MIRA.L Regulatory News (MIRA)

15 Feb 2007 09:15

Yoomedia PLC15 February 2007 YooMedia plc / Ticker: YOO / Index: AIM / Sector: Media 15 February 2007 YooMedia plc ("YooMedia" or "the Company") Placing and Trading Update YooMedia plc, the AIM-traded interactive media and games group, is pleased toannounce it has raised £762,500 (gross) through the placing of 67,777,777 newordinary shares at 1.125p per share and provide an update on trading performancein 2006 in advance of its results for the year ended 31 December 2006, expectedto be released in April 2007. • Placing to raise £762,500 (gross) to provide additional working capital; • Appointment of HB Corporate as joint broker; • Improved trading, reduced costs and strengthened balance sheet; • Core businesses re-aligned to take best advantage of new opportunities; • Substantial overhead cost savings achieved while securing guaranteed annualised revenues; and • Substantial financial restructuring resulting in reduced interest and similar charges. Placing The Company has placed, conditional on admission, 67,777,777 new ordinary sharesat 1.125p to raise £762,500 (gross) to provide additional working capital.Application will be made for the 67,777,777 new ordinary shares to be admittedto AIM and dealings are expected to commence on 21 February 2007. Indicative Results Unaudited, provisional and indicative results for the year ended 31 December2006 are summarised below: Year ended 31 Six months ended 31 Six months ended Year ended 31 December 2006 December 2006 30 June 2006 December 2005 (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited) £m £m £m £mTurnover 62.6 31.4 31.2 85.6Net Revenues 21.0 8.9 10.0 22.7Gross Profit 8.2 5.3 2.9 8.7EBITDA* (1.0) 1.2 (2.2) (3.0) * EBITDA is stated excluding exceptional items Improved results for the six months ended 31 December 2006 reflect thefollowing: • Pursuant to its agreement with Gala Group, a Gala-brandedchannel (Sky channel 841) was launched on 4 October 2006, enabling the Companyto make substantial cost savings in terms of production staffing, broadcast andtransmission costs and platform carriage costs, while securing guaranteedannualised revenues of £1 million. • The launch of a new video-rich 'Roulette TV' broadcastchannel offering in May 2006, enabled presenter-led roulette broadcast channelswith integrated interactive multiplayer gaming. Roulette TV is currentlyavailable on 4 channels on Sky, with plans underway to launch across additionalplatforms, including IPTV and cable. • The contract with William Hill to produce a channel on Skyended on 31 October 2006 and the channel was taken off air in November 2006. • The Company launched datacasting and bandwidth services onFreeview with Gemstar and Virgin Radio in the second half of 2006, generatingsubstantial new revenues. • A restructuring of the dating business was undertaken in thesecond half of 2006. As a result, this business withdrew from costly fixed-pricedirect marketing, substantially reduced its establishment costs and streamlinedits operation. Financial and Group Restructuring • A substantial financial restructuring was completed in thesecond half of 2006. In particular, £1.85 million was realised from the sale ofassets, including shares held in Catalyst Media Group plc. £700,000 of newfunding was secured through a placing of shares on 1 September 2006 andapproximately £572,000 of other loans were converted into equity. As aconsequence, short term borrowings have fallen in the second half from £2.1million as at 30 June 2006 to approximately £650,000 (31 December 2005: £3.4million), with interest and similar charges borne in the second half of the yearsharply reduced. The placing announced today will further benefit the cashposition of the Company going forward. • Significant effort has been made to reduce overheads andcosts. Consequently, staffing costs fell to £3.3 million for the second half of2006 compared to £4.3 million in the preceding half (year ended 31 December2005: £9.3 million). • During the second half of the year the Company entered intolong term payment plans with a number of significant suppliers. On 22 December2006 a permanent reduction in contractual liabilities was negotiated relating tobandwidth and transmission costs of approximately £1.75 million. This isreflected in the indicative results for the six months ended 31 December 2006;the Company is reviewing this accounting treatment with its auditors. A further£0.75 million of similar liabilities were deferred, with payments spread over 28months. Similar arrangements have been completed or are in negotiation inrelation to other suppliers and creditors, totalling £1.5 million. • The Company anticipates a goodwill impairment and write offin excess of £5 million following the restructuring of the Company's activities. This will be reflected in the reported net result for the year but is notincluded within the EBITDA numbers provided above. 2007 Outlook YooMedia's core businesses within the fast-growing brands and marketing andgames and gambling sectors have been re-aligned in order to take best advantageof the many new opportunities arising. Consumer uptake of digital TV, mobile andbroadband services in the UK continues to grow, attracting increased expenditureand investment from YooMedia's core client groups - advertisers, retailers andgaming operators. The Gambling Act 2005 comes into force in 2007 and is expected to lead toincreased activity from operators seeking to take advantage of the opportunitiespermitted under the new regulations: YooMedia is well positioned to benefit. New business streams, including remote payment services, IPTV servicedeployments in conjunction with BT Vision and mobile ticketing are expected tocome on stream in 2007. New initiatives designed to strengthen the competitive position of the Avenuesand Dateline offerings are expected to enhance shareholder value. An upgradedDateline online service will be introduced following the recent launch of thefree dating site, Letsdateforfree.com. The Directors believe that the Company's existing facilities, including theconvertible loan agreed in May 2006, as well as the net proceeds of the placingannounced today will provide sufficient sources of finance to meet the ongoingrequirements of the business. In conclusion, whilst risks remain, the Directors believe that, on the basis ofimproved trading, reduced costs and a strengthened balance sheet, the outlookfor the business is positive. * * ENDS * * For further information, visit www.yoomedia.com or contact: Michael Sinclair, Executive ChairmanNeil MacDonald, Group Managing DirectorYooMedia plc+44 (0) 20 7462 0870 Isabel CrossleySt Brides Media & Finance Ltd+44 (0) 20 7242 4477 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange