Bidstack Group PLC (AIM:BIDS, OTC:FTBGF) told investors first-half revenue was up 160% at £2.1mln, while margins also rose and the company ended the six-month period with £3.6mln of cash.
A key business highlight was the start of the Azerion Group media sales partnership which began rolling out in Bidstack’s core markets (UK and EMEA) in March. The company today said the venture is performing in line with the contractual commitments (US$30mln of revenue across two years).
The company, which embeds advertising into video games, said its inventory now comprises more than 100 game titles which across the portfolio report some 100mln of active users that could be reached by Bidstack’s platform.
"The first six months of FY22 has seen the company put in place further foundations for longer term growth, as our group revenues begin to accelerate,” said chief executive James Draper.
“A 160% increase in first half revenue year-on-year to £2.1m is testament to our broader product offering and suite of tools, organic growth through cross-selling and the commencement of our relationship with Azerion.
“Our cash management has been carefully balanced between investment for aggressive growth and prudent management. In addition, our gross margin is trending up year-on-year.
"We are all very aware of the uncertainty caused by the challenging global economic climate.
“However, we are confident that the video games sector will remain strong and that the demand for advertising-spend monetisation will continue to increase, from game developers and publishers.
“There is a clear trend toward shifting media spend towards the video games audience.
"I believe we are well placed to benefit as our market continues to mature and I look forward to providing further updates."
Looking ahead, Bidstack noted that is it preparing the launch of new products in the second half to allow publishers and developers to maximise monetisation, along with greater tools for analytics, data and reporting.
The company said it has a robust pipeline for enterprise software sales and highlighted that the confidence among media buyers is expected to strengthen.
It comes as the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Media Rating Council (MRC) have measurement guidelines under public consultation and are expected to establish robust standards. Bidstack said it expects that once established, this will prove to be a significant catalyst for frictionless growth.
Draper added: “Our commercial pipeline remains robust as we make good progress.
“Our vision has always been to create a platform that generates recurring and automated revenues through our suite of tools, designed to help our gaming publisher customers monetise brand activations.
"We have many exciting new products, adding to our ‘always-on revenue’ suite of tools for publishers that are expected to be rolled out in Q3 22.
“This should support a robust second half to the year for the group and an increased number of game developers seeking to take advantage of our technologies, not just within advertising, but across their studios.”