Final Results
Mobile Streams plc
20 March 2007
Mobile Streams Plc- Full Year Results Announcement
20 March 2007
Mobile Streams (AIM: MOS) today announces its maiden full year results as a
public company for the year ending 31 December 2006, following its listing on 15
February 2006.
Financial highlights:
- Revenue increased by 62% to £8.2m (2005: £5.1m)
- UK GAAP Loss before tax £1.8m, including IPO costs
- Profitability achieved at the Trading EBITDA* level since August 2006
- Trading EBITDA* profitable in the second half of 2006 (First half 2006
loss of £0.3m)
- Breakeven achieved at Trading EBITDA* level for the year (2005: £0.1m)
- Organic revenue growth in North America and Latin America of 124% and
84% from 2005
- Cash at 31 December 2006 of £4.1m (2005: £0.3m)
*Calculated as profit before tax, interest, amortisation of goodwill,
depreciation, share compensation expense and fund raising and floatation cost.
Strategic highlights:
- Strategic investment from Liberty Media, including the establishment
of its Connectid subsidiary under the management of Mobile Streams
- Successful development and commercialisation of proprietary technology
platform Vuesia
- 3 acquisitions to extend distribution and content offering in US, Asia
Pacific and Europe
- Mobile Streams is now a global business with subsidiaries in North
America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe
- New operator portal distribution agreements with major carrier groups,
including Cingular Wireless, Telefonica and America Movil
- Content licensing agreements including Playboy, Private Media Group,
Warner Music, Mondo Media's Happy Tree Friends and Electronic Arts
- Creation of proprietary content properties including Suicidal
Squirrels and neXXt Mobile
- Launch of consumer division with brands including ringtones.com
marketed through search engines such as Google and Yahoo!
Commenting on today's inaugural full year results, Mobile Streams Chairman Roger
Parry said: 'It is very pleasing to be able to report that for the financial
year of 2006, Mobile Streams has achieved the goals set by the Board at the time
of the listing on AIM in February 2006. Sales, profits and cash generation have
all met or exceeded expectations.'
Simon Buckingham, CEO, added: '2006 was a year of rapid evolution for Mobile
Streams as a company. Our people, technology, processes and content have all
significantly improved. Interest in mobile content services from media companies
is strong and growing. Mobile operators are gradually opening up access to their
consumers to trusted content providers. Simultaneously there has been a
restructuring in the competitive environment. The timing of our IPO and
investment from Liberty Media enabled us to invest at the right time in our
technology and content and acquire like-minded complementary companies. These
circumstances have combined to provide Mobile Streams with a solid platform for
growth in revenue and profits. The extent to which we are successful now depends
upon our ability to leverage our longstanding operating knowledge, credibility
and expertise in the mobile sector. Our twin advantages of technology and
geography give us a great opportunity to create the leading global mobile media
specialist.'
Enquires:
Mobile Streams (020 7395 2000)
Simon Buckingham, Chief Executive Officer
Jitesh Sodha, Chief Financial Officer
Chairman's Statement - Roger Parry
Mobile Streams is at the centre of the rapidly growing new markets of mobile
media and mobile internet.
Sales in 2006 were £8.2m which was up from £5.1m in 2005. This increase of 62%
was achieved two-thirds from organic growth and one-third from acquisitions.
Trading EBITDA* was breakeven compared to a profit of £0.1m in 2005. This
performance was as planned and Mobile Streams demonstrated profitable trading
during the second half of 2006.
At the end of the year, Mobile Streams had cash balances of £4.1m. At IPO we
raised a net £6.0m of new money. Cash investments during the year were primarily
made in acquisitions and in the Vuesia platform.
In line with policies set at the time of the listing the Board is not
recommending a dividend for 2006.
Acquisitions
During the year, Mobile Streams acquired Cyoshi Mobile, The Nickels Group and
Mobilemode. The acquisition of Cyoshi Mobile, based in Germany, provided access
to unique content and distribution in mainland Europe. The Nickels Group, based
in Los Angeles, also provided access to unique animated cartoon content, this
time in the music genres of hip hop and Reggaeton. Mobilemode, based in Hong
Kong and Australia, added distribution and relationships in the Asia Pacific
region from its bases in Australia and Hong Kong. Management are happy with the
performance of all three acquisitions
Board and Management
In February 2006, Mobile Streams appointed Mark Carleton, Senior Vice President
of Liberty Media to our Board. Liberty Media owns approximately 17% of the
equity through their subsidiary TruePosition Inc.
In addition to Mr. Carleton, the Board now consists of two Executive Directors
(Simon Buckingham CEO and Jitesh Sodha CFO), three non executives and myself as
Chairman.
Outlook and Trading
Since the beginning of the new financial year in 2007, Mobile Streams has won
and launched several new operator contracts including being selected as the
comedy channel partner for Hutchison 3G in the UK. The company has also been
awarded projects to mobilise some major content properties on a global basis,
such as Spider-Man 3 from Sony Pictures Entertainment. Additionally, the
consumer business is continuing to build as mobile search volumes grow at a
rapid rate, with site launches in several markets including Germany, Spain, the
US and Australia. Selling our proprietary content through mobile and other
distribution channels is also looking promising, following the success of the
broadcast of Suicidal Squirrels on MTV in Germany. As the market is constantly
changing and new business models and business opportunities appear, projections
for full year's trading are difficult to make. However, management believe we
are well positioned strategically to achieve our growth objectives and as such
we look forward to 2007 with confidence.
