Ocean Outdoor: Half Year Results
Strong Q2 performance – recovery well underway
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, is pleased to announce its half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2021.
Financial highlights:
- H1 Billings increased 9.1% to £48.4m (H1 2020: £44.3m) in a period still impacted by lockdowns
- H1 Revenue increased 11.2% to £40.6m (H1 2020: £36.5m)
- Q2 revenue increased 196% to £25.9m (Q2 2020: £8.8m), a significant upturn from Q1
- Q1 Revenue at 52% of Q1 2019 improving in Q2 to 78% of Q2 2019 – trajectory anticipated to continue in Q3
- Adjusted EBITDA (including IFRS16) increased 12.0% to £15.3m (H1 2020: £13.7m)
- Adjusted EBITDA (excluding IFRS16) decreased 7.1% to (£4.7m) (H1 2020: (£4.4m))
- Cash of £29.8m (H1 2020: £35.6m), reflecting a strong balance sheet
- Extended term of debt facility by 12 months and improved covenants
- Ocean’s UK staff returned from furlough to support the increased levels of demand
Summary of key initiatives:
UK
- Appointed outdoor media partner for Edinburgh’s prestigious St James Quarter £1 billion regeneration project
- Successful launch of 3-D product DeepScreen™
- Exclusive UK digital content deal with BT Sport to broadcast UEFA Champions League match clips across 7 UK cities
- 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
Netherlands
- Secured new retail and key roadside contracts
- Westfield Mall of the Netherlands officially launched in April with performance exceeding expectations in early months
- Launched the Netherlands’ First Digital Creative Competition
Nordics
- Extended relationship with DEAS with contract covering 39 event areas across 18 malls in Denmark to launch experiential service
- Oslo Central bus station launched with 28 new digital screens
- 131 new digital screens installed across a total of 41 malls in Norway, creating strong marketing position
Post period end highlights and current trading:
- Appointed strategic media partner for Westfield Fisketorvet, Copenhagen
- Appointed exclusive outdoor media partner for the Canary Wharf Group, with long-term contract value of £30 million
- DeepScreen™ being rolled out across Ocean’s large format full motion portfolio in all territories to excellent reception
- Delivered ‘fan zone’ experiential campaign and Tokyo 2020 highlights at Westfield London in partnership with Team GB
- Positive business confidence in UK driving advertising spend resurgence – momentum continues in UK bookings
Commenting on the H1 results, Tim Bleakley, CEO of Ocean Outdoor, said:
“The recovery is underway with a strong Q2 underpinning the increased levels of client activity. The strong sequential demand has tracked the vaccine rollout and phased lifting of restrictions, as well as the renewed confidence from high-spending advertising categories. The major global brands are returning at pace to digital out of home, underlining the increasing importance they are placing on the channel. At the same time, we have attracted new advertisers, driven by changing consumer behaviour and our high-profile initiatives and innovations over the last 12 months such as Deepscreen™, our 3D screen development.
“Ocean is emerging from the pandemic a stronger business due to a combination of investment for growth and the focus and dedication of our people. We continue to win contracts in the most sought-after and audience-robust environments, delivering the ultimate advertising impact and experience. Digital out of home will be a structural long-term winner post the pandemic. Whilst the obvious risks remain, Ocean is well positioned to capture the benefits of the recovery and expects to continue the strong momentum.”
“H1 has certainly been a tale of two halves; Q1 lockdowns made way for the UK DOOH industry recording its biggest quarter of growth in history for Q2. We believe we are at the beginning of a resurgence of activity in our sector validated by independent industry data, and are therefore confident in the period ahead.”
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.
