Ocean Outdoor Limited (LSE: OOUT), a leading operator of premium Digital Out-of-Home (“DOOH”) advertising in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Nordics and Germany, today publishes its financial results for the full year ended 31 December 2020.

Reported financials – protected core business during pandemic:

• Billings* recognised by the Group in FY20 were £104.7m (FY19: £135.1m)
• Revenue generated by the business in the year totalled £86.2m (FY19: £104.0m)
• Group gross profit was £22.5m (FY19: £44.9m)
• One off impairment charge of £142m (FY19: nil) related to impact of COVID-19
• Group loss before tax was £182.0m (FY19: £6.2m)
• Successfully agreed £35m of debt facility to assist with working capital requirements, with £5m drawn down by the year end
• Cash on balance sheet of £30.0m (FY19: £26.9m)
• Net assets balance of £197.7m (FY19: £374.0m)
• Cash generated from operations totalling £32.1m (FY19: £46.8m)

Unaudited proforma** figures:

• Unaudited Group revenue of £86.2m on a proforma basis, down 38% (2019: £139.6m)
• Unaudited Adjusted EBITDA*** of £(0.4)m down from £32.9m
• Reduced overheads (excluding depreciation and non-recurring items) by £4.4m to £26.8m, down 14% (2019: £31.2m)
• Continued to invest for growth – capital expenditure in new locations of £6.4 million (2019: £15.9 million)
• Strong working capital management leading to £5.5m of operating free cash flow

Ongoing strategic investment and new contract wins:

• Ocean Netherlands appointed as 10-year strategic media partner for Westfield Mall of the Netherlands, contract value of €7 million
• Launched suite of new technological innovations with Ocean Labs for wider appeal (3D forced perspective technology, mobile augmented reality (AR) technology and touchless screen technology)
• Continued roadside network expansion in UK cities including expansion of Two Towers® concept in Birmingham
• Won four new media contracts in a competitive tender process across the Nordics, leading to an additional 58 shopping malls across Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland
• Renewed three and extended two roadside contracts in the Netherlands related to €1.8m of annual revenues

Momentum building in 2021:

• Announced a sealed bid auction ahead of COP26 later this year for brands wanting to appear on Ocean’s large format DOOH screens across Edinburgh and Glasgow
• Exclusive UK digital content deal with BT Sport to broadcast next day UEFA Champions League match clips across 7 key cities as live sports return in the UK
• Expansion of Ocean Netherlands media partnership with Dutch Olympic team ahead of Tokyo 2021
• Launched Amsterdam’s First Digital Creative Competition
• Oslo bus station, one of Norway’s busiest transport locations, launched with 28 new digital screens

*Billings represent the advertising spend by the advertiser, including fees directly payable by the advertiser to their advertising agency, exclusive of sales tax

*Due to FY19 mid-year acquisitions the consolidated statement of profit and loss presented does not provide a year-on-year comparison for the underlying performance and operations. The financial highlights detailed above are on an unaudited proforma basis for Ocean Outdoor Limited and all subsidiaries in the Group as at 31 December 2020 as if the same subsidiaries had been owned from 1 January 2019.

*Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, impairment on intangible assets, impairment on investments in associates, deal fees, debt raise fees, foreign exchange gains or losses, restructuring and redundancy costs, other one-off costs & earn out payments designated as post completion compensation under IFRS3. IFRS 16 has been removed, in order to provide comparison on the prior period.

Tim Bleakley, Ocean’s CEO, commented:

“Throughout the period Ocean Outdoor has continued to invest in its platforms and products to prepare for the impending recovery. With a strong balance sheet and growth opportunities in every area of our operations, our focus is now on the speed of that recovery as restrictions are lifted.

“We have never stood still. We have not only protected our core businesses across all territories, but developed or won incremental assets and contracts to accelerate growth, strengthening Ocean’s network proposition in key areas such as content partnerships, new technology and brand experiences to maximise every opportunity for advertisers as they return. Momentum is building and the investments we have made means Ocean is exceptionally well placed to reach and engage with highly receptive, liberated outdoor audiences at scale. We have a strong underlying business, we are well set for the recovery and we are already engaged in the fight back.”

In the interview below, CEO Tim Bleakley outlines the Group’s business and how the Group used the lockdown period to promote small businesses and other worthy causes.

VIDEO: OCEAN OUTDOOR INVESTORS OVERVIEW