Digitalbox PLC (AIM:DBOX) reported a return to revenue growth in the first half of 2024 and remained profitable, which it said exceeded its expectations.
Revenue came to £1.6 million for the first half of the year, an increase of 32% from a year earlier.
This was partly driven by a rise in visits to its five digital brands, including The Tab and The Poke sites, plus the launch of a subscription model for the Daily Mash’s premium content and the acquisition of TV Guide.
The Entertainment Daily brand saw 42% growth in visits in January and February before being hit by the Google core update to its algorithm in March.
“While we anticipated broadly stable advertiser demand across the period, we did not anticipate Google's algorithm blocking our biggest brand,” the company said, noting that it regained visibility on Google Search and News but not Discover, with work ongoing to get the site reinstated after another update last month.
Meanwhile, The Poke and The Tab saw 21% and 3% session volume growth, while The Daily Mash signed up over 4,200 paying subscribers to its new Premium content and TV Guide saw 31% of the acquisition cost generated during the period.
The digital advertising market was said to have remained "cautious" in the first half of the year and macroeconomic conditions are expected to ease with the global advertising market "likely to strengthen in Q4".
Group adjusted EBITDA of £0.2 million was ahead of management expectations, a swing from a £0.1 million loss last time, while there was net cash of £1.8 million at the end of June.
CEO James Carter said: “This performance has exceeded our expectations during a strong first half of 2024, providing evidence of a strong operating model dealing with a fast-evolving media landscape.”
He said the success was in part due to the commercial transformation of TV Guide, a strategic focus on mobile publishing and good progress with the pivot to a paid subscription model on the Daily Mash.
“The combination of this performance and Digitalbox's optimised operating model gives us confidence that we are well placed to embrace challenges and seize opportunities to further strengthen the company's position," Carter said.
“We anticipate further consolidation across the market as media companies look to grow audience and extract cost synergies. Digitalbox is alive to all strategic options these opportunities present and has the tools and technology to further grow brands it is engaged with.”