CRTO Criteo SA

Michael Komasinski Appointed as Chief Executive Officer
Deployed Record $225 Million to Repurchase Shares in 2024
Remaining Share Buyback Authorization Increased up to $200 Million
Targeting Mid-Single-Digit Growth in 2025

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ: CRTO) ("Criteo" or the "Company"), the commerce media company, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Highlights:

The following table summarizes our consolidated financial results for the three months and twelve months ended December 31, 2024:

"I'm incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished. This year, we solidified our position as a global leader in Commerce Media and delivered our strongest financial performance to date, marking our third consecutive year of double-digit growth," said Megan Clarken, Chief Executive Officer of Criteo. "As I pass the baton to Michael Komasinski to lead Criteo into its next chapter of AI-driven innovation and growth, I do so with excitement for the Company's future."

Operating Highlights

• The Company appointed Michael Komasinski as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective February 15, 2025.
• Retail Media Contribution ex-TAC grew 25% year-over-year at constant currency² in 2024 and 23% in Q4.
• Same-retailer Contribution ex-TAC³ retention for Retail Media was 128% in 2024 and 126% in Q4.
• We expanded our platform adoption to 3,500 brands and 225 retailers, including Harrods.
• Performance Media Contribution ex-TAC was up 8% year-over-year at constant currency² in 2024 and up 3% in Q4.
• Criteo's media spend⁴ was $4.3 billion in 2024, growing 5% year-over-year at constant currency² and $1.3 billion in Q4.
• We deployed $225 million of capital for share repurchases in 2024, and our Board of Directors increased the Company's remaining share repurchase authorization to up to $200 million in January 2025.

Financial Summary

Revenue for Q4 2024 was $553 million, gross profit was $301 million and Contribution ex-TAC was $334 million. Net income for Q4 was $72 million, or $1.23 per share on a diluted basis. Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 was $144 million, resulting in an adjusted diluted EPS of $1.75. As reported, revenue for Q4 decreased (2)%, gross profit increased 9% and Contribution ex-TAC increased 6%. At constant currency, revenue for Q4 decreased (1)% and Contribution ex-TAC increased 7%.

Revenue for the fiscal year 2024 was $1.9 billion, gross profit was $983 million and Contribution ex-TAC was $1.1 billion. As reported, revenue for 2024 decreased (1)%, gross profit increased 14% and Contribution ex-TAC increased 10%. At constant currency, revenue for 2024 increased 0.4% and Contribution ex-TAC increased 11%. Net income for fiscal year 2024 was $115 million, or $1.90 per share on a diluted basis. Fiscal year 2024 Adjusted EBITDA was $390 million, resulting in an adjusted diluted EPS of $4.57. Cash flow from operating activities was $169 million in Q4 and Free Cash Flow was $146 million in Q4. As of December 31, 2024, we had $333 million in cash and marketable securities on our balance sheet.

Sarah Glickman, Chief Financial Officer, said, "In 2024, we delivered record performance and expanded our adjusted EBITDA margin by 500 basis points to 35%. We deployed $225 million of capital for share repurchases, demonstrating our focus on driving shareholder value. As we enter 2025, we believe we are well-positioned to deliver continued growth, robust profitability, and strong cash generation."

Fourth Quarter 2024 Results

Revenue, Gross Profit and Contribution ex-TAC

Revenue decreased (2)% year-over-year in Q4 2024, and decreased (1)% at constant currency, to $553 million (Q4 2023: $566 million). Gross profit increased 9% year-over-year in Q4 2024 to $301 million (Q4 2023: $277 million). Gross profit as a percentage of revenue, or gross profit margin, was 54% (Q4 2023: 49%). Contribution ex-TAC in the fourth quarter increased 6% year-over-year, or increased 7% at constant currency, to $334 million (Q4 2023: $316 million).

• Retail Media revenue increased 20%, or 21% at constant currency, and Retail Media Contribution ex-TAC increased 22%, or 23% at constant currency, driven by continued strength in Retail Media onsite, new client integrations, an uptick in offsite campaigns and growing network effects of the platform.
• Performance Media revenue decreased (6)%, or decreased (5)% at constant currency, and Performance Media Contribution ex-TAC increased 1%, or 3% at constant currency, driven by the continued traction of Commerce Audiences as more clients adopt full funnel activation, partially offset by lower Retargeting and AdTech services and supply.

