Digitalbox outperform market expectations
, has announced its FY19 audited results to 31 December 2019 are significantly ahead of market expectations.
The Company saw revenue for the period of £2.24m with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.4% delivering £0.5m at the operating level. The reported revenue and gross profit included the 10-month contribution from the reverse takeover of Polemos plc in February 2019.
During the period the Company’s operational highlights were impressive. Entertainment Daily exceed 7 million unique visitors in December 2019 for the first time and Daily Mash saw traffic growth of 12%. The Mash Report was Bafta-nominated and a new series commissioned for release on 3 April 2020. The partnership between Daily Mash and comedy video platform. NextUp was also announced during this period. The Company, at the time of the announcement, had a cash position of £1m.
The Company has also seen a strong start to FY20, with first-quarter trading already ahead of expectations. The UK lockdown saw traffic to Daily Mash increase with 1.9m visitors in the first week alone.
Shares in Digitalbox were unchanged in early morning trading.
James Carter, CEO, Digitalbox plc, said: "2019 was a fantastic year for Digitalbox with our financial performance ahead of analyst expectations, reflecting a normal World. Following our admission to trading on AIM and the successful acquisition of the Daily Mash, we have enhanced our operational practices. There is little doubt that our 'mobile first buy and build' strategy for growth remains as relevant now as it ever was. The margins we are generating are at the leading edge of the industry. Running a business that remains fluid and able to quickly adapt to fresh challenges gives us a distinct advantage over legacy media businesses.
"We continue to explore acquisition opportunities to enhance our growth while we endeavour to be at the forefront of the industry and engineering further growth in 2020 from our existing products.
"As with all businesses we will face challenges due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Alongside other home-based digital media businesses we expect our audience to have more time to engage with our content although the advertising market has already experienced a downturn and seems likely to get much tougher. There has been an incredible appetite for humour during the early part of this period and the Daily Mash is seeing record traffic levels. With the biggest stories like 'Five smug middle-class social isolation activities' and 'Waitrose limits food sales to people with detached houses', combined with the Mash Report screening again on BBC2 this Friday, we hope to offer some humour during this very serious situation.
"With £1 million of cash in the bank, and a strong first quarter of trading in 2020 which was ahead of our expectations, the Company is in a good position to deal with the current challenges."
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest
The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.