SurgePays Announces Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results

$5 Million Share Repurchase Authorized

BARTLETT, Tenn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SurgePays, Inc. (NASDAQ: SURG) ("SurgePays" or the "Company"), a technology and telecom company focused on the underbanked and underserved, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024.

Management Commentary

Chairman and CEO Brian Cox commented on the quarter's results, "The second quarter of 2024 begins a transition phase for SurgePays.  ACP funding has run out and there is no guarantee it will return.  Fortunately, in the first quarter we shored up our balance sheet and began implementing growth initiatives outside of the ACP program to continue to pursue our strategic goal of being one of the country's largest providers of prepaid wireless and underbanked financial technology services.

"Second quarter sales of $15.1 million were about as expected, but were well below the first quarter 2024 revenues of $31.4 million and the year ago second quarter 2023 revenues of $35.9 million due to the ending of the government's ACP funding in mid-May, which we knew was coming.  Both the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2023 had full ACP funding.

"Gross profits in the 2024 second quarter were a loss of ($3.4) million compared to a profit of $10.0 million in the year ago quarter as the original ACP funding ran out mid-quarter. Additionally, we made the strategic decision to have our balance sheet take on the funding to maintain continuity within our subscriber base for three main reasons: 

1. Congress could renew the ACP program at any time, and if we terminated service, we would have to go out and re-acquire customers from a standing start, which would cost tens of millions of dollars.
2. If Congress delayed or didn't fund the program, we had plan B to acquire a company with licenses to provide a similar wireless subsidy and offer our subscribers the option to remain on a free monthly plan subsidized by a sister program. This is in conjunction with incentivizing customers to switch to LinkUp Mobile, our non-subsidized prepaid wireless brand. 
3. We know how critical broadband service is in everybody's life, and we believe it was simply the right thing to do. 

"We are in a transition phase and are looking to get back to generating positive free cash flow by the end of this year through the following initiatives:

1. Continue to grow our ACP revenue stream should Congress begin funding it again.
2. Offer our ACP subscriber base a free monthly service plan utilizing the Lifeline program while enticing customers with a cost-saving LinkUp Mobile prepaid wireless plan.
3. Scaling up our third-party wholesale transactions for other prepaid wireless company payments at convenience stores. We believe this initiative is necessary because it is a relationship gateway product for LinkUp Mobile activations and subscriber growth.
4. Expand our offerings outside of wireless.  For instance, we recently launched our ClearLine customer engagement platform for convenience stores at last month's RetailNOW Conference in Las Vegas.
5. Expand product and service offerings to the same nationwide network of convenience stores we are building by exploring and executing prospective partnering or product distribution opportunities.
6. Identify unique market opportunities that represent potential positive short-term cash flow.

"As we said last quarter, we knew that the ACP funding could run out, and we are not waiting around for Congress to provide additional funding. Many initiatives are underway to expand SurgePays's footprint among the underbanked and underserved, who remain our key customers. We recognize that the expiration of ACP funding has adversely impacted our business and stock price. Therefore, we feel it's an opportune time to announce a corporate stock buyback so our long-term investors know our interests are aligned. Until December 31, 2024, we will implement a buyback of up to $5 million (the "Maximum Amount") of SurgePays common stock in the open market. Repurchases may be made from time to time at management's discretion. The program will end upon the earlier of 6 months after the commencement of the program or the date upon which the Maximum Amount has been purchased and can be discontinued at any time. No shares have been repurchased under the program to date. There can be no assurance as to the timing or number of shares of any repurchases."

Second Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call

SurgePays management will host a webcast at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT to discuss these results. The live webcast of the call can be accessed on the company's investor relations website at ir.surgepays.com, or by registering at the following link: Second Quarter Financial Results Call. 

Telephone access to the call will be available at 877-545-0320 (in the U.S.) or by dialing 973-528-0002 (outside the U.S.). Participant access code is 650138.

A telephone replay will be available approximately one hour following completion of the call until August 27, 2024. To access the replay, please dial 877-481-4010 (in the U.S.) or 919-882-2331 (outside the U.S.). Replay passcode is 51057.

Share Repurchase Authorization

As indicated above, SurgePays's board of directors has authorized the company to repurchase up to $5 million of common stock through the open market until December 31, 2024.

About SurgePays, Inc.

SurgePays, Inc. is a technology and telecom company focused on the underbanked and underserved communities. SurgePays' technology-layered platform empowers clerks at over 8,000 convenience stores to provide a suite of prepaid wireless and financial products to underbanked customers. SurgePays prepaid wireless companies provide services to over 250,000 low-income subscribers nationwide. The company ranks as the 345th fastest-growing tech company in North America according to the 2023 Deloitte Technology Fast 500. Please visit SurgePays.com for more information.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes express or implied statements that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. Forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance and may contain projections of our future results of operations or of our financial information or state other forward-looking information. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," "attempting," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements such as regarding our market potential along with the statements under the heading Management Commentary are reasonable, these statements relate to future events or our future operational or financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements including but not limited to, our plans to expand our prepaid wireless company and the stock buyback program,  our ability to retain our subscribers on a free monthly plan subsidized by a sister program, our ability to obtain a company that has the license to subsidize our subscribers through a sister program and our expanded service and offerings. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control, including, without limitation, whether the ACP is funded again, our ability to obtain a company that has the license to subsidize our subscribers through a sister program, statements about our future financial performance, including our revenue, cash flows, costs of revenue and operating expenses; our anticipated growth; and our predictions about our industry. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update, and expressly disclaim the obligation to update, any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

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SOURCE SurgePays