Ocean Outdoor Limited Trading Update and Glasgow Contract Win (0349Z)

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RNS Number : 0349Z

Ocean Outdoor Limited

15 May 2019

15 May 2019

Ocean Outdoor Limited

("Ocean" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Trading Update and Glasgow Contract Win

Ocean Outdoor Limited, a leading operator of premium Digital Out-of-Home ("DOOH") advertising in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, announces a trading update for Q1 2019. Ocean also confirms today that it has been awarded a long-term contract with City Property (Glasgow) Investments LLP, working in partnership with Glasgow City Council, to redevelop and introduce new roadside and city centre digital advertising screens.

Q1 2019 Highlights:

-- Group revenue up 14% to GBP18.6 million (Q1 2018: GBP16.3 million) including recent Dutch acquisitions on a pro-forma basis(1)

   --     Readmission to trading on the London Stock Exchange completed on 10 January 2019 
   --   Acquired Dutch Out-of-Home advertising companies Ngage Media and Interbest for a combined cash consideration of approximately EUR51 million 

-- Exclusive long-term contract secured with Southampton City Council to provide enhanced digital roadside city centre large format screens

The Group continued to deliver on its strategy in the first quarter, led by the acquisitions of Ngage Media and Interbest, two of Holland's leading Out-of-Home advertising companies, for a combined cash consideration of approximately EUR51 million. The integration process is on track.

Ocean Scotland has performed well, assisted by the roll out of the Group's roadside digital conversion programme. This included the completion of four large format supersize digital screens.

Ocean's Brand Partnerships and Ocean Labs teams have performed strongly, generating ground-breaking campaigns across key assets. Highlights in the period included news bulletins broadcasted live from 300m under the sea to Ocean's large format screens, showing the impact of plastic pollution on the planet, and an immersive green screen experience which toured Ocean's interactive screens including Westfield London to promote the blockbuster film, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.

The growth of Ocean's broadcast presence continued with live streaming of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Formula E, and live coverage of Victoria Beckham's London Fashion Week show on Landsec's world famous Piccadilly Lights.

The changing media landscape continues to illustrate the growing prominence of the DOOH medium. According to new data from industry body Route, digital screens are generating 36% more impacts in the UK compared to 12 months ago. The 9,766 screens currently measured by Route are reported to be seen by two-thirds of the adult GB population each week (67%).

Ocean's own research, published in February this year, maps the growing popularity of iconic screens as a powerful, safe and trusted, curated medium. The study shows that Landsec's Piccadilly Lights delivers 88% brand recall, reflecting the power of media stature.

Glasgow City contract win

Ocean has been awarded long term agreements as media partner with City Property (Glasgow) Investments LLP, working in partnership with Glasgow City Council, to redevelop and introduce new roadside and city centre digital advertising locations.

This is Ocean's second major council contract win of 2019 following its agreement with Southampton City Council, which was announced earlier in the year. The Glasgow contract, which is for selected premium locations, was awarded following a competitive tender.

Ocean was successful in winning a significant number of the locations offered, further cementing the company's position as the leading Scottish player in super premium roadside and urban screens powered by new and emerging responsive technology.

Commenting on Ocean's performance, CEO Tim Bleakley said: "The Group has had an encouraging start to the year, driven by our focus on delivering a customer and audience friendly experience. The continued investment in our digital network has also resulted in more opportunities for advertisers to reach light TV and mobile audiences via trusted, curated spaces.

"Further investment in our national and regional commercial sales teams, brand partnerships and Ocean Labs teams has delivered some spectacular work as we continue to focus on consumer engagement and the benefits of Digital Out Of Home to the advertiser.

"The Glasgow contract is another major win for the Group and allows us to progress our ambition of developing 'digital cities for digital citizens'. This proposition will now be rolled out to Scotland's biggest urban economy, creating commercial value for Glasgow City Council and improving engagement with its citizens.

"Whilst the macroeconomic backdrop remains uncertain, we continue to be cautiously optimistic about our medium-term prospects. We continue to maintain our guidance of high single digit revenue growth for FY2019."

(1) Pro-forma basis assumes ownership of the Forrest business and the Dutch businesses from 1 Jan 2018

For further information please contact:

 
 Ocean Outdoor 
  Tim Bleakley, CEO                                 020 7292 
  Susann Jerry, Head of Corporate Communications     6161 
 Yellow Jersey PR 
  Charles Goodwin 
  Georgia Colkin                                    07747 788 
  Joe Burgess                                        221 
 

About Ocean Outdoor

Ocean Outdoor operates some of the UK's most prestigious digital outdoor locations, including the BFI London IMAX; Holland Park Roundabout, which forms part of the Company's exclusive external rights to two of the largest premium urban shopping malls in Europe, Westfield London and Westfield Stratford; The Birmingham Media Eyes above New Street Station, Birmingham; and digital out-of-home (DOOH) assets across the 10 of the top key cities and retail centres in the UK including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Ocean's portfolio of high profile landlords and partners includes Birmingham, Southampton and Manchester City Councils, Landsec, the BFI and intu.

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May 15, 2019 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)