Fathom Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
May 9, 2024

There are 8 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Fadem Holdings First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Alex Kuptan with Gateway Group. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Great. Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone, to Fathom Holdings' Q1 2024 Conference Call. I'm Alex Cuthin with Gateway Group, Fathom's Investor Relations firm. Before I turn things over to the Fathom management team, I would like to remind listeners that today's call may include forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the company's control, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the company's Form 10 ks for the year ended December 31, 2023 and other company filings made with the SEC, copies of which are available on the SEC's website atwww.sec.gov.

Speaker 1

As a result of these as a result of those forward looking statements, actual results could differ materially. Fathom undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statements after today's call except as required by law. Please also note that during this call, we will discuss adjusted EBITDA, which is a non GAAP financial measure as defined by SEC Regulation G. A reconciliation of this non GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is included in today's press release, which is now posted on Fathom's website. With that, I'll turn the call over to Fathom's President and CEO, Marco Fraginal.

Speaker 1

Marco?

Speaker 2

Thank you, Alex. Good afternoon and warm welcome to everyone joining us for our Q1 of 2024 earnings call. I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each one of you for your incredible hard work and dedication, especially in the face of such strong circumstances. Despite the challenging market conditions, our teams have remained steadfast in carrying out the essential work needed to propel us toward our goals for 2024. During our previous earnings call, I outlined 4 key goals for 2024.

Speaker 2

These included enhancing our balance sheet, achieving positive EBITDA and operational cash flow, reinstating agent growth to an annual rate of 20%, twenty 5%, while prioritizing high quality agents and launching additional initiatives to further support our agents in growing their businesses. I am pleased to update you on our progress and announce that the successful completion of our first goal, enhancing our balance sheet. The sale of DAGLY Insurance Agency is a significant milestone in bolstering our financial position. This strategic move enhances our financial stability and positions us well to advance our agent growth strategy for the remainder of the year. The capital infusion from this transaction equips us with the essential resources to confidently tackle any potential challenges.

Speaker 2

Additionally, I am delighted to share that we will continue collaborating with Nathan Dagley and his team to ensure a similar service to our real estate clients. Fathom Realty's agents can expect no disruption in their current working relationship with Daggley. In Q1, we also made progress towards achieving profitability. We saw a meaningful increase in gross profit margin, rising about 160 basis points to 10.3% in Q1 of 2024 from 8.7% in Q1 of 2023. We anticipate this positive trend to continue in the upcoming quarters as we increase revenues from our ancillary businesses, which we have greater gross profit margins.

Speaker 2

Furthermore, in Q1, we made strides in achieving our goal of positive operational cash flow by reducing our operational cash burn to $974,000 from approximately $40,000,000 in Q4 of 2023. FADM's total revenue decreased 9% for the 2024 Q1 to $70,500,000 from 77 point $5,000,000 for the 2023 Q1. Fathom completed 7,703 real estate transactions for the Q1 of 20 24, a decrease of 9.7% compared to 8,532 transactions for the Q1 of 2023. Real estate transactions decreased primarily due to the continuation of high interest rates, especially in the last few weeks of the quarter. Our dedication to expanding market share from legacy brokerage firms throughout the year remained unwavering.

Speaker 2

Notably, we achieved a 13% year over year growth in our agent network. Traditionally, Q1 poses challenges for agent growth across the real estate brokerages, with many low producing agents exiting the industry. Despite this trend, Fathom persevere and our members reflect positive growth strategy going forward. During our last earnings call, I mentioned implementing programs to refine our agent recruitment to high performing agents. The reintroduction of Producer Perks, a tailor to attract high performance agents, is yielding promising early results in Q1 and continuing to early Q2.

Speaker 2

Our sustained efforts in agent referrals, strategic walkovers and the diligent work of our dedicated local managers recruiting teams have driven our growth. Ultimately, we aim to restore our annual agent growth to about 20% to 25% and are encouraged by the progress this quarter towards achieving that goal. It is worth emphasizing that we believe the industry will see brokers consolidation will be prevalent in 2024 2025. We are focused on pursuing opportunities that immediately enhance our business, contribute positively to EBITDA and offer the greatest potential for long term success and sustainability. We will remain opportunistic with our capital deployment in pursuing this opportunity.