Net Income and Adjusted Net Income

Net income was $72 million in Q4 2024 (Q4 2023: net income of $62 million). Net income allocated to shareholders of Criteo was $71 million, or $1.23 per share on a diluted basis (Q4 2023: net income available to shareholders of $61 million, or $1.02 per share on a diluted basis).

Adjusted net income, a non-GAAP financial measure, was $101 million, or $1.75 per share on a diluted basis (Q4 2023: $91 million, or $1.52 per share on a diluted basis).

Adjusted EBITDA and Operating Expenses

Adjusted EBITDA was $144 million, representing an increase of 4% year-over-year (Q4 2023: $139 million). This reflects higher Contribution ex-TAC over the period and effective cost management. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of Contribution ex-TAC, or Adjusted EBITDA margin, was 43% (Q4 2023: 44%).

Operating expenses increased by 10% year-over-year to $206 million (Q4 2023: $188 million), mostly driven by planned growth investments. Non-GAAP operating expenses increased 12% year-over-year to $165 million (Q4 2023: $147 million).

Fiscal Year 2024 Results

Revenue, Gross Profit and Contribution ex-TAC

Revenue decreased (1)% year-over-year, or increased 0.4% at constant currency, to $1.9 billion (FY 2023: $1.9 billion). Gross profit increased 14% year-over-year to $983 million (FY 2023: $863 million). Gross profit as a percentage of revenue, or gross profit margin, was 51% (FY 2023: 44%). Contribution ex-TAC increased 10% year-over-year, or increased 11% at constant currency, to $1.1 billion (FY 2023: $1.0 billion).

• Retail Media revenue increased 24%, or 24% at constant currency, and Retail Media Contribution ex-TAC increased 25%, or 25% at constant currency, driven by continued strength in Retail Media onsite, new client integrations and growing network effects of the platform.
• Performance Media revenue decreased (4)%, or decreased (2)% at constant currency, and Performance Media Contribution ex-TAC increased 6%, or 8% at constant currency, driven by strong growth for Commerce Audiences and resilient Retargeting, partially offset by lower AdTech services and supply.

Net Income and Adjusted Net Income

Net income was $115 million (FY 2023: $55 million). Net income available to shareholders of Criteo was $112 million, or $1.90 per share on a diluted basis (FY 2023: $53 million, or $0.88 per share on a diluted basis).

Adjusted net income was $268 million, or $4.57 per share on a diluted basis (FY 2023: $191 million, or $3.18 per share on a diluted basis).

Adjusted EBITDA and Operating Expenses

Adjusted EBITDA was $390 million, representing an increase of 29% year-over-year (FY 2023: $302 million). This reflects higher Contribution ex-TAC and effective cost management. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of Contribution ex-TAC, or Adjusted EBITDA margin, was 35% (FY 2023: 30%).

Operating expenses increased 6% year-over-year to $832 million (FY 2023: $786 million), mostly driven by planned growth investments and the partial reversal of the loss contingency related to the CNIL matter in 2023. Non-GAAP operating expenses increased 3% or $20 million to $627 million (FY 2023: $607 million).

Cash Flow, Cash and Financial Liquidity Position

Cash flow from operating activities increased to $169 million in Q4 2024 (Q4 2023: $161 million).

Free Cash Flow, defined as cash flow from operating activities less acquisition of intangible assets, property, plant and equipment and change in accounts payable related to intangible assets, property and equipment, increased to $146 million in Q4 2024 (Q4 2023: $142 million).

Cash and cash equivalents, and marketable securities, decreased $26 million compared to December 31, 2023 to $333 million, after spending $225 million on share repurchases in 2024 (2023: $125 million).

As of December 31, 2024, the Company had total financial liquidity of approximately $782 million, including its cash position, marketable securities, revolving credit facility and treasury shares reserved for M&A.

Criteo Appointed Michael Komasinski as Chief Executive Officer

The Board of Directors of the Company appointed Michael Komasinski as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board, effective February 15, 2025. Komasinski will succeed Megan Clarken who, as previously announced, is retiring and will be stepping down from her role as CEO and from the Board. Clarken will temporarily serve in a senior advisory role to ensure a smooth transition.

Komasinski brings over 20 years of AdTech expertise and a proven track record of driving accelerated growth, AI-driven innovation, and scale. Throughout his career, he has gained significant data-driven technology expertise and vast retail media experience. He previously served as CEO of the Americas, President of Global Data & Technology, and member of the Group Executive Management team at dentsu, one of the largest global advertising holding companies. He joined dentsu through its acquisition of Merkle in 2016 and led both the EMEA and Americas regions before becoming Global CEO of Merkle in 2021. He previously served in leadership positions at Razorfish, Schawk Retail Marketing, The Nielsen Company, and A.T. Kearney. Michael is a board member of the Ad Council and serves on the client advisory boards of Meta and Microsoft.