Chief Executive's Statement - Simon Buckingham
Our business has four lines of operation, all powered by the Vuesia technology
platform:
- Platforms: helping content owners mobilise their media
- Operators: providing operators with extra sources of revenue
- Content: creating proprietary mobile content
- Consumer: selling content directly to consumers
Platforms
As media companies invest in digital distribution strategies, they are looking
at mobile as a growing and important medium. Unlike the internet, distribution
on mobile phones is technically complex with thousands of differing handset
types, standards, protocols, screen sizes and networks. Mobile Streams has made
it possible for media companies to reduce this complexity through utilising our
proprietary platform Vuesia.
Through Vuesia, media companies can make the necessary mobile copies of the
original digital assets. Vuesia will also manage the identification of a user's
handset and will provide the most appropriate 'mobile copy' for that customer.
In this way, a customer with a high end handset on a 3G network will receive a
larger file in higher quality than one on a 2G network with a lower end device.
As well as using Vuesia internally within Mobile Streams, in 2006 we sold the
Vuesia platform externally for the first time. Customers have included Sony
Pictures Entertainment, where we mobilised films such as Casino Royale and the
Da Vinci Code.
Operators
Mobile Streams now has direct distribution with over 70 operators in more than
20 countries. During 2006 we continued to improve our direct distribution both
organically and through acquisition.
We won new business with many operators including E-Plus Germany, Vodafone
Australia, Vodafone New Zealand, COMCEL (America Movil) Colombia, Movistar
(Telefonica) Chile, Cingular Wireless in USA and Bell Mobility in Canada.
The acquisition of Mobilemode Ltd in July 2006 provided additional distribution
with a number of mobile network operators, particularly in Australia, New
Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Content
Access to exclusive and proprietary content can help to secure distribution,
improve sales and margins. With our experience of the mobile market we are able
to invest in securing exclusive rights to properties that appeal directly to the
right consumer segments. We have the exclusive European mobile distribution
rights for animated series Happy Tree Friends, which has gained popularity
through the internet and is being shown on MTV. In Latin America we distribute
content from the likes of Playboy, Warner Music, Private Media Group, and Maxim
magazine.
The acquisition of Cyoshi Mobile in Germany has given us the access to animated
content such as Suicidal Squirrels that has been created and commissioned by
Mobile Streams. We have already secured broadcast distribution for Suicidal
Squirrels on MTV Germany. This allows us to capture the IP owner's share of the
margins as well as benefit from non-mobile rights such as DVD, broadcast and
internet.
The acquisition in August 2006 of the Nickels Group, based in Los Angeles, has
also provided access to unique content, this time in the music genres of
Reggaeton and hip hop, where the Company now has mobile rights for Tupac Shakur,
one of the world's best selling artists.
Consumer
Mobile network operators are increasingly changing the structure of their
content portals. In addition to continuing to market their own mobile content
on portal, they are auctioning off some of their portal space and traffic
through partnerships with search engines such as Google, Yahoo and others. This
has created a new 'on operator, off portal' business model in which Mobile
Streams acquires traffic generated on the operator portals and delivers content
directly to consumers based on the consumer's keyword preferences. This area
initially launched during the 2006 financial year.
Liberty Media
The strategic investment from Liberty Media highlights the importance of the
mobile content sector for media companies. The investment has already resulted
in the establishment of a Liberty Media subsidiary, Connectid LLC. Connectid is
readying the launch of innovative mobile location services for launch later in
2007. As well as earning fees for managing and operating Connectid, Mobile
Streams holds warrants over 10% of the company's equity.
Additional relationships have been established with several companies in the
Liberty Media family. For example, Mobile Streams is the mobile platform company
for Discovery Communications in Asia Pacific and mobilises the popular Starz
Entertainment internet property 30-Second Bunnies Theatre globally.
Financial Review
Group turnover for the year was £8.2m, a 62% increase on 2005 (£5.1m). Trading
EBITDA* was breakeven for the period (2005: £0.1m). Loss before tax was £1.8m
after fund raising/floatation cost (£1.3m) and share compensation expense
required under FRS 20 (£0.3m). Overall gross margin improved to 58.6% (2005:
56.7%).
We now have a genuine global distribution footprint with 12 subsidiaries on 4
continents. Leveraging our expertise and technology platform across multiple
operating regions both increases our return on technology investment and assists
our global customers with the implementation of their mobile strategies. Our
global footprint and geographical scale will enable us to reduce our dependence
on any one customer or region, and facilitate our growth. Europe now represents
43% of our turnover, down from 59% in 2005 as other geographies grow. North
America representing 23% (2005 17%) and Latin America representing 28% (2005
25%) grow in importance to the group, and the acquisition of Mobilemode has now
provided a meaningful presence in Asia Pacific (6% of turnover).
