This announcement contains inside information as stipulated under the UK version of the Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014 which is part of English Law by virtue of the European (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended.  On publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

2 September 2021

Bidstack Group Plc

("Bidstack" or "Company" or "Group")

Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2021

-Good financial and operational progress.  Well capitalised to pursue growth strategy --

Bidstack Group Plc (AIM: BIDS.L), the native in-game advertising group, announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2021. The Interim Report for the period ended 30 June 2021 will be published on the Company's website - www.bidstackgroup.com today.

Financial Highlights

·    Revenue of £820k (H1 2020: £274k);

·    Gross margin improvement to 34.5% (H1 2020: 27.9%);

·    Period end cash balance of £695k (30 June 2020: £5.9m);

·    Loss per share reduced to 0.74 pence (H1 2020: loss of 1.18 pence per share).

Post Period End Highlights

·    Successful £10.863m equity fundraising (before expenses) completed on 23 July 2021;

·    Bryan Neider, 25 year veteran at Electronic Arts, joined the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director on 23 July 2021.

Operational Highlights

-    Significant progress made in onboarding titles across stadium, racing and open world environments as well as Unity, Unreal and custom games engines; 

-    Now offering advertisers increased and broader inventory from a portfolio with over 30 games;

-    Reinforcing relationships with the world's leading agency holding groups which are now growing outside of the UK and US; 

-    Developing momentum in engaging directly with brands; 

-    Continuing to integrate with established third party ad-tech vendors which increases accessibility to Bidstack inventory in core markets; 

-    Significant developments with the IAB, the industry trade body, in defining "in-game" as a new formal advertising category and providing scalable guidelines. 

Donald Stewart, Chairman, said:

"Following completion of the fundraise on 23 July 2021, with approximately £10.2 million of net proceeds, Bidstack is now well capitalised to exploit the commercial opportunities it currently has and to pursue its strategy for some time to come.

"The second half of the current financial year has started well and in line with our expectations.   Since the period end Bidstack has onboarded a number of new games including Nordeus' flagship football management game, Top Eleven, T-Bull's classic car driving simulation game Racing Classics PRO: Drag Race & Real Speed, Motionlab Interactive's multiplayer PDC Darts Match and Suji Games' animated simulation game Hyper Airways.  We expect a number of further games to join Bidstack's roster in the second half.

"With improving visibility of the sales pipeline, we believe the Company has a strong pipeline of revenue for the second half as existing advertisers rebook with growing spend and business development efforts come to fruition.

"The Company continues to expect to deliver revenues for the year in line with market expectations. In addition, the Board has been focussed on improving gross margin and controlling the Group's total operational costs going forward, as it starts to rebalance capital deployed to reflect the shift from product development to commercialisation."

James Draper, Chief Executive, said:

"I want to put on record how proud I am of the team's continued work towards establishing Bidstack as a stalwart of in-game advertising. Watching our incredible staff establish and build-out relationships with some of the world's most recognised advertisers, agencies, technology providers and game studios leaves me in no doubt that Bidstack is going from strength to strength.

"Our technology and commercial expertise are proven and in high demand - and the understanding our team has shown towards our customers and potential partners is delivering additional opportunities.

"Our progress year-to-date reflects the team's dedication to driving the business across advertisers, game developers and product strategy.

"Campaign spends are growing substantially and the number of game studios wanting to work with our team is expanding.

"Key highlights, such as the exclusive partnership with Nordeus, progress in the US with the IAB and growing access to our inventory, all lead me to believe we are on the pathway to scalability.

"The opportunities that lie ahead in the second half in relation to innovative product launches have our team hugely motivated - and we look forward to sharing more of these developments when we can."

For further information please contact:

Chairman's Statement

H1 Trading

Bidstack has made significant progress in onboarding titles across stadium, racing and open world environments as well as Unity, Unreal and custom games engines.  The Company has continued to strengthen its portfolio of AAA, high-fidelity games, independent and mobile publisher base.

