- Reports suggest Tremor is up for sale
- Shares down more than 40% this year
- Q3 results saw earnings and revenue 9% below expectations
Advertising technology play Tremor International (TRMR:AIM) has reportedly put itself up for sale after a difficult year for the shares which are down more than 40% year-to-date.
According to Sky News Tremor, whose directors number among them the boss of News UK (the publisher of The Sun) Rebekah Brooks, is working with Goldman Sachs to solicit interest from prospective acquirers.
While Tremor is yet to respond to the speculation its shares are up 8.4% to 298p. A few days ago at its annual general meeting the company withdrew two pay-related resolutions in the face of disquiet from some of its largest shareholders.
Tremor describes itself as an ‘end-to-end, video-first advertising technology platform’, which in plain English means it helps clients to run more effective advertising campaigns through a platform which helps target ads appropriately and its focus in terms of medium is on video.
WEAKER-THAN-EXPECTED THIRD QUARTER RESULTS
In response to its third quarter results (14 November), which saw net revenue and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) both come in 9% short of consensus forecasts at $71.5 million and $33.3 million respectively, FinnCap analyst Michael Hill noted ‘a challenging environment’.
However he also added: ‘Tremor’s integrated platform is capitalising on the structural shift in ad spend towards digital video and connected TV, as it benefits from exclusive inventory, exclusive data, and strong relationships with leading advertisers and publishers.’
In relation to reports of a sale of the business AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: ‘Speculation around Tremor putting itself up for sale brought a bit of excitement to the small cap world. Reports suggest the advertising technology company is under pressure from big shareholders over its poor share price performance. The shares had more than quadrupled in value between 2020 and 2021 but a big chunk of those gains has been lost this year.’
Disclaimer: Financial services company AJ Bell referenced in the article owns Shares magazine. The author of the article (Tom Sieber) and the editor of the article (James Crux) own shares in AJ Bell.
