Ooh!media suffers revenue blow amid contract loss
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The news: The nation’s largest outdoor advertising firm, Ooh!media, suffered a 3% revenue slide in the June half following the loss of a major contract with Vicinity shopping centres.
The numbers: Ooh!media reported revenue for the June half of $288.3 million, under estimates E&P estimates of $300.5 million. Adjusted underlying net profit after tax came in at $18.2 million, down 11% on the same period last year. Statutory net profit after tax was down 10% for the half to $5.8 million.
Adjusted underlying EBITDA fell 2% on the first half of last year to $48.6 million, below estimates of $50 million. Earnings per share fell 5% to $1.10.
The company declared an interim dividend of $1.75, unchanged from the year prior.
Shares rose 1.38% to $1.47 at 10:54am AEST and over the past 12 months has risen 1.72%.
E&P Capital media analyst Entcho Raykovski said he expects the stock to underperform on the results as its EBTIDA came in below market estimates.
The context: The company said the key drivers of the revenue slide were a fall in market share across the out of home advertising market in Australia and New Zealand, which closed the half at 36% compared to the 39% captured in the first half of last year. The company also lost major contract with Vicinity shopping centres.
What they said: Ooh!media chief executive Cathy O’Connor said: “In a challenged Australian media landscape, Out of Home (OOH) continues to shine and outperform other forms of media, with the OOH market growing by 8% and capturing a record 15% of advertising agency media spend in the first half".
“We have taken decisive action to address the loss of market share, including accelerating the digitisation across our Retail portfolio to offset the Vicinity contract exit, renewing our sales leadership team and strengthening our sales capability," she said.
"We are confident in these actions and seeing some positive early signs, with solid revenue growth returning in late Q3 and momentum building as we enter the critical Q4 period for the media market.”
The sources: ASX announcement, E&P research
