Ann: FLLYR: SNK: Snakk grows annual sales revenue by 40%, spurred on by Asia

• Release Date: 12/06/15 08:30
• Summary: FLLYR: SNK: Snakk grows annual sales revenue by 40%, spurred on by Asia
• Price Sensitive: No
• Download Document  12.46KB

					SNK
12/06/2015 08:30
FLLYR
PRICE SENSITIVE
REL: 0830 HRS Snakk Media Limited

FLLYR: SNK: Snakk grows annual sales revenue by 40%, spurred on by Asia

SNK: FLLYR
12 June 2015
Snakk grows annual sales revenue by 40%, spurred on by Asia
Gross margin improves by over 58% in year's second half

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, 12 June 2015 - Today mobile advertising technology
company Snakk Media Ltd., (NZAX: SNK) is announcing its unaudited preliminary
financial results, with gross sales revenues from 1 April 2014 to 31 March
2015 increasing 40% year-on-year, from $7,029,916 to $9,860,520. The company
is pleased to report that, gross sales from the recent market expansion into
Southeast Asia grew sixfold from the first half to the second half of the
year.

Fourth quarter - a new million dollar month
The company's financial year ended strongly, with fourth quarter sales
revenues from January to March 2015 at $2,498,510, up from $1,750,331 in the
previous calendar quarter. The biggest month of the quarter was March, with
sales of $1m, marking the first time the company delivered a million-dollar
month outside the third (December) quarter. Notable brands the company worked
with in this quarter include Lion Nathan, Fonterra, Disney, ASB and Google.

Rate of cash usage reduced significantly through the year
The net loss after tax for the year ending March 2015 was $4.2m, up from
$1.8m the previous year; with $368,000 representing a non-cash expensing of
staff options. Of note was the marked decrease in cash usage between the
first six months of the year and the second, with a reduction of over $1.2m
between the two halves.
Two thirds of the company's total cash usage fell into the first six months
of the year, primarily due to significant investments into a number of key
areas of the business. These included the establishment of a Singaporean
office and subsequent hiring of personnel there, the launch of the Represent
Media division (Snakk's mobile sales arm for publishers), the development of
proprietary internal systems to streamline business operations; and the
hiring of new executive management in the Technology, Ad Operations and
UX/Creative departments.

Gross Margin improves 58% from first to second half of year - from 32% to 51%

The positive commercial impact of the investments made in the first six
months of the year were realised in the second six months. Group CEO Mark
Ryan cites a dramatic improvement in the business' fundamentals between
September 2014 and March 2015.
A comparison between the two six-month periods shows that revenue grew 44% in
the second half of the year. More importantly, gross margin grew by over 58%
between the year's first and second halves, a highly encouraging result off
the back of Snakk's continued commitment to investing in people, technology
and systems.

Cash at hand
Snakk began its 2016 financial year with $NZ2.5m in cash and cash
equivalents. As announced in our May Shareholder update, we have also secured
a NZ$1.3m rolling debt facility on favourable terms, and anticipate this
facility will scale in size as the business grows. The company is continuing
to pursue the optimal mix of capital raising avenues, and expects to release
its plans on this in due course. Due to the improved commercial performance
in the second half of the year, the ongoing capital requirements of the
business have reduced significantly.

Snakk's regions - Southeast Asia revenue accelerating
With strong growth in new regions -  including Southeast Asia and New Zealand
- over 20% of Snakk's total revenue is now generated outside of Australia,
compared to 1% in 2013. The company is pleased to report that revenues from
the first year of operations in Southeast Asia increased by nearly sixfold
during the latter half of the financial year.
The Singapore-based headquarters ran campaigns for global brands as diverse
as Unilever's Paddle Pop and Lux, Visa, Ikea, McDonald's and Airbnb. These
campaigns extended into Asian regions as diverse as Korea, Japan, Vietnam,
Malaysia, India, Macau, Brazil, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.
The New Zealand business continues to grow healthily. The appointment of
well-known industry figure Niko Toluono has furthered our standing as the
mobile advertising partner of choice on Snakk's traditional "home ground".
Our recent announcement of the arrival of TV Sync in NZ has already generated
significant interest amongst top-tier brand advertisers in New Zealand.

Group CEO Mark Ryan comments on the year ended March 2015:
"Our business continues to mature and grow quickly. In the first six months
of the financial year a number of important foundations were laid. In simple
terms, we needed to use our capital to keep evolving. However in the second
half of the year we delivered a much improved group performance, strongly
growing both revenue and gross margin, validating our market strategy.
"Southeast Asia's revenue is picking up speed rapidly and we are starting to
operate like an Asia Pacific business in terms of where we are delivering our
advertising for the region's top global brands. It's a tough talent market in
Singapore, and we feel very lucky to have the team we do. It's exciting to
see them providing mobile advertising in countries within and outside of
Southeast Asia.
"Represent Media, which serves as Snakk's mobile sales arm for publishers
across Asia, Australia and New Zealand, continues to flourish; regularly
adding new high quality mobile titles to its roster. The market reception to
this new offering has been enormously positive.

"The March quarter is traditionally a quieter period in the industry.
Delivering a million-dollar month in this quarter is a real highlight for us.
It proves that marketers are rapidly shifting their budgets to mobile media
as they see that consumers are overwhelmingly choosing mobile as their
primary online experience. Advertiser interest in our new mobile ad formats
and innovative targeting technologies that allow advertisers to go 'beyond
the basic banner' rose dramatically in 2015. Industry forecasts make it clear
that brands are going to invest more in mobile ad campaigns than ever
before."

