News

LBG Media plc, the UK-based multi-brand, multi-channel digital youth publisher, is pleased to report its results for the half year ended 30 June 2022. During the period, the Group delivered a robust performance, both operationally and financially, against a challenging macro environment, and continued to grow its global audience and content views.

OVERVIEW

Financial Highlights

•  Revenue of £24.8m (HY21: £23.0m), up 8% YoY, compared with a strong prior year, where revenue grew 133% in HY21.
• Direct revenue increased by 11% to £10.6m (HY21: £9.5m) driven by strong growth in the Group’s international operations, most notably its Australia business.
• Indirect revenue grew by 4% to £13.6m (HY21: £13.1m). The significant growth in the volume of views continued in HY22, up 38% vs the prior year period, reflecting growth in market share. As previously stated, this has been offset by a reduced revenue per view across the platforms as a result of the current economic environment.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ of £1.6m (HY21: £7.3m), down 78% YoY, and move to statutory loss before tax (HY21: profit), primarily due to investment into people in H2 2021 to increase content and views across our brands and drive growth into the future, along with increased spend on physical marketing events that did not go ahead in the prior year due to Covid-19 restrictions.
• Cash and cash equivalents at the period-end amounted to £28.6m (2021: £34.3m, HY21: £12.6m). The reduction in cash in comparison to the year end is primarily driven by the payment of IPO related costs and the Go Animals acquisition.      

Operational Highlights

• Global audience grew by 62m people (including the Go Animals acquisition) to over 315m (HY21: 253m), with 35.8bn content views in the period, up 38% on the prior year, following investment in people to increase volumes and drive more engaging content across all platforms.
• On 19 May 2022, the Group completed the small bolt on acquisition of the Go Animals Facebook pages, with a total of 6.8m followers, increasing its target audience and bringing a new genre of content to the Group’s brand portfolio.
• The Group continued to progress plans to launch operations in the US and has begun the recruitment process in New York City, with activity expected to commence in early 2023.
• The Group signed a new contract with Vodafone to provide a cutting edge solution for its VOXI owned social channels. Vodafone recognised LBG Media’s expertise in creating deeply engaging content for youth and young adults at scale. VOXI perfectly aligns with the Group’s target audiences, speaking directly to the youth generation and providing services tailored to them.

Outlook

In recent weeks, we have seen improving momentum in indirect revenues as we have responded to the demand for more short format videos on our partner platforms, positively impacting revenue per view. This trend is expected to continue throughout our seasonally stronger second half. Direct bookings are also showing good momentum, although advertisers are making decisions with shorter lead-times given current uncertainty around consumer demand into the winter months and we continue to monitor this closely.

Management believes results for the full year will be broadly in line with market expectations³, supported by activity around the Qatar World Cup as well as the usual seasonal peak. As previously guided, given the investments made in the first half and the end of year peak in advertising activity, profitability is expected to be heavily weighted towards the final quarter of the year.

CEO, Solly Solomou commented:

“The Group has seen solid performance in the first half of the year in what is a challenging macro environment. The growth we have achieved in our audience and views is a testament to the hard work of our teams and our ability to adapt creatively to changing market conditions. Our partner brands and platforms recognise our differentiated offering and significant engagement with hard to reach audiences and we remain leaders in our field.

We continue to focus on our growth strategy, excited by the potential of the US market, and assess M&A opportunities that are complementary to our existing offering. We remain confident in the long-term prospects for the business and significant growth potential for the future.”

Notes:
¹  Adjusted EBITDA – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation adjusted for share based payments (including employers NIC as
  appropriate) and exceptional items. Adjusted EBITDA margin is Adjusted EBITDA divided by Group Revenue represented as a percentage.
² Adjusted Profit before tax - earnings before tax, share based payments (including employers NIC as appropriate) and exceptional items.
³ External market consensus for year ended 31 December 2022 (FY22) is currently: Revenue £65.4m, Adj EBITDA £20.1m.

For further information please contact:

Analyst Presentation

LBG Media plc will be hosting an analyst presentation on Wednesday 21 September 2022 following the release of these results for the half year ended 30 June 2022. Attendance is by invitation only. Slides accompanying the analyst presentation, along with a recording, will be available on the LBG Media plc website following the event.

Notes to editors

LBG Media is a multi-brand, multi-channel digital youth publisher and is a leading disrupter in the digital media and social publishing sectors. The Group produces and distributes digital content across a range of mediums including video, editorial, image, audio, and experience (virtual and augmented reality). Since its inception in 2012, the Group has curated a diverse collection of ten core specialist brands using social media platforms (primarily Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok) and has built multiple websites to reach new audiences and drive engagement. Each brand is dedicated to a distinct popular interest point (e.g. sport, gaming, etc.), which is designed to achieve broader engagement, increase relevance and ultimately build a loyal community of followers.

The Group operates two core routes to market: Direct revenue, which is principally generated from the provision of content marketing services to corporates, brand owners, marketing agencies and other entities such as government bodies and where the relationship with the client is held directly by LBG Media; and Indirect revenue, which is generated via a third-party, such as a social media platform or via a programmatic advertising exchange/ online marketplace, which holds the relationship with the brand owner or agency.