MediaZest Plc Trading update

 
TIDMMDZ 
 
23 May 2018 
 
                                 MediaZest Plc 
 
                    ("MediaZest"or the "Company"; AIM: MDZ) 
 
                                Trading update 
 
The Board is pleased to present shareholders with an update on current 
progress. 
 
Results to the year ended 31 March 2018 
 
 
As announced at the time of the Interim results on 15 December 2017, the Group 
expected to show a positive EBITDA at Group level for the first time in respect 
of the year ended 31 March 2018, subject to the closing of three large deals. 
 
All three of those deals have been successfully closed, however project delays 
outside of the control of the Group have meant that the majority of the 
resulting profit will now fall into the current financial year ended 31 March 
2019. The amount in question is approximately GBP200,000 worth of net profit. 
 
As a consequence the Board expects full year results to 31 March 2018 to show 
revenues in line with the prior year but profitability marginally behind. 
Definitive figures will be provided once the year end audit is completed. 
 
The Board expect that the final results for the year ended 31 March 2018 will 
show a profitable year again at Operational level (MediaZest International 
Limited, the Group's subsidiary). 
 
Outlook for the current year ended 31 March 2019 
 
As a result of this likely deferment of expected income from the prior year, 
the first quarter of the year to 31 March 2019 is expected to benefit from an 
additional net profit of approximately GBP200,000. Furthermore, with visibility 
on other projects and growing recurring revenue streams, the Board expects 
considerable year on year improvement in the results for the 6 months to 30 
September 2018. 
 
The improvement in profitability in the current period at Group level has led 
to a consequent increase in cash in hand. 
 
The ongoing improvement in results over recent months is due to a mixture of 
new client and new project wins, and is underpinned by the growth in recurring 
revenue streams that the Board has targeted as a strategic priority. 
 
Run rate recurring contractual revenues are now in excess of GBP650,000 per annum 
compared with approximately half that amount at the same time in the previous 
year. This is driven by the Group's focus on prioritising permanent, fixed 
installation projects with ongoing support and content management contracts. 
Much of this growth was towards the end of the financial year so the financial 
benefits will have a greater impact in the current year. 
 
Client projects and portfolio 
 
 
Significant new clients in the year have included HP and The European Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development, and the Company continues to have great success 
in the automotive market with new Rockar projects for Mitsubishi and Ford. 
 
Well established existing customers such as Ted Baker, Diesel, Clydesdale Bank, 
Kuoni, HMV, Halfords and others continue to work with the Group on an ongoing 
basis. It is the opinion of the Board and senior management that the audio 
visual and digital signage market for high street retailers is experiencing 
rapid growth and large scale adoption is beginning to happen. The Company 
remains well placed to take advantage of these opportunities. 
 
The automotive sector has yielded several large opportunities which the Company 
is currently pursuing. In automotive retail, the Group is working with Hyundai, 
Jaguar Land Rover (with Rockar), VW, Ford and Mitsubishi (both via Rockar), 
Opel Germany, and is pitching to several other brands. Outside of the showroom 
retail side of automotive, the Group works with BMW and Fiat in the UK, 
providing corporate AV solutions. 
 
Although the Board acknowledges that in the short term the automotive market 
faces challenges of its own, it believes that this is a retail sector in 
particular need of digital signage solutions to modernise its sales approach to 
customers. Furthermore, that the volume and scale of these operations will 
present substantial opportunity to the Group over the coming years, including 
overseas opportunities. 
 
A general feature of recent growth has been the increase in overseas 
opportunities currently delivered by the Group and this includes work for Ted 
Baker, HP and Nokia in Europe and beyond. Over the next 2-3 years the Board 
expects further significant projects to emanate from outside of the UK as well 
as strategic growth opportunities. In many cases, UK companies or initiatives 
are being deployed across multi national retail estates and the Group's ability 
to provide consistent solutions across borders, and experience in doing so, is 
expected to give another competitive edge in the coming years. 
 
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of 
Regulation (EU) 596/2014. 
 
Enquiries: 
 
Geoff Robertson                                                0845 207 9378 
Chief Executive Officer 
MediaZest Plc 
 
Tom Price/Edward Hutton                                        020 3861 6625 
Nominated Adviser 
Northland Capital Partners Limited 
 
Claire Noyce                                                   020 3764 2341 
Broker 
Hybridan LLP 
 
Notes to Editors: 
 
About MediaZest 
 
MediaZest is a creative audio-visual systems integrator that specialises in 
providing innovative marketing solutions to leading retailers, brand owners and 
corporations, but also works in the public sector in both the NHS and Education 
markets. The Group supplies an integrated service from content creation and 
system design to installation, technical support, and maintenance. MediaZest 
was admitted to the London Stock Exchange's AIM market in February 2005. For 
more information, please visit www.mediazest.com 
 
 
 
END 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 23, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)