Immotion Group plc (LON:IMMO), the international immersive entertainment company, has today updated the market on current trading.
The Group duly reports that it expects its unaudited H2 2021 revenue to be very significantly ahead of that reported in H1 2021. The Company expects revenue of circa £6.5m for the second half of 2021, compared to unaudited revenue of £2.8m in H1.
Furthermore, on the back of a profitable Q4 to date, the Company expects adjusted EBITDA* for the full year 2021 to be significantly ahead of the £0.6m (reported on 28 September 2021) for the first nine months of trading.
As anticipated, operating cashflow generation has been strong. The Group’s current cash balance is in excess of £1.2m compared to the £0.9m as at the last update on 28 September 2021.
*Adjusted EBITDA is stated before restructuring costs and share based payments.
CEO Martin Higginson caught up DirectorsTalk Interviews to discuss the current trading.
Martin explains the key drivers to its impressive growth, if new restrictions are impacting sales, the reaction at the the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions show for the new Gorilla Trek experience, taking on more staff, logistics challenges, Vodiac, Uvisan, and Martins thoughts on the year ahead.
Location Based Entertainment (LBE)
The LBE business saw revenues surge in excess of 70% compared with H1 as almost all locations were reopened following the enforced closures earlier in the year as a result of the pandemic and, in particular, were able to benefit from the key summer trading period in USA and UK. Q4 2021 is expected to deliver a very satisfactory contribution despite it being the quieter seasonal period with strong trade during the Thanksgiving Holiday period in USA and the October half term holidays in the UK. Current trading is in line with our expectations and to date we have not seen any material impact as a result of further UK Covid-19 restrictions. It should also be noted the vast majority of our revenue in our LBE business is generated in the USA (two-thirds of total LBE revenue in H2 was generated in the USA).
Following the launch of the new zoo-targeted VR experience, ‘Gorilla Trek’ at the IAAPA trade show, in Florida, USA, in November 2021, the Company has seen considerable interest in this exciting new offering and is already in discussions with a number of blue-chip USA zoos for installations in H1 2022. Overall levels of enquiries and discussions for both the aquaria and zoo offerings are very encouraging for 2022.
Home Based Entertainment (HBE)
We expect the HBE division to generate revenue in excess of £2m for the H2 period, almost four times the revenue achieved in 2020. Revenue in Q4 2021 is expected to be in excess of £1.5m versus £0.7m in the same period in 2020, generating a good profit contribution despite the tough logistical challenges.
The growth in Amazon sales, both in the UK and USA has been considerable, with this channel now making up a significant and growing percentage of sales.
We sold in excess of 25,000 Let’s Explore Oceans Mega Packs between July and November 2021 (and in excess 28,000 in aggregate for the full year to-date). Given unprecedented challenges in global shipping and logistics, sales and margin have been considerably impacted by additional costs, including the massive challenge of getting stock in the right place at the right time. Logistic problems aside, we feel the demand for ‘in-home’ VR entertainment is very encouraging and gives us confidence to further develop the product range.
To this end, the Company’s new ‘in-home’ offering, ‘Vodiac’, a product specifically designed and priced to appeal to a mass market audience, with less seasonal demand, will be ‘soft’ launched in the coming weeks to its database of circa 40,000 ‘Let’s Explore Oceans’ customers who will be able to access it using their existing Let’s Explore headset. The Vodiac product will include a smartphone-compatible VR headset, seven free VR videos, 20 premium VR videos, and the ability to purchase further premium content from an extensive catalogue of VR videos across seven VR channels. Vodiac will be available to purchase via selected retailers, Amazon and direct from the Company in early February 2022.
Uvisan
We expect Uvisan, the Company’s UV-C disinfection business, to generate revenue of circa £400k for H2, an increase in excess of 400% versus H1. This includes a second container load of cabinets expected to be on route to our Australian distributor before year-end.
We also report that our order book for Q1 2022 has started strongly, with visibility on orders of circa $350k, including our largest single order ever from a new USA distributor.
Conclusion
With Group revenues expected to exceed £9m, compared to £2.8m for 2020, a three-fold increase, and a strongly profitable H2 we firmly believe that this has been a year of significant progress for the Company and we look forward with confidence.
Martin Higginson, Immotion Group CEO, said: “With full year revenues expected to exceed £9m we are pleased to be ending the year with a profitable business and cash in the bank. The surge in H2 revenues, expected to exceed £6.5m, a circa 230% increase on H1, is testament to the team, their drive and enthusiasm for our offerings.”
“This strong trading, combined with a successful IAAPA trade show for the LBE division, gives us renewed confidence for the year ahead.”
