Aferian Regulatory News (AFRN)

14 June 2022

AFERIAN PLC

("Aferian", the "Company" or the "Group")

Trading Update

- Improving quality of earnings and enhanced revenue visibility -

- Continued execution against 2025 strategy adding The Filter and launch of 24iQ -

- Confident in full year prospects for the Group -

Aferian plc (LSE AIM: AFRN), the B2B video streaming solution company, announces a trading update for the six months ended 31 May 2022.

The Group has continued to make strong progress in improving the quality of earnings and enhancing revenue visibility. It expects to report exit run rate Annual Recurring Revenue ("ARR") of approximately $15.8m (H1 2021: $13.8m), which represents 16% growth versus the prior year, or 26% on a constant currency basis. Higher margin software and services revenue is expected to be approximately $12m (H1 2021: $9.9m), an increase of 21%, or 28% on a constant currency basis.

Device revenues in the first half are expected to be approximately $33m, a decrease of c.8% year-on-year. These have been impacted by shipping and production delays as a result of the challenges faced due to COVID-19 related lockdowns in China, and the associated difficulties in delivering devices to customers. To mitigate against further potential delays, second half production has been weighted into Q3. The Board expects the order book to drive device revenues higher in the second half of the year.

Consequently, Group revenue for the period is expected to be approximately $45m (H1 2021: $45.3m). 

The Group's balance sheet remains strong and as at 31 May 2022 the Group had net cash of $7.6m, and undrawn credit facilities of $50m. 

The Board remains confident in delivering its expectations for the financial year ending 30 November 2022.

Donald McGarva, CEO of Aferian plc, said:

"The first half saw us continue our momentum from 2021 despite continued challenges brought by the pandemic and global supply chain issues. Our quality of earnings and revenue visibility has continued to improve and we have continued to make pleasing progress in executing and innovating against our 2025 strategy.

Our recent acquisition of The Filter will allow us to further address the convergence of streaming and Pay TV and our rapid integration of The Filter's complementary technologies have already enabled the launch of our advanced personalisation service, 24iQ, in May 2022."

"Overall, we are in a strong position both financially and operationally and remain confident in our full year prospects."

-ENDS-

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About Aferian plc

Aferian plc (AIM: AFRN) is a B2B video streaming solutions company. Our end-to-end solutions bring live and on-demand video to every kind of screen. We create the forward-thinking solutions that our customers need to drive subscriber engagement, audience satisfaction, and revenue growth.

It is our belief that successful media companies and services will be those that are most consumer-centric, data driven and flexible to change. We focus on innovating technologies that enable our customers stay ahead of evolving viewer demand by providing smarter, more cost-effective ways of delivering end-to-end modern TV and video experiences to consumers. By anticipating technological and behavioural audience trends, our software solutions empower our customers to heighten viewer enjoyment, drive growth in audience share and ultimately their profitability.

Aferian plc has two operating companies: 24i, which focusses on streaming video experiences, and Amino, which connects Pay TV to streaming services. Our two complementary companies combine their products and services to create solutions which ensure that people can consume TV and video how and when they want it. Our solutions deliver modern TV and video experiences every day to millions of viewers globally, via our growing global customer base of over 500 service providers.

Aferian plc is traded on the London Stock Exchange's AIM stock market (AIM: symbol AFRN). Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, the Company has over 350 staff located in 11 offices, including major European cities as Amsterdam, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Brno, as well as in San Francisco and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.aferian.com.