CEO comments on market conditions and the year ahead
"Market conditions have evolved enormously over the past year, with our media
agency partners feeling increasingly pressured to prove to their brands that
they can present them with the best mobile creative and advertising
technology available. This is an incredible opportunity for us.
"We will continue to focus on the great work we did in the second half of the
financial year; keeping our costs under control, increasing our gross
margins, and continuing to drive strong revenue.

"We've had a long pedigree of bringing innovative mobile advertising
technologies to market, keeping ourselves a step ahead of the pack. Our
reputation for delivering results is second to none in a highly competitive
market. We intend to keep producing the results that brands want, and making
the most of the fantastic opportunities in front of us over the next year and
beyond."

Strong focus on Asia
Mr Ryan says that Southeast Asia is an extremely important market for Snakk.
In the next couple of years, the company can see its centre of gravity
shifting there as mobile advertising revenues continue to grow in a region
boasting hundreds of millions of smartphone users. Right now, to meet the
growing demand in this region, Snakk is looking to employ more staff in
markets including Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
"We intend to grow into more Asian regions and we are looking at a variety of
ways to scale the company quickly into this market. Partnerships, joint
ventures and merger and acquisition activities are all options available to
us. We're determined to become a truly regional mobile advertising company
that brands need to do business with," says Mr Ryan.

Snakk AGM: 16 September (Wednesday)
Finally, the company's Annual General Meeting will be held mid-afternoon on
16 September at the Seafarers building in Britomart. That evening the company
will host an intimate evening specifically for creative and media agencies,
brand advertisers and industry people. Special guests will discuss the impact
of mobile on digital publishing, the "mobile only' consumer dynamic, and why
the word mobile might become redundant before we know it. More details will
be released closer to the event.
Video
A video featuring Snakk Media Group CEO Mark Ryan commenting on the key
highlights from the year ending March 2015 is available for viewing at
http://investors.snakkmedia.com/video/.

Summary of key highlights from the last Financial Year include:

Revenues
? The largest sales quarter in the company's history (Q3, 2014), with more
than 47% of last financial year's total gross revenues generated in just this
quarter.
? Two consecutive months in Q3 that exceeded $1m in sales (November and
December) - with December sales of almost $1.5m achieved.
? Another million-dollar sales revenue month achieved in Q4 (March 2015), the
first time this milestone has occurred outside of the peak trading period in
Q3.

Footprint & Capability
? Establishing a presence in Southeast Asia, with the opening of a Singapore
office and the appointment of a Regional Director to lead Snakk's Southeast
Asian operations. The company hired two additional sales people later in the
year.
? Southeast Asian revenue growing sixfold from the first half to the second
half of the year.
? Launching a new division: Represent Media, which sells advertising space
for premium publisher titles appearing on mobile apps and websites,
announcing ESPN as launch partner.

Technology
? Introducing market-first mobile technology in the Asia Pacific region; TV
Sync, which dynamically matches mobile ads with TV commercials; with a
Southern Hemisphere first-to-market launch campaign for Peugeot Australia
resulting in a strong uplift in activity across their websites and other
digital properties.
? Signing a preferred partnership agreement with Nativo, making its
award-winning  'true native' advertising platform available in Australia and
New Zealand.

People
? Adding new sales talent to the New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
offices.
? Expanding the Group Executive leadership team to include new roles,
including an Ad Operations Technology Manager and a Group Technology Manager.

? Hiring an internationally award-winning Creative Director.

Recognition:

? Named an 'Official Honoree' in the prestigious 2015 Webby Awards for its
campaign creative for one of the world's most popular video game franchises,
'Assassin's Creed Unity' by Ubisoft. The work was recognised in the Mobile
Advertising section of the Media & Advertising category, with Snakk one of
only five Official Honorees in that global mobile category..

? Earned a spot on a global "Best for Workers" index for creating some of the
highest quality jobs in the world among Certified B Corporations. Snakk's
Worker Impact score was among the top 10% of all such corporations.

? Named "4th Hottest Emerging Tech Company" on a list compiled by the
Technology Investment Network (TIN), which measures the performance of
technology exporters with revenues between NZ$2m and $14m

? Named 33rd fastest growing company in New Zealand on the Deloitte Fast 50,
and placed 186th on the Deloitte Asia Pacific Tech Fast 500 index, both
awarded in consecutive years.

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact:
Julie Landry, 021 895 098, [email protected]

For investors enquiries, please contact:
Malcolm Lindeque, Company Secretary, 021 464 392, [email protected]
www.snk.co.nz, www.twitter.com/snakkmedia

About Represent Media
Represent Media is a division of Snakk Media, offering advertisers
highly-targeted and engaging mobile ad campaigns that run exclusively across
the mobile apps and websites produced by well-known publishing brands with
large audience followings. Represent matches a brand's desire to appear on
these specific "big name" mobile apps and websites with the publisher's
supply of ad space.

About Snakk Media
NZAX-listed Snakk Media helps brands find and reach consumers using apps,
games and social media on their smartphones, tablets and other smart screens.
The company generates revenue every time it successfully targets and delivers
an ad across its networks of mobile websites, apps and games. The ads are
targeted to ensure the right audiences see them at the right time and place.

Snakk is one of the first public companies in the world that has met the
rigorous social and environmental performance standards required to become a
certified B Corporation.
End CA:00265576 For:SNK    Type:FLLYR      Time:2015-06-12 08:30:25