oOh! boosts earnings by 24% as Out of Home audiences rebound strongly
oOh!media Limited has announced its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2021 (“CY21”).
The Out of Home media owner has successfully leveraged the continuing recovery in audiences during the year to deliver an 18 percent lift in revenue to $504 million compared to the prior year.
The diversity of the company’s assets across a range of Out of Home formats ensured oOh! was able to deliver this revenue uplift despite substantial lockdowns in Q3 CY21 and early Q4, and some formats (Fly, Office, Rail) continuing to be impacted by the pandemic.
oOh! maintains significant operating leverage to grow earnings faster than revenue which resulted in a 24 percent increase in Underlying EBITDA (pre AASB16) despite lower rent abatements and no Government wage subsidies in CY21 compared to CY20.
As a result of oOh!’s strong financial position, the company will recommence dividends to shareholders for CY21.
Chief Executive Officer, Cathy O’Connor, says the strong results are set to provide continued momentum into CY22.
“The strong result is a testament to our strategy. As the market leader across Australia/New Zealand, we are uniquely positioned to capitalise on the audience recovery in Out of Home.
“Our scale and diversity across a number of formats means we are also able to deliver this growth despite some formats such as Fly, Office and Rail continuing to be impacted by the pandemic.
“Meanwhile, our strong operating leverage means we continue to grow earnings faster than revenue which has enabled the Company to return to profitability this year on a pre AASB16 basis and recommence dividends to shareholders.
“We are also generating further momentum into FY22 with a solid start to the year. First quarter revenue is pacing 15% ahead of the prior corresponding quarter and at 93 percent of the first quarter 2019.
“For the medium term, the fundamentals for Out of Home as a growth advertising medium remain compelling. This will only be enhanced by further significant digital investment opportunities across key formats.
“Our strategy is focused on oOh! being a more digital and digitised Out Of Home business generating enhanced leverage from our portfolio of existing assets and disciplined investments in building our assets and capability to deliver further growth,” says O’Connor.
Looking ahead, oOh! has started the new financial year strongly with revenue for the first quarter CY22 pacing at 15 percent higher than Q1 2021 and at 93 percent of Q1 2019.