Quorum Releases Fiscal Year 2015 Results

Quorum Information Technologies Inc. (“Quorum” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:QIS) today released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 results. Quorum delivers its dealership management system (DMS), XSELLERATOR™, and related services to General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Subaru, NAPA and Bumper to Bumper franchised dealership customers as well as some non-automotive dealerships throughout North America.

Maury Marks, Quorum’s President and CEO made the following remarks about the Company’s FY2015 operational and financial results:

Operational results highlights for FY2015 are as follows:

  • In January FY2016 Quorum completed the successful software conversion for Sunset Country Ford in Fort Frances, Ontario. This strategic client for Quorum represents an entry into a new market segment. Completion of this conversion required months of development and testing in FY2015, plus additional implementation resources to ensure a smooth conversion.
  • Quorum continues to enhance three important areas of our software and we track key dealership utilization metrics related to these areas in a Dealership Success Scorecard:
    • Communicator features text, email and instant message functionality that is integrated into the XSELLERATOR workflow. Aggregate data on Communicator’s recent usage is shown below.
    • Make More Money (“M3”) is an initiative which focuses on ten XSELLERATOR processes that drive incremental revenue into our dealership customers’ operations. Aggregate data from the Vehicle Inspection Process (“VIP”), which is just one of the ten M3 processes, is shown below.
    • Sales CRM – Quorum continues to make significant enhancements to sales Customer Relationship Management (CRM) features within XSELLERATOR. Additional usage statistics will be included to the Dealership Success Scorecard early in 2016.
Dealership Success Scorecard(1)
Communicator – Dealerships utilizing Communicator: 182
Messages in FY2015: 3,260,903
Year over year message growth: 270%
M3 (VIP only) – Dealerships utilizing VIP: 83
Total FY2015 incremental Customer Pay revenue: $51,115,825
Year over year revenue growth: 190%
Sales CRM – Dealerships trained: 30
Total # of dealerships that have moved away from 3rd party CRM systems: 9
  • Key customer metrics are as follows:
    • Customer Satisfaction Index (“CSI”) semi-annual survey in Q3 FY2015 showed an average of 82% of dealer principals as “satisfied” or “very satisfied” and an average of 85% of end users as “satisfied” or “very satisfied” overall. Our survey in Q1 FY2015 reported “satisfied” or “very satisfied” comparative numbers of 81% for dealer principals and 94% for end users. Our survey in Q1 FY2014 reported “satisfied” or “very satisfied” comparative numbers of 89% for dealer principals and 81% for end users. In all three surveys in the last two years almost all the remaining respondents reported as “somewhat satisfied”. Any dealer principals or end users that report as dissatisfied are immediately followed-up on by our support teams.
    • Our monthly Support Center CSI survey continues to report an average of approximately 95% “very satisfied” with the service received from our support team.
    • For our Support services, on average, we now close 73% of all support calls within 30 minutes (up from 60% in 2008, when we first started measuring this statistic) and 87% of all calls within 24 hours (up from 81% in 2008).
  • Employees – none of the Company’s accomplishments are possible without highly motivated, engaged people. Our sincere thanks to the people that drive Quorum. Every year we measure our staff engagement and we actively work towards improving our job satisfaction and engagement throughout the Company.

Financial Results highlights for FY2015 are as follows:

