Last checked at 20 Sep 2022 07:00
20 September 2022
ZOO DIGITAL GROUP PLC
("ZOO", the "Group" or the "Company")
AGM Statement and Trading Update
ZOO Digital Group plc (AIM: ZOO), a leading provider of end-to-end cloud-based localisation and media services to the global entertainment industry, will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 5.00pm today. At the meeting, Gillian Wilmot, Chairman, will make the following statement:
"I am thrilled to provide an update ahead of the end of our first half year, building on the positive narrative contained in our preliminary results statement released on the 7th July 2022.
"Strong momentum has continued across the business as we continue to take share in a growing market, benefitting from our cloud-based platforms, extensive freelancer network and embedded client relationships. With our global scale and end-to-end offering, we are one of the few vendors capable of meeting the requirements of major media companies to take their content to international audiences.
"Revenues for the half year are expected to be at least $51 million (FY22H1: $26.9 million), which equates to growth over the first half of FY22 of at least 89% and in excess of 17% over the second half of FY22 (FY22H2: $43.5 million). Consequently, we expect to deliver a significant increase in EBITDA compared to the comparator period in FY22, benefitting from operational gearing as the business scales. This increased profitability has also translated into a substantial improvement in our cash position, which will support our ambitious growth plans.
"We have scaled our operations to support a significant expansion of capacity for localisation and media services including the new mastering service, and this has been rewarded with an increase in regular monthly orders.
"The regional hubs we have established in strategic international locations have performed better than our expectations and we are expanding their capabilities to meet the demand from our global customers.
"To enable us to fulfil the growing order book arising from our expanding customer relationships, we have continued to recruit additional staff across the Company.
"I would like to thank our shareholders for their continuing support and would also like to extend my thanks to all ZOO colleagues around the world for their commitment and hard work that enables us to delight our customers with industry-leading services and technology for which ZOO has become renowned.
"A strong pipeline of work and excellent customer relationships gives us continued and unwavering confidence in the future, and I look forward to updating shareholders on our progress in due course."
Presentation slides that will accompany an investor update following the AGM will be available on the Company's website later today. Shareholders may register to join a live stream of the AGM and investor briefing here: https://www.zoodigital.com/agm-2022/
The Company intends to announce its interim financial results for the six months to 30 September 2022 in November 2022.
This announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. The person responsible for making this announcement is CFO Phillip Blundell.
For further enquiries please contact:
ZOO Digital Group plc | +44 (0) 114 241 3700 |
Stuart Green - Chief Executive Officer | |
Phillip Blundell - Chief Finance Officer | |
Kam Bansil - Investor Relations | |
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited Fred Walsh / Tom Marsh | +44 (0) 20 7710 7600 |
Instinctif Partners Matthew Smallwood / Joe Quinlan | +44 (0) 207 457 2020 zoo@instinctif.com |
About ZOO Digital Group plc:
ZOO Digital supports major Hollywood studios and streaming services to globalise their content and reach audiences everywhere, by providing world-leading, technology-enabled localisation and media services.
Founded in 2001, ZOO Digital operates from hubs in Los Angeles, London, Dubai, Turkey, South Korea, India and Denmark with a development and production centre in Sheffield, UK. The company is targeting $100m sales in the medium term.
The Group provides media services through its platforms that include: ZOOsubs, ZOOdubs, ZOOstudio. Its full-service proposition delivers the end-to-end services required to prepare both original and catalogue content for digital distribution; these services include dubbing, subtitling & captioning, metadata creation & localisation, artwork localisation and media processing. Alongside this offering, ZOO also provides its customers with management platforms and strategic solutions to support their own internal globalisation operations.
ZOO is a go-to service partner for media businesses looking to globalise their content across different territories, languages and distribution platforms. Using its innovative technology-enabled approach, ZOO helps its customers to reduce time to market, lower costs and deliver high quality products to their global audiences. The business has frameworks in place with all major Hollywood studios and streaming services. Its customers include Disney, NBCUniversal, HBO and Paramount.
ZOO's competitive advantage arises from three interlinking factors - the leading role it has played in the digital transformation of its sector; the world class proprietary platforms that it develops to enable this transformation; and the global supply chain of thousands of freelancers, working collaboratively in ZOO's platforms, which delivers services that scale easily to meet demand. These factors combine to make ZOO uniquely geared to capitalise on new market opportunities in a fast-paced and constantly evolving industry.
www.zoodigital.com