Ebiquity Regulatory News (EBQ)

Ebiquity Plc

25 July 2022

Trading Update

Ebiquity reports strong H1 2022 revenue, profit, and margin growth in line with expectations and announces positive outlook for the full year

Ebiquity plc ("Ebiquity" or the "Group"), a world leader in media investment analysis, announces a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2022, ahead of the interim results announcement planned for 22 September 2022.

In the six months ended 30 June 2022, Ebiquity continued its growth trajectory with revenue of approximately £37 million, which was 16% ahead of the same period last year. This performance included an initial contribution from Media Management LLC and Media Path, the acquisitions of which were completed in April 2022. Organic revenue was up 10% over the prior year.

In addition, the Group's profitability improved significantly and the Board expects to report underlying operating profit in excess of £4.6 million, an increase of at least 100% over the same period last year. The Group's underlying operating margin is similarly expected to improve to at least 12%, which would represent an increase of five percentage points over the prior year, enabled by growth in higher margin digital products and improved operating efficiencies.

The Group's net debt as at 30 June 2022 was £12.9m (comprising cash balances of £9.3 million and gross debt of £22.2 million).

Following a previously announced review, the Group is in discussions regarding the divestment of its small Russian subsidiary.

Nick Waters, CEO, commented:

"We are satisfied with the Group's performance in the first half, as we continue to deliver our strategic plan. Not only is revenue up strongly, but importantly, the improvements we have made to the business have also led to significant profit and margin growth. We are pleased with the impact of the acquisitions that we completed earlier this year, which have boosted our presence in the world's largest advertising market of North America and have provided us with a market leading technology platform that will bring us valuable economies of scale as we continue to grow. These acquisitions are contributing as expected and their integrations are progressing well.

In terms of our outlook, there is undoubtedly greater uncertainty given the increasing macro-economic challenges. While Ebiquity is not immune to these, we do see potential opportunities: in prior periods of economic uncertainty marketers have scrutinised all their media investments more thoroughly for cost, quality, and effectiveness. Marketers may also look to allocate more capital to digital advertising, which is served by our Digital Media Solutions business that is continuing to grow rapidly. Notwithstanding this uncertainty, we look forward to completing another successful year in 2022 and continuing to deliver against our planned growth trajectory".

Market abuse regulation

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

The person responsible for arranging release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Alan Newman, Chief Financial and Operating Officer of the Company.

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About Ebiquity plc

Ebiquity plc (LSE AIM: EBQ) is a world leader in media investment analysis. It harnesses the power of data to provide independent, fact-based advice, enabling brand owners to perfect media investment decisions and improve business outcomes. Ebiquity is able to provide independent, unbiased advice and solutions to brands because we have no commercial interest in any part of the media supply chain.

We are a data-driven solutions company helping brand owners drive efficiency and effectiveness from their media spend, eliminating wastage and creating value. We provide analysis and solutions through five Service Lines: Media management, Media performance, Marketing effectiveness, Technology advisory, Contract compliance.

Ebiquity's clients are served by nearly 600 media specialists operating from 24 offices covering 80% of the global advertising market.

The Company has the most comprehensive, independent view of today's global media market, analysing $55bn of media spend from 75 markets annually, including trillions of digital media impressions. Our Contract Compliance division, FirmDecisions, audits $40bn of contract value annually.

As a result, more than 70 of the world's top 100 advertisers today choose Ebiquity as their trusted independent media advisor.

For further information, please visit: www.ebiquity.com