One Media iP Group PLC (LON:OMIP) revealed in its half-year results that face-to-face meetings with digital rights owners have now resumed.
The digital music rights acquirer, publisher and distributor has managed to keep the wheels turning during the lockdown, with a number of high-profile deals, such as the acquisition of producer rights to some of the songs of prolific hit makers Culture Club, Heatwave and Kid Creole & the Coconuts.
The six months to the end of April saw the company make six acquisitions, deploying around £4mln of its cash resource, although the company noted that owing to the timing of these deals they have not contributed to the half-year figures released this morning but will do so in future periods.
Group revenue rose to £2.10mln from £2.03mln in the corresponding period 12 months earlier, despite foreign exchange movements being unhelpful.
The US dollar performance of the company's main distributors, which account for around four-fifths of income, rose 9% year on year.
Profit before tax was little changed at £359,117 from £399,236 the year before while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was similarly stable at £722,761 (2019/20: £757,678).
Gross profit excluding amortisation rose by 5.2% to £1.33mln from £1.26mln the year before.
Despite significant uncertainty caused by COVID-19, the global recorded music market has demonstrated resilience and a recent report from Goldman Sachs predicts the global market to grow from US$20.5bln to US$37bln in 2030, the group’s chair. Claire Blunt noted.
The group is confident that with its scalable business model, its track record of acquiring assets with recurring revenue streams it will continue to capitalise on the growth of global streaming and deliver increasing shareholder value.
“Streaming has now replaced nearly all aspects of downloading and with iTunes discontinuing its downloading store, we are set to continue delivering our content with our expert team of Creative Technicians fully experienced in the digital environment now for over a decade. Who would have imagined that vinyl would outlive downloads? We did! We have been talking of streams and the shifting market now for many years,” quipped Michael Infante, the chief executive officer of One Media.
“We have seen our acquisition programme via Harmony IP gain traction and press acclaim and can report 'face to face' meetings with targets have now resumed.
“It is a refreshing 'reboot' and many of us will be happy not to see the 'kitchens' and 'lounges' displayed via online conferencing. I have become an expert in interior design!” he added.