Welcome to the Rimini Street Earnings Call. My name is Daryl, and I’ll be the operator for today’s call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn the call over to Dean Pohl, Dean, you may begin.

Thank you, operator. I’d like to welcome everyone to Rimini Street’s Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2021 Earnings Conference Call. On the call with me today is Seth Ravin, our CEO; and Michael Perica, our CFO. Today, we issued our earnings press release for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, a copy of which can be found on our website under Investor Relations. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures has been provided in the table following the financial statements in the press release. An explanation of these measures and why we believe they are meaningful is also included in the press release under the heading about non-GAAP financial measures and certain key metrics. As a reminder, today’s discussion will include forward-looking statements that reflect our current outlook. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from statements made today. We encourage you to review our most recent SEC filings, including our Form 10-K for fiscal year of 2021 filed earlier today. For a discussion of risks that may affect, our future results or stock price. Also, we recently asked results complete an IR reception survey of Investors and Analysts. And we want to thank, all of you, who were able to participate and provider valuable feedback. We are evaluating the results and we'll be sure to take all the feedback into consideration as we move forward into our fifth year as a public company. Now before taking questions, we will begin prepared remarks. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Seth.

Thank you, Dean, and thank you everyone for joining us today Q4 and fiscal year 2021 results. For the fourth quarter and full year 2021, we achieved a unique combination of record revenue exceeding our guidance, margin expansion, strong revenue retention and cash flow generation. Also, during 2021, we completed significant capital market transactions that materially reduced outstanding debt, our cost of capital and potential equity dilution and generated significant cash ending 2021 with record cash of $119.6 billion. Taking these additional factors into consideration. Today, we announced the stock repurchase plan above the $15 million to further increase shareholder value. Michael will provide more of the plan details in his prepared remarks. From an operations perspective, we significantly expanded our full year gross margin by delivering innovation that provides cost leverage, and an even more extraordinary client experience. Innovations include proprietary patented and patent pending AI and machine learning tools and technology. The implementation of just one AI tool alone, for example, has already led to an average 23% improvement in client case resolution time since its introduction in April 2021. Further differentiating ourselves for the extraordinary client experience, we once again in the fourth quarter closed more than 9,700 support cases delivered more than 31,000 tax legal and regulatory updates for 32 countries and achieved an average client satisfaction rating on the company support delivery and client onboarding services of 4.9 out of 5.0, where 5.0 is excellent. We believe our unique client experience and very high client satisfaction rating will drive increase loyalty, improved retention rates and higher cross sales. Since Rimini's inception in 2005, we have signed more than 4,600 clients, including over 180 Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 100 companies and saved our clients more than $5 billion. We added a net of 56 and…

Thank you, Seth and good afternoon everyone. Q4 and fiscal year 2021 results, revenue for the fourth quarter was $99.3 million and full your revenue was $374.4 million, a year-over-year increase of 13% and 14.6%, respectively. Annualized recurring revenue was $393 million, a year over year increase of 12.6%. Revenue retention rate for service subscriptions, which makes up 98.7% of our revenue was 92%, with more than 80% of subscription revenue, non cancelable for at least 12 months on a rolling basis. For the fourth quarter and full year, clients within the United States represented 53% of total revenue, while international clients contributed 47%. Aggregate year-over-year revenue growth in the United States was 7.7% for the fourth quarter, and 4.4% for the full year, while growth for international clients was 19.6% for the fourth quarter and 29% for the full year. On a cash flow basis, for full year 2021, we generated $67 million of operating cash flow, up 59% from the prior year. The increase was driven by strong renewals, and by robust multi-year client prepayments. We are quite pleased with our cash flow yield of 17.9% for the year as our focus on maintaining significant operating cash flow generation, combined with our drastically reduced cost of capital provides us with the ability to take advantage of key strategic opportunities that were not previously feasible. Billings for the fourth quarter were $155.9 million compared to $140.5 million for the prior year, an increase of 11% and full year billings were $417.8 million compared to $348.2 million, an increase of 20%. Multi-year prepayments for both renewals and for new client invoicing were strong throughout the year. Gross margin was 65.1% for the fourth quarter and 63.6% for the full year 2021, which is well above our initial and upwardly revised…

And thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] And we do have a question from Brian Kinstlinger. Go ahead, Brian.

Great, thanks so much. So the revenue guidance for the first quarter implies about a 3% to 4% decline from the December quarter. During the last five years I checked revenue only declined sequentially during that time period one-time. So I'm curious, is that a result of a lost client? Is it lower pricing, or any other details you can provide would be helpful?

Sure, Brian. Seth, I'll take that. We took a look at a couple things. One, we wanted to be a little more conservative than the guidance we've provided in the past. We did this rebel survey, the perception survey relative to the – both the analysts and the investors. And we're really trying to get ourselves positioned for a consistent beat and raise model. On top of that, we're looking at world events obviously, we have some very known issues that are happening between sanctions reverberations around the world with the Ukrainian war, coupled with still having some challenges with COVID around the world, especially in Asia Pacific. So we felt it was just better to be a little conservative, and be in a position to walk up over the course of the year. And you've seen that not only the quarter guidance being conservative, but the annual guidance for 2022. We took a more conservative position as well.

