News

LBG Media, the UK-based multi-brand, multi-channel digital youth publisher, is pleased to report its results for the full year ended 31 December 2022. During the year, the Group delivered a strong performance, against a challenging economic backdrop, with key strategic progress being made through expansion of our global audience and content views, and continued growth in both new and existing brand partnerships.

Highlights

• Group revenue increased by 15% to £62.8m boosted by a strong performance in the second half of the year.
  • H2 revenue was £38.0m, 21% ahead of the prior year period and created positive momentum into 2023.
  • The strong performance was delivered from both Direct and Indirect income streams and across the Group’s geographies, with record Q4 revenue.
  • Direct revenue of £27.8m, +17% YoY (2021: £23.7m) driven by a strong performance in both the UK and international markets. International revenue from APAC and Ireland grew by 52% and now represents c.20% of this income stream.  
  • Indirect revenue of £33.6m, +13% YoY (2021: £29.7m), with a relatively much stronger H2 performance, +20% vs prior year (H1: +4%) as a result of the successful early transition to short form video content demonstrating the Group’s agility to adapt and stay ahead of the market.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ was £15.7m (2021: £16.8m). This included a strong H2 performance of £14.1m +48% YoY, as a result of the H2 revenue growth and swift action taken to restructure the staff cost base in recognition of the tough macro-economic environment impacting advertising spend.   

   

  Cash and cash equivalents of £29.3m, down £5.0m YoY (2021: £34.3m). The primary causes of the cash reduction in-year were:

  • Weighting of revenue in Q4 2022 resulting in a significant movement in receivables YoY (£5.2m).
  • The cash impact of adjusting items (£2.0m).
  • Cash outflow in Q1 2022 to pay the 2021 IPO related liabilities (£2.6m).
  • Payment of deferred Australian tax (£1.1m).
  • Investing activities including two small bolt on acquisitions (£2.2m).

The cash and cash equivalents as of 11 April 2023 were £33.6m.

Operational Highlights

• Our global audience grew by 39% YoY to 366m, with 98bn content views in the period, up 56% YoY, following the successful pivot to short form video and further content diversification.

• Followers on TikTok grew by 72% YoY, diversifying our reach across platforms. We are now the number one news publisher on TikTok.

• The Group made the difficult decision to reduce its staffing costs in H2. This involved restructuring the business, including the redundancy of 43 employees. We continue to be well placed to continue to deliver on our strategy in the future. 

• The Group opened its office in New York City, ahead of launching operations in 2023, expanding its US presence and building on its significant following, by producing dedicated content for the local audience.

• In 2022, the Group completed two small bolt on acquisitions of social media pages, increasing its target audience and bringing new genres of content to the Group’s brand portfolio.

• Continued to scale our dedicated youth research panel, LADnation, which now has more than 55,000 members.

Outlook

In 2022, global digital advertising spend was £541bn² and is forecast to grow at an 8%² CAGR over the next three years. Digital accounted for 67%² of the total advertising spend in 2022, with market growth ahead of all other segments, and is estimated to grow to 73%² by 2027.

The Board and wider management team remain focused on the Group’s three strategic pillars for growth; geographic expansion, acquisitions and expansion of our capabilities.

2023 year to date performance has been positive, continuing the strong momentum seen in Q4 2022, and the Group remains on track to deliver external expectations³ for the full year.

As with prior years, revenue is affected by the seasonality in advertising spend (typically 40/60), with Adjusted EBITDA even more weighted towards H2 given that operating costs are relatively evenly spread across the year.

Board changes

Tim Croston, Chief Financial Officer, has notified the board of his intention to retire later this year. Tim will step down as Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect, however he will remain in the business for a number of months in order to facilitate a smooth handover to his successor Richard Jarvis ACMA who joins us from GB Group plc, the AIM-listed digital location, identity and fraud prevention software experts where he was Group Commercial Finance Director.

Richard joined GB Group plc in 1996 and has held a number of senior and executive roles there including Group Financial Controller, Deputy Finance Director and for the last four years as Group Commercial Finance Director. During his time with GB Group, Richard managed and developed a global finance team across UK, USA and APAC, gained significant international growth and acquisition experience and guided GB Group on performance, commercial opportunities and risks.

Richard joined the Group on 11 April 2023.

The following information is provided in accordance with Schedule Two (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies:

Richard Mark Jarvis (aged 49) does not currently hold, nor has held within the last five years, any Directorships or Partnerships.

Richard holds no shares in the Company.

There is no further information to be disclosed pursuant to Schedule Two (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

CEO, Solly Solomou commented:

“We have made continued financial and operational progress in 2022. H2 was particularly strong, delivered amid a challenging backdrop, with both our core revenue streams demonstrating the resilient nature of our business.

“LBG is well positioned to capitalise on the fast-growing digital media market. We have a diverse range of brands catering to the hard to reach 18–34-year-old demographic, have expanded our capabilities, with our survey platform LADnation forming an increasingly key part of our offer, and we are taking advantage of the significant growth opportunity that the US market has to offer.

We ended 2022 with a great deal of positive momentum, as evidenced by our record direct revenue performance for Q4, and with this momentum continuing into 2023 I am excited by what lies ahead for the business.”

Chairman, Dave Wilson commented on Board changes:

“The Board would like to thank Tim for his great contribution to the Group’s development in the important period in the years up to and since its successful IPO in late 2021. We look forward to continuing to work with Tim during the handover to his successor. I’m pleased to welcome Richard to the Group who I know well having worked him with previously at GB Group plc.  I’m confident that with his skills and experience of both international growth and public markets, we will have a worthy successor to Tim.”

Notes:
¹ Adjusted EBITDA - profit before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation adjusted for share based payments and adjusting items

² Figures are taken from Group M Report, 2022 This Year Next Year

³ External market consensus for year ending 31 December 2023 is currently: Revenue £69.3m and Adjusted EBITDA £19.4m.  

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Analyst Presentation

LBG Media plc will be hosting an analyst presentation on Wednesday 12 April 2023 following the release of these results for the year ended 31 December 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.

Annual Report and Accounts

An electronic copy of the Annual Report and Accounts will be available shortly on the investor section of the Company’s website www.lbgmedia.co.uk.

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.