Wiley Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results

Wiley (NYSE: WLY and WLYB), one of the world’s largest publishers and a global leader in research and learning, today reported results for the third quarter ended January 31, 2024.

• GAAP Results: Revenue of $461 million (-6%), Operating loss of $46 million (+$21 million), and EPS loss of $2.08 (-$0.79). GAAP revenue decrease due to completed divestiture and declines in other held for sale businesses. GAAP results impacted by charges related to held for sale or sold assets, including goodwill and held for sale impairments of $82 million and $26 million, respectively, as well as a loss on a completed divestiture of $26 million. The Company also recorded restructuring charges of $15 million.
• Adjusted Results at Constant Currency (excluding Held for Sale or Sold segment results): Adjusted Revenue of $403 million (+1%), Adjusted EBITDA of $92 million (+1%), and Adjusted EPS of $0.59 (-27%).
• Full Year Outlook:
  • Adjusted Revenue trending toward mid-to-high end of $1,580 to $1,630 million range
  • Adjusted EBITDA raised to $335 to $355 million
  • Adjusted EPS raised to $2.45 to $2.65

MANAGEMENT COMMENTARY

“As we finish out the year, we’re increasingly confident in our underlying momentum and recovery in Research and continued outperformance in Learning,” said Matthew Kissner, Interim President and CEO. “We’ve moved decisively on our improvement and optimization plans and expect a strong fourth quarter as Research continues to recover, Learning continues to outperform, and in-year cost savings accelerate. Our disciplined execution and positive momentum are allowing us to raise our earnings guidance this year and set us up well for material performance and profit improvement in Fiscal 2025 and 2026.”

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

See accompanying financial tables for the third quarter and year-to-date 2024. For GAAP purposes, Wiley’s reporting structure consists of three segments: (1) Research, (2) Learning, and (3) Held for Sale or Sold.

Research

• Revenue of $256 million was up 1% as reported, or consistent with prior year at constant currency, due to modest growth in Research Publishing (+0.4% or +2% ex-Hindawi) driven by open access, offsetting a modest decline in Research Solutions.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $79 million was down 1% as reported and 2% at constant currency driven by higher editorial and marketing costs and the Hindawi profit impact, offsetting revenue performance. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 30.9%.

Learning

• Revenue of $146 million was up 2% as reported and at constant currency due to 5% growth in Academic (driven by digital courseware, digital content, and licensing) offsetting a 3% decline in Professional.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $51 million was up 16% as reported or 15% at constant currency due to revenue growth and restructuring savings. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 35.1%.

Businesses Held for Sale or Sold (HFS)

• Revenue of $58 million was down 38% on a reported basis or 39% at constant currency primarily due to the sale of University Services and declines in Wiley Edge. Adjusted EBITDA of $4 million was down 45% in the prior year due to revenue performance in held for sale assets and the completion of the sale of University Services.
• During the quarter, Wiley announced the sale of Wiley Edge and the close of University Services. For details related to the Edge announcement, please see 8K – Wiley Edge. For details related to the University Services close, please see 8K – University Services.

Corporate Expense Category

• Adjusted Corporate Expenses of $39 million on an Adjusted EBITDA basis was up 13% over prior year at constant currency, driven by a lower incentive compensation accrual in the prior year.

EPS

• GAAP EPS loss of $2.08 compared to a loss of $1.29 in the prior year period. The Company recorded impairment charges related to held for sale or sold assets, including goodwill impairment of $82 million and loss on the sale of a business and related impairment totaling $52 million. Also impacting GAAP EPS was a restructuring charge of $15 million.
• Adjusted EPS excluding businesses held for sale or sold of $0.59 was down 27% due to lower Adjusted Operating Income, higher tax expense, and higher interest expense.

Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, and Capital Allocation

• Net Debt-to-EBITDA Ratio (Trailing Twelve Months) at quarter end was 1.9 compared to 2.1 in the year-ago period.
• Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities (Year-to-Date) was $24 million compared to $54 million in the prior year period due to timing delays in closing journal subscription renewals, higher restructuring payments, and higher interest payments.
• Free Cash Flow less Product Development Spending (Year-to-Date) was a use of $45 million compared to a use of $22 million in the prior year period due to lower cash provided by operating activities, partially offset by lower Capex. Capex of $70 million was below prior year by $5 million. For the year, the Company expects Free Cash Flow of approximately $100 million. Note, Wiley does not provide an adjusted Free Cash Flow metric; results include held for sale or sold businesses.
• Returns to Shareholders (Year-to-Date): Wiley allocated $87 million toward dividends and share repurchases, moderately higher than prior year, with $29 million used to acquire 872,000 shares at an average cost per share of $33.24. This compares to 540,000 shares repurchased in the prior year period.

FISCAL YEAR 2024 OUTLOOK

Given leading indicators, outperformance in Learning augmented by an anticipated Q4 content rights deal for training AI models, and accelerated in-year cost savings, Wiley sees revenue trending toward the mid-to-high end of the range and is raising its Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS guidance.

*“Adjusted Revenue,” “Adjusted EBITDA,” and “Adjusted EPS” exclude businesses held for sale, including Wiley Edge (formerly Talent Development) and CrossKnowledge, as well as those sold: University, Services, Test Prep and Advancement Courses.

EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL

Scheduled for today, March 7 at 10:00 am (ET). Access webcast at Investor Relations at investors.wiley.com, or directly at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/269336383. U.S. callers, please dial (888) 210-3346 and enter the participant code 2521217#. International callers, please dial (646) 960-0253 and enter the participant code 2521217#.

ABOUT WILEY

Wiley (NYSE: WLY) is one of the world’s largest publishers and a global leader in research and learning. Dedicated to the creation and application of knowledge, Wiley serves the world’s researchers, learners, innovators, and leaders, helping them achieve their goals and solve the world's most important challenges. For more than two centuries, Wiley has been delivering on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. Visit us at Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Wiley provides non-GAAP financial measures and performance results such as “Adjusted EPS,” “Adjusted Operating Income,” “Adjusted EBITDA,” “Adjusted CTP,” “Adjusted Income before Taxes,” “Adjusted Income Tax Provision,” “Adjusted Effective Income Tax Rate,” “Free Cash Flow less Product Development Spending,” “organic revenue,” “Adjusted Revenue,” and results on a Constant Currency basis to assess underlying business performance and trends. Management believes non-GAAP financial measures, which exclude the impact of restructuring charges and credits and certain other items, and the impact of divestitures and acquisitions provide a useful comparable basis to analyze operating results and earnings. See the reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures and explanations of the uses of non-GAAP measures in the supplementary information. We have not provided our 2024 outlook for the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, as they are not available without unreasonable effort due to the high variability, complexity, and low visibility with respect to certain items, including restructuring charges and credits, gains and losses on foreign currency, and other gains and losses. These items are uncertain, depend on various factors, and could be material to our consolidated results computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company's operations, performance, and financial condition. Reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, as actual results may differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that are inherently subject to uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of the Company and are subject to change based on many important factors. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i) the level of investment in new technologies and products; (ii) subscriber renewal rates for the Company's journals; (iii) the financial stability and liquidity of journal subscription agents; (iv) the consolidation of book wholesalers and retail accounts; (v) the market position and financial stability of key online retailers; (vi) the seasonal nature of the Company's educational business and the impact of the used book market; (vii) worldwide economic and political conditions; (viii) the Company's ability to protect its copyrights and other intellectual property worldwide (ix) the ability of the Company to successfully integrate acquired operations and realize expected opportunities; (x) the ability to realize operating savings over time and in fiscal year 2024 in connection with our multiyear Global Restructuring Program and planned dispositions; (xi) the possibility that the divestitures will not be pursued, failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals or required financing or to satisfy any of the other conditions to planned dispositions; and (xii) other factors detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

CATEGORY: EARNINGS RELEASES

CATEGORY: CORPORATE NEWS

JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.

EXPLANATION OF USAGE OF NON-GAAP PERFORMANCE MEASURES

In this earnings release and supplemental information, management may present the following non-GAAP performance measures:

• Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adjusted EPS);
• Free Cash Flow less Product Development Spending;
• Adjusted Revenue;
• Adjusted Contribution to Profit and margin;
• Adjusted Operating Income and margin;
• Adjusted Income Before Taxes;
• Adjusted Income Tax Provision;
• Adjusted Effective Tax Rate;
• EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and margin;
• Organic revenue; and
• Results on a constant currency basis.

Management uses these non-GAAP performance measures as supplemental indicators of our operating performance and financial position as well as for internal reporting and forecasting purposes, when publicly providing our outlook, to evaluate our performance and calculate incentive compensation.

We present these non-GAAP performance measures in addition to US GAAP financial results because we believe that these non-GAAP performance measures provide useful information to certain investors and financial analysts for operational trends and comparisons over time. The use of these non-GAAP performance measures may also provide a consistent basis to evaluate operating profitability and performance trends by excluding items that we do not consider to be controllable activities for this purpose.

The performance metric used by our chief operating decision maker to evaluate performance of our reportable segments is Adjusted Contribution to Profit. We present both Adjusted Contribution to Profit and Adjusted EBITDA for each of our reportable segments as we believe Adjusted EBITDA provides additional useful information to certain investors and financial analysts for operational trends and comparisons over time. It removes the impact of depreciation and amortization expense, as well as presents a consistent basis to evaluate operating profitability and compare our financial performance to that of our peer companies and competitors.

For example:

• Adjusted EPS, Adjusted Revenue, Adjusted Contribution to Profit, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Income Before Taxes, Adjusted Income Tax Provision, Adjusted Effective Tax Rate, Adjusted EBITDA, and organic revenue (excluding acquisitions) provide a more comparable basis to analyze operating results and earnings and are measures commonly used by shareholders to measure our performance.
• Free Cash Flow less Product Development Spending helps assess our ability, over the long term, to create value for our shareholders as it represents cash available to repay debt, pay common stock dividends, and fund share repurchases and acquisitions.
• Results on a constant currency basis remove distortion from the effects of foreign currency movements to provide better comparability of our business trends from period to period. We measure our performance excluding the impact of foreign currency (or at constant currency), which means that we apply the same foreign currency exchange rates for the current and equivalent prior period.