Okay. And then in terms of sales execution, you mentioned, it's already beginning to get better from the fourth quarter to the third quarter. But the biggest sales period, where you see the most demand and opportunity is ahead, I think two quarters ahead. What gives you the confidence that this team is that much stronger, or that the sales execution will be much stronger when you see the grant of the pipeline addressable?

So I think a few things, Brian, we've got first, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we've got more large deals in various stages of sales process than we've ever had as a company. So that's data point number one. And number two, as we talked about with the third quarter, we had a lot of people out on the field who hadn't had enough experience and had fumbled the ball in terms of being able to bring the deal home. But it wasn't just the sales reps that didn't have experience, we were missing a lot of key sales management to support all those players on the field. And if you look at what we announced in the last couple days, even this morning, the merger to the Americas Theatre, we added some additional GMs that we had empty positions for we're about to fill, we believe the last of those GM positions. We hired a new CMO. Our transition of marketing to being an inbound marketing organization is proceeding. So, all the data points relative to the challenges of the third quarter. We see those as being remediated, we see improvement. Again, we saw incremental improvement in the sales performance in the fourth quarter in terms of sales productivity. So, we're maturing the team gaining experience, the leaders are gaining experience in closing deals. We closed a lot of great logos all across the world, across the product lines. So, I think all of that is giving us good confidence that we are continuing to move in the right direction of maturing a team that can deliver the kind of numbers that we want to see in 2022.

Great last question I've got and I'll get back in the queue is its marginal and while it's still super retention rate, I think in the fourth quarter was 90%. And that's by 1% or 2%, maybe even 3%, one of the lowest you've had and eight quarters or so that's something to think about materially, did you lose a customer? Was there a merger that happened? Anything -- or would you suggest 90%, isn't all that material compared to what you've been for a while at 92%?

Well, we actually weren't 92% It was over -- during part of the prepared comments, it was over 90%, but it was actually 92% for the trailing 12 months of December 31, 2021 and 2020. So, it was -- actually it was on par.

Okay. All right. Thank you.

Sure. Thanks Brian.

And our next question comes from Jeff Van Rhee. Go ahead Jeff.

Great, thanks for taking the questions. And love the cash flow and some good progress there on margins as well. I guess on the sales side, I want to revisit the prior question a little bit more, you talked to both recruiting in terms of incremental heads, where you are in an absolute sense and how many you've been able to attract? How the retention is going? We all know, very, very tough market to find sales talent, you're looking for a very unique skillset. You got a lot of moving parts on the leadership side, just what are you seeing in terms of the recruiting and retention? Maybe start there.

Sure, Jeff. Hi. Thought you were going to lead with our capital return program. I think a lot of people will be excited about. I think the recruiting is tough, there's no doubt about that, everyone is facing that. I do know that across all your checks. I think that we ended the quarter on a sales rep basis around 78, 79 heads compared to the prior 12 months ago period, which is about 69. So, roughly 12%, 13% increase in total heads. But I think that that's not the real measure as much as the quality and the quantitative aspects. We've hired some great people on the sales side. We've been adding in a lot of sales management talent across the world, especially North America, and you saw the numbers came up. And you knew that I was aiming for a 10% exit out the -- of north and after the US market, coming out of the year. We came out at 7% at the end of the quarter, so that was good. We're moving in the right direction compared to where we were flat. So, I do think that the metrics are supporting that this management team, the hires are kicking in very nicely in an incremental way as they get better. So, I think the recruiting has been okay, it's tough, but we are getting good people in the door. And we're getting them trained up. And I think that, as we pointed out in the third quarter, it was really the 10-year level, that we know that people who are with us 18 months or more regenerating 90% plus attainment numbers. And that was starkly higher than those less than 18 months in tenure. And it was black and white between the two. And as we've talked about, and as we've mentioned on prior calls, one of our key objectives of sales enablement is to bring down that ramp time that 18 months is a long ramp to get to that sort of 90% plus attainment number. We're trying to get that down below a year, which will allow us to accelerate revenue much faster.

Yes. And that was going to be my follow on, just in terms of the reps. I know you've swapped out a lot of talent, brought a lot of new talent in, Is there any evidence of that yet? Are we still thinking, let's just leave it at 18 months? And we'll see or have you seen some cohorts that are showing signs of faster ramp?

I think, we're still in that 16 months to 18 months. I don't think we've seen that come down dramatically yet. But we are seeing that. I think an important data point is, we have seen that our new reps, which we believe are bringing in some great talent has been closing their first deals faster than we've had in prior times. So I do think that that's a positive note. And that does bode well for believing that we can bring the ramp down from that 18 months, because once a seller gets a full deal cycle under their belt, they know how to talk to the right people. They know how to get a contract done. They know how to get a closing done with a client. That's a huge step forward. Obviously, the second deal is easier than the first, you're learning procedurally. So I think the fact that we're getting sellers to close those first deals earlier bodes well for bringing down at 18 months.

