Trading Update and Appointment

RNS Number : 5334H

Location Sciences Group PLC

01 August 2019

 

1 August 2019

Location Sciences Group PLC

("Location Sciences" or the "Company")

Trading Update

and

Appointment of New US Chief Business Officer

Significant revenue growth delivered in first half and more than 550 million ad-impressions verified

Location Sciences (AIM: LSAI), the leading location data verification and analytics company, announces that it has delivered significant revenue growth in the six months ended 30 June 2019. The Company also announces plans to accelerate growth in the US market through the appointment of Jason Smith as its new US Chief Business Officer.

Highlights:

·     Revenues of approximately £0.5 million, an increase of almost 100% compared to H1 2018

·     Cash of £1.5m at 30 June 2019 (31 December 2018: £2.6m)

·     Delivered 550 million verified impressions versus H1 target of 250 million (H1 2018: Nil)

·     Secured 49 new brands for its Verify platform versus 2019's target of 50 new brands

·    Appointed two senior industry leaders as non-executive directors: Donnie Williams, the Chief Digital Officer for Horizon Media Inc., and Niall Hogan, former Managing Director at Integral Ad Science

·     Advisory board boosted with appointments of Andy Roberts, previously Global Head of Trading at Mindshare, and Paul Thompson, former Chief Revenue Officer for Blis Media

·     New commercial partnerships with SITO Mobile Ltd and JCDecaux UK

Bolstering leadership

Location Sciences is delighted to announce the appointment as its US Chief Business Officer of Jason Smith who will be based in Chicago, Illinois, and will report to Mark Slade, CEO of Location Sciences.

Jason joins with over 16 years' experience in the out-of-home and digital advertising space. He was a former senior partner and MD of global media agency, Mindshare, where he led the business and performance strategy for notable clients such as GEICO and Capital One. Prior to Mindshare, Jason spent 10 years at Horizon Media Inc. In his most recent role as VP of Digital Investments, he headed up trading and partnership developments.

At Location Sciences, Jason will work to establish and build relationships with key customers in the US and develop robust marketing strategies to raise awareness of inaccurate location fraud and its impact on campaign performance. In addition, Jason will be tasked with further expanding Location Sciences' US team (which was set up in January 2019) ensuring that Verify, Location Sciences' proprietary verification platform, brings transparency and trust to the location data marketplace. The Verify platform enables brands and agencies to improve their location data buying decisions and deliver better performance.

Jason Smith, US Chief Business Officer, commented: "With location data transparency, integrity and privacy compliance under increasing scrutiny, I felt the opportunity to lead the US team at Location Sciences was too good to turn down. I look forward to being part of the team that helps marketers drive exponential performance results within the $160 billion digital advertising marketplace." 

Commenting on his appointment, Mark Slade, CEO of Location Sciences, said: "Jason's understanding of what makes a great agency partnership will be invaluable to our team as we further expand in the US. He will play a key role in educating brands and agencies about how to best improve their targeted advertising campaigns and why they should drill down on location performance in their own language."

Refining strategy

As a start-up technology business, the strategy of the Company has evolved during the first half of the year. Early successes in the UK and US prove the product market fit and long-term value for customers. However, industry complexities, combined with the disruptive nature of the Company's products, mean the Board expects longer sales cycles than previously envisaged. The impact of this will be mitigated by the expansion of the US team and increased investment in business development. As shareholders are aware, the Board is focused on delivering a highly scalable platform business delivering long-term recurring revenues.

The second half of 2019 will see the strengthened US team maximise Location Sciences' first mover advantage in the $160 billion digital advertising market, set to reach $250 billion by 2021 (Source: Statista July 2019 - Mobile advertising spending worldwide from 2007 to 2021). The team's knowledge will help the Company to expand its portfolio of products to meet demand across an array of industries and markets, including sectors where location transparency is "must have", which includes those impacted by regulation, politics and hyper-local commercial imperatives.

Mark Slade further commented: "Having built out the must have verticals and brand-direct strategy, we are confident that we can deliver significant growth for our shareholders. With a strong team in place, the focus in H2 2019 is on converting more trial participants into "always-on" contracts, helping brands and agencies to get the most out of location advertising and delivering substantial value to our investors." 

For further information please contact:

Location Sciences Group PLC	via Milk and Honey PR
Mark Slade, Chief Executive Officer
David Rae, Chief Financial Officer
Shore Capital (Nominated Adviser and Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Tom Griffiths/David Coaten
Milk & Honey PR	Tel: [phone]
Kirsty Leighton
Jessica Ballinger

About Location Sciences Group PLC:

Location Sciences is the pre-eminent global location verification provider to the $160 billion digital advertising industry. Working in partnership with brands, media agencies and suppliers to reduce ad-wastage and improve the effectiveness of location-based advertising campaigns. 

The digital advertising market place remains unregulated and un-monitored, with an estimated $19 billion wasted on ad-fraud in 2018. Location Sciences has developed Verify, the world's first independent location verification product. Utilising sophisticated machine learning and pattern recognition technologies Verify detects location ad-fraud and shines a light on location data inaccuracy with the aim of bringing back integrity, transparency and trust to the market place.

 

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