New Isentia Leaders Upbeat Despite Tough Year

Australia-based media intelligence group Isentia has reported revenue down 10.7% to $AUD 122.47m, and adjusted EBITDA falling 30.4% to $ AUD 23.06m. However the firm, which is in turnaround mode, described the results as 'acceptable progress'.

Isentia reported a loss of $ AUD 34.3m, following profit of $ AUD 1.28m the previous year: the 2019 figure included a $41.0m impairment, of which $18.8m related to a write down in the value of brand names and $19.0m to goodwill due to the 'challenging operating environment in Australia and New Zealand'. Net debt however fell encouragingly from $43.1m to $28.3m in the year to 30th June 2019.

The results follow poor half year results announced in February.

Managing director and CEO Ed Harrison (pictured), appointed in July 2018, said: 'In FY19, we pointed the company in a different direction with the appointment of a new leadership team and the launch of a new strategy. We realised significant operational efficiencies across the organisation through increased automation and the use of our Asia-Pacific network to optimise resource allocation. This ongoing shift from investment in operations to investment in technology continues to improve productivity, reduce costs and, most importantly, deliver higher-quality services to our clients. Moving the focus of our development pipeline to one of continuous, incremental product delivery has de-risked our investments and generated good results. The number of product and feature releases more than tripled to 66 in FY19'.

Chairperson Doug Snedden says EBITDA is set to recover over a three year period, with FY20 EBITDA guidance at $20-23m. He comments: 'Ed Harrison has driven cultural and operational change, appointed a new leadership team, improved sales productivity and stepped up innovation and investment in product development. As a client of Isentia's for over 10 years, Ed brings a unique understanding of the user experience and what our customers want. During the year, we have started to see the benefits of these changes with stronger growth in new clients'.

Web site: www.isentia.com . Thanks to www.mumbrella.com.au for much of the above.