MIRA.L Regulatory News (MIRA)

6 Feb 2006 07:12

Yoomedia PLC06 February 2006 YooMedia plc / Ticker: YOO / Index: AIM / Sector: Media 6 February 2006 YooMedia plc ("the Company" or "YooMedia") Trading Update This trading update has been made to provide information on trading performancein 2005 in advance of YooMedia's Final Results for the year ended 31 December2005, which are expected to be released in April 2006. YooMedia announces that unaudited, provisional and indicative results for theyear ended 31 December 2005 are in line with the Board's expectation. Thecompany announced in June 2005 that the original profit forecasts would not bemet following slower growth and delayed project implementation on Channel 425,the interactive channel operated with William Hill. Unaudited results (£m) 2005 2004Turnover 84.5 21.2Net revenues 21.8 16.3Gross profit 7.8 (0.2)EBITDA (2.9) (7.2) As a result of this, a range of measures has been implemented to ensure that theCompany is well placed to achieve positive EBITDA in 2006. These include: o New commercial terms were agreed with William Hill with effect fromNovember 2005 o In December 2005 an agreement was made with Gala Leisure under whichGala acquired key assets of the Avago channel and YooMedia will benefit from athree year revenue sharing agreement. The agreement provides for YooMedia toexit from producing its own channel, and to discontinue ownership of, andoperating under, the Avago brand o Cost reduction measures have been implemented to reduce staffing andsatellite bandwidth costs o The chat service previously on Telewest and the YooPlay interactivegames channel previously on Sky's Interactive Menu have been discontinued o Three new agreements for YooMedia's Datacasting service for Freeviewhave been announced o Extensive marketing of the Broadband TV proposition has commenced,following the completion of the pilot service on ntl, the cable network operator o Take up of YooMedia's mobile phone based marketing solutions hasincreased following a dedicated sales campaign The Gambling & Games division had net revenue of £6.4m and a gross loss of £1.3mfrom gambling and games turnover of £69.1m. Instead of operating its own brandsYooMedia has repositioned the focus of this business to be a supplier ofinteractive gambling and games to other businesses. Key clients in this divisionare William Hill and Gala Leisure. The net result of this re-positioning is expected to produce a net annualisedbenefit to earnings before interest, tax and depreciation of at least £3.5m. Net turnover of the Interactive Services division was £10.9m with gross profit£6.3m. YooMedia Dating turnover was £4.5m and gross profit £2.8m. Branded businesses inthis division include Dateline, Dateline One to One and Avenues. A strategicreview of this division has been undertaken with a view to a potential sale orspin off of the business in 2006. As part of the strategic review of the YooMedia Dating division, the Company hasreached an agreement with the 25% minority shareholders in YooMedia Dating toacquire their shares for a consideration of 19,230,770 shares in YooMedia plc.A further consideration of £500,000, also payable in YooMedia plc shares, willbe paid on certain performance criteria being met. Michael Sinclair, Executive Chairman said: "2005 was a challenging year for theCompany but the decisive action taken to reposition the business is deliveringresults. We believe that with our proprietary technology and experienced teamYooMedia will play an integral role in the rapidly maturing interactive mediamarket. The last few months have seen a high volume of activity which we expectto maintain as we continue to build and develop relationships with key blue chipcompanies." * * ENDS * * Enquiries: Michael Sinclair, Neil MacDonald, Isabel Crossley, Executive Chairman, Group MD, St Brides Media &YooMedia plc YooMedia plc Finance Ltd+44 (0) 20 7462 0870 +44 (0) 20 7462 0870 +44 (0) 20 7242 4477 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange