REG - Zoo Digital Group - Trading Update

Zoo DigitalAnnouncement

26/03/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 2383I  Zoo Digital Group PLC  26 March 2024

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
EU Regulation 596/2014 as retained as part of UK law by virtue of the European
Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 as amended. Upon the publication of this
Announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public
domain.

 

26 March 2024

 

ZOO DIGITAL GROUP PLC

("ZOO", the "Group" or the "Company")

 

Trading Update

 

ZOO Digital Group plc (AIM: ZOO), a leading provider of end-to-end
cloud-based localisation and media services to the global entertainment
industry, today provides an update on trading.

 

Current Trading

 

Following the trading statement of 24 January 2024, the Company has since
received further clarity on timing of projects and is now receiving orders
relating to work on feature films and TV shows that have been completed
following the industry strikes of 2023 that brought productions to a halt.
With January invoicing the highest month since April 2023, the Company is
beginning to see an acceleration of its pipeline with work expanding in March
and April 2024.

 

As a result, the Company expects to beat revised market guidance for FY24*
with revenues of at least $40 million. Consequently, the anticipated EBITDA
loss will be reduced. Net cash on 31 March 2024 is expected to be at least $3
million, also higher than revised market expectations, and although the
Company has no debt it intends to renew its current undrawn facilities when
they fall due.

 

Following engagement with its customers, the Company has now secured improved
visibility of work, with some extending until September 2024. Many orders are
currently in progress and a growing pipeline of further projects over this
period has been confirmed. The Company's order book for FY25 Q1 is currently
up by 30% on FY24 Q4. This order pipeline from major customers underpins an
expectation of a strong recovery in revenues in FY25 H1. Despite the
implemented cost savings which have resulted in expected Q1 direct staff costs
30% below the prior year period, the Company is well positioned to take on
increased levels of business as the industry reopens.

 

Appointment by a major film and TV distributor

 

In February 2024 the Company was appointed by another of the major film and TV
distributors as a primary vendor for dubbing in several languages and a
preferred partner for subtitling of global languages. The Board expects to
receive first firm orders for this new engagement in the coming weeks.
Furthermore, due to the strong demand for European dubbing, the Company plans
to continue to expand its capabilities in Spain, Italy, and Germany.

 

Appointment of Senior Independent Director

 

The Board is pleased to announce that Nathalie Schwarz, who has served as a
non-executive director since January 2022, is appointed as the Senior
Independent Director. Ms. Schwarz will continue to serve as chair of the
Remuneration Committee and member of the Audit Committee.

 

The persons responsible for arranging for the release of this Announcement on
behalf of ZOO are Stuart Green, Chief Executive Officer and Phillip Blundell,
Chief Financial Officer of ZOO.

 

* The Company understands market consensus for FY24 to be revenue of $37.6
million, EBITDA adjusted for share based payments loss of $14.0 million and
net cash of $1.6 million.

 

 For further enquiries, please contact:

 ZOO Digital Group plc                                                +44 (0) 114 241 3700
 Stuart Green - Chief Executive Officer
 Phillip Blundell - Chief Finance Officer

 Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)  +44 (0) 20 7710 7600
 Fred Walsh / Erik Anderson / Tom Marsh / Richard Short

 Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker)                                +44 (0) 20 7496 3000
 Shaun Dobson / Asha Chotai

 Instinctif Partners (Financial PR)                                   +44 (0) 207 457 2020
 Matthew Smallwood / Joe Quinlan                                      zoo@instinctif.com

 

 

About ZOO Digital Group plc:

ZOO Digital supports major Hollywood studios and streaming services to
globalise their content and reach audiences everywhere, by providing leading,
technology-enabled localisation and media services.

Founded in 2001, ZOO Digital operates from hubs in Los Angeles, London, Dubai,
Turkey, South Korea, India, Denmark and Spain with a development and
production centre in Sheffield, UK.

The Group provides media services through its platforms that include: ZOOsubs,
ZOOdubs and ZOOstudio. Its full-service proposition delivers the end-to-end
services required to prepare both original and catalogue content for digital
distribution; these services include dubbing, subtitling & captioning,
metadata creation & localisation, mastering, artwork localisation and
media processing. Alongside this offering, ZOO also provides its customers
with management platforms and strategic solutions to support their own
internal globalisation operations.

ZOO is a go-to service partner for media businesses looking to globalise their
content across different territories, languages and distribution platforms.
Using its innovative technology-enabled approach, ZOO helps its customers to
reduce time to market, lower costs and deliver high quality products to their
global audiences. The business has frameworks in place with all major
Hollywood studios and streaming services. Its customers include Disney,
NBCUniversal, HBO and Paramount Global.

ZOO's competitive advantage arises from three interlinking factors - the
leading role it has played in the digital transformation of its sector; the
world class proprietary platforms that it develops to enable this
transformation; and the global supply chain of thousands of freelancers,
working collaboratively in ZOO's platforms, which delivers services that scale
easily to meet demand. These factors combine to make ZOO uniquely placed to
capitalise on new market opportunities in a fast-paced and constantly evolving
industry.

 

www.zoodigital.com (http://www.zoodigital.com/)

 

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