Zinc Media Group plc (LON:ZIN), the TV and multimedia content producer, has announced an unaudited trading update and news of a forthcoming Capital Markets Day.
Trading update
Financial highlights:
· Group Adjusted EBITDA in H2 2021 expected to be in the region of £0.5m, ahead of management’s expectations.
· The Group generated Free Cash Flow (FCF) in H2 2021.
· Cash at 31 December 2021 of £5.6m (31 December 2020: £6.8m).
· The Group has already booked £9m of revenue which is expected to be delivered in 2022 (January 2021: £9m), with an additional £6m of commissions in highly advanced discussions (January 2021: £5m), with a significant proportion anticipated to begin production in Q2 2022.
· The Group expects to publish its audited full year results in April 2022.
Programme highlights in H2 2021 include:
· The Group’s largest ever TV series commission, for Channel 5; and
· The Group’s first ever Advertiser Funded Programme (AFP) for Sky; and
· Two new live action productions for Red Bull and Lego; and
· Five recommissions for returning series; and
· The Group’s first commercially funded podcast series; and
· A significant client funded development for one of the world’s biggest SVoD (“subscription video on demand”) platforms, which has the potential to lead to a series commission.
The new financial year has started positively with new business wins across the Group. Tern TV has won a new series for BBC2 and BBC Scotland. This is the first commission for Tern’s new Head of Factual Entertainment. Zinc Communicate has started the year strongly, with the publishing business booking at high levels and the branded content business winning a recommission for a sponsored podcast series. The London and Manchester television business has won a new commission for the next Norma Percy led series for the BBC.
There have been some minor delays to domestic and international commissions in the last eight weeks owing to the Omicron Covid variant, but the Group expects to get these productions back on track by the end of Q1.
The Group continues to refresh its business winning talent across both Television and Zinc Communicate and has also improved its online presence with an updated Group website at www.zincmedia.com.
Mark Browning, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Despite a slower trading environment at the end of 2021 due to the Omicron variant, I am pleased with the Group’s performance. We expect to report a strong H2 level of Adjusted EDITDA and be cash generative in the second half of the year. This is a significant achievement for the Group, as it validates the effectiveness of our transformation plan and our potential to deliver healthy profits and cash as revenues recover to pre-pandemic levels. Our pipeline of highly advanced business is encouraging, including our client funded development for a major global SVoD which positions the company well for the future. Our strong cash position means we will continue to invest in new talent and technology as we build for the long term.”
Capital Markets Day
Zinc will be hosting a Capital Markets Day later this month. The Group’s CEO Mark Browning will present new television production market research, commissioned exclusively by Zinc Media, demonstrating the opportunity for television production growth in both the UK and international market. He will also present some of the Group’s latest television programmes including a selection which are currently in development.
There will also be an opportunity to meet Zinc Media’s new Managing Director of Television, Tanya Shaw, and speak to the Group’s Chairman Chris Satterthwaite, as well as tour the production facilities. There are no plans to share further financial information and the presentation will not be live streamed.
The details of the Capital Markets Day are as follows:
Date: Wednesday 2nd March 2022
Time: 12:30 – 14:30 (UK time)
Location: 17 Dominion Street, London, EC2M 2EF
Dress Code: Informal
We ask for all attendees to register by Friday 11 February by responding to zach.cohen@investor-focus.co.uk. The number of permitted attendees may be limited.
