Yellow Pages (TSX:Y) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

0:00 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Yellow Pages' second quarter 2026 earnings release call. Today's conference call contains forward-looking information about Yellow Pages' outlook, objectives, and strategy. These statements are based on assumptions and are subject to important risks and uncertainties. Yellow Pages' actual results could differ materially from expectations discussed. The details of Yellow Pages' caution regarding forward-looking information, including key assumptions and risks, can be found in Yellow Pages Management Discussion and Analysis for the second quarter of 2026. This call is being recorded in webcast and all of the disclosure documents are available on the company's website and on CDER+. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Mrs. Sherilyn King, President and Chief Executive Officer.

0:45 Please go ahead, madam.

0:48 Thank you, Roy. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our second quarter 2026 analyst call. We really appreciate your interest in joining our call today. Today I'm joined by Assunta Tortis, our Chief Financial Officer. I will begin with some overview comments and then Assunta will provide you more details on our financial results for this quarter. And then we will take any questions you may have at the end of this call. We are pleased with our results reported for our second quarter of 2026. In the second quarter, we delivered solid profitability and cash generation, despite ongoing revenue pressures resulting from macroeconomic uncertainty. Revenue declined 8% year-over-year, while our adjusted EBITDA remained solid at 19.1% margin, supported by our ongoing cost discipline and operating efficiencies.

1:46 During the second quarter, we completed the previously announced plan of arrangements. distributing $25 million to shareholders through a share buyback. In connection with the plan of arrangements, we also contributed an additional $2 million to the defined benefit pension plan in April of 2026. Following these disbursements to our shareholders and the pension plan, our steady cash generation has grown to cash on hand to approximately $38 million as of July 31, 2026. and lastly, our board has declared a dividend of 25 cents per common share to be paid on September 15th, 2026 to shareholders of record as of August 17th, 2026.

2:35 I will now pass it over to Assunta to provide you additional details on the numbers.

2:41 Thanks, Eski. Good morning, everyone. Let me take you through our financial results for the second quarter ended June 30th, 2026. Our total revenues decreased by $4.1 million, or 8% year-over-year, and amounted to $47.6 million for the second quarter. The year-over-year decrease in revenues is mainly due to the decline of our higher-margin digital media and print products, and to a lesser extent, our lower-margin digital services products, thereby creating pressure on our gross profit margins. The total revenues decline of 8% for the three-month period end of June 30th compares to 7.4% reported for the same period last year. The higher revenue decline rate is driven by the decline in print revenue while the decline rate for digital revenue has improved slightly year-over-year.

3:34 Digital revenues decreased 6.2% year-over-year and amounted to $38.4 million during the second quarter. The improvement of the digital revenue decline from 6.4 reported in the second quarter of 2025 to 6.2% in the second quarter of 2026 was mainly due to a higher average spend per customer, partially offsetting the decrease in digital customer count. Print revenues decreased 14.8% year-over-year and amounted to $9.1 million for the three-month period ended June 30th. The decline in print revenue is mainly due to the decrease in the number of print customers, while the spread per print customer improved year over year as the proportion of lower spending accounts have declined.

4:23 Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was impacted by lower revenues, pressure from the product mix, higher bad debt expense, and the impact of the company's share price on cash-settled base compensation expense. These factors were partially offset by optimization in cost of sales and reductions in other operating costs, including reductions in our workforce and associated employee expenses. As a result, adjusted EBITDA decreased year-over-year by 1.6 million, or 15.1%, to 9.1 million for the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased to 19.1% compared to 20.7% for the same period last year. Revenue pressures and changes in product mix partially offset by continued optimizations of cost reduction will continue to cause some pressure on margins in upcoming quarters.

5:15 Adjusted EBITDA less capex for the second quarter decreased by 1.7 million to 8.6 million, mainly driven by lower adjusted EBITDA. During the second quarter, we completed the previously announced plan of arrangement, whereby the company repurchased from shareholders on a pro rata basis an aggregate of 2,037,489 common shares, including 28,137 shares held by the trustee at a purchase price of $12.27 per share for a total of $25.3 million, including $0.1 million of transaction costs, $0.5 million of tax on repurchase of equity, and net of $0.3 million related to the cancellation of the shares held by trustee.

6:06 In connection to the 2026 arrangement, the company also voluntarily contributed $2 million to the defined benefit pension plan in April 2026. Net income increased to $3.3 million for the second quarter of 2026 compared to $1.5 million for the same period last year. This increase was mainly due to the settlement loss of annuity purchase recorded in 2025 and lower financial charges partially offset by lower adjusted EBITDA and an increase in restructuring and other charges. As Sherilyn mentioned, our cash on hand at the end of July stood at $38 million. The board has declared a cash dividend of 25 cents per common share payable on September 15, 2026 to shareholders of record as at August 17, 2026.

6:59 This concludes our formal remarks. Thank you for taking the time to join us this morning. We will now take your questions. Thank you. We will now be opening a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw a question, please press star 1 again. Thank you. We will be standing by briefly for the questions to come in. Thank you. Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then the number 1 on your telephone keypad. That concludes with our question and answer session.

7:44 I would now like to turn the call over back to Mrs. Sherilyn King for closing remarks.

7:51 Thank you, Roy. Thank you everyone for joining our call today and we look forward to having you join us in November for our Q3 release. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.