Speaker 2

Now let's move on to the ancillary businesses. Despite the challenges faced in the mortgage business in 20 Encompass Lending Group's revenue surged by 55% from $1,500,000 in Q1 of 2023 to $2,300,000 in the most recent quarter. This growth is a testament to the dedication and strategic initiatives implemented by our team in the past quarters. Recognizing the increase in demand within the Latino segment, we launched a dedicated division within Encompass Lending, aligning it closely with our Latino division at Fathom. The early outcomes of this collaboration have been very positive, reaffirming our commitment to serving diverse communities.

Speaker 2

Building on our commitment to support local heroes, we expanded the Hometown Heroes program with over 700 agents now authorized to promote in its partnership with Encompass Lending team. The program's early success underscores its value and we're eager to further its reach. The Q1 of 2024 witnessed 114% increase in file starts compared to the same period last year, signaling strong momentum for ELG. These promising results fuel our optimism for sustained success and growth in the mortgage business going forward. I am pleased to share that April marked a historic milestone for ELG with the highest number of monthly closing in our company's history.

Speaker 2

Given this momentum, we anticipate Encompass Lending will achieve positive EBITDA in the Q2 of this year. While Q4 post challenge for Verast Title, Q1 ushered a much needed growth. Verast Title's revenue surged by 9.5 percent to $652,000 an increase from $595,000 in Q12023. On March 12, we announced the establishment of our first Verastitel joint venture, Verastitel Elite, and its initial results have exceeded expectation. This strategic collaboration is poised to elevate Asian productivity and bolster all stockholders' profitability.

Speaker 2

It represents the first of many such planned joint ventures nationwide, reflecting our commitment to forge an impactful partnership with the local agents to enhance attach rates and overall performance. We're also optimistic about various titles prospects for achieving positive EBITDA in Q2 based on the performance of the Q1. Our title business' positive trajectory underscores our focus on strategic growth initiatives and continue to optimize our ancillary businesses for profitability in the current environment. Now tailored to the current market condition. With a robust pipeline of opportunities, we look forward to returning to the 20% to 25% annual Asian growth in the second half of twenty twenty four.

Speaker 2

At Fathom Realty, we pride ourselves on being a premier destination for Asia. We offer an unmatched value proposition that empowers them to maximize their earnings. Our industry leading flat fee commission split underscores our commitment to agent success in the long term. Our overreaching objective remains clear, establishing Fathom Realty as one of the top 5 brands in every market to serve while continuing to expand our footprint nationwide with the goal of reaching all 50 states by the end of this year. In the coming months, we'll roll out various marketing initiatives and technology enhancements to deliver added value to our agents.

Speaker 2

These efforts should enhance productivity and contribute to our agents' overall success. Now before I pass the call to Joanne, I'd like to touch on the industry lawsuit. While numerous companies have reached settlements since the start of the year, we are currently engaged in active discussions and therefore unable to disclose any specifics at this time. Nevertheless, we're eager to resolve this matter to alleviate investor concerns regarding the potential impact on our business. Our priority is to continue focusing on the future, which we are genuinely enthusiastic Joanne?

Speaker 2

Joanne?

Speaker 3

Thanks, Marco. I will start with a general overview of our Q1 2024 results and will then provide a more detailed review by segment. 1st quarter total revenue was $71,000,000 a 9% decline year over year compared to $78,000,000 for last year's 1st quarter. This net decline included a 10.6% decrease in brokerage revenue, partially offset by a 17 0.1% increase in Fathom's ancillary services revenue, which was particularly attributable to Fathom's mortgage business. Despite the decrease in total revenue, gross profit for the 2024 Q1 increased approximately 7% to $7,200,000 from $6,800,000 for the 2023 1st quarter.

Speaker 3

Gross margin increased approximately 160 basis points for the 2024 Q1 to 10.3% compared to 8.7% for the 2023 Q1. This increase in margin was largely due to our reset of agent fee caps and to an increase in certain agent fees implemented on January 1 of this year. Technology and development expenses were approximately $2,000,000 for the 2024 Q1 compared with $1,600,000 for the Q1 of 2023. The approximate $400,000 increase was primarily due to expansion of our technological operations, higher data and outside service costs and to an approximate $100,000 increase in non cash amortization of cost incurred related to the development of our technology platform. General and administrative expense totaled $9,600,000 for the 2024 Q1 or 13.6 percent of revenue compared with $9,300,000 or 12 percent of revenue for the Q1 of 2023.

