LONDON (Alliance News) - Sports agency TLA Worldwide PLC's loss widened dramatically in the first half of 2016, as it counted the cost of a failed takeover bid and the lack of signing bonuses which boosted earnings in the year prior.
TLA said Tuesday it booked a pretax loss of USD4.0 million for the six months to the end of June, almost triple the USD1.4 million loss for the same period in 2015. Revenue was up 2.8% at USD21.8 million from USD21.2 million.
TLA proposed an interim dividend of 0.23 pence, up from 0.20p in 2015.
TLA said the first-half loss included USD1.1 million in costs from the failed GBP98.5 million takeover offer from Atlantic Alliance Partnership Corp, from which TLA withdrew its support in early September after concluding the deal would not provider greater liquidity for existing TLA shareholders.
The figures were also hit by a substantial drop in profit from its baseball player representation business, to USD117,000 from USD2.0 million, having previously benefited from signing bonuses in the first of 2015. TLA said free agent signings tend to happen in the second half and it expects to see more fees from the division as players negotiate contracts from October onward.
TLA's clients performed in the Olympics and Paralympics, including medalists Adam Peaty, Becky James and Richard Whitehead. However baseball players form the majority of its clients, with 274 clients in baseball, up by 5% from 260 in 2015.
"Looking ahead, the momentum achieved in the first half has continued into the second half, and we expect revenue growth in both the Sports Marketing and Baseball Representation segments. With a maturing MLB client roster and record numbers moving into arbitration eligibility as well as organisation of four events in the second half of the year, the board looks ahead with confidence for the future" said Executive Chairman Bart Campbell.
Shares in TLA Worldwide were down 1.5% at 40.89p Tuesday.
By Adam Clark; adamclark@alliancenews.com
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