Taptica's first-half profits boosted by Tremor Video acquisition

(Sharecast News) - Taptica saw income and profits take-off in the first half of its trading year as its newly acquired Tremor Video division boosted the firm's earnings.The AIM-listed marketing and advertising firm saw adjusted EBITDA soar 64.8% to $21.6m, while revenues rocketed 121.0% to $144.0m.Taptica told investors on Tuesday that its marketing business had seen a 9.9% increase in revenues to $72.1m, principally due to "significant" contributions from its expanding international presence, most notably in Japan.Elsewhere, the firm's brand advertising division, set up shortly after the group's acquisition of Tremor Video in August 2017, saw revenues of $71.9m in the first half of its trading year - a 14.8% improvement.Taptica, which declared an interim dividend of $0.04 per share, ended the period with a net cash balance of $42.1m - a marked turnaround from the net debt of $4.0m it had at the end of 2017.Looking ahead, chief executive Hagai Tal, said: "We entered the second half with increased momentum in both the Tremor Video DSP and performance-based businesses, which continue to execute on their strategies of expanding their reach and winning new customers.""We expect sustained improvement in margins through increased operational efficiencies, economies of scale and technology enhancements," added Tal.He also added that the group now expects full-year EBITDA to be "ahead of market expectations".As of 0920 BST, Taptica shares had shot up 10.87% to 382.50p.