Raising 2017 earnings guidance

CHICAGO - InnerWorkings, Inc. (NASDAQ: INWK), the leading global marketing execution firm, today announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017. For all non-GAAP references below, please refer to the non-GAAP reconciliation tables at the end of this release for more information.

Financial and Business Highlights

• Gross revenue was $267.4 million, a decrease of 1% compared to $271.1 million in the first quarter of 2016.
• Gross profit (net revenue) was $64.3 million, or 24.0% of gross revenue in the first quarter of 2017, a 4% increase compared to $61.9 million, or 22.9% of revenue, in the same period of last year.
• Net income for the first quarter of 2017 was $5.5 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, which included $1.0 million of income related to the decreased value of contingent consideration for prior acquisitions.
• Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for the first quarter was $0.08, a 66% increase compared to the first quarter of 2016.
• Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA was $12.3 million, reflecting 5% growth as compared to $11.7 million in the first quarter of 2016.
• Cash flow provided by operating activities was $35.2 million for the trailing twelve-month period ended March 31, 2017 and $25.1 million for the prior trailing twelve-month period ended March 31, 2016.
• InnerWorkings has been awarded additional work from new and existing clients so far during 2017, which collectively is expected to exceed $35 million of annual revenue at full run-rate. The largest new client engagements are with Jaguar Land Rover and The Humane Society.

"The investments we have made to build our global capabilities and technology platform are paying off in a meaningful way," said Eric D. Belcher, Chief Executive Officer of InnerWorkings. "We have won more new business year-to-date than we had at this time last year, and we expect 2017 to be another record year on the top and bottom line."

"Our net revenue for the first quarter is in line with our expectations while initiatives to improve our bottom line are ahead of plan, prompting us to raise our earnings guidance for 2017," said Jeffrey P. Pritchett, Chief Financial Officer of InnerWorkings. "We are also starting to generate greater cash flow, enabling us to return $10 million to shareholders in the last two months through our stock repurchase program."

Outlook

The Company is raising its guidance for 2017 non-GAAP diluted earnings per share to a range of $0.45 to $0.49, compared to previous guidance of a range of $0.44 to $0.47. Guidance for gross revenue and non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA are unchanged. InnerWorkings expects gross revenue to range between $1.155 billion and $1.185 billion and non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA to be between $65.0 million and $68.0 million.