Ocean Outdoor increases revenue amid European expansion
Ocean Outdoor’s acquisition strategy and expansion into six new countries last year has paid off as it posted a double-digit rise in revenue.
The figures
Ocean Outdoor’s group revenue increased 13.5 per cent to £141.3m, while Ocean UK and Ocean NL revenues combined are up 14.3 per cent to £98.3m.
Adjusted EBITDA was up 10.5 per cent to £33.6m on a proforma basis.
Why it’s interesting
Ocean Outdoor’s strong results come in what the company has described as a “transformational year” as acquisitions boosted revenues and earnings.
The out-of-home advertising firm has taken Ocean into six new countries – the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Germany.
It acquired Dutch companies Ngage Media and Interbest for a combined cash consideration of £43m.
The £56m acquisition of Swedish digital media group Visual Art and £25m acquisition of AdCityMedia establishes Ocean Outdoor’s presence in Scandinavia.
Ocean Outdoor’s UK business has continued to grow as it secured contracts with Glasgow and Southampton, and extended its current contracts with Piccadilly Lights and BFI Imax.
What Ocean Outdoor said
Chief executive Tim Bleakley said:
“In the last 12 months we completed five acquisitions and expanded our presence to seven countries, entering key strategic markets and creating a market leading DOOH offering in both the Netherlands and Sweden, where we are focussed on successfully implementing our Digital Cities for Digital Citizens philosophy. Our expanded geographical presence allows us to build a combination of premium digital assets and quality audience delivery networks across northern Europe that will meet the needs of both customers and advertisers.
“Whilst we remain focused on expanding our network, creativity and innovation are also core to our growth and we continue to invest in new and engaging ways of using full motion DOOH to bring exclusives to audiences and a powerful broadcast platform for brands to exploit. Our recent Neuroscience based study and YouGov research has provided a greater, quantifiable understanding of the significant impact of the use of innovative content on full motion DOOH screens, underlining the value of our platform.
“As we progress into 2020 we are excited to work alongside the team at AdCityMedia to fully integrate the latest addition into the Ocean Group and continue to develop our business in the UK and the rest of Europe.”