NEW HOPE, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
The Meet Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEET), a public market leader in the
mobile meeting space, today reported financial results for its third
quarter ended September 30, 2017.

Third Quarter 2017 Financial Highlights

• Total revenue of $32.2 million, up 88% year over year.
• Mobile revenue of $23.7 million, up 47% year over year.
• GAAP net income of $2.2 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared
  to net income of $4.4 million, or $0.07 per diluted share in the prior
  year quarter.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $8.9 million, up 30% year over year, or a 28%
  margin.
• Non-GAAP net income of $8.1 million, or $0.11 per diluted share,
  compared to $6.2 million or $0.10 per diluted share in the prior year
  quarter.
• Cash and cash equivalents totaled $24.6 million at September 30, 2017.

(See the important discussion about the presentation of non-GAAP
financial measures, and reconciliation to the most direct comparable
GAAP financial measure, below.)

“The third quarter was transformational for The Meet Group, as we
announced the acquisition of Lovoo, a European mobile dating leader, and
launched live video monetization,” said Geoff Cook, Chief Executive
Officer. “We believe the acquisition of Lovoo and the launch of our live
video gifting platform is diversifying our revenue mix by increasing our
non-advertising revenue streams. Early data on our live video product
indicates its potential to be the most exciting new monetization feature
in our history, and we are continuing to build a tremendous pipeline of
live video products across our portfolio of brands.

“While our short-term results and forecast are currently impacted by
greater than anticipated downward pressure on CPMs across the
programmatic ad industry, we are confident that our strong product
pipeline and expanded portfolio of brands will help us create more
predictable and user-generated revenue streams. Additionally, our
integrations of Skout and Tagged are progressing as planned, and we have
identified and begun implementing efficiencies and cost savings
initiatives that we expect to drive further leverage in our operating
model.”

David Clark, Chief Financial Officer, added, “Our mobile revenue growth
of 47% year over year reflects increases in our mobile impressions
through the acquisitions of Skout and Tagged. Adjusted EBITDA increased
30% to $8.9 million for the quarter, representing a 28% adjusted EBITDA
margin. We generated $6.0 million in cash from operations, ending the
quarter with $24.6 million cash and cash equivalents.”

The Meet Group also announced a number of changes to its finance
department. David Clark, current Chief Financial Officer, by mutual
agreement will be leaving the company at the end of this year. He will
assist in the transition of the Company’s finance and accounting
functions until his departure. Jim Bugden, current Sr. Vice President,
Corporate Development, has been appointed Interim Chief Financial
Officer, effective November 13, and a search for a permanent CFO is
underway and will be led by James & Co.The Meet Group also announced
the promotion of Mike Johnson to Chief Accounting Officer and the hiring
of Leslie Arena as Vice President, Investor Relations, both effective on
November 13.

“David has been a key member of the executive team, and we thank him for
his dedication and strong contributions. Under his leadership, we grew
EBITDA from $3.9 million in 2012 to more than $30 million in the four
quarters ending September 30, 2017. I am grateful for his many
contributions,” said Mr. Cook. “I am confident Jim Bugden will succeed
as Interim CFO. Jim earned his CPA with Deloitte and has over 15 years
of CFO and financial and accounting leadership experience. Jim has been
leading our corporate development efforts for the past two years and
will continue to assist with the integration of our recent acquisitions.
I would also like to congratulate Mike Johnson on his appointment as
CAO. Mike has effectively led our accounting team for nine years, the
last six as a public company. Mike has proven himself again and again as
an effective leader of the finance and accounting team.

“Finally, I am excited at the opportunity to work with Leslie Arena, our
new VP of Investor Relations. Leslie is an experienced IR professional,
having most recently served as Vice President of Investor Relations and
Corporate Communications at Angie’s List. Prior to that, she led
Investor Relations and Competitive Analysis at Vonage, a leading SaaS
company serving small and medium businesses. She brings a wealth of
relevant experience in technology and communications companies and will
be a great addition to our team.”

Company Outlook:

The Company has updated its outlook for the fourth quarter 2017:

• Revenue in the range of $36.5 million to $38 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $7.5 million to $9.5 million.

The Company has updated its outlook for the full year 2017:

• Revenue in the range of $120.1 million to $121.6 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $28.6 million to $30.6 million.

Webcast and Conference Call Details

Management will host a webcast and conference call to discuss third
quarter 2017 financial results today, November 8, 2017 at 4:30 p.m.
Eastern time. To access the call dial 877-329-7568 (US and Canada) or +1
719-785-1766 (International) and when prompted provide the participant
passcode 9957559 to the operator. In addition, a webcast of the
conference call will be available live on the Investor Relations section
of the Company’s website at www.themeetgroup.com
and a replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days.