The Group has applied Financial Reporting Standard 20 'Share Based Payment' for
the first time. This requires the recognition of a charge in the Profit and Loss
Account in respect of share options. The impact of this policy is detailed in
note 1. A prior year adjustment has not been made as the adjustment was not
material. A charge of £0.3m has been made in respect of FRS 20.
£1.1m was invested during the year on tangible fixed assets. This was
predominantly for the further development of the Vuesia platform, and associated
hardware. £3.8m of intangible assets were added onto the balance sheet, of which
£3.7m was goodwill relating to the three acquisitions made during the period.
The group continues to invest in the development of the Vuesia platform and
content assets.
The Group incurred a net cash outflow from operations** of £0.2m (2005: inflow
£0.3m). The cash balance at 31 December 2006 was £4.1m.
A tax charge of £0.1m has been included mostly for UK corporation tax as IPO
costs are not allowable for tax purposes. A deferred tax charge of £67,000 has
been taken on timing differences for capital allowances. The group has
approximately £2.0m of trading losses to offset against future profits in
various countries and a further £172,000 of deferred tax asset against stock
option grants in the UK that has not been recognised due to the uncertain timing
of exercise and potential movement of the share price.
Basic earnings per share amounted to a loss of 3.056p per share (2005: loss of
0.519p )
Adjusted earnings per share (excluding floatation /fund raising costs and share
compensation expense) amounted to a loss of 0.559p (2005: loss of 0.519p).
* Calculated as profit before tax, interest, amortisation of goodwill,
depreciation, share compensation expense and fund raising and floatation cost.
** Cash outflow from operations is calculated before deducting IPO / fundraising
costs
MOBILE STREAMS PLC
CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2006
2006 2005
Continuing Acquisitions Total
£000's £000's £000's £000's
Group turnover 7,301 922 8,223 5,071
Cost of sales (2,896) (506) (3,402) (2,197)
Gross profit 4,405 416 4,821 2,874
Flotation/fund raising costs (1,296) - (1,296) -
Share based compensation (325) - (325) -
Other administration expenses (4,654) (577) (5,231) (2,812)
Operating (loss)/profit (1,870) (161) (2,031) 62
Net interest 223 (31)
(Loss)/profit on ordinary activities (1,808) 31
before taxation
Tax on profit on ordinary activities (176) (159)
Loss on ordinary activities after (1,984) (128)
taxation
Loss retained (1,984) (128)
Pence per Pence per
share share
Basic and diluted earnings per share (3.056) (0.519)
There were no discontinued operations during the year.
MOBILE STREAMS PLC
STATEMENT OF TOTAL RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSES
For the year ended 31 DECEMBER 2006
2006 2005
£000's £000's
Loss for the period (1,984) (128)
Currency differences on foreign currency net investments (153) 25
Total recognised losses for the period (2,137) (103)
MOBILE STREAMS PLC
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AT 31 DECEMBER 2006
2006 2005
£000's £000's
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 3,701 -
Tangible assets 1,112 247
Investments 382 -
5,195 247
Current Assets
Debtors 2,742 1,524
Cash at bank and in hand 4,073 268
6,815 1,792
Creditors: amounts falling due (3,399) (2,170)
within one year
Net current assets/(liabilities) 3,416 (378)
Provisions for liabilities (85) (18)
Net assets/(liabilities) 8,526 (149)
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 69 1
Share premium 10,290 165
Shares to be issued 294 -
Profit and loss account (2,127) (315)
Shareholders' funds/(deficit) 8,526 (149)
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 19 March
2007.
J Sodha - Director
MOBILE STREAMS PLC
CASHFLOW STATEMENT
For the year ended 31 DECEMBER 2006
2006 2005
£000's £000's
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating
activities (1,529) 260
Returns on investment and servicing of finance
Interest received 216 6
Interest paid (14) (37)
Taxation (192) (48)
Capital expenditure and financial investment
Capital expenditure (1,256) (257)
Trade investments (382) -
Acquisitions
Investments in subsidiaries (net of cash acquired) (2,379) -
Financing
Issue of share capital (net of expenses paid) 9,494 65
Increase/(decrease) in cash 3,958 (11)
Reconciliation from net cash flow to movement to net funds
Increase/(decrease) in net cash 3,958 (11)
Foreign currency movements (153) 21
Change in net funds resulting from cash flows 3,805 10
Net funds brought forward 268 258
Net funds carried forward 4,073 268
mobile streams plc
SEGMENTAL analysis
Year ended 31 DECEMBER 2006
The directors consider there to be one class of business, being the creation and
publication of mobile phone content.
2006 2005 % change
£000's £000's
Turnover by origin and destination of sales:
Europe 3,539 2,968
19
North America 1,882 839
124
Latin America 2,324 1,264
84
Asia 479 - -
8,224 5,071
62
Gross profit by origin and destination of sales:
Europe 2,180 1,510
44
North America 1,171 487
140
Latin America 1,310 877
49
Asia 160 -
4,821 2,874
68
Connectid revenue and gross margin of £540,000 (2005: nil) is included in European
geographical analysis
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange