LONDON (Alliance News) - 7digital Group PLC on Monday said its loss was significantly narrower in the first half of 2016 after the company avoided booking any impairments in the period and managed to report a small rise in revenue.
The business-to-business music and radio service firm said its pretax loss for the first six months to June 30 narrowed to GBP3.2 million from the GBP6.6 million loss a year earlier as revenue rose a fraction but remained broadly flat at GBP5.2 million, as did the gross profit of GBP3.3 million.
However, no impairment was booked in the half whereas last year 7digital booked a GBP4.8 million loss from the disposal of its interests in Audioboom PLC.
"We have continued to improve the quality of our revenue base, remain confident of our commitment to achieve profitability by the year-end and expect the group to be profitable for the full year 2017," said Chief Executive Simon Cole.
Specifically, the company said it expects to be broadly earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation breakeven in the final quarter of 2016.
"The sales pipeline is strong for the second half of the year with a number of significant contracts in the final stages of negotiation," Cole added.
In a separate statement on Monday, 7digital said it has signed a contract with grandPad, a technology provider targeting the senior citizen market.
Under the deal, 7digital will power a music service which comes pre-loaded onto grandPad's simple and secure tablet device designed for older seniors. GrandPad recently announced partnerships with hardware, software and services company Acer and major Swiss telecommunications provider Swisscom to facilitate grandPad's growth, the company said.
The deal will contribute to 7digital's revenues this year, which will run until the end of December 2016. No financial details of the deal were published.
"We are pleased to announce our involvement in helping grandPad to bring its highly differentiated offering to market. The older demographic - the over 75s - is a relatively untapped audience for entertainment and communication devices and offers significant potential for growth," said Cole.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
