Appier records the first profitable quarter and delivers a record revenue of 4.2 billion yen
Highlights and achievements for the first quarter of 2022
Revenue grew by 53% year-over-year (YoY) to a historical high of 4.2 billion yen, growth rate reaching a three-year high
Gross profit significantly grew by 60% YoY with an improved gross margin of 50%
Operating profit turned positive since it entered the scaling phase of the business
EBITDA margin achieved 6.2% with a record high EBITDA profit of 262 million yen
Operating margin improved by 20 percentage points YoY and EBITDA margin improved by 10 percentage points YoY
Continuous substantial growth from the US market with YoY revenue increasing over 14X, QoQ revenue increasing over 180% and reaching to 9% of total revenue
Achieved 32% YoY growth in customer numbers with the lowest churn rate in the company history of 0.67%
Stellar growth momentum closed out Q1 FY22
Appier Group Inc (TSE: 4180), henceforth referred to as Appier, today announced its earnings results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2022. This quarter, Appier's continuously improved sales productivity, increased product synergy for a higher cross-sell rate and strong customer traction in the US helped its revenue grow by 53% YoY to a historical high of 4.2 billion yen. Operating profit turned positive, Appier’s first record of profitability since it entered the scaling phase of the business. Reflecting the acceleration of revenue growth, its Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) climbed 49% YoY to a record high of 15.8 billion yen, and gross profit growth rate has outpaced top-line growth and reached 60% YoY with an improved gross margin of 50%.
Appier's AI technology is a key factor in the strong business expansion as the market turns to AI solutions to address current data privacy concerns and trends. The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin rose 6.2% to 262 million yen, a record high EBITDA profit with a 10 percentage points YoY improvement, while operating margin improved by 20 percentage points YoY.
Appier is growing alongside its customers. A historical high uplift of the Net Revenue Retention (NRR) at 126.5% places Appier in a strong position entering 2022. The number of customers grew by 281 to 1,158 with 32% YoY growth, a record level of organic incremental increase of customers with the lowest churn rate of 0.67%. New customers were mainly from the e-commerce and consumer brands & BFSI industries (31% and 23% of total new customers, respectively), driven by post-COVID demand for digital transformation.
Customers in Northeast Asia continued to account for the largest share of global revenue at 63%, followed by Greater China (23%), US and EMEA (10%) and Southeast Asia (4%). The US market growth further accelerated to over 180% QoQ in FY22 Q1, marking an over 14X YoY revenue increase and accounting for 9% of total revenue. The trend towards prioritizing first-party data and a strong understanding of Appier’s core competencies in AI technology for such marketing purposes have generated strong customer traction and higher Average Revenue per Customer (ARPC) in the US.
Appier's strong product portfolios and cross-platform network effects led its top-line and bottom-line to surpass projections, demonstrating the company's substantial growth and outperforming track record. The company’s full-year forecast has been revised to reflect our outperformance this quarter. Revenue has been revised to 17.8 billion yen with 41% YoY growth rate. Gross profit has outpaced top-line growth to 9.2 billion yen with 48% YoY growth rate. Operating loss has been revised to 288 million yen with significant improvement compared to our initial forecast and getting closer to breaking even, and full-year positive EBITDA profit has been revised to 0.8 billion yen with a 1,799% YoY growth rate. Appier’s expansion in the US market, higher sales productivity and better product synergy are key drivers for this guidance revision in 2022.
“We are extremely proud of our achievements starting from Q1 2022, especially with the operating profit turning positive for the first time since Appier invested for growth. Our strong growth momentum enabled us to continuously improve our profit margin and eventually lead to a profitable quarter, underscoring how AI-powered marketing technologies and first-party data-centric solutions continue to lead the digital transformation with the industry tailwind. In the meantime, our international expansion strategy has allowed us to turn our initial investment into fruitful results,” said Dr. Chih-Han Yu, Appier’s CEO and co-founder. “Looking ahead, we will preserve a high-performance culture to maintain efficient sales productivity. Our customer-oriented mindset and focus on products’ key differentiators that move the needle will also accelerate our pace on product innovations and support Appier to stand out in the market,” he further elaborated.
Appier also announced its comprehensive collaboration with PXMart, the largest supermarket chain in Taiwan, with products including AIQUA, AIXON and BotBonnie. Leveraging its AI technologies to unify and enrich PX Mart's data assets across multiple platforms, including PX Mart (company website), PX Pay (mobile payment), PXGo! (online store) and POS (offline data) to deliver personalized customer experience and optimize its operational efficiency.
Comprehensive capabilities for long-term growth
Appier's AI-empowered engine combines algorithm processing capabilities, fundamental Auto-Machine Learning models, first-party data solutions and cross-product synergies, allowing us to uncover new customers and boost existing customer revenue expansion. As AI algorithms can learn and become more precise, higher usage drives better adherence to the model and enables a more personalized experience and more accurate predictions. First-party data solutions across web and apps and increasing product synergies also guarantee Appier’s ability to move fast to seize market opportunities and make swift progress on product iteration.
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