Speaker 3

The dollar increase was primarily due to cost incurred to enhance our offshore services team and regional leadership, partially offset by a reduction in insurance costs. Marketing expenses were $600,000 for the Q1 of 2024 compared to $700,000 in the Q1 of 2023. The 16% decrease in marketing expenses was primarily related to leveraging internal resources and to optimizing our advertising expenditure. GAAP net loss for the Q1 2024 was $5,900,000 or a loss of $0.31 per share compared with a net loss of $5,700,000 or a loss of $0.36 per share for the 2023 Q1. Our net loss was slightly higher due to strategic activities noted above and to a net increase in interest expense primarily related to our note payable financing, which occurred in Q2 of 2023, partially offset by our increase in gross margin.

Speaker 3

Adjusted EBITDA loss, a non GAAP measure, was $1,500,000 in the 2024 Q1, which was relatively constant versus adjusted EBITDA loss of $1,400,000 for the Q1 in 2023. We, the Fathom team, are very focused continuing our improved margins and strategic discretionary spend in order to achieve and maintain positive adjusted EBITDA. Now I'll spend some time reviewing our business segment results in more detail. Revenue for the Real Estate division was approximately $65,400,000 in the 1st quarter compared to $73,200,000 for the same period last year, which represents a 10.7% decline primarily attributable to a 9.7% decrease in transaction volume. We saw 7,703 real estate transactions during the 3 months ended March 31, 2024 compared to 8,532 transactions during the 3 months ended March 31, 2020 3.

Speaker 3

Our transaction volume decreased primarily due to higher interest rates. However, the negative impact of rising interest rates on transaction volume was lessened due to the 13% expansion in our agent base. During the 3 months ended March 31, 2024, average revenue per transaction was $8,488 a 1% decrease compared to 8,576 dollars during the 3 months ended March 31, 2023, primarily attributable to a small decrease in commission percentages. Gross profit margin for our Real Estate division increased to 6.5% in the 2024 Q1, compared to 5.5% in the 2023 Q1. This increase in margin was largely due to our brokerage transaction fee cap resetting at the beginning of the year to $150 on each of the first 15 of an agent's brokerage transactions.

Speaker 3

In addition to our increasing our agent's annual fee from $600 to $700 and implementing our new high value property fee commencing January 1, 2024. Adjusted EBITDA in the Real Estate division was approximately $800,000 in Q1 of 2024, a decrease of $500,000 compared to adjusted EBITDA of $1,300,000 in Q1 of 2023. This was largely due to the commencement of internal charges from our technology division to Fathom Realty for transaction management and CRM services provided. We are very excited about the significant improvement made in our mortgage business. Mortgage revenue grew to $2,300,000 in Q1, 2024 compared to $1,500,000 in Q1 of 2023.

Speaker 3

This revenue growth was essentially driven by our strategic increase in our loan officer base. Our base of principal loan officers has increased to 55, up from 34 in the previous year. Q1 twenty 24 file start loan volume was up 114% compared to Q1 2023. Mortgage adjusted EBITDA for Q1 twenty 4 improved to a loss of $500,000 compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $600,000 for the same period last year. DIA, our insurance business generated revenues of $1,400,000 for the 2024 Q1 compared to $1,600,000 for the same quarter in 2023.

Speaker 3

DIA had positive adjusted EBITDA of $100,000 for the 20 24 1st quarter, down from $400,000 for the 2023 Q1, primarily due to a decline of bonuses received from insurance carriers. As we have previously shared, we sold our DIA business on May 3 for approximately $8,000,000 in upfront cash and an additional $7,000,000 over the next 24 months. Our Q2 P and L will reflect an approximate $2,200,000 gain from disposition. This transaction provides us with the cash to fuel our growth strategy. We're very appreciative of the DIA team and all they have done for And we look forward to our continued collaboration to further elevate the insurance offerings and services available to our Fathom Realty agents and clients.

Speaker 3

Verus Title had revenues of $700,000 for Q1 2024 compared to $600,000 for Q1 2023, an increase of 9.3%. Ferris Title's adjusted EBITDA for the 2024 Q1 was a negative $200,000 compared to a negative $300,000 for Q1 2023. New open orders in Q1 tilted more to higher margin states, which bodes well for revenue potential in the near future. We anticipate that our new Texas joint venture, which commenced business in early Q2, twenty twenty four and similar future joint ventures with our top producing real estate agents will also add meaningful revenues and adjusted EBITDA for our title business. Moving to our Technology segment, Revenues increased to $1,100,000 in Q1 2024, inclusive of approximately 300,000 in internal charges to Fathom Realty for transaction management and CRM services.