About The Meet Group

The Meet Group (NASDAQ: MEET) is a fast-growing portfolio of mobile apps
designed to meet the universal need for human connection. Our apps –
currently MeetMe®, LOVOO®, Skout®, Tagged®, and Hi5® – let users in more
than 100 countries chat, share photos, stream live video, and discuss
topics of interest, and are available on iPhone, iPad, and Android in
multiple languages. Using innovative products and sophisticated data
science, The Meet Group keeps its over 4.5 million mobile daily active
users engaged and originates untold numbers of casual chats,
friendships, dates, and marriages. The Meet Group offers advertisers the
opportunity to reach customers on a global scale and has leading mobile
monetization strategies, including advertising, in-app purchases, and
subscription products. The Meet Group has offices in New Hope, San
Francisco, Dresden, and Berlin. For more information, visit themeetgroup.com,
and follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including whether our total revenue and mobile revenue will
continue to grow, whether our adjusted EBITDA will continue to grow,
whether our live video product will be the most exciting new
monetization feature in our history, whether we will continue to build a
tremendous pipeline of live video products across our portfolio of
brands, whether our strong product pipeline and expanded portfolio of
brands will help us create more predictable and user-generated revenue
streams, whether implementing efficiencies and cost savings initiatives
will drive further leverage in our operating model, whether Jim Bugden
will succeed as Interim CFO, and whether we will meet our fourth quarter
and year end revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance. All statements other
than statements of historical facts contained herein are forward-looking
statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “could,” “target,”
“potential,” “project,” “is likely,” “expect” and similar expressions,
as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on
our current expectations and projections about future events and
financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition,
results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Important
factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the
forward-looking statements include the risk that our applications will
not function easily or otherwise as anticipated, the risk that we will
not launch additional features and upgrades as anticipated, the risk
that unanticipated events affect the functionality of our applications
with popular mobile operating systems, any changes in such operating
systems that degrade our mobile applications’ functionality and other
unexpected issues which could adversely affect usage on mobile devices.
Further information on our risk factors is contained in our filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including the Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2016 filed with the SEC on March 9,
2017, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March
31, 2017 and June 30, 2017 filed with the SEC on May 10, 2017 and August
4, 2017, respectively, and our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the
SEC on September 20, 2017. Any forward-looking statement made by us
herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events
that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to
time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake
no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether
as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except
as may be required by law.

Regulation G – Non-GAAP Measures

The Company defines mobile traffic and engagement metrics (including
MAU, DAU, chats per day, and new users per day) to include mobile app
traffic for all properties and mobile web traffic for MeetMe and Skout.

The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA and Non-GAAP Net Income, which are not
calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted
accounting principles (“GAAP”), in evaluating its financial and
operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to period
comparison. The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for
financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate
period-to-period comparisons. The Company presents these non-GAAP
financial measures because it believes them to be an important
supplemental measure of performance that is commonly used by securities
analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of
companies in our industry. We refer you to the reconciliations below.

The Company defines Adjusted EBITDA as earnings (or loss) from
operations before interest expense, benefit or provision for income
taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, warrant
obligations, non-recurring acquisition, restructuring or other expenses,
gain or loss on cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment, gain
on sale of asset, bad debt expense outside the normal range, and
goodwill and long-lived asset impairment charges. The Company excludes
stock-based compensation because it is non-cash in nature. The Company
defines Non-GAAP Net Income as earnings (or loss) before benefit or
provision for income taxes, amortization of intangibles, non-recurring
acquisition and restructuring costs, bad debt expense outside the normal
range, and non-cash stock based compensation.

Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as an alternative
to net income, operating income, cash flow from operating activities, as
a measure of liquidity or any other financial measure. They may not be
indicative of the historical operating results of the Company nor is it
intended to be predictive of potential future results. Investors should
not consider non-GAAP financial measures in isolation or as a substitute
for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

THE MEET GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(UNAUDITED)
		September 30,				December 31,
		2017				2016
ASSETS
CURRENT ASSETS:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	24,642,002			$	21,852,531
Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $451,000 and $283,000, at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively			22,680,468				23,737,254
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			2,131,095				1,489,267
Total current assets			49,453,565				47,079,052
Restricted Cash			894,305				393,484
Goodwill			150,088,783				114,175,554
Property and equipment, net			3,360,015				2,466,110
Intangible assets, net			34,858,106				17,010,565
Deferred taxes			32,501,672				28,253,827
Other assets			918,248				110,892
Total assets		$	272,074,694			$	209,489,484
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
CURRENT LIABILITIES:
Accounts payable		$	4,904,223			$	5,350,336
Accrued liabilities			13,926,046				8,395,060
Current portion of capital lease obligations			18,901				221,302
Deferred revenue			1,127,610				434,197
Total current liabilities			19,976,780				14,400,895
Total liabilities			19,976,780				14,400,895
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY:
Preferred stock, $.001 par value; authorized – 5,000,000 Shares at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016; 0 shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016			–				–
Common stock, $.001 par value; authorized – 100,000,000 Shares; 71,804,766 and 58,945,607 issued and outstanding at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively			71,808				58,949
Additional paid-in capital			405,345,104				351,873,801
Accumulated deficit			(153,318,998	)			(156,844,161	)
TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY			252,097,914				195,088,589
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY		$	272,074,694			$	209,489,484

