Pureprofile posts further declines in revenues and profits
Troubled ASX-listed online intelligence platform, Pureprofile, has reported a year-on-year 16% fall in revenue and a further fall in profits in its half-year financial report.
The company, which was the second-worst performer among ASX-listed media and marketing stocks in 2018, reported $23.8m in revenue and $0.6m in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2018’s last six months.
Pureprofile appointed Nic Jones as CEO in December 2017
The results come as blow to the company in its restructuring efforts after appointing Advertising Week APAC’s advisory council chairman Nic Jones as CEO at the end of 2017 and the departure of founder Paul Chan two months later.
For the equivalent period last year, Pureprofile reported an underlying EBITDA of $1.3m on $28.3m in revenue after a series of expenses relating to restructuring costs and writing-off part of the troubled Cohort digital agency.
Following the release of last year’s half year results, Pure Profile’s management claimed it had been misled over the Cohort business as it fought a legal claim from aggrieved shareholders.
Later in the year, Pureprofile wrote off the rest of its Cohort investment and shortly afterwards sold its Sparc Media trading unit back the original owners who had sold the business in 2015.
Pureprofile’s management attributed the fall in gross margins from 49% to 46% between the second half of last financial year and the first half of this year to the Sparc Media disposal in October. Gross margins for the same period in the previous year were 44%.
At the time of the company’s annual report last year, chairman Andrew Edwards said the company expected margin improvements through targeted revenue growth following the appointment of former Adroll and ADMA boss Ben Sharp to head of revenue and operations and new management of the European operations.
In the latest announcement, the company claimed UK revenues were up 16% on the previous half.
The data and analytics arm of the business were Pureprofile’s bright spot with a revenue improvement of 16% year-on-year to $9.5m while its media operations dropped 7.7% to $8.4m, and the performance marketing arm’s takings fell 46% to $5.6m.
Pureprofile’s shares were untraded today, having last traded at 5.3c, down from 7c at the end of last year.
Now, I’m an avid reader of Mumbrella, Adnews and BandT. Over the last year or so a few very evident trends have occurred. We’ve seen with perceived high profile people/leaders in market:
– Them “leaving” or being made redundant from businesses
– Becoming consultants for their own business and not moving into a more senior opportunity
– Taking steps back into roles which don’t compare
– Joining new businesses and performance sliding
– Moving into another firm and them exiting really quickly
It’s been a great case for supporting the problem with lack of leadership in this industry. More specifically the lack of people who have a vision and can execute that.
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How are these guys still allowed to trade ? Surely the ASX or relevant governing body step in and put them out of their misery?
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