Speaker 3

We are continuously building enhancements to our technology platform to better serve our agents and drive revenues. In regards to our balance sheet, we continue to keenly focus on our balance sheet given the dynamic real estate market conditions. We ended the quarter with approximately 6,000,000 dollars of cash on hand, which combined with the cash from our sale of BIA, as noted, that was $8,000,000 in cash received upfront and $7,000,000 in cash to be received over the next 24 months. We are strongly positioned to implement our growth strategy and to achieve and maintain positive adjusted EBITDA. Now for our guidance for the Q2 of 2024.

Speaker 3

For the Q2 of 2024, Fathom expects total revenue in the range of $86,000,000 to $89,000,000 and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $200,000 to $500,000

Speaker 2

dollars With that, I will turn the call

Speaker 3

back over to Marco for closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Joanne. We remain focused on execution and we're taking the necessary steps to better position Fathom in the current environment and in preparation for the second half of this year. I wanted to thank the entire team at Fathom on its hard work as we navigate this market and continue to serve our clients. With that, operator, let's open the call for questions.

Operator

Your first question comes from John Campbell with Stephens. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Hey, guys. Good afternoon.

Speaker 2

Hey John, how are you?

Speaker 4

I am well, I am well. Thank you. Thanks for taking our questions. A couple here. On the first one, maybe if we could touch on Dagley, the full year impact on the P and L you're expecting and then maybe if you could parse out the impact on the 2Q guidance?

Speaker 2

Sure. For the P and L for the remaining of the year, it will be compared to last year, it will be a reduction $1,400,000 in EBITDA compared to last year, because we do have the Q1 into our numbers, right? And then and in terms of revenue, it would be about a $3,000,000 to $40,000,000 impact in terms of our top line revenue. Okay. In terms of our guidance for our guidance does include not included DIA, right, because we say it's no longer part of their business.

Speaker 2

So if we did have DIA, it would have an extra about $400,000 in EBITDA, something like that. And so that will be the impact on EBITDA in Q2. So as we guide in between 200,000 500,000 dollars we feel that even with the not including DIA, as we had previously discussed, we feel very positive about achieving positive EBITDA for Q2.

Speaker 4

Okay. That's helpful. And then on gross margin, I might I guess I'm doing the math wrong here, but I'm showing a 13.2% gross margin. I think you guys had I think you mentioned 10.3% and I think in the press release it was also 10.3%. Am I do I have that wrong?

Speaker 2

So yes, when you look at gross margin, you have to reduce remove 2 costs. I know this figure, you have to remove the commission and other agent related costs and then the operation and support. Operation and support are direct costs. When you add those two costs and then you subtract from total revenue, then you get the gross margin.

Speaker 4

Okay. Okay. We've been doing this, just the commission cost.

Speaker 5

Okay. That makes sense.

Speaker 2

Yes. Yes. The operational support costs are the direct costs for all the other ancillary businesses.

Speaker 4

Okay. I think you've got some competitors out there who tend to just do the commission related costs. So that makes sense.

Speaker 2

Yes. I would say that we're trying to be more transparent.

Speaker 4

Yes, I totally get that. Okay, so help us out on the trajectory of gross margins here. I know you've got fee increases that obviously came January 1. Maybe if you could parse out the impact in the quarter and then kind of broadly how you expect things to play out the rest of the year?

Speaker 2

Yes. So the impact additional fees is about $300,000 or so in additional revenue for the quarter. We do expect that gross profit margins will increase for the rest of the year, primarily due to several things. One is that the ancillary business will continue to grow and they have a higher gross profit dollar, right, per transaction. So that's number 1.

Speaker 2

2nd, in Q1, we still had transactions that closed the old annual fee because the way the annual fee is calculated. And so are we getting to Q2, we're going to have a much higher number of transactions that will close with additional high value fees as well as additional extra $100 for the annual fee. So Q2, a higher percentage of transactions will close with the additional fees. And then of course, as we close more business in mortgage and title, it will also have a positive impact in gross margin. So we do anticipate gross profit margins to increase from the 10.3% going forward.

Speaker 4

Okay. That's great to hear. Thanks for the time, guys.

Speaker 2

Thank you, John.

Operator

The next question comes from Raj Sharma with B. Riley. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Hi, My first question, Marco, is on Dagley. I know you just addressed the EBITDA impact. Just a bigger sort of question, why sell it? I understand that it's for liquidity, but would that does that imply that other divisions would be up for disposition as well? Yes.

Speaker 2

Hey, Raj. Thank you for your question.

