Viad Corp Reports 2023 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

• Pursuit delivered record results with 17% full year revenue growth and continued margin expansion
• GES substantially outperformed expectations with 7% full year revenue growth and healthy margins
• Strong growth and margin improvement expected again in 2024

Viad Corp (NYSE: VVI), a leading global provider of extraordinary experiences, including attractions, hospitality, exhibition management services, and experiential marketing, today reported results for the 2023 fourth quarter and full year.

Steve Moster, Viad’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We delivered strong fourth quarter and full year results, with consolidated revenue and adjusted EBITDA exceeding the high-end of our guidance. GES’ results significantly surpassed our expectations due to increased corporate client spending on high-margin experiential marketing services. Pursuit posted record revenue and benefited from increased demand for our inspiring and unforgettable attractions and hotels.”

Moster continued, “We are entering 2024 with great momentum as we see robust demand for our extraordinary experiences at both Pursuit and GES. We expect to deliver full year consolidated adjusted EBITDA year-over-year growth of approximately 16% to 30% in 2024 with strong free cash flow.”

Financial Highlights

In addition to the commentary below, further information regarding our financial results, trends, and outlook are available in a supplemental earnings presentation, which can be accessed on the “Investors” section of our website, and in the financial tables accompanying this press release.

Full Year Results

• Revenue of $1.2 billion increased $111.4 million (9.9%) from the 2022 full year.
  • Pursuit revenue of $350.3 million increased $51.0 million (17.0%) year-over-year, primarily driven by stronger international tourism to Western Canada and Iceland, as well as revenue management efforts to capture higher revenue per guest.
  • GES revenue of $888.4 million increased $60.4 million (7.3%) year-over-year, primarily due to improved demand for exhibition management and experiential marketing services, which more than offset a $74 million year-over-year revenue impact from the sale of a non-core audio visual services business in 2022 and the timing of major non-annual shows.
• Net income attributable to Viad of $16.0 million decreased $7.2 million from the 2022 full year primarily due to a $19.6 million gain on the sale of a non-core audio visual business in the prior year, as well as higher interest expense and income tax expense, partially offset by improved business performance.
  • Net income before other items* (adjusted net income) of $18.6 million increased $6.3 million (50.9%) primarily due to higher adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by increased interest expense and income tax expense.
• Consolidated adjusted EBITDA* of $147.0 million increased $30.9 million (26.6%) from the 2022 full year.
  • Pursuit adjusted EBITDA* of $92.6 million increased $24.7 million (36.3%) year-over-year primarily driven by higher revenue and improved margin.
  • GES adjusted EBITDA of $68.2 million increased $6.9 million (11.3%) year-over-year primarily driven by higher revenue and improved margin.

Fourth Quarter Results

• Revenue of $291.7 million increased $43.7 million (17.6%) from the 2022 fourth quarter.
  • Pursuit revenue of $42.2 million increased $8.1 million (23.6%) year-over-year primarily due to higher visitation and improved revenue per guest.
  • GES revenue of $249.5 million increased $35.6 million (16.6%) year-over-year primarily due to continued underlying growth and about $9 million of incremental revenue from non-annual shows, partially offset by the loss of $13 million in revenue from a non-core audio visual services business that was sold in 2022.
• Net loss attributable to Viad of $15.3 million increased $9.6 million from the 2022 fourth quarter primarily due to a $19.6 million gain on the sale of a non-core audio visual business in 2022 and higher income tax expense, partially offset by improved business performance.
  • Net loss before other items* (adjusted net loss) of $14.6 million improved by $10.9 million primarily due to higher adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by higher income tax expense.
• Consolidated adjusted EBITDA* of $14.5 million increased $16.5 million from the 2022 fourth quarter.
  • Pursuit negative adjusted EBITDA* of $8.3 million improved by $2.9 million year-over-year primarily driven by higher revenue during the seasonally slow quarter.
  • GES adjusted EBITDA of $26.6 million increased $13.9 million year-over-year primarily due to higher revenue and improved margin.

Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Highlights

• Our cash flow from operations was an outflow of $9.8 million for the fourth quarter and an inflow of $106.7 million for the full year.
• Our capital expenditures for the fourth quarter totaled $23.6 million, comprising $20.3 million for Pursuit and $3.2 million for GES. For the full year, our capital expenditures totaled $78.3 million, comprising $64.6 million for Pursuit (inclusive of about $39 million for growth projects) and $13.6 million for GES.
• Our debt principal payments (net) totaled $17.1 million for the fourth quarter and $22.3 million for the full year. We paid cash dividends on our convertible preferred equity of approximately $2.0 million for the fourth quarter and $7.8 million for the full year.
• Our total liquidity was $160.7 million, comprising cash and cash equivalents of $52.7 million and $108.0 million of capacity available on our revolving credit facility ($170 million total facility size, less $57 million outstanding balance and $5 million in letters of credit) at the end of the year.
• Our debt was $462.1 million, and our net leverage ratio was 2.6 at the end of the year.

