SurgePays Announces Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results

In This Article:

$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.

SurgePays, Inc. (NASDAQ: SURG) (PRNewsfoto/SurgePays)
SurgePays, Inc. (NASDAQ: SURG) (PRNewsfoto/SurgePays)

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.