TELUS International reports second quarter 2023 results within previously updated range, and reaffirms revised full-year outlook for 2023

Revenue of $667 million, up 7% year-over-year

Net loss of $7 million, compared with net income of $56 million in the same quarter last year

Diluted EPS of $(0.03), compared with $0.21 in the same quarter last year

Adjusted EBITDA of $120 million, 20% lower year-over-year

Adjusted Diluted EPS of $0.17, 43% lower year-over-year

Vancouver, Canada – TELUS International (NYSE and TSX: TIXT), a leading digital customer experience innovator that designs, builds, and delivers next-generation solutions, including artificial intelligence (AI) and content moderation, for global and disruptive brands, today released its results for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2023. TELUS Corporation (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is the controlling shareholder of TELUS International. All figures in this news release, and elsewhere in TELUS International disclosures, are in U.S. dollars, unless specified otherwise, and relate only to TELUS International results and measures.

“As previously announced on July 13, the second quarter of 2023 marked a challenging operating environment for TELUS International due to meaningful headwinds brought about by pressure in the macroeconomic environment and aggressive near-term cost cutting by certain large clients,” said Jeff Puritt, President and CEO of TELUS International. “Through these challenging times, I sincerely thank our global teams for their resilience and perseverance, and staying committed to our clients and their fellow team members. Despite these meaningful pressures and the resultant delays, our global sales team continued to win incremental business in the second quarter, attracting new logos such as a B2B human resources software company; a multi-utility service provider; a subsidiary of a multinational IT and consulting company; and a facilities-based technology and communications company. We were also successful in expanding the services we provide to many of our existing clients. In the second quarter, this included winning more work with Google — our third largest client; as well as driving incremental volumes with an integrated power company in the US; a leading North American financial institution; a major American telecommunications provider; and a North American integrated retail electricity and power generation company.”

Jeff concluded, “As further demonstration of our team’s sustained efforts, TELUS International continued to secure industry-wide recognition in the second quarter. Notably, for the third consecutive year, our proprietary intelligent Bot Platform was named the Best Informational Bot Solution at the AI Breakthrough Awards, which conducts one of the deepest evaluations of the global AI industry, and this year’s competition included over 3,000 solutions and companies from more than 20 countries. We were also named the Elite 8 winner of the 2023 Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces Award in the category of Purpose and Leadership. And, once again, WillowTree, a TELUS International Company, won a Webby for the app it created in partnership with Meals on Wheels of Charlottesville in the category of Best Public Service and Activism. For me, these highlighted awards are a true representation of our team’s ability to bring our culture to life and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to supporting the well-being of the citizens and the communities where we operate.”

Vanessa Kanu, CFO said, “Our actual results for the second quarter came in within the ranges we released in mid-July. While we continued to grow our top line, our profitability in the second quarter was under pressure, as we carried excess capacity in certain areas of our business where we experienced a volume decline. To mitigate the near-term pressure, we have actioned meaningful cost efficiency efforts involving team member reductions to align our support costs with current demand to drive improvements to our bottom line. While our profitability was under pressure in the quarter, Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA Leverage Ratio as per our credit agreement was 3.0x, which remains within the steady-state range we’ve communicated in the past.”

Vanessa concluded, “We have reduced the risk in our current outlook for the full-year 2023 based on what we know at this time, and it reflects a cautious view on what we see in our pipeline, hear from our clients, and observe in the broader macroeconomic environment. While each quarter’s results undoubtedly matter, we are also keenly focused on building momentum in the months and years ahead. Indeed, we see meaningful go-to-market sales opportunities being created by the proliferation of digital transformation and generative AI where our company is uniquely positioned and credentialed to design, build and deliver differentiated, responsible and market-leading solutions for our clients.”

Complete version of the Earnings Release is available at the link below.