After-tax profit soared by 660% to £2.5m compared to 2005 and the London-based Group's cash balance almost doubled to £5.3 million, giving it a strong base for further expansion and acquisitions.
London (PRWeb) November 30, 2006 -- Media Corporation plc made record profits in the year to end September, the AIM-listed company said yesterday.
After-tax profit soared by 660% to £2.5m compared to 2005 and the London-based Group's cash balance almost doubled to £5.3 million, giving it a strong base for further expansion and acquisitions.
Justin Drummond, Chief Executive said: "Our media and search advertising businesses have performed very strongly during 2006 and we are now well placed to deliver our strategy focusing on profitable media businesses.
"With the historical acquisitions of Eyeconomy Limited and Search Focus Limited, the Group has developed critical mass as a media business driven by revenues from the fast growing online advertising market. The interim accounts highlighted the operating profit being driven by the portals and advertising division and this trend has continued".
He said that during the first few weeks of the new financial year trading across all of Media Corp's advertising businesses has remained strong.
During the 2006 financial year revenue from the Group's search business Search Focus grew by 355% as it benefited from its advertisers paying more to acquire new customers for their internet sites.
Media Corp believes there are opportunities for the search business to grow substantially into various vertical markets. Search Focus intends to expand its reach into fast growing vertical markets including personal finance and travel markets early in 2007.
According to IAB, paid search accounted for 58% of the £1bn spent on online advertising in the UK in the first six months of 2006, which grew 40% growth over the same period in 2005.
Search Focus' proprietary technology includes a live pay per click bid management search engine which enables advertisers to create and self manage their search listing campaigns from online deposits through to bid management and real time reporting. Search Focus uses advanced allocation algorithms and strict editorial to maximise efficiency for advertisers and end users alike.
Media Corp's publishing division, which specialises in premium destinations and portals, saw revenues grow by 45%. Its impressive stable of websites includes onthebox.com (the UK's definitive TV listings guide) and freedeal.co.uk (a comprehensive consumer portal). The Group has expertise in developing and monetising on-line brands.
Eyeconomy, a separate operating division, specialises in online media planning as well as buying and managing online media campaigns for clients including AOL, Dell and American Express.
Mr Drummond said Eyeconomy's growth had been constrained by server capacity towards the end of the financial year. But since year end Media Corp has invested in extra server infrastructure and delivery technology to ensure Eyeconomy has capacity to significantly increase volume.
The business specialises in producing dynamic and engaging on-line advertising that includes exit traffic (SubSites) and rich-media floating toolbar (SubLines).
It offers a reach of 30 million unique users every month, from over 750 quality host sites in all major channels, including Finance, Travel, Motors, Sport, Male/Female, Student/Youth, Property, Entertainment, Film, Music and TV, Mobile/Gadget and Recruitment.
Media Corp achieved its record profit in 2006 despite lower turnover, which was £11.9 million compared to £18.8 million.
"That gross profit almost doubled to £4.8million from £2.5million in 2005 on lower revenue reflected our strategy of shifting the group towards high margin online media businesses and our focus on delivering shareholder value," Mr Drummond said.
"The Board doesn't recommend paying a dividend because we believe shareholders will be best served by using the Group's cash to fund growth, both organic and by acquisition."
Ends
For more information please contact Justin Drummond on +44 (0) 207 618 9000
Notes to Editors:
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Media Corp, is a leading Internet media and advertising Company focused on search, publishing and media sales. The company has three principal divisions:
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