11 Feb 2014 07:00
11 February 2014
LITEBULB GROUP LIMITED
("LiteBulb", the "Company" or the "Group")
Update on acquisitions and trading
LiteBulb (AIM: LBB), the brand and product innovation company, provides the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2013.
2013 has been a transformational year for LiteBulb, during which time the Company made three acquisitions. The acquisitions of Bluwstuff Group ("Bluw") in January, Rizon Studios (now Litebulb Creative) in March and Meld Group ("Meld") in November have all delivered sales ahead of internal expectations. This has helped LiteBulb to grow revenues for 2013 to £8.0m (FY2012: £3.0m), a 167% improvement over FY2012. The loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 2013 is expected to be approximately £0.6m, a significant improvement on £1.4m in the year ended 31 December 2012.
Increased efficiencies from acquisition related synergies, which have been implemented, are expected to result in on-going annual cost savings of £0.4m, despite some initial delays in removing costs following the acquisition of Bluw. Further operational efficiencies from the successful integration of Meld are expected to result in additional cost savings, as core processes such as finance, logistics and planning are centralised. Combined with a strong pipeline and positive trading performance during January of this year, the Company is on track to meet expectations for 2014 and deliver positive EBITDA.
All acquisitions made during 2013 were in line with LiteBulb's stated strategy of creating a complete 'end-to-end' solution for the retail market, taking products all the way from concept through to distribution to the retailer. Each of the acquisitions have enhanced and expanded LiteBulb's portfolio of offerings while adding new, or strengthening existing, client relationships. In addition, the acquisitions of Bluw and Meld have already begun successfully cross-selling the other's product ranges.
Further to this, LiteBulb Creative has added a number of new clients during the year including Universal, ITV and UXUS, in addition to increasing orders from existing clients including Disney, Mattel, Turner and UKTV.
LiteBulb remains acquisitive and continues to seek further opportunities that will progress the Company's strategic objectives. To ensure that LiteBulb is sufficiently equipped to deal with any potential growth from future acquisitions, it has recently invested in its internal systems to improve robustness and enable greater scalability.
Simon McGivern, CEO of LiteBulb, commented: "We are delighted with the strong revenue growth achieved this year, which is in line with our internal plans and gives us a solid platform to work from for 2014. The acquisitions made during 2013 have proved successful and we continue to seek further acquisitions that will help us realise our strategic goals.
"At the same time, the management team is focused on growing the underlying businesses, which are benefitting from the scale the combined Group brings. The increasingly attractive product ranges and services we provide are further deepening our strong relationships with retailers and as we grow we expect to achieve increased buying power with our suppliers. With an extensive pipeline we are confident of continuing positive news and look forward to providing further updates to the market."
For further information, please contact:
LiteBulb Group Limited | www.litebulbgroup.com | ||
Simon McGivern, Chief Executive | Tel: 020 3384 7131 | ||
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finnCap (NOMAD & Broker) | Tel: 020 7220 0500 | ||
Stuart Andrews/Ben Thompson (Corporate Finance) |
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Joanna Weaving (Corporate Broking) |
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Walbrook PR Limited | litebulb@walbrookpr.com Tel: 020 7933 8780 | ||
Bob Huxford | Mob: 07747 635 908 | ||
Paul McManus | Mob: 07980 541 893 | ||
About LiteBulb Group
LiteBulb Group designs, manufactures and distributes innovative brands and products to the global retail market.
LiteBulb Products, including Ila, Scootrix and third-party global brands such as Star Wars and National Geographic, are sold in over 30 countries through blue chip retailers including: ASDA, BHS, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury's, WH Smith, Halfords, Morrisons, QVC, Next, Fenwicks and Toys R Us.
LiteBulb Creative is a creative agency with global reach, delivering compelling and agile brand extension programmes to the entertainment industry. LiteBulb Creative has designed products and campaigns for clients around the world, including Disney, Hasbro and Miramax.