One Media iP grows in year of 'challenges'

(Sharecast News) - Digital media content company One Media iP reported a 14% improvement in revenue in its final results on Wednesday, to £4m.
The AIM-traded firm said EBITDA for the year ended 31 October was 38% higher year-on-year at £1.49m, as its operating profit increased 16% to £1.02m.

Cash at year-end stood at £6.8m, up from £0.9m at the end of the 2019 financial year, after the company completed a cash placing of £6m in August.

The board declared a final dividend of 0.055p per share.

On the operational front, One Media iP noted the formation of its TCAT subsidiary and recruitment to it during the year, with TCAT's next phase of development to become a "leading" anti-piracy service.

The company acquired producer royalties for Take That, including 'A Million Love Songs', 'Could It Be Magic' and 'I Found Heaven', and also launched a new Men & Motors television channel, hosted by Boyzone's Shane Lynch and One Second in F1 Racing's Torie Campbell.

One Media also acquired the licensor's share of royalties to the 21 Vision catalogue of rights, which contains over 2,000 recordings including Glenn Millar, the Andrews Sisters, the Ink Spots, Vera Lynn, Count Basie, Flanagan & Allen and Cole Porter.

"The year under review could have been a most unpredictable and turbulent time for any small business operating under Covid-19, but even in the midst of challenges our music business model saw its EBITDA grow by 38%," said chief executive officer Michael Infante.

"Separating TCAT from the core business underpins our two activities - primarily, the core business of the group, being the continuation of content exploitation within our genres, offers a bespoke 'antipiracy detection' service not only to ourselves, but also the music industry at large.

"TCAT, we believe, can become a major player to both record labels and artists alike, whose content is exploited in over 167 territories globally within the 130 million-music tracks traded daily on digital stores."

Infante said that as the 2021 financial year progressed, and further to the company's successful fundraise of £6m, Harmony iP was being offered as an alternative method of allowing copyright holders to partially cash-out and partner with One Media, taking a share in the asset income and giving "TCAT care" to the content under joint ownership.

"This both enhances the contents' future earning ability and gives the original owner an opportunity to participate in the growth of future earnings of their life's work.

"Working in unison for the first time, with both author and label, sees a joint mission of ensuring transparency in the future values of content.

"I remain excited for the future and, as always, grateful for the experienced team of directors, staff, consultants and professionals across the group who have contributed to our continued success."

At 0946 BST, shares in One Media iP Group were down 3.03% at 7.03p.