ACI Worldwide, Inc. Reports Financial Results for the Quarter Ended September 30, 2023

Q3 2023 HIGHLIGHTS

• Total revenue grew 21%¹
• Total recurring revenue grew 10%¹
• Net income of $38 million grew 64%
• Total EBITDA grew 147% to $103 million¹
• Reiterating guidance for full-year 2023

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software, announced financial results today for the quarter ended September 30, 2023.

“We are pleased to report solid third quarter results,” said Thomas Warsop, President and CEO of ACI Worldwide. “Operational focus helped us exceed our overall financial targets. Our Bank segment continues to show encouraging trends, including 13% adjusted recurring revenue growth, and our Biller segment has materially accelerated as a result of new customer onboarding and our interchange improvement program. Further, we were able to sign some new contracts in our pipeline earlier than planned, which reduces risk in achieving our full-year expectations. Given our predictable renewal calendar, as well as newly signed customers scheduled for implementation, we are confident in reiterating guidance for this year, as well as for our revenue growth target of 7-9% in 2024.”

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

In Q3 2023, total revenue was $363 million, up 21% compared to the same period in 2022. Recurring revenue in Q3 grew 10% versus last year. Net income in the quarter was $38 million, up from $23 million last year. Total adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $103 million, up 147% from Q3 2022. Percentage change comparisons are adjusted for FX and the Corporate Online Banking divestiture¹.

• Bank segment total revenue increased 42%, while Bank segment recurring revenue, consisting of maintenance and SaaS revenue, grew 13% and Bank segment adjusted EBITDA doubled to $91 million versus Q3 2022, after adjusting for FX and the divestiture¹. As previously discussed, the timing of larger license renewal events is heavily weighted to the back half of 2023.
• Merchant segment revenue and Merchant segment adjusted EBITDA were flat versus Q3 2022, adjusted for FX.
• Biller segment revenue increased 11% and Biller segment adjusted EBITDA increased 48% versus Q3 2022, driven by new customer onboarding and progress with our interchange improvement program.

ACI ended the quarter with $140 million in cash on hand and a debt balance of $1 billion, which represents a net debt leverage ratio of 2.4x, down from 2.9x last quarter. The company did not repurchase any shares in the quarter and has $200 million available on the share repurchase authorization.

REITERATING 2023 GUIDANCE

For the full year of 2023, the company expects revenue growth to be in the mid-single digits on a constant currency and divestiture-adjusted basis, or in the range of $1.436 billion to $1.466 billion. The company expects adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $380 million to $395 million with net adjusted EBITDA margin expansion. This excludes one-time charges related to the move of the company’s European data centers to the public cloud and one-time costs to implement certain efficiency strategies.

CONFERENCE CALL TO DISCUSS FINANCIAL RESULTS

Today, management will host a conference call at 8:30 am ET to discuss these results. Interested persons may access a real-time audio broadcast of the teleconference at http://investor.aciworldwide.com/ or use the following number for dial-in participation: toll-free 1 (888) 660-6377; and conference code 3153574. A call replay will be available for two weeks on (855) 859-2056 for US/Canada callers and +1 (404) 537-3406 for international participants.

About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide is a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software. Our proven, secure and scalable software solutions enable leading corporations, fintechs, and financial disruptors to process and manage digital payments, power omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, and manage fraud and risk. We combine our global footprint with a local presence to drive the real-time digital transformation of payments and commerce.

© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2023.

ACI, ACI Worldwide, ACI Payments, Inc., ACI Pay, Speedpay and all ACI product/solution names are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both. Other parties' trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

To supplement our financial results presented on a GAAP basis, we use the non-GAAP measures indicated in the tables, which exclude significant transaction-related expenses, as well as other significant non-cash expenses such as depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation, that we believe are helpful in understanding our past financial performance and our future results. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to our GAAP results and are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. Management generally compensates for limitations in the use of non-GAAP financial measures by relying on comparable GAAP financial measures and providing investors with a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures only in addition to and in conjunction with results presented in accordance with GAAP.

We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures reflect an additional way to view aspects of our operations that, when viewed with our GAAP results, provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business. Certain non-GAAP measures include:

• Adjusted EBITDA: net income (loss) plus income tax expense (benefit), net interest income (expense), net other income (expense), depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation, as well as significant transaction-related expenses. Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, net income (loss).

• Net Adjusted EBITDA Margin: Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue net of pass-through interchange revenue. Net Adjusted EBITDA Margin should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, net income (loss).

• Diluted EPS adjusted for non-cash and significant transaction related items: diluted EPS plus tax effected significant transaction related items, amortization of acquired intangibles and software, and non-cash stock-based compensation. Diluted EPS adjusted for non-cash and significant transaction related items should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, diluted EPS.

• Recurring Revenue: revenue from software as a service and platform as a service fees and maintenance fees. Recurring revenue should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, total revenue.

• ARR: New annual recurring revenue expected to be generated from new accounts, new applications, and add-on sales bookings contracts signed in the period.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Generally, forward-looking statements do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and may include words or phrases such as “believes,” “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” and words and phrases of similar impact. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to: (i) our signing of some new contracts in our pipeline earlier than planned, which reduces risk in achieving our full year expectations, (ii) given our predictable renewal calendar, as well as newly signed customers scheduled for implementation, we are confident in reiterating guidance for this year, as well as for our revenue growth target of 7-9% in 2024, and (iii) our expectations for full year 2023 revenue and adjusted EBITDA financial guidance.

All of the foregoing forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by the risk factors discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors include, but are not limited to, increased competition, business interruptions or failure of our information technology and communication systems, security breaches or viruses, our ability to attract and retain senior management personnel and skilled technical employees, future acquisitions, strategic partnerships and investments, divestitures and other restructuring activities, implementation and success of our strategy, impact if we convert some or all on-premise licenses from fixed-term to subscription model, anti-takeover provisions, exposure to credit or operating risks arising from certain payment funding methods, customer reluctance to switch to a new vendor, our ability to adequately defend our intellectual property, litigation, consent orders and other compliance agreements, our offshore software development activities, risks from operating internationally, including fluctuations in currency exchange rates, events in eastern Europe, adverse changes in the global economy, compliance of our products with applicable legislation, governmental regulations and industry standards, the complexity of our products and services and the risk that they may contain hidden defects, complex regulations applicable to our payments business, our compliance with privacy and cybersecurity regulations, our involvement in investigations, lawsuits and other expense and time-consuming legal proceedings, exposure to unknown tax liabilities, changes in tax laws and regulations, consolidations and failures in the financial services industry, volatility in our stock price, demand for our products, failure to obtain renewals of customer contracts or to obtain such renewals on favorable terms, delay or cancellation of customer projects or inaccurate project completion estimates, impairment of our goodwill or intangible assets, the accuracy of management’s backlog estimates, the cyclical nature of our revenue and earnings and the accuracy of forecasts due to the concentration of revenue-generating activity during the final weeks of each quarter, restrictions and other financial covenants in our debt agreements, our existing levels of debt, events outside of our control including natural disasters, wars, and outbreaks of disease, and revenues or revenue mix. For a detailed discussion of these risk factors, parties that are relying on the forward-looking statements should review our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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