And anything you can share the S&M numbers, I mean, obviously, wages are up. But also, beyond that, it looks like overall spending up, can you give us a sense of where you think you're going to end on that hiring front?

In terms of I think, for the year, we're -- yes, we're aiming between 95 and 100 heads for 2022. And, you know, we've moderated a little bit, because we've been focusing more on productivity per head. And yes, you're right, I mean, sales -- the sales comp has gone over the last few years from about a 240 OTE, 260, 280. And you're right now around $300,000 a year for a $2.2 million quota. So yes, it has gone up. But most of it, especially for us, because we're 50-50 generally around the world between base and incentive comp, you're really performance based on that. So you're not going to feel all of that coming through unless they're truly bringing in that type of quota.

Yep. Great. And if I could just sneak one other in there. Obviously, again, a lot of new leadership and marketing is another focus area for you. You commented on the late the large deal pipeline setting records. I wonder if you comment on the overall value of the pipeline. And also in the context of where that organization is, I mean, because they got new leadership, they're going to be in a position where there's not enough getting stuffed in the top of the funnel, even if you have the reps. So maybe just those two questions there.

Yes, I think, Jeff, there isn't anybody would ever tell you, they wouldn't love more pipe. But I do think the diversity of pipe, the breadth of pipe, it really depends on the region. We strive for ideally a 4x pipeline, a lot of companies strive for a 3x. We like a 4x, I would say, some regions are around that, some are a little less than that. It's a little bit lumpy. But I think that, with the procedures, we're putting in place between marketing in the pipeline management systems, and the execution discipline we're putting in. I feel really good that the combination of the changes we're making at marketing, the local regional marketing people we've put in place. We've up leveled our marketing around the world. I believe the combination of those will get us a nice healthy 4x pipeline, across and consistently. It's going to take us probably another quarter or two with the new marketing programs by the time you run through, generally six months to a year to pull-through a deal from beginning lead all the way through close. So my sense is, yeah, we're going to get to the 4x.

Great. Appreciate it. Thanks.

Sure. Thanks.

And our next question comes from Derrick Wood. Go ahead, Derrick.

Great. Thanks, guys. It's Andrew on for Derrick. Congrats on the strong quarter. Maybe just on the announcement today on the America's theater change, maybe just walk us through that decision and – and how this is – this should improve performance in the US and the timeframe for achieving that?

Sure. What we've done is we've been taking several steps. And I think you've seen that we, as you know, are focused on a balance between profitability, cash flow, building strong cash position, and, and growth. And that's always been a balance. It's always been our goal is to be in between we're not a growth at all cost company. And I think that's paid off as you're seeing in the massive balance sheet switch to – to really having a net cash position. It's very strong. So I think all of that's been playing out well. We've also been focused on growth and scale. And when we think about as we head towards this billion dollar target, and 20% plus operating profit. We're looking at structures and as you would expect. We're looking for economies of scale. And one of those we just took care of in last couple months, which was we integrated our Europe, Eastern European and Israeli theater with them EMEA. So now it's all under just the EMEA umbrella. And we're reducing redundant positions and infrastructure that comes with each theater, because each theater has its own operation, their modified P&L. And we took a look at North America. We took a look at Latin America. And like a lot of other companies, they operate with single America's leadership. And we felt that we could, again, cut costs, we could integrate, get better efficiencies, by combining those theatres and be in a position to really offer our clients a far broader regional team of expertise. And that's a really important part, as you know with our extraordinary client experience goal. So it really is a win-win for us all around. And we're going to continue to look for opportunities to consolidate and bring scale into the organization.

Great. It looks like the international growth slowed a little bit anything to call out there and how should we think about that growth this year?

Yeah. For the fourth quarter, it was down a little bit. I think part of that is really, if you break it down when we had some FX components to it, but you're talking about a $4 million difference generally versus what would have been a standard 29%, 30% type number. But we also saw the fact that we had flow through revenue from the third quarter that we didn't get, and that flowed through and of course, that acted as a deficit against the fourth quarter revenue on a ratable basis. So the combination between those really, we believe led to that particular number. But we don't see it as -- it's not a trend. It's just -- it’s a particular quarter.

Okay, great. And then the slip deals from last quarter, it’s kind of like we had a pretty strong big deal quarter. Did those close in the quarter, or if not, are they still in play?

Well, as we mentioned, for the fourth quarter, we closed the second largest deal in our history and that was in the Americas, by the way, again, just part of America rising again. And on the other side of it, we did have a slip deal of very large one from the fourth quarter that moved into the first quarter. That's an international deal. And yes, it did close.

Right. That's it for me. Thanks, guys.

Thank you.

And we have no more questions at this time. I'd like to turn it back to you the speakers for closing comments.

Well, that's great. Thank you very much there. Appreciate that. And thank you, everybody. Please stay safe out there. If we have additional follow-up questions, please contact our IR team. We'll be happy to follow through with those questions. And we'll look forward to seeing everybody on the first quarter call coming up pretty soon. Thank you very much, everyone. Have a good day.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.