Ebiquity H1 revenue down, warns on FY profits

Marketing and media consultancy Ebiquity said on Thursday that both revenue and adjusted underlying earnings had fallen in the six months ended 30 June, leading it to warn on FY profits.

Ebiquity said H1 revenues had slipped 7% to £37.9m, primarily due to certain large clients continuing to reduce their budgets, while interim adjusted EBIT was seen 61% lower at £2.3m. Adjusted EBIT margins also narrowed from 15% to roughly 6%.

While the AIM-listed group stated it expects FY24 to have an "unusually strong" H2 weighting, underpinned by contractual visibility and its existing pipeline, it also warned that profits for the full year will be below previous expectations.

Chief executive Nick Waters said: "H124 performance has been challenging, however the business has worked during this period to develop a deep pipeline of revenue opportunities which are scheduled to be closed and delivered in H2. As a result, the year will be very much one of two halves.

"I am encouraged by the anticipated growth in our North American business, where a significant number of opportunities have been identified that are expected to convert to stronger second-half revenues."

As of 0915 BST, Ebiquity shares had sunk 23.88% to 28.92p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com