2025 Business Outlook

The following forward-looking statements reflect Criteo's expectations as of February 5, 2025.

Fiscal year 2025 guidance:

• Mid-single-digit growth in Contribution ex-TAC at constant currency
• Adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 33% to 34% of Contribution ex-TAC

First quarter 2025 guidance:

• Contribution ex-TAC between $256 million and $260 million, or year-over-year growth at constant-currency of +3% to +5%
• Adjusted EBITDA between $68 million and $72 million

The above guidance for the first quarter and fiscal year ending December 31, 2025 assumes the following exchange rates for the main currencies impacting our business: a U.S. dollar-euro rate of 0.962, a U.S. dollar-Japanese Yen rate of 150, a U.S. dollar-British pound rate of 0.802, a U.S. dollar-Korean Won rate of 1,350 and a U.S. dollar-Brazilian real rate of 5.75.

The above guidance assumes that no additional acquisitions are completed during the first quarter of 2025 or the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.

Reconciliations of Contribution ex-TAC, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin guidance to the closest corresponding U.S. GAAP measures are not available without unreasonable efforts on a forward-looking basis due to the high variability, complexity and low visibility with respect to the charges excluded from these non-GAAP measures; in particular, the measures and effects of equity awards compensation expense specific to equity compensation awards that are directly impacted by unpredictable fluctuations in our share price. The variability of the above charges could potentially have a significant impact on our future U.S. GAAP financial results.

Extension of Share Repurchase Authorization

Criteo's Board of Directors approved an increase of the previously authorized share repurchase program from up to $630 million to up to $805 million of the Company's outstanding American Depositary Shares. As of January 31, 2025, the remaining share buyback authorization was extended to up to $200 million. The Company intends to use repurchased shares under this extended program to satisfy employee equity obligations in lieu of issuing new shares, which would limit future dilution for its shareholders, as well as to fund potential acquisitions in the future.

Under the terms of the authorization, the stock purchases may be made from time to time in compliance with applicable state and federal securities laws and applicable provisions of French corporate law. The timing and amounts of any purchases will be based on market conditions and other factors including price, regulatory requirements and capital availability, as determined by Criteo's management team. The program does not require the purchase of any minimum number of shares and may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time without prior notice.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release and its attachments include the following financial measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"): Contribution ex-TAC, Contribution ex-TAC margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted diluted EPS, Free Cash Flow and Non-GAAP Operating Expenses. These measures are not calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Contribution ex-TAC is a profitability measure akin to gross profit. It is calculated by deducting traffic acquisition costs from revenue and reconciled to gross profit through the exclusion of other costs of revenue. Contribution ex-TAC is not a measure calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We have included Contribution ex-TAC because it is a key measure used by our management and board of directors to evaluate operating performance, generate future operating plans and make strategic decisions. In particular, we believe that this measure can provide useful measures for period-to-period comparisons of our business. Accordingly, we believe that Contribution ex-TAC provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our results of operations in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

Adjusted EBITDA is our consolidated earnings before financial income (expense), income taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted to eliminate the impact of equity awards compensation expense, pension service costs, certain restructuring, integration and transformation costs, certain acquisition costs and a loss contingency related to a regulatory matter. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are key measures used by our management and board of directors to understand and evaluate our core operating performance and trends, to prepare and approve our annual budget and to develop short- and long-term operational plans. In particular, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin can provide useful measures for period-to-period comparisons of our business. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin provide useful information to investors and the market generally in understanding and evaluating our results of operations in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

Adjusted Net Income is our net income adjusted to eliminate the impact of equity awards compensation expense, amortization of acquisition-related assets, certain restructuring, integration and transformation costs, certain acquisition costs, a loss contingency related to a regulatory matter, and the tax impact of these adjustments. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted diluted EPS are key measures used by our management and board of directors to evaluate operating performance, generate future operating plans and make strategic decisions regarding the allocation of capital. In particular, we believe that Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted diluted EPS can provide useful measures for period-to-period comparisons of our business. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted diluted EPS provide useful information to investors and the market generally in understanding and evaluating our results of operations in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

Free Cash Flow is defined as cash flow from operating activities less net acquisition of intangible assets, property, plant and equipment. Free Cash Flow Conversion is defined as free cash flow divided by Adjusted EBITDA. Free Cash Flow and Free Cash Flow Conversion are key measures used by our management and board of directors to evaluate the Company's ability to generate cash. Accordingly, we believe that Free Cash Flow and Free Cash Flow Conversion permit a more complete and comprehensive analysis of our available cash flows.