  • Revenue increased by 17% to $10,744K in FY2015 from $9,216K in FY2014. The increase in sales is due to:
    • An increase of $870K in recurring support revenue as a result of having more active dealership rooftops at the end of FY2015 compared to the end of FY2014;
    • An increase of $565K in support plus revenue, which is add on sales to existing customers due to an increase in training revenue;
    • An increase of $306K in new installation revenue, previously referred to as net new revenue, which was a result of completing more installations in FY2015 as compared to FY2014; and
    • A decrease of $203K in transitions revenue (server and operating system upgrades) from converting our customers to the new Microsoft Windows and SQL Server 2012 products.
  • Margin after direct costs increased to $5,571K in FY2015, from $5,018K in FY2014, an 11% increase. Margin increased 11% compared to a 17% increase in revenue due to:
    • Increased salaries and benefits from the addition of employees required to meet the Corporation’s future business plan.
    • Significantly higher third party costs due to:
      1. Increased new implementation revenue in FY2015. This revenue stream has a higher cost of goods sold and lower margin compared to recurring support revenue.
      2. An increase in the foreign exchange rate which resulted in higher hardware and software license costs. Many of the licenses required for transitions and new installations are purchased in US dollars and this has had a substantial impact on third party costs.
  • Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased to $1,716K in FY2015 from $1,476K in FY2014. Increased margin after direct costs was offset by:
    • Larger salaries and benefits expense due to increased staffing levels.
    • Increased sales and marketing costs due to a larger presence at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) trade show in order to capitalize on the momentum we have created in the market from our investments in new OEM integration, M3 and Communicator..
    • Lower general and administrative expense due to lower office rental cost because the Company signed a new lease for the Calgary office.
  • Income before deferred income tax expense increased to $594K for FY2015 compared to $502K in FY2014.
  • Comprehensive income increased to $710K in FY2015 compared with $309K in FY2014 largely due to a $168K lower deferred income tax expense and a $142K higher foreign exchange gain.
  • Working capital increased to $5,129K at December 31, 2015 compared to $1,923K at December 31, 2014, an increase of $3,206K largely due to an increase in cash of $3,291K. The increase in cash is due to:
    • The Corporation receiving $3,044K through the issuance of shares, net of share issue costs, from a non-brokered private placement to strategic investors and $25K from the exercise of stock options.
    • Cash Flow from operating activities of $1,713K that was offset by an investment in our software product and purchase of equipment of $1,437K. The $276K net operating cash flow was further increased by $33K in SR&ED receipts and offset by $87K of long-term debt repayment to reduce the long-term debt outstanding to $166K at December 31, 2015.

In February FY2016 Quorum was ranked on the 2016 TSX Venture 50© list. Quorum was listed as one of the top 10 companies in the technology sector based on the criteria of market capitalization growth, share price appreciation and trading volume.

This award really belongs to our employees, whose innovation and dedication allowed us to execute on our business plan and post record revenues. The award also belongs to our investors, board members and partners for their continued support and belief in our technology solutions and market vision.

Quorum has filed its 2015 consolidated financial statements and notes thereto as at and for the period ended December 31, 2014 and accompanying management’s discussion and analysis in accordance with National Instrument 51-102 – Continuous Disclosure Obligations adopted by the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Additional information about Quorum will be available on Quorum’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and Quorum’s website at www.QuorumDMS.com.

Financial Highlights
Year ended
December 31, 2015
Year ended
December 31, 2014
Year ended
December 31, 2013
Gross revenue $ 10,744,478 $ 9,215,768 $ 7,986,772
Direct costs 5,173,396 4,197,747 3,499,641
Margin after direct costs 5,571,082 5,018,021 4,487,131
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) 1,716,184 1,476,110 1,254,890
Income before deferred income tax 593,586 502,087 470,924
Net income 451,714 192,516 294,686
Comprehensive income 709,727 308,761 409,402
Basic net income per share $ 0.0107 $ 0.0046 $ 0.0075
Fully diluted net income per share $ 0.0107 $ 0.0046 $ 0.0075
Weighted average number of common shares
Basic 42,318,803 41,529,838 39,298,438
Diluted 42,318,803 41,818,297 39,298,438

About Quorum

Quorum is a North American company focused on developing, marketing, implementing and supporting its XSELLERATOR product for GM, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, KIA, Nissan, Subaru, NAPA and Bumper to Bumper dealerships. XSELLERATOR is a dealership and customer management software product that automates, integrates and streamlines every process across departments in a dealership. One of the select North American suppliers under General Motors’ DTAP program, Quorum is also one of largest DMS provider for GM’s Canadian dealerships with 25% of the market. Quorum is a Microsoft Partner in both Canada and the United States. Quorum Information Technologies Inc. is traded on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol QIS. For additional information please go to www.QuorumDMS.com.