Ebiquity shares climbed 6.7% to 56p in late afternoon trading on Monday following a 16% revenue growth to £37 million year-on-year in its HY1 2022 trading update.
The media investment analysis group included the initial contribution from its US acquisitions of Media Management LLC and Media Path in April this year in its revenue increase.
Ebiquity confirmed its organic revenue rose 10% against the last year.
In addition, the company announced an anticipated underlying operating profit above £4.6 million, representing a 100% growth from HY1 2021.
The group noted an expected underlying profit margin improvement to at least 12%, marking an increase of 5% compared to the year before on the back of growth in higher margin digital products and improved operating efficiencies.
Ebiquity mentioned a net debt at 30 June 2022 of £12.9 million, comprised of £9.3 million in cash balances and gross debt of £22.2 million.
The group added it was currently in discussions to divest its small business subsidiary, following a previously announced review.
“We are satisfied with the Group’s performance in the first half, as we continue to deliver our strategic plan. Not only is revenue up strongly, but importantly, the improvements we have made to the business have also led to significant profit and margin growth,” said Ebiquity CEO Nick Waters.
“We are pleased with the impact of the acquisitions that we completed earlier this year, which have boosted our presence in the world’s largest advertising market of North America and have provided us with a market leading technology platform that will bring us valuable economies of scale as we continue to grow.”
“These acquisitions are contributing as expected and their integrations are progressing well.”
Ebiquity also highlighted the potential advantage of the volatile macro-economic environment for its business operations, particularly for its digital advertising outlook going forward.
“In terms of our outlook, there is undoubtedly greater uncertainty given the increasing macro-economic challenges. While Ebiquity is not immune to these, we do see potential opportunities: in prior periods of economic uncertainty marketers have scrutinised all their media investments more thoroughly for cost, quality, and effectiveness,” said Waters.
“Marketers may also look to allocate more capital to digital advertising, which is served by our Digital Media Solutions business that is continuing to grow rapidly.”
“Notwithstanding this uncertainty, we look forward to completing another successful year in 2022 and continuing to deliver against our planned growth trajectory.”