THE MEET GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
(UNAUDITED)
		Three Months Ended September 30,								Nine Months Ended September 30,
			2017				2016				2017				2016
Revenues		$	32,246,472			$	17,191,261			$	83,634,737			$	46,901,923
Operating costs and expenses:
Sales and marketing			4,600,148				3,228,262				14,305,498				8,776,029
Product development and content			16,021,977				5,808,449				41,006,376				17,730,610
General and administrative			5,021,739				2,215,727				13,044,965				6,431,486
Depreciation and amortization			2,969,570				761,460				7,619,584				2,266,642
Acquisition and restructuring			3,378,838				467,777				8,648,692				1,628,126
Total operating costs and expenses			31,992,272				12,481,675				84,625,115				36,832,893
Income (loss) from operations			254,200				4,709,586				(990,378	)			10,069,030
Other income (expense):
Interest income			1,374				7,135				5,344				18,697
Interest expense			(244,361	)			(4,123	)			(421,947	)			(16,228	)
Change in warrant liability			–				(318,983	)			–				(864,596	)
Gain (loss) on foreign currency adjustment			9,357				(1,206	)			(2,072	)			33,347
Total other expense			(233,630	)			(317,177	)			(418,675	)			(828,780	)
Income (loss) before income taxes			20,570				4,392,409				(1,409,053	)			9,240,250
Benefit from income taxes			2,202,152				–				4,934,216				27,125,446
Net income		$	2,222,722			$	4,392,409			$	3,525,163			$	36,365,696
Basic and diluted net income per common stockholders:
Basic net income per common stockholders		$	0.03			$	0.08			$	0.05			$	0.73
Diluted net income per common stockholders		$	0.03			$	0.07			$	0.05			$	0.65
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic			71,800,274				53,231,369				67,711,324				49,649,221
Diluted			76,078,563				59,048,821				72,425,863				55,604,866
Comprehensive income		$	2,222,722			$	4,392,409			$	3,525,163			$	36,365,696

THE MEET GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP NET INCOME TO ADJUSTED EBITDA
(UNAUDITED)
		Three Months Ended September 30,							Nine Months Ended September 30,
			2017				2016			2017				2016
Net income		$	2,222,722			$	4,392,409		$	3,525,163			$	36,365,696
Interest expense			244,361				4,123			421,947				16,228
Change in warrant liability			–				318,983			–				864,596
Benefit from income taxes			(2,202,152	)			–			(4,934,216	)			(27,125,446	)
Depreciation and amortization			2,969,570				761,460			7,619,584				2,266,642
Stock-based compensation expense			2,299,696				911,490			5,802,046				2,554,842
Acquisition and restructuring			3,378,838				467,777			8,648,692				1,628,126
(Gain) loss on foreign currency adjustment			(9,357	)			1,206			2,072				(33,347	)
Adjusted EBITDA		$	8,903,678			$	6,857,448		$	21,085,288			$	16,537,337
GAAP basic net income per common stockholders		$	0.03			$	0.08		$	0.05			$	0.73
GAAP diluted net income per common stockholders		$	0.03			$	0.07		$	0.05			$	0.65
Basic adjusted EBITDA per common stockholders		$	0.12			$	0.13		$	0.31			$	0.33
Diluted adjusted EBITDA per common stockholders		$	0.12			$	0.12		$	0.29			$	0.30
Weighted average shares outstanding
Basic			71,800,274				53,231,369			67,711,324				49,649,221
Diluted			76,078,563				59,048,821			72,425,863				55,604,866

THE MEET GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP NET INCOME TO NON-GAAP NET INCOME
(UNAUDITED)
		Three Months Ended September 30,								Six Months Ended June 30,
			2017				2016				2017				2016
GAAP Net Income		$	2,222,722			$	4,392,409			$	3,525,163			$	36,365,696
Stock-based compensation expense			2,299,696				911,490				5,802,046				2,554,842
Amortization of intangibles			2,378,152				381,916				5,982,459				1,142,583
Benefit from income taxes			(2,202,152	)			–				(4,934,216	)			(27,125,446	)
Acquisition and restructuring			3,378,838				467,777				8,648,692				1,628,126
Non-GAAP net Income		$	8,077,256			$	6,153,592			$	19,024,144			$	14,565,801
GAAP basic net income per common stockholder		$	0.03			$	0.08			$	0.05			$	0.73
GAAP diluted net income per common stockholder		$	0.03			$	0.07			$	0.05			$	0.65
Basic Non-GAAP net income per common stockholder		$	0.11			$	0.12			$	0.28			$	0.29
Diluted Non-GAAP net income per common stockholder		$	0.11			$	0.10			$	0.26			$	0.26
Weighted average shares outstanding
Basic			71,800,274				53,231,369				67,711,324				49,649,221
Diluted			76,078,563				59,048,821				72,425,863				55,604,866

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171108006458/en/

Investor Contact:
The Blueshirt Group
Allise Furlani or
Brinlea Johnson
212-331-8433
IR@Themeetgroup.com
or
Media
Contact:
The Meet Group, Inc.
Brandyn Bissinger,
267-446-7010
bbissinger@themeetgroup.com

Source: The Meet Group, Inc.