our clients. We remain committed to keeping this idea at the forefront of everything we do and ensuring we remain relevant with our technology offerings. With much of the noise from our strategic events now behind us, we look forward to directing our core focus on expanding our reach, growing our client count and delivering profitable growth to our shareholders.”

Second Quarter 2023 Financial Summary

Net Revenue in the second quarter was $91.20 million compared to $96.15 million in the year-ago quarter. The decrease was primarily due to volume declines across most of the Company’s international footprint, partially offset by an increase in the Americas region with the addition of new clients and increased momentum with existing clients. On a constant currency basis, Revenue decreased 1.35% compared to the year-ago quarter.

Gross profit in the second quarter increased by 5.71% to $11.66 million compared to $11.03 million in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin improved 132 basis points to 12.79% compared to 11.47% in the year-ago quarter. The improvement in gross profit and gross margin is primarily attributable to lower employee costs resulting from a higher portion of service delivered near-shore and offshore, along with proactive pricing adjustments to account for the inflationary environment.

Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses in the second quarter increased to $10.80 million compared to $9.85 million in the year-ago quarter. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A increased to 11.84% compared to 10.24% in the year-ago quarter. The increase is primarily due to the aforementioned lower revenue base, along with investments in sales and marketing and an increase in travel costs.

Adjusted EBITDA* in the second quarter was $7.65 million compared to $7.85 million in the year-ago quarter. The decrease is primarily attributable to the aforementioned decline in net revenue, as well as currency exchange losses during the period.

Net income (loss) attributable to Startek shareholders in the second quarter was $6.54 million or $0.16 per share, compared to a net income of $1.87 million or $0.05 per share in the year-ago quarter. This represents income (loss) attributable to Startek shareholders from continuing operations of $(0.03) million in Q2 2023 and $2.45 million in Q2 2022, along with income (loss) attributable to Startek shareholders from discontinued operations of $6.57 million in Q2 2023 and $(0.58) million in Q2 2022.

Adjusted net income* in the second quarter was $1.46 million or $0.04 per diluted share, compared to an adjusted net income* of $6.33 million or $0.15 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter. This represents adjusted net income (loss) from continuing operations of $1.46 million in Q2 2023 and $6.24 million in Q2 2022, along with adjusted net income (loss) from discontinued operations of $0 million in Q2 2023 and $0.09 million in Q2 2022.

On June 30, 2023, cash and restricted cash was $39.06 million[1] compared to $72.40 million as at December 31, 2022. The decrease in cash balance was driven by the utilization of $41 million in proceeds received from the Company’s divesture in CSS, to prepay debt. Total debt as at June 30, 2023, was $78.50 million compared to $175.91 million as at December 31, 2022, and net debt as at June 30, 2023, was $39.44 million[2] compared to $103.51 million as at December 31, 2022.

On April 24, 2023, the Board of Directors approved an authorization to repurchase up to $20 million of the Company’s common stock from time to time in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission. During the three months ended June 30, 2023, the Company repurchased 51,979 shares at an average cost of $2.98 per share.

*A non-GAAP measure defined below.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

Startek management will host the call, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Date: Thursday, August 10, 2023
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Toll-free dial-in number: 1-888-999-3182
International dial-in number: 1-848-280-6330
Conference ID: 11152939

Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact Gateway Group, Inc. at 1-949-574-3860.

The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay here, as well as in the investor relations section of the company’s website at www.startek.com. A telephonic replay of the conference call will also be available after 8 p.m. ET on the same day through August 17, 2023.

Toll-free replay number: 1-844-512-2921
International replay number: 1-412-317-6671
Replay ID: 11152939

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[1] Cash balance excluding restricted cash as at June 30, 2023 amounted to $34.91 million as compared to $15.8 million on March 31, 2023.

[2] Net debt excluding restricted cash balance at June 30, 2023 was $43.59 million compared to $114.90 million on March 31, 2023.

About Startek

Startek is a leading global provider of technology-enabled customer experience (CX) solutions. The Company provides omnichannel CX, digital transformation, and technology services to some of the world’s leading brands. Startek is committed to impacting clients’ business outcomes by focusing on enhancing CX and digital enablement across all touch points and channels. Startek has more than 32,000 employees delivering services in 11 countries. The Company services over 145 clients across a range of industries such as banking and financial services, insurance, technology, telecoms, healthcare, travel and hospitality, consumer goods, retail and energy and utilities. To learn more, visit www.startek.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The matters regarding the future discussed in this news release include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are intended to be identified in this document by the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “objective,” “outlook,” “plan,” “project,” “possible,” “potential,” “should” and similar expressions. As described below, such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause Startek's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any such forward-looking statements. Readers are encouraged to review risk factors and all other disclosures appearing in the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 28, 2023, as well as other filings with the SEC, for further information on risks and uncertainties that could affect Startek's business, financial condition and results of operation. Copies of these filings are available from the SEC, the Company’s website or the Company’s investor relations department. Startek assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date herein.