Operator

Your next question comes from Jaron Aftahi

Speaker 2

with Roth E.

Operator

K. M. Please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Can you guys hear me?

Speaker 3

We couldn't Marco. You need to repeat what you said.

Speaker 2

So I'm so sorry. Let me answer Raj's question first and then I'll take Darren's question. So, so Raj, we just felt that the resources that were available to us with the sale of DIA or DAGLY, they could be utilized in a way that would give a much higher return to our stockholders. And so we just felt that the capital could be much better implemented in that way. 2nd, our partnership with Debit continues and our agents and clients are not going to have any deterioration in terms of services.

Speaker 2

So we just felt it was the best combination of putting our assets in a way to give the best return possible to our stockholders at the same time continue the level of service that we wanted to provide our clients. So we just felt that was the best way to do

Speaker 5

that.

Operator

Thank you. Please go ahead with the question, Darren.

Speaker 2

Yes. Okay.

Speaker 5

Hey, can you hear me?

Speaker 2

Yes, we can. Hey, Dylan. How are you?

Speaker 5

Good. How are you? Yes. I just wanted to ask about agent productivity. Have the agents you've added so far this year based on what you might know about them, are they tending to skew higher than sort of your more legacy base, meaning like are they more productive on a like for like agent basis?

Speaker 2

So what happened is sometime mid last year, we stopped our producer perks program, which is really focused on higher producing agents. We just felt like we had good momentum. And clearly, that hurt us a little bit at the second half of last year, the kind of agents we started recruiting. So we reinstituted the producer perks program and a variety of other different programs in terms of really being focused on higher producing agents. And the early signs for Q1 show us that we are absolutely recruiting a higher percentage of producing agents, which by the way is what we did in the beginning of last year, right?

Speaker 2

So it is clear that a number of transactions has the lack of focus on higher producing has hurt us a little in Q1. But the reality is that the early results of the agents that we're bringing on board are higher producing agents. And I think that by late Q2 and certainly by Q3, we're going to see a higher productivity for agents based on the programs that we implemented.

Speaker 5

Great. Thank you. If I could ask a follow-up just on the insurance.

Speaker 3

You mentioned in the press release

Speaker 5

and again today that you guys are still going to work with Dagley. Can you just sort of explain how that works? Or is it is there just not a financial benefit to it anymore, but your agents still have the relationship?

Speaker 2

Yes. The relationship will continue as we provide clients to them that they can help. It is not a it is part of the deal, the transaction that will continue to do that. And we're certainly looking forward to do it. The Dagly team led by Nathan has done a great job and continue to do a great job.

Speaker 2

Many, many of our clients and agents have saved a great deal of money in insurance. And so we're really excited about continuing that relationship. But basically the relationship will continue from the perspective that we'll continue to send them business and therefore giving great value to our clients and to our agents. So we're very excited about that.

Speaker 5

Great. Thanks for taking my questions. I'll pass

Operator

Your next question comes from Tom White with D. A. Davidson. Please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Hey, this is Wyatt on for Tom. Thanks for taking our questions. I had one on whether you could give some color into what you're seeing so far in 2Q related to agent productivity and just the overall market? Sure.

Speaker 2

Thank you for your question. So a couple of things. So we gave guidance for Q2 and a significant change from our Q1 in terms of EBITDA, right, from the loss of about $1,500,000 to guidance of positive between $200,000 $500,000 So we are seeing seasonality. We're certainly seeing seasonality coming back to the market. And so we anticipate a higher number of transaction closing, which will lead us to a positive EBITDA.

Speaker 2

Moreover, we're also seeing the seasonality in our mortgage business and in our title business. So this is all in the real estate side. So all three parts of our business, we anticipate all three of them to be positive EBITDA for Q2, which is an exciting time for us given the Q1 results. We certainly look forward to being positive adjusted EBITDA in terms of that. In terms of agent productivity, yes, we are seeing agent productivity picking up in part two reasons.

Speaker 2

One is just seasonality, right? Q2 and Q3 are higher transaction quarters. We're also seeing people, clients and buyers really adjusting to what their interest rates are. Actually interest rates have come down this morning, I believe, to 7.09%. And so I think buyers are getting their heads around that.

Speaker 2

These are the interest rates and I have to buy a house. And so there is a level of a greater acceptance from buyers. It is still a tough market, but we are seeing a great acceptance from buyers in terms of that. And that's why we're seeing all three of our businesses going to have significant improvements in Q2. So productivity is going to increase in part because of seasonality and in part because we are recruiting higher agents in Q1 and going into Q2 as well.

