26th Sep 2019 10:16
(Alliance News) - Media and leisure business Time Out Group PLC on Thursday reported a first-half revenue increase and a slightly narrowed loss, helped by gains in its bar & retail unit.
In the six months to June 30, Time Out posted a 10% year-on-year net revenue rise to GBP24.7 million from GBP22.4 million. The figure does include the share of revenue attributed to concessionaires.
The company recorded a marginally narrowed pretax loss to GBP12.0 million from GBP12.1 million.
The positive revenue results were driven by an improved performance in the concessionaire unit Time Out Market, which generates revenue from operated bars, sponsorship and retail.
Time Out Market recorded a net revenue of GBP6.6 million, up 72% year-on-year from GBP3.8 million.
The company said: "It has been a transformational period for Time Out Group with the opening of three new food and cultural markets in North America. Combined with the ongoing success of Time Out Market Lisbon, this has driven first-half net revenue growth of 72% for the Time Out Market business."
Time Out Media, which includes the eponymous magazine, suffered a 2.4% revenue decline to GBP18.1 million from GBP18.5 million. The company focused on "higher-margin activities" and reduced the print frequency of publications in the portfolio to cut costs.
Looking ahead, the company expects improvements from the Time Out Media business as it usually benefits from the "historic seasonal weighting of trading towards the second half of the year".
Chief Executive Julio Bruno said: "Two more sites (Chicago and Montreal) are set to open in 2019, and by year end there will be six Time Out Markets offering food from 120 of the best chefs of these cities, occupying 185,000 square feet and accommodating almost 4,000 seats. With the economics of the Media division continuing to improve, we look forward to a successful second half for the group."
Shares in Time Out were untraded in London on Thursday morning, last closing at 128.00 pence each.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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