All amounts in this news release are in United States dollars.
In 2015, Intermap's focus was on the continued development of its Orion Platform®, and the closing of a large Spatial Data Infrastructure ("SDI") contract. The Company's Orion Platform is an integral part of any SDI project and Intermap considers itself a leader in SDI capabilities.
"During 2015 we conducted our business in a conservative manner while focusing on the activities that would make us a leader in SDI capabilities across the world. We made advancements in our Orion Platform software, our data aggregation capabilities, our IFSAR data collection technology, and in our professional services competencies," said Todd Oseth, President & CEO of Intermap. "This investment enabled the Company to receive the largest contract in its history, valued at $175 million. It also creates a building block for SDI contracts in future periods. These large SDI projects typically have initial delivery periods of two to three years, and are designed to generate recurring revenue streams for years to follow. We believe the Company's internal investment during 2015 was necessary to position the Company for future success."
Orion Platform: Intermap's Orion Platform is a Platform-as-a-Service ("PaaS") offering that provides business and administrative personnel the ability to obtain answers from spatial data without the intercession of GIS experts. Orion software provides data management, spatial analytics and reporting capability that serves the intersection of business analytics with GIS. Intelligent Queries ("IQ's"), a feature of Orion, provides users with specific answers derived from spatial and location-based data at the push of a button.
SDI: An SDI program is the combination of several components, all working together, to allow people across governments, organizations, and the general public to analyze and share spatial data and solutions. The key components of an SDI include technology, policies, people, processes, and resources – collectively working together in acquiring, processing and delivering location-based intelligence answers. When designed and implemented well, an SDI can facilitate economic development, infrastructure growth, security, and safety to a nation. Further to this, an SDI can drive the creation of a comprehensive national base map and an integrated geospatial data operating environment.
The Company believes that an SDI can be essential to the successful completion of major infrastructure projects and economic growth in developing nations, and can enable projects such as fiber optic telecommunications lines; expansion of hydroelectric power and build out of the power grid; planning and building of new roads and railroads; expansion of mining and hydrocarbon exploration; national security; tax revenue growth; and protection of the environment.
An SDI project can support governments with the creation of a comprehensive, three dimensional (3D) digital infrastructure that can be used to model and plan for a number of infrastructure, economic, and catastrophic circumstances. An SDI can enable multiple government and commercial uses, and can provide actionable economic related decisions in the areas of natural resources exploration (agriculture, forestry, hydroelectricity, mining, oil and gas), environment, education, transportation, communications, health, and security.
An SDI can also provide the analysis and dissemination of information for government agencies to proactively respond to identified needs of major development projects. A strong SDI originates with a foundation of accurate digital geospatial layers, real-time analytics, and location-based answers.
Financial Review
"For the year 2015, Intermap remained between major governmental contracts, resulting in reduced sales and operational performance. However, the year 2016 should be a transformative year with the anticipated commencement of a recently announced $175 million SDI contract, which should lead to greatly improved operational performance for the Company. Additionally, our sales opportunities for future SDI's and our risk management software foothold continues to grow stronger," said Mr. Oseth.
For the fourth quarter 2015, Intermap reported total revenue of $3.2 million, compared to $1.1 million last year. Mapping services revenue in the fourth quarter was $0.4 million, compared to $0.6 million last year. Data licensing revenue was $2.2 million, compared to $0.5 million last year. Software revenue was slightly higher at $0.6 million, compared to $0.5 million last year. As of December 31, 2015, there remained $1.2 million in backlog contracts to be recognized in future periods.
For the fourth quarter 2015 and 2014, personnel expense was $2.3 million and $3.0 million, respectively. The decrease is primarily due to decreases in headcount on a year-over-year basis.
For the fourth quarter 2015, purchased services and materials expense was $0.1 million, a decrease from $1.0 million last year. The decrease was primarily due to a royalty accrual reversal of $0.7 million during 2015. Purchased services and materials includes (i) aircraft related costs (ii) professional and consulting costs (iii) third-party support services related to the collection, processing and editing of the Company's airborne data collection activities, and (iv) software expenses (including maintenance and support). For the fourth quarter 2015, travel expense was $40.0 thousand, slightly lower than last year, and facilities and other expenses was $0.4 million, also slightly lower than the previous year.
Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP and IFRS financial measure, was $0.2 million, compared with negative $3.5 million last year. Adjusted EBITDA excludes share-based compensation expense, gain or loss on the disposal of equipment, asset impairment charges, and gain or loss on foreign currency translation.
For the year ended December 31, 2015, Intermap reported total revenue of $8.6 million, compared to $8.3 million recorded in 2014. Mapping services revenue for the year was $3.8 million compared to $2.9 million last year. Data licensing revenue was $3.1 million compared to $3.3 million last year. 3DBI software applications revenue was $1.3 million compared to $1.2 million last year. Professional services revenue was $0.4 million compared to $0.9 million last year.
For the year ended December 31, 2015, personnel expense was $11.0 million compared to $12.1 million last year. The 10% year-over-year decrease in personnel expense is primarily due to decreases associated with fewer personnel in all of the Company's locations.
