15th Apr 2020 15:02
(Alliance News) - Brave Bison Group PLC on Wednesday reported a decline in performance for 2019 as it said it expects its business to be hurt by the Covid-19 outbreak.
The stock was trading 4.2% higher at 0.99 pence each on Wednesday afternoon in London.
The social video company said revenue fell by 21% to GBP16.8 million in 2019 from GBP21.2 million in 2018. Its pretax loss widened to GBP2.7 million from GBP103,000.
Brave Bison said the fall in revenue was due to a change in Facebook Inc policy which saw the company's largest Facebook channels demonetised, subsequently resulting in it unable to advertise on the platform. However, it said all its channels on the social media platform have now been remonetised.
Over-reliance on Facebook for revenue led Brave Bison to focus more on other platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok. It added it is driving more content on TikTok and Instagram ahead of expected monetisation of those platforms.
Advertising revenue from YouTube increased by 66% to GBP5.3 million with the growth attributed to the addition of new channels as well as growing advertising revenue from existing channels. Revenue from Japan and Asia increased by 90% to GBP3.8 million.
Looking ahead, Brave Bison said 2020 will see it work to further diversify revenue streams. It warned that it expects the Covid-19 outbreak - and the resultant postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games until 2021 - to hurt marketing spend globally and therefore hurt its branded content as well as its business in Japan and Asia.
However, it said that the increase in people consuming more content at home puts its YouTube Network and its owned and operated brands in a "strong position".
"Data is our main focus of 2020, with investment in tools to improve our decision making and to drive efficiency across the business. Our priorities also include our publishing channels, implementing e-commerce and increasing audience reach across all relevant social media platforms," said Chief Executive Kate Burns.
As at the end of 2019, Brave Bison had cash of GBP4.2 million and no borrowings.
By Ife Taiwo; [email protected]
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Brave Bison