Maja Pawinska Sims 25 Sep 2018 // 8:55AM GMT
LONDON — Listed communications group Next 15 has published its half year results, the week after it announced the merger of its Text100 and Bite agencies.
The H1 statement shows adjusted per-tax profits were up 26% to £15.1m and adjusted EBITDA for the six months increased by 22% to £17.7m. Group net revenue grew by 14% to £106.8m, with organic revenue growth of 8.7%, led by its UK-based agencies, which recorded organic revenue growth of 14.9%.
The results highlight significant client wins including Capital One, Waze, Diageo and AIG. Restructuring, including the merger of Text100 with Lexis in June 2017, also had a positive impact on the group’s performance.
Text100 and Bite are to be combined into a new, yet-to-be-named, entity, under the leadership of Bite CEO Helena Maus, after Text100 CEO Aedmar Hynes announced she was stepping down.
Next 15 chairman Richard Eyre said: “The pace of change in the marketing sector has shown no sign of slowing. Companies are increasingly focused on how consumers experience their brand through digital channels and especially mobile platforms.
“Next 15 remains committed to building and buying businesses that understand how to take advantage of these platforms, using technology and data to design and manage marketing programs. Our strong growth in the first half of the year is evidence of an effective strategy which we believe will continue to drive shareholder value.”
The US businesses saw organic revenue growth of 7% to $76.2m. Beyond, M Booth, Outcast and Bite US grew their revenues significantly, although Text100 US was held back after it ended its long-standing PR relationships with IBM and Lenovo.
The UK businesses increased revenues by 56% to almost £40m and operating margins increased to 23.7% due to a strong performance from Beyond UK, Text UK, Twogether and the acquisition of UK innovation agency Brandwidth in February and specialist technical content and digital marketing business Technical in July.
The statement said the group had seen “impressive improvement in both revenue and profitability” in EMEA, but a “modest decline in profitability due to client losses” in APAC.