Speaker 7

Got it. Okay. That's really helpful. Thank you. And then I have one related to the various title joint venture.

Speaker 7

Could you just talk a bit about how that's going? I think you mentioned it in the prepared remarks, but just how it's been going so far?

Speaker 2

Yes. So we announced the joint venture in mid Q1. The company started April 1. And yes, we were very we've been very pleased with our results thus far in terms of number of agents interested, numbers that joined the JV. We believe that the Texas JV is going to have a significant impact on our EBITDA.

Speaker 2

This is why we haven't made a statement that we are going to look at doing many of these across the country, right? It is part of the partnership with our agents and it helps our agents earn more income and helps fathom earn more income. So we look forward to implementing more of these partnerships across the country. But the early results of the JV have been very, very promising. And that's why we made the statement that we are looking into doing other JVs across the country.

Speaker 2

And I think by the end of the year, there will be several more JVs across different states for Paris.

Speaker 7

Great. Okay. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

Of course. You're welcome. Thank you.

Operator

The next question is a follow-up question from Raj Sharma with B. Riley. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Yes. Hi. Thank you for putting me back online. Mark, I wanted to understand the agent growth has been really hard, tough. And what are you expecting the next few what could we expect in the next few quarters?

Speaker 6

Do you think there'd be acquisitions of small groups? And the change in fees, has that impacted agent growth at all?

Speaker 2

So great question. What the fee let's talk about the fees first. And when we implemented the fees, we know that it would have a little bit of a negative impact. So we did lose some agents because of the fees. And that would be a normal thing and that happened in Q4, which had part of the negative impact in Q1 was related to losing some agents, not many, but we lost some agents who who were higher producing agents.

Speaker 2

And again, we anticipated that. As we look at the market, we made the statement, we are seeing an enormous amount of activity in the market in terms of M and A, small brokerages, teams, and including large brokers as well. So there is a great deal of activity in terms of that. We do anticipate that Q2 I'm sorry, Q3, it will be Q3 and Q4 be significant in terms of Asia growth. And that's our goal.

Speaker 2

If I we discussed that, our goal is to return to 20% to 25% agent growth at least. And we believe that we will do that in Q2 I'm sorry, in Q3, second half of the year. And that's related to just the activity. Now I want to be very clear that we're going to be we're going to do this in a very intelligent way and we're going to do this in a very careful way. And so we're going to be very opportunistic on how we do that.

Speaker 2

But we do believe that we'll have a number of walkovers as well as some small M and A activity happening in the second half of the year. We will make sure that not only these are impactful in terms of EBITDA, they'll certainly all be accretive. And we have a positive impact in terms of the profitability of the business. But Raj, there is a lot of activity, and we anticipate some of this taking place in the second half of this year.

Speaker 6

The operating cash burn, I understand now you obviously have plenty of cash from the transaction. But your positive EBITDA, what is that for the Q2, is there a guidance for the operating cash flow?

Speaker 2

No, not at this point. I mean, we our operational cash burn in Q1 was about, I believe, 974,000 dollars and with a negative EBITDA by 1.5. So you can kind of deduct the difference in the other costs, right? We think that our EBITDA will be in the $200,000 to $500,000 So we do anticipate some small cash burn in Q2, but we certainly are working hard to minimize that as much as possible. So your comment is accurate that we have plenty of cash now to run the business, but not only to run the business, but to grow the business.

Speaker 2

And we're very excited about that. We think, again, the second half of this year is going to be very meaningful to Fathom in terms of not only growing the Realty business, but growing the mortgage and the title business as well. There are also we talk about walkovers for the real estate business, but there are plenty of walkovers for the mortgage business as well and for the title business. And this is one of the reasons, by the way, why ELG has significantly increased its revenue and we forecast positive EBITDA in Q2. It is because of the significant increase in loan offices, right?

Speaker 2

As Joanne pointed out, we increased the number of loan office into the business, which led into more business, right? And so we are looking at a market that has the potential for growth in terms of walkovers in all three facets of our business. And that's why we feel enthusiastic about the future.

Speaker 6

Great. Thank you for answering my questions. I'll take it offline. Thanks.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. This does conclude our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back to Marco for any closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you for joining our call today and for your interest in Fathom. For those of you who are Fathom's shareholders, thank you for your trust in us. We'll continue to work hard and look forward to sharing future updates with you. Have a wonderful week. Thank you all.

Operator

Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

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Fathom Q1 2024
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