TIDMBIDS
RNS Number : 6008R
Bidstack Group PLC
07 July 2022
Certain information contained within this Announcement is deemed
by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR") as applied in
the United Kingdom. Upon publication of this Announcement, this
information is now considered to be in the public domain.
7 July 2022
Bidstack Group Plc
("Bidstack" or the "Company" or the "Group")
Trading Update
Encouraging first half revenues and margins
Bidstack Group Plc (AIM: BIDS), the in-game brand activation
platform, is pleased to announce a trading update for half year
ended 30 June 2022.
Financial Update
-- Unaudited revenue up 160% to GBP2.1m (H1 21: GBP820k);
-- Year-on-year gross margin improvement (H1 21: 34.5%); and
-- Unaudited period end cash balance of GBP3.6m (H1 21:
GBP695k), with further significant non-trading cash receipt
expected in Q322.
Key Commercial Highlights
-- Commenced roll out of Azerion Group N.V. ("Azerion") media
sales partnership on 1 March 2022 across core markets of the UK and
EMEA. Current performance in-line with the two-year $30m minimum
revenue contractual commitments;
-- PubGuard, Bidstack's ad-quality platform, has secured a
minimum two-year licence agreement with Azerion providing Azerion
with exclusive representation reselling PubGuard's brand safety
technology whilst also utilising the software across its group of
companies;
-- Inventory of games now over 100 titles (31 December 21: 58)
with over 100m monthly active users available to Bidstack's network
of global media partners; and
-- New ad formats of in-menu and rewarded video launched.
Outlook
-- Revenue from the Azerion media sales partnership is
anticipated to accelerate into H2 22 in line with contractual
commitments;
-- New products to be launched in H2 22 for Bidstack's
publishers and developers to maximise monetisation, the addition of
new measurement tools and enhanced platform management including
data and reporting;
-- Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Media Rating Council
(MRC) Measurement Guidelines now in public consultation to
establish robust standards. This is expected to increase confidence
of media buyers to purchase in-game advertising through open
marketplace, which is expected to be a significant catalyst for
frictionless growth;
-- Robust pipeline for enterprise software sales as Bidstack
diversifies business towards new opportunities in technology
licensing to publishers, developers, platforms and rights holders
beyond FY22.
The Board is pleased with Bidstack's progress in the first half
and expects that revenues for FY22 will be in line with market
expectations, primarily reflecting the increased commitments
arising under the Azerion contract for the second half.
The Board continues to believe that Bidstack is well
established, both in terms of product and revenue generation, as a
leading player for in-game brand activation. Bidstack continues to
focus on cash management, gross margins and operating expenses
.
James Draper, CEO of Bidstack said:
"The first six months of FY22 has seen the Company put in place
further foundations for longer term growth, as our Group revenues
begin to accelerate. A 160% increase in first half revenue
year-on-year to GBP2.1m is testament to our broader product
offering and suite of tools, organic growth through cross-selling
and the commencement of our relationship with Azerion. Our cash
management has been carefully balanced between investment for
aggressive growth and prudent management. In addition, our gross
margin is trending up year-on-year.
"As of 1 March 2022, our two-year agreement with Azerion has
begun, with their sizeable sales teams giving Bidstack's media
segment and gaming advertising network a greater representation
across new markets.
"Bidstack Group is proud to be a pioneer with our industry
bodies; the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Media Rating
Council (MRC). They are now releasing standardisation guidelines
for campaign measurement. This is an important development, as a
universally approved standard for measuring campaign success will
enable media planners to push more advertising spend into
in-game.
"In addition, the progress of our technology division has seen
PubGuard, a company acquired by Bidstack in 2019, now beginning to
commercialise, with Azerion agreeing to be the exclusive reseller
for this product over the next two years.
"Outside of our media business, our H2 22 focus will be on
enterprise software sales. Our commercial pipeline remains robust
as we make good progress. Our vision has always been to create a
platform that generates recurring and automated revenues through
our suite of tools, designed to help our gaming publishers
customers monetise brand activations.
"We have many exciting new products, adding to our "always-on
revenue" suite of tools for publishers that are expected to be
rolled out in Q3 22. This should support a robust second half to
the year for the Group and an increased number of game developers
seeking to take advantage of our technologies, not just within
advertising, but across their studios.
"We are all very aware of the uncertainty caused by the
challenging global economic climate. However, we are confident that
the video games sector will remain strong and that the demand for
advertising-spend monetisation will continue to increase, from game
developers and publishers. There is a clear trend toward shifting
media spend towards the video games audience.
"I believe we are well placed to benefit as our market continues
to mature and I look forward to providing further updates."
-ENDS-
Contacts
Bidstack Group Plc
James Draper, CEO via Buchanan
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad) +44 (0) 203 368
Mark Brady / Neil Baldwin / James Keeshan 3550
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Broker) +44 (0) 20 7710
Fred Walsh / Tom Marsh 7600
Buchanan Communications Limited
Chris Lane / Stephanie Whitmore / Kim
van Beeck +44 (0) 20 7466
bidstack@buchanan.uk.com 5000
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
TSTBKABDCBKDOOK
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 07, 2022 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Bidstack (LSE:BIDS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Bidstack (LSE:BIDS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024