Zinc Media confident in second-half uptick in TV production

Television and content production company Zinc Media reported first-half revenue of £14.1m on Monday, down from £17.7m in the first half of 2023, reflecting a wider market trend of production being weighted toward the second half of the year.

The AIM-traded firm highlighted long-term growth, however, with revenue in the first six months of 2024 up 31% compared to the same period in 2022.

Gross margins remained stable at 41%, while its adjusted EBITDA loss of £0.9m was put down to the second half revenue weighting described by the board.

Despite the lower first-half revenue, Zinc Media was optimistic, with £33m in revenue expected for the 2024 financial year, and an additional £5m in advanced discussions.

The group also secured £11m in revenue for 2025, aligning with prior-year performance.

Zinc also said it had achieved annualised efficiency savings of £0.5m and continued to maintain a robust cash position of £4.1m.

Operationally, Zinc reported strategic changes, winding down its loss-making Zinc Communicate division to focus on its more successful content production labels, Supercollider and The Edge.

The group won ‘Production Company of the Year’ at the New York Festival Film and Television Awards for the second consecutive year, and produced several high-profile documentaries, including Putin vs the West and Rob & Rylan's Grand Tour, which received critical acclaim.

Looking ahead, Zinc said its pipeline was strong with several new commissions, including an 80-episode series of Bargain Loving Brits in the Sun, and a new series, Rob & Rylan's Passage to India.

The company’s new label, Atomic Television, also secured a significant multi-million-pound series for a major global streaming platform.

Zinc Media said it was well-positioned for future revenue and profit growth, with strong visibility into 2025.

“Since the group's trading update on 8 July, we have experienced a significant uplift in new business, £5m of which will be recognised in 2024 with a high level of pre-bookings for 2025,” said chief executive officer Mark Browning.

“Our revenue mix in 2024 is delivering higher gross margins than prior year and we are achieving efficiency savings faster than anticipated.

“This currently underpins our confidence of delivering to full year EBITDA expectations of £2.1m.”

Browning said the uplift in production and commissioning of new business seen in the second half mirrored the wider UK production market being heavily-weighted to second half performance.

“The fundamentals of Zinc are excellent - we have an increasingly diversified client base, high levels of repeat business, healthy gross margins, and produce content across a range of price points within our markets.

“We are particularly pleased with the level of recommissions, reflecting recognition of the quality of our work, the trusted relationships we have with our clients and our strong reputation in the industry.

“We are on course for significant profit growth this year and are well placed to benefit from future consolidation of the UK production sector.”

At 1007 BST, shares in Zinc Media were down 3.7% at 65p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.