2024 Outlook

Our guidance for Viad consolidated, Pursuit, and GES is as follows:

Conference Call Details

Management will host a conference call to review fourth quarter and full year 2023 results on Thursday, February 8, 2024, at 5 p.m. (Eastern Time).

The conference call can be accessed with operator assistance by calling (404) 975-4839 or (833) 470-1428 and entering the access code 092660.

To avoid wait time and bypass speaking with an operator to join the call, participants can pre-register using the following registration link: https://www.netroadshow.com/events/login?show=0de1640f&confId=59653. After registering, a calendar invitation will be sent that includes dial-in information as well as unique codes for entry into the live call. We recommend that you register in advance to ensure access for the full call.

A live audio webcast of the call will also be available in listen-only mode through the "Investors" section of our website. A replay of the webcast will be available on our website shortly after the call and, for a limited time, by calling (929) 458-6194 or (866) 813-9403 and entering the access code 706058.

Additionally, we posted a supplemental earnings presentation, containing our financial results, trends and outlook, on the “Investors” section of our website prior to the conference call. We will refer to this presentation during the call.

About Viad

Viad (NYSE: VVI), is a leading global provider of extraordinary experiences, including attractions, hospitality, exhibition management services, and experiential marketing through two businesses: Pursuit and GES. Our business strategy focuses on delivering extraordinary experiences for our teams, clients and guests, and significant and sustainable growth and above-market returns for our shareholders. Viad is an S&P SmallCap 600 company.

Pursuit is a global attractions and hospitality company that owns and operates a collection of inspiring and unforgettable experiences in iconic destinations. Pursuit’s elevated hospitality experiences enable visitors to discover and connect with world-class attractions, distinctive lodges, and engaging tours in stunning national parks and renowned global travel locations, in addition to experiencing our collection of Flyover Attractions in the vibrant cities of Vancouver, Reykjavik, Las Vegas, and Chicago (opening March 2024).

GES is a global exhibition management and experiential marketing company offering a comprehensive range of services to the world’s leading event organizers and brands through two reportable segments, GES Exhibitions and Spiro. GES Exhibitions is a global exhibition and trade show management business that partners with leading exhibition and conference organizers as a full-service provider of strategic and logistics solutions to manage the complexity of their shows with teams throughout North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Spiro is a global experiential marketing agency that partners with leading brands around the world to manage and elevate their experiential marketing activities, bonding brand and customer.

For more information, visit www.viad.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements. Words, and variations of words, such as “will,” “may,” “expect,” “would,” “could,” “might,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “deliver,” “seek,” “aim,” “potential,” “target,” “outlook,” and similar expressions are intended to identify our forward-looking statements. Similarly, statements that describe our business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions, or goals also are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts and are subject to a host of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following:

• general economic uncertainty in key global markets and a worsening of global economic conditions;
• travel industry disruptions;
• the impact of our overall level of indebtedness, as well as our financial covenants, on our operational and financial flexibility;
• identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting;
• seasonality of our businesses;
• the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our financial condition, liquidity, and cash flow;
• our ability to anticipate and adjust for new and emerging challenges presented by the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic on our businesses;
• unanticipated delays and cost overruns of our capital projects, and our ability to achieve established financial and strategic goals for such projects;
• our exposure to labor shortages, turnover, and labor cost increases;
• the importance of key members of our account teams to our business relationships;
• our ability to manage our business and continue our growth if we lose any of our key personnel;
• the competitive nature of the industries in which we operate;
• our dependence on large exhibition event clients;
• adverse effects of show rotation on our periodic results and operating margins;
• transportation disruptions and increases in transportation costs;
• natural disasters, weather conditions, accidents, and other catastrophic events;
• our exposure to labor cost increases and work stoppages related to unionized employees;
• our multi-employer pension plan funding obligations;
• our ability to successfully integrate and achieve established financial and strategic goals from acquisitions;
• our exposure to cybersecurity attacks and threats;
• our exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations;
• liabilities relating to prior and discontinued operations; and
• compliance with laws governing the storage, collection, handling, and transfer of personal data and our exposure to legal claims and fines for data breaches or improper handling of such data.

For a more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may affect our business or financial results, please see Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. We disclaim and do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement in this press release except as required by applicable law or regulation.

Forward-Looking Non-GAAP Measures

The company has not quantitatively reconciled its guidance for adjusted EBITDA to its respective most comparable GAAP financial measure because certain reconciling items that impact this metric, including provision for income taxes, interest expense, restructuring or impairment charges, acquisition-related costs, and attraction start-up costs have not occurred, are out of the company’s control, or cannot be reasonably predicted. Accordingly, reconciliations to the nearest GAAP financial measure are not available without unreasonable effort. Please note that the unavailable reconciling items could significantly impact the company’s results as reported under GAAP.