After a tough third quarter, Lightspeed Commerce’s fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023 results should bring some relief to the e-commerce company.
For fiscal year 2023, Lightspeed reported total revenues of $984 million CAD ($730.5 million USD) up from $748.3 million CAD ($548 million USD) in 2022.
Even while it was making gains on the revenue side, the company also cut its losses. Lightspeed posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $5.7 million ($4.3 million USD), down from $26.5 million CAD ($19.7 million USD) in the previous year.
Despite the better numbers, shareholders are still not pleased with the company’s performance. At presstime, shares in the TSX-listed Lightspeed had fallen by $2.83 CAD to $17.17, not far off of its 52-week low of $17.06. Lightspeed’s 52-week high was $35.80. At one point, that high had sat at $165.87.
Lightspeed signed a four-year contract renewal with renowned retailer Saks Fifth Avenue.
“Our adjusted EBITDA loss this quarter came in significantly better than our previously established outlook and shows ongoing progress towards our goal of adjusted EBITDA break even or better for fiscal 20241,” said Asha Bakshani, CFO of Lightspeed.
For the upcoming fiscal year, Lightspeed is focused on accelerating adoption of its financial services and reaping the benefits of its simplified product portfolio, said Lightspeed’s CEO, JP Chauvet.
By focusing on its two flagship products, Lightspeed Retail and Lightspeed Restaurant, Lightspeed expects to increase adoption of its solutions among more complex merchants, improve sales productivity and increase the pace at which it can create new products and features that drive value for customers, according to the company.
In the fourth quarter, Lightspeed reported total revenue of $248.9 million CAD ($184.2 million USD), an increase of 26 percent from the previous quarter. The company also drove down its net loss to $103.3 million CAD ($76.5 million) from $154.7 million CAD ($114.5 million USD).
Some of the notable customer wins for the quarter included Rosie O’Grady’s, one of the busiest restaurants in New York’s Times Square, which selected Lightspeed Restaurant and Payments to power their steak and seafood restaurant; Apricot Lane, a leading California-based women’s fashion franchise, adopted Lightspeed Retail and Payments; and La Mère Germaine, a Michelin star restaurant in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France, adopted Lightspeed Restaurant and Payments to operate their acclaimed establishment. As well, Eastern National, operator of 127 gift shops across America’s national parks, signed on for Lightspeed Retail; and Lightspeed signed a four-year contract renewal for Lightspeed B2B with renowned retailer Saks Fifth Avenue.
The company combined its point-of-sales, payments and e-commerce technology in 2022 into a retail commerce platform called Lightspeed Retail. In turn, the platform uses the tech and expertise from New Zealand-based retail software startup Vend, and Californian e-commerce firm Ecwid, two companies it acquired in 2021 for a collective $850 million USD in cash and stock.
The company also launched its Lightspeed Restaurant offering earlier in 2022. In the same way as Lightspeed Retail, that platform was built on the technology of a number of acquisitions, including United States-based Upserve, Germany’s Gastrofix, Australia-based Kounta, and Switzerland’s iKentoo.
In terms of its forecast for fiscal 2024, the company exercised caution, citing the economic climate, including changes in consumer spending impacting several of Lightspeed’s retail verticals.
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Nonetheless, Lightspeed expects increased revenue growth as the year progresses and customers are onboarded to Lightspeed Payments, and the company begins to see the benefits of added volume processed through its embedded payments solutions.
Lightspeed expects to incur some incremental costs in the first part of the year as part of the program launch. These include hardware subsidies, technical support and contract buy-outs. These costs are estimated to amount to approximately $12 million in the aggregate for the fiscal year.
The company is predicting revenues of approximately $875 million to $900 million USD, with growth stronger in the second half of the year. It also forecast break even or better adjusted EBITDA, inclusive of the costs incurred for the unified payments initiative.
Founded in Montréal, Canada in 2005, Lightspeed is dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: LSPD) and Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: LSPD). With teams across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the company serves retail, hospitality and golf businesses in over 100 countries.