26 September 2024
ZOO DIGITAL GROUP PLC
("ZOO", the "Group" or the "Company")
AGM Statement and 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, will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 5.00pm BST today. At the meeting, Gillian Wilmot, Chairman, will make the following statement:
"The streaming industry continues its transition following strategic realignments and the strikes of 2023. Recent months have witnessed the early stages of recovery as major US media organisations have enacted their plans to adjust for a future in which traditional linear television plays a diminishing role. While many productions that resumed following the strikes have since been completed and distributed to global audiences, changes made in the mix of content types acquired and capital allocation policies, which are more strategic in nature, will take a longer period to yield results and restore levels of industry output to those seen in 2022, particularly in Hollywood.
"Against this backdrop ZOO has seen a strong recovery in its pipeline over the first half of FY25 and expects to deliver sales in the period of at least $27 million, equating to a 28% increase over the equivalent prior year period and 42% up on the previous half. As previously stated, the Board expects EBITDA profit in the first half.
"Market participants anticipate the industry's recovery continuing until late 2025 which is consistent with the indications ZOO has been provided by its customers.
"The Board continues to be confident that the changes arising from the realignment of ZOO's major customers will, in due course, be favourable for the Group. These include accelerated transition to an end-to-end approach with fewer, more capable suppliers; an increasingly diverse mix of original international content with a shift to episodic over feature titles; and greater dependence on ZOO's software platforms, all of which will be advantageous to the Group.
"The Company continues to manage its cash position carefully whilst protecting production capability and capacity to satisfy the demand of its customers. As a result, the unaudited cash balance as at 30 September 2024 is expected to exceed $2 million.
"Visibility extends only to January 2025, as is normally the case for the ZOO business, however, the Board expects further profitable progress that will put us on track to meet market guidance for the full year ending 31 March 2025."
Presentation slides that will accompany an investor update following the AGM will be available on the Company's website later today. Shareholders may register to join a live stream of the AGM, investor briefing and Q&A here: https://www.zoodigital.com/agm-2024.
The Company intends to announce its unaudited interim financial results for the six months to 30 September 2024 in November 2024.
This announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. The persons responsible for making this announcement are CEO Stuart Green and CFO Phillip Blundell.
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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, Spain, Italy and Germany 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.
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