PaySign, Inc.
Q1 2021 Earnings Call Transcript

Published: 11 May 2021

[Operator:]

Hello, and welcome to the PaySign’s First Quarter 2021 Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. This presentation may include forward-looking statements to the extent that the information presented in this presentation discusses financial projections, information or expectations about the company's business plans, results of operations, the impact of COVID-19, returns on equity, expected gross margins, markets or otherwise make statements about future events. Such statements are forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as should, may, intends, anticipates, believes, estimates, projects, forecasts, expects, plans and proposals.

[Mark Newcomer:]

Thank you, Kevin. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us for PaySign's first quarter 2021 earnings call. I am Mark Newcomer, Chief Executive Officer and joining me this afternoon is Jeff Baker, our Chief Financial Officer. The first quarter is typically a seasonally weaker quarter for our business due to the timing of tax refunds and the impact they have on plasma donations. This weakness was intensified this quarter due to the added effects of the pandemic-related stimulus payments and unemployment benefit extensions. Our first quarter plasma funds loaded was down 2.5% from a year ago period and down 6.8% from the previous quarter. We believe that plasma donations will return to normal levels as these stimulus packages expire and consumers return to the plasma centers. In the quarter, we onboarded three new plasma centers, bringing our total number of centers to 343. Additionally, we signed four new plasma clients. They are all new entrants in the plasma collection space and each have aggressive growth plans with initial centers expected to go live in the second quarter. Our plasma pipeline remains strong and we remain optimistic in the future of the segment's growth as we are seeing an increase in new center builds from our existing plasma clients. We expect to add a total of 60 new plasma centers this year exiting 2021 with at least 400 centers. Our patient affordability offerings continue to grow. We are seeing very positive feedback from the market related to our product offerings and partnership strategy and that is reflected in our sales pipeline.

[Jeff Baker:]

Good afternoon. The revenue and operating performance in the first quarter were in line with our expectations given the seasonal weak period driven by tax rebates coupled with the impact of government stimulus measures related to COVID-19. Of our total revenues of $6.3 million, plasma revenue accounted for $5.4 million or 86%, pharma revenue was $883,000 and other revenue was $13,000. Our gross margin for the quarter was 45.1% reflecting a decrease in pharma revenues. We continue to hold SG&A expenses flat as an absolute dollar amount despite severance-related expenses and legal fees relating to our class action defense that negatively impacted the quarter by $450,000. Including these expenses, our adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter came in at a loss of $397,000 or a loss of $0.01 per fully diluted share.

[Operator:]

Thank you. Our first question today is coming from Jon Hickman from Ladenburg Thalmann. Your line is now live.

[Jon Hickman:]

Hey. Thanks for taking my call. Can you hear me?

[Mark Newcomer:]

We can.

[Jeff Baker:]

We hear you, Jon.

[Jon Hickman:]

Okay. I was wondering are you noticing any difference in different areas of the country based on COVID. Like are some areas mainly the Southeast or something doing -- is the plasma business doing better than say in California et cetera? Can you comment on that?

[Mark Newcomer:]

Well this is Mark. I would say Jon that I can't -- I haven't really seen anything that stood out to me that would show me there's a big difference on a regional basis. It seems to be kind of impacted across the boards.

[Jon Hickman:]

Okay. And then so your main competitor now they're owned by a different outfit is there anything you're seeing competitive wise it's difference in six months ago?

[Mark Newcomer:]

We're seeing additional opportunities for us to get our foot in the doors at additional companies. And outside of that there's not too much I can say about it. But we're also seeing new entrants in the space more so than we've seen in the past. And we're successfully engaging with those new entrants.

[Jon Hickman:]

Okay. That’s it for me. Thanks.

[Operator:]

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Michael Diana from Maxim Group. Your line is now live.

[Michael Diana:]

Okay. Thank you. Jeff, I just want to be clear on your plasma revenue guidance for 2022. Are you saying 2021, could be $27.5 million and then 2022 could be $37.5 million?

[Jeff Baker:]

Yeah, Michael that's exactly right. So if you look at what's happened you'll see first quarter this year, second quarter, and into most of the third quarter, we think it’s going to be impacts from COVID. When we come into the fourth quarter, the fourth quarter number you get should be a non-COVID impacted quarter. So, obviously, you'll build that in to say listen at least one right -- normal quarter like we had prior to COVID. And then you layer that in, so you'll have easier comps in the first quarter, second quarter and third quarter of 2022. And then fourth quarter you get your industry growth say for all the -- any of the centers, additional centers we had during the period.

[Michael Diana:]

Right. Okay, great. And your expenses for severance and the lawsuit you had in this quarter, did the lawsuit expenses continue?

[Jeff Baker:]

So that depends. When we've disclosed the lawsuits in our filings that are out there and we'll have to just play, see how that plays out. It's about all I can say about it, because it's an ongoing issue but -- yeah.

[Michael Diana:]

Okay, great. Thank you.

[Jeff Baker:]

All right Michael.

[Operator:]

We reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Mark for any further or closing comments.

[Mark Newcomer:]

Thank you very much Kevin. I'd like to reiterate that we are very pleased with our growing sales pipeline and the strides we've made in our patient affordability offerings. I would like to thank the PaySign team for their dedication and all their hard work. Thank you for your continued interest, your questions and your participation in this earnings call. Stay safe. Have a nice evening and we look forward to next quarter's call.

[Operator:]

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference and webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.