13 Nov 2019 07:00
13th November 2019
Ocean Outdoor Limited
("Ocean" or the "Company" or the "Group")
Q3 Trading Update
Ocean Outdoor Limited, a leading operator of premium Digital Out-of-Home ("DOOH") advertising in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Nordics and Germany, announces a strong trading update for Q3 2019.
Q3 2019 Highlights:
·; Group revenue up 12% to £29.0m, including Visual Art media sales on a proforma basis.(1)
·; Completed €63m acquisition of the international media and tech group Visual Art ("Visual Art"), a Sweden based digital media group operating 25,000 screens across 24 countries.
·; Exclusive partnership with the UK's largest commercial broadcaster ITV, to broadcast live content and highlight packages from the Rugby World Cup 2019.
·; Invested in two new Neuroscience studies to further showcase the effectiveness of DOOH as an advertising medium.
The Group produced a strong performance in Q3 2019 and continues to trade in line with expectations. On a proforma basis, Q3 2019 Group revenue is £29.0m, up 12% (Q3 2018: £25.8m). (1)
Group performance was underpinned by the acquisition of Visual Art and gaining a major foothold in the Nordics. The acquisition of Visual Art in Sweden consolidates Ocean's position with the premier global developer of flagship retail destinations Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, giving Ocean the DOOH advertising rights to 23 Westfield super malls in Europe.
The integration of Visual Art is progressing well and the Group has a clear strategy in place to enhance its digital portfolio in the highly attractive geographies in which it operates.
In October, the Dutch assets, Interbest, Ngage and Beyond Outdoor, were successfully rebranded as Ocean Netherlands, creating a clear position for Ocean to become a dynamic premium DOOH operator in the Netherlands.
To support the Group's research and development programme, Ocean commissioned two new ground-breaking Neuroscience based studies. The research examined the effectiveness of full motion digital out-of-home creativity, showing that full motion screens with technology are on average over 3x more impactful than just using full motion, and 8x more impactful than static advertising.
A separate study, in partnership with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, used eye-tracking technology and skin conductance resonance to measure the effectiveness of placing adverts within live broadcast content. It found that DOOH highlights content, followed by ads, was 5.1x more engaging for the audience. As well as underscoring the effectiveness and potential of the DOOH medium, the illuminating research further endorses Ocean's position as a leader and trusted partner in the sector.
There were notable campaigns and collaborations during the quarter with Team GB and Toyota GB working with Ocean to deliver an out-of-home fitness campaign, The People's Moon, which celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and an exclusive broadcast partnership with ITV to broadcast highlights and live England games from the Rugby World Cup. Such high profile campaigns reaffirm the stature of Ocean's iconic sites and the high impact they have on audiences.
Commenting on Ocean's performance, CEO Tim Bleakley said: "We are pleased with Q3 trading across the Group. In the UK, Piccadilly Lights has enjoyed a robust quarter and introduced some quality new brands to the sector. The performance of the Dutch business has been strong and the progress the teams have made with the launch of Ocean Netherlands is particularly encouraging.
"Visual Art is a great new addition to the Group and the integration process is on track. Despite political uncertainty in the UK, the advertising market has held up reasonably well and the out-of-home market continues to outperform traditional media."
(1) For comparative purposes, the figures are at constant currency
For further information please contact:
Ocean Outdoor Tim Bleakley, CEO Susann Jerry, Head of Corporate Communications
| 020 7292 6161 |
Yellow Jersey PR Charles Goodwin Georgia Colkin Joe Burgess | 020 3004 9512 / 07747 788 221 |
About Ocean Outdoor
Ocean Outdoor operates some of the most prestigious digital out-of-home (DOOH) locations in the UK, Northern and Continental Europe.
The Ocean portfolio features the UK's most iconic DOOH locations including the BFI IMAX; the Landsec Piccadilly Lights and a significant presence in the top 12 UK cities. Ocean's portfolio of high-profile landlords and partners includes Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Southampton City Councils, Landsec, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the BFI and intu.
In the UK, a continued focus on Ocean's Digital Cities for Digital Citizens philosophy has significantly augmented the Group's position as an operator of high quality DOOH assets. Ocean continues to deliver good organic development through new City tender wins, the rollout of new locations in Scotland, London, the West Midlands and Manchester and significant screen investment.
Strategic acquisitions that complement the existing DOOH portfolio remain a strategic pillar of the growth programme. This continued with three Dutch acquisitions in spring 2019, giving the company a significant share of the Netherlands market where it has become a major DOOH player. These subsidiaries have since been rebranded as Ocean Netherlands.
In September 2019, Ocean made a further acquisition, buying out the assets of Visual Art, a Sweden based independent, pure-play DOOH media and tech group which operates in three Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) and key cities in Germany.
This transaction expands Ocean's portfolio across 23 Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield shopping malls in Europe, in addition to holding the exclusive external rights to two of the largest premium urban shopping malls in Europe: Westfield London and Westfield Stratford in the UK.