26 July 2021 

XLMedia PLC

("XLMedia" or the "Group" or the "Company")

Trading Update

XLMedia (AIM: XLM), a leading global digital performance publisher, today provides the following trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2021.

Financial update

The Company continues to make good progress in the current financial year, buoyed by a consistent performance in the Personal Finance vertical, record organic growth in the European Sport vertical and a positive impact from the recently acquired US Sports vertical. However, this progress is partially offset by the Casino vertical's performance, where tail revenues continue to deteriorate and new revenue is being built from a smaller existing asset base.

For the six months ended 30 June 2021, XLMedia expects to report revenue of approximately US$32.0 million (H1 2020: US$27.7 million), EBITDA of approximately US$2.9 million (H1 2020: US$3.5 million) and Adjusted EBITDA [1]of approximately US$7.0 million (H1 2020: US$5.1 million). Cash balances remained strong and at end of June 2021 were approximately US$38.0 million (30 June 2020: US$24.8 million).

The Company therefore reaffirms guidance as previously stated on 27th May 2021 of revenue for full year 2021 of between $65 million and $70 million.

Operational update

The integration and commencement of a number of marketing initiatives across the Company's US sports assets continues to gather momentum, with increased levels of traffic reported across all sites since their acquisition. The US Sports vertical is well-placed to benefit from the US sports season in H2 2021.

Management is accelerating the move to reorganise the Company by vertical markets, supported by a distributed shared services model.  This will allow XLMedia to better match the design of the Group with its strategic intentions and more effectively execute and deliver them. This process is particularly relevant to the Casino vertical which continues to generate lower levels of both historic and new player revenues.

It is expected that this initiative will allow for a total workforce reduction of up to 15%. Functional expertise will now be spread across multiple locations and organised in a way that, as the Group builds new capabilities and enters new markets, the business will have an agile service delivery model that can provide timely and localised support while simultaneously controlling costs. 

The Group continues to actively evaluate acquisition opportunities that would accelerate the Company's growth ambitions and be earnings accretive to the business.

The information contained within this announcement (the "Announcement") is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this Announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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Notes:

XLMedia is a global digital performance publisher. Operating across a variety of verticals including online gambling, personal finance, sports and technology, the Group uses proprietary tools and methodologies to identify and target high value clients for platform operators.

XLMedia has a clear transformation strategy, which will enable it to shape the future of the performance publishing industry. The Company has set out a clear strategic agenda under two fundamental priorities:

·    A balanced portfolio of online assets

o  XLMedia seeks to create a balanced portfolio of websites to cover a range of attractive geographies, both stable and high-growth verticals and with greater exposure to regulated markets.  In doing so, the Company will focus particularly on developing presence in North American sports, primarily through targeted acquisition.

·    Branded, content-rich, engaging websites

o  XLMedia will consolidate its online portfolio, concentrating on a much smaller number of publishing assets, and focusing its resources on optimising this core set of premium sites for its chosen markets.  These content-rich, engaging websites, underpinned by intelligent market-leading technology, will seek to build stronger lasting relationships with consumers and enhance monetisation opportunities.