Achieved annual operating profit one year ahead of schedule

TAIPEI, TAIWAN- Media OutReach - 13 February 2023 - Highlights and achievements for fiscal year 2022

• Annual revenue increased to 19.4 billion yen with a 53% YoY growth rate, surpassing previous guidance of 19.2 billion yen
• Full-year operating profit target reached one year ahead of schedule, with operating margins at 0.3% and improving by 9 percentage points YoY
• Annual gross profit accelerated to 60% YoY, with a gross margin of 51.5%, more than tripled in the last 4 years
• Revenue from US and EMEA markets increased over 7 times YoY and represented 12% of total revenues

Guidance for fiscal year 2023

• Forecast of 31% (34% on FX neutral basis) increase in YoY revenue growth to 25.5 billion yen and gross profit growth is expected to surpass revenue growth at 35% YoY due to further gross margin improvement.
• Increase in operating income by around 10 times to 535 million yen and further improve operating margin to 2.1%
• Continuous geographic and vertical expansion, along with ROI-driven solutions and further product synergies for better up-sell and cross-sell opportunities, to be key growth drivers in FY23
• Continued growth of AI trends to drive further business growth

Highlight and achievements of Q4 FY22

• Revenue increased by 47% YoY and hit a historical high of 5.8 billion yen
• Annual recurring revenue YoY growth rate further increased from 46% to 53%
• Gross profit reached 56% YoY growth with a record-high gross profit of 3 billion yen
• Attained both EBITDA margin and operating margin improvement of 6 percentage points YoY
• Grew customers by 26% YoY, alongside a low customer churn rate of 0.62%

Closing out the year with a stellar performance Appier Group Inc (TSE: 4180), henceforth referred to as Appier, today announced its fiscal and fourth-quarter earnings results for the year ended 31 December 2022. Appier closed out the fiscal year of 2022 achieving a full-year operating profit for the first time, one year ahead of schedule from its FY23 target, with a revenue increase of 53% YoY at 19.4 billion yen. This year marks growth acceleration for Appier for four years in a row, as annual gross profit more than tripled in the last four years to accelerate to 60% YoY. EBITDA margin rose to 7%, keeping the company on a strong trajectory toward its 2025 financial targets. Appier's strong performance was attributed to the continuous expansion of its customer base both regionally and vertically, alongside robust product synergies and successful customer retention through up-sell and cross-sell strategies. Northeast Asia (63%) continued to reach high growth despite a large revenue base, while revenues in Greater China (20%) were mainly driven by vertical growth. US and EMEA (12%) continue to be a key growth driver with a larger total addressable market (TAM), as it increased its revenue over 7 times YoY in the fiscal year. The company's further expansion to more diversified verticals led to stronger growth acceleration. The Digital Content (gaming, entertainment, e-books, and online streaming) vertical grew significantly with 10 percentage points YoY increase in FY22 to constitute 38% of total revenues, only second to Ecommerce (43%), then followed by Other Internet Services^[1] (12%) and Consumer Brands and BFSI (7%). Strong demand from these digital-first industries will continue as they place digital strategies at the forefront of their transformation under the new normal post-COVID. In addition to growing the total number of customers by 26% in FY22, Appier's higher business efficiency also resulted in a higher customer Lifetime Value (LTV) at 64% YoY and a lower Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) at -12% YoY. The higher LTV was driven by a lower churn rate of customer revenue and higher gross profit per customer; while the lower CAC was driven by lower expenses on new customer acquisition and a higher number of net new customers. The successful transfer from the Mothers segment to the Prime segment on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in December 2022 is also a significant testament to the sophisticated organization with strong growth and good corporate governance. A strong quarter to close out a profitable year Appier's revenue in Q4 grew at a rate of 47% YoY to record a historical high of 5.8 billion yen, reaching a gross profit of 56% YoY growth. Operating margins reached 137 million yen, providing a strong tail end to close out a profitable fiscal year 2022. The company also retained a low customer churn rate of 0.62%. "2022 has been a year of growth acceleration for Appier. We achieved full-year profitability one year ahead of schedule and tripled our revenue and gross profit in four years. These great results reflect that the market is responding well to the first-party data trends and our ROI-driven solutions powered by AI," said Dr. Chih-Han Yu, CEO and Co-Founder, Appier....