The Company has successfully onboarded game developers who have endorsed Bidstack's SDK for its ease of integration, stability of the technology and immersive implementation of advertising which enhances the player experience.  The pipeline of games is robust as game developers increasingly look for incremental revenue streams and entrust Bidstack with their portfolio of titles.

Bidstack continues to reinforce its relationships with the world's leading agency holding groups which are now growing outside of the UK and US, enabled by multi-agency master agreements already in place.  The progress that the Company continues to make in engaging directly with brands is developing momentum from Bidstack's vertical led approach that encompasses all major advertising categories including technology, retail, automotive, consumer packaged goods, beauty, luxury, gambling and financial services. 

The Company continues to integrate with established third-party ad-tech vendors which increases accessibility to Bidstack inventory in core markets, comprising the UK and the US.  This is an important development which marks the maturity, growth and frictionless scalability of the industry.  Further integrations are planned to drive automation and expansion.

There have been material developments with the IAB, the industry trade body, in defining "in-game" as a new formal advertising category and providing scalable guidelines.  The establishment of an IAB US committee, of which Bidstack is an active member, is expected to expand the foundational framework which is being delivered in the UK.  Progress is encouraging, with key industry stakeholders across the value chain unified in creating standards which should enable frictionless growth.  

Fundraising

On 2 July 2021, Bidstack announced the results of a fundraising which raised gross proceeds of £10.863m comprising a placing with institutional and other investors (£9.763m) and a subscription from Company directors and others (£1.1m). 

Board and Strategic Adviser Appointments

On 22 April 2021 Lisa Hau, Bidstack's Chief Operating Officer, joined the Board as an Executive Director and Glen Calvert, the former COO of Fnatic Ltd, was appointed an independent Non-executive Director.

Prior to joining Bidstack in May 2020, Lisa led investor relations at WPP PLC following five years as an equity research analyst heading up coverage for the European media and internet sector with Jefferies, a leading multinational investment bank.

Glen was COO of Fnatic Ltd, between January 2019 and May 2021. He is currently launching Kaizan.ai, an AI start-up augmenting team intelligence. Previously he was a founder and CEO of Affectv and a member of the founding team at Struq, which was acquired by Quantcast in 2014.  

On 29 April 2021, Katherine Hays, the Co-Founder and former COO of Massive Inc. joined Bidstack as a Strategic Adviser.  Katherine has a proven track record in advertising, media, entertainment and gaming.  She will take an active role in giving the Company the benefit of her experience and success from the first generation of in-game advertising.

On 23 July, following completion of the fundraising, Bryan Neider was appointed to the Board as an independent Non-Executive director and Chair of the Audit Committee.  Bryan brings more than 25 years of experience during his tenure at Electronic Arts and served a variety of leadership roles including managing global business development, corporate finance, CFO and COO for EA.com, CFO of Worldwide Studios, COO for EA's global development organisation and SVP of Global Operations.

Outlook and Future Prospects

Following completion of the fundraise on 23 July 2021, with approximately £10.2 million of net proceeds, Bidstack is now well capitalised to exploit the commercial opportunities it currently has and to pursue its growth strategy

The second half of the current financial year has started well and in line with our expectations.

Since the period end Bidstack has onboarded a number of new games including Nordeus' flagship football management game, Top Eleven, T-Bull's classic car driving simulation game Racing Classics PRO: Drag Race & Real Speed, Motionlab Interactive's multiplayer PDC Darts Match and Suji Games' animated simulation game Hyper Airways.  The Directors expect a number of further games to join Bidstack's roster in the second half.

Bidstack's growth is reflected in its portfolio rising to over 30 games and a growing roster of premium brands.  With improving visibility of the sales pipeline, the Directors believe the Company has strong revenue prospects for the second half, as the existing roster of advertisers rebook with growing spend and business development efforts come to fruition.

The Company continues to expect to deliver revenues for the year in line with market expectations. In addition, the Board has been focussed on improving gross margin and controlling the Group's total operational costs going forward, as it starts to rebalance capital deployed to reflect the shift from product development to commercialisation.

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

for the six months ended 30 June 2021

The above consolidated statement of profit and loss and other comprehensive loss for the period relates to continuing operations for the Group.