Trading Statement

Dianomi PLC

18 July 2024

 

18 July 2023

Dianomi plc

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

Trading Update

Dianomi, a leading provider of native digital advertising services to premium clients in the Business, Finance and Lifestyle sectors, announces the following trading update for the six months to 30 June 2024.

The Group continues to attract global leading brands. During the period, new advertisers included PwC, the London Business School, Polen Capital and Northern Trust. However, some brands held back spending in the first half, leading to a lower number of advertisers on the platform compared to the same period last year. On the publisher side, the Group was pleased to expand its partnership with Dow Jones with the serving of Dianomi direct demand ads into display formats on the Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones' properties to their audience of over 100 million monthly unique visitors. Shortly after the period end, Dianomi also signed a new agreement with a leading US financial news aggregator to test integrating bespoke format ads onto their site, which, if successful, could lead to a permanent integration. There is a further strong pipeline of publisher prospects which includes a host of premium brands and other US global publishing leaders with the potential to drive the Group's future growth. The US election in November also provides the potential for increased traffic and therefore monetisation opportunities.

Revenue for the first six months of the year was at a similar level to the comparative period last year. Gross margin was impacted by the publisher mix during the period, with a greater proportion of revenue coming from lower margin publishers resulting in a gross margin of c. 26%. The successful cost reduction programme implemented in the prior year combined with a more stable market environment ensured the Group maintained the profitability it returned to in the second half of 2023, albeit at a lower level due to the decrease in gross margin.

Cash as at 30 June 2024 stood at £8.1 million (31 December 2023: £7.7 million).

Whilst the pipeline of publisher prospects is as strong as it has ever been, the certainty and timing of converting these opportunities can vary. The business is reliant on closing new contracts with both publishers and advertisers to deliver its second half growth expectations. Reflecting the trend in publisher mix seen in H1, gross margin for the full year is expected to remain at a similar level for the second half of the year at circa. 26% which will impact profitability leading to lower EBITDA (2023: gross margin of 24.7% which was impacted by a one off cost associated with a publisher contract amendment).

CEO of Dianomi, Rupert Hodson, commented: "Following a challenging 2023, this year our markets have stabilised albeit a level of caution remains. That said, we are attracting the interest of leading global publisher brands and our new pipeline of prospects is extremely encouraging. I believe this reflects the growing demand from major publishers to secure privacy-first demand across both native and display, as they continue to future-proof their business in preparation for cookie deprecation and the loss of identity signals. Whether we can monetise this potential fully in 2024 remains to be seen but our longer-term market position is strong."

Change of Name of Nominated Adviser

The Company announces that its Nominated Adviser and Broker has changed its name to Panmure Liberum Limited following completion of its corporate merger.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. It forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

For further information contact:

Dianomi Rupert Hodson (Chief Executive Officer) Charlotte Stranner (Chief Financial Officer)	Tel: [phone]
Panmure Liberum (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Emma Earl/ Freddy Crossley, Corporate Finance Rupert Dearden, Corporate Broking	Tel: [phone]
Novella Communications Tim Robertson Claire de Groot/Safia Colebrook	Tel: [phone]

About Dianomi

Dianomi, established in 2003, is a leading provider of native digital advertising services to premium clients in the Financial Services and Business sectors. The Group operates from its offices in London, New York and Sydney. The Group enables premium brands to deliver native advertisements to a targeted audience on the desktop and mobile websites, mobile and tablet applications of premium publishers. It provides over 400 advertisers, including blue chip names such as abrdn, Invesco and Baillie Gifford, with access to an international audience of over 400 million devices per month through its partnerships with over 300 premium publishers of business and finance content, including blue chip names such as Reuters, Bloomberg and WSJ. Adverts served are contextually relevant to the content of the webpages on which they appear and mirror the style of the page, which enhances reader engagement. http://www.dianomi.com.

 

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