Strong growth continues in first half at Ebiquity

Media investment analysis provider Ebiquity said in an update on Monday that it continued its growth trajectory in the first half with revenue of about £37m, up 16% year-on-year.

The AIM-traded firm said the solid performance in the six months ended 30 June included an initial contribution from Media Management and Media Path, which were both acquired in April.

Organic revenue was up 10% over the prior year.

In addition, the board said the group's profitability improved “significantly”, adding that it expected to report underlying operating profit of more than £4.6m, making for a year-on-year increase of at least 100%.

The group said its underlying operating margin was similarly expected to improve to at least 12%, representing an increase of five percentage points, enabled by growth in higher-margin digital products and improved operating efficiencies.

Ebiquity said its net debt as at 30 June totalled £12.9m, consisting of cash balances of £9.3m and gross debt of £22.2m.

Following a previously-announced review, the group also said it was in discussions over the divestment of its “small” Russia subsidiary.

“We are satisfied with the group's performance in the first half, as we continue to deliver our strategic plan,” said chief executive officer Nick Waters.

“Not only is revenue up strongly, but importantly, the improvements we have made to the business have also led to significant profit and margin growth.

“We are pleased with the impact of the acquisitions that we completed earlier this year, which have boosted our presence in the world's largest advertising market of North America and have provided us with a market leading technology platform that will bring us valuable economies of scale as we continue to grow.”

Waters said the acquisitions were contributing as expected, with their integrations progressing well.

“In terms of our outlook, there is undoubtedly greater uncertainty given the increasing macro-economic challenges.

“While Ebiquity is not immune to these, we do see potential opportunities - in prior periods of economic uncertainty marketers have scrutinised all their media investments more thoroughly for cost, quality, and effectiveness.”

Marketers could also look to allocate more capital to digital advertising, Nick Waters said, which was served by the company’s rapidly-growing digital media solutions business.

“Notwithstanding this uncertainty, we look forward to completing another successful year in 2022 and continuing to deliver against our planned growth trajectory.”

Ebiquity said it would announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June on 22 September.

At 1208 BST, shares in Ebiquity were up 10.25% at 57.88p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.