Non-GAAP Operating Expenses are our consolidated operating expenses adjusted to eliminate equity awards compensation expense, pension service costs, certain restructuring, integration and transformation costs, certain acquisition and integration costs, and a loss contingency related to a regulatory matter. The Company uses Non-GAAP Operating Expenses to understand and compare operating results across accounting periods, for internal budgeting and forecasting purposes, for short-term and long-term operational plans, and to assess and measure our financial performance and the ability of our operations to generate cash. We believe Non-GAAP Operating Expenses reflects our ongoing operating expenses in a manner that allows for meaningful period-to-period comparisons and analysis of trends in our business. As a result, we believe that Non-GAAP Operating Expenses provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our core operating performance and trends in the same manner as our management and in comparing financial results across periods. In addition, Non-GAAP Operating Expenses is a key component in calculating Adjusted EBITDA, which is one of the key measures the Company uses to provide its quarterly and annual business outlook to the investment community.

Please refer to the supplemental financial tables provided in the appendix of this press release for a reconciliation of Contribution ex-TAC to gross profit, Adjusted EBITDA to net income, Adjusted Net Income to net income, Free Cash Flow to cash flow from operating activities, and Non-GAAP Operating Expenses to operating expenses, in each case, the most comparable U.S. GAAP measure. Our use of non-GAAP financial measures has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider such non-GAAP measures in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our financial results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations are: 1) other companies, including companies in our industry which have similar business arrangements, may address the impact of TAC differently; and 2) other companies may report Contribution ex-TAC, Contribution ex-TAC margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, Free Cash Flow, Non-GAAP Operating Expenses or similarly titled measures but calculate them differently or over different regions, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures. Because of these and other limitations, you should consider these measures alongside our U.S. GAAP financial results, including revenue and net income.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including projected financial results for the quarter ending March 31, 2025 and the year ending December 31, 2025, our expectations regarding our market opportunity and future growth prospects and other statements that are not historical facts and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: failure related to our technology and our ability to innovate and respond to changes in technology, uncertainty regarding our ability to access a consistent supply of internet display advertising inventory and expand access to such inventory, including without limitation uncertainty regarding the timing and scope of proposed changes to and enhancements of the Chrome browser announced by Google, investments in new business opportunities and the timing of these investments, whether the projected benefits of acquisitions materialize as expected, uncertainty regarding international growth and expansion (including related to changes in a specific country's or region's political or economic conditions), the impact of competition, uncertainty regarding legislative, regulatory or self-regulatory developments regarding data privacy matters and the impact of efforts by other participants in our industry to comply therewith, the impact of consumer resistance to the collection and sharing of data, our ability to access data through third parties, failure to enhance our brand cost-effectively, recent growth rates not being indicative of future growth, our ability to manage growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, our ability to grow our base of clients, and the financial impact of maximizing Contribution ex-TAC, as well as risks related to future opportunities and plans, including the uncertainty of expected future financial performance and results and those risks detailed from time-to-time under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's SEC filings and reports, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 23, 2024, and in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q as well as future filings and reports by the Company. Importantly, at this time, macro-economic conditions including inflation and fluctuating interest rates in the U.S. have impacted Criteo's business, financial condition, cash flow and results of operations.

Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events, changes in expectations or otherwise.

Conference Call Information

Criteo's senior management team will discuss the Company's earnings on a call that will take place today, February 5, 2025, at 8:00 AM ET, 2:00 PM CET. The conference call will be webcast live on the Company's website at https://criteo.investorroom.com/ and will subsequently be available for replay.

• United States:       +1 800 836 8184
• International:         +1 646 357 8785
• France                  080-094-5120

Please ask to be joined into the "Criteo" call.

About Criteo

Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO) is the global commerce media company that enables marketers and media owners to drive better commerce outcomes. Its industry leading Commerce Media Platform connects thousands of marketers and media owners to deliver richer consumer experiences from product discovery to purchase. By powering trusted and impactful advertising, Criteo supports an open internet that encourages discovery, innovation, and choice. For more information, please visit www.criteo.com.

Contacts

Criteo Investor Relations
Melanie Dambre, m.dambre@criteo.com 

Criteo Public Relations
Jessica Meyers, j.meyers@criteo.com 

Financial information to follow