Mirriad flags weaker first-half revenue

(Sharecast News) - Virtual product placement and in-content advertising specialist Mirriad said in an update on Friday that it expected revenue for the first half to be around £0.4m, down from £0.59m in the first six months of the 2023 financial year.

The AIM-traded firm, which was holding its annual general meeting, said it was optimistic about its inclusion for the first time in the US Network Upfronts, which were weighted towards the third and fourth quarters.

It said it was involved in multiple discussions with partners and agencies that could lead to substantial budget allocations.

Despite limited visibility over partner-led initiatives, Mirriad said it remained confident in its overall revenue expectations for the year.

Additionally, Mirriad said it had initiated co-marketing activities with various partners set to launch in July, aiming to boost sales for the remainder of the year.

In the US, the company had launched 'Empower', a strategic alliance with diverse-owned media supply partners to promote an equitable media ecosystem and drive the Inclusive Media movement forward, representing a significant revenue opportunity.

Progress towards programmatic sales continues, supported by growing demand from advertisers and media partners.

However, the roll-out of programmatic sales in connected television (CTV) had been delayed due to the readiness of some third-party players.

Despite that, Mirriad maintained that the potential to establish its ad format as a new industry standard remained substantial.

"With regard to cost savings, we have already initiated the majority of the £0.25m of annualised administrative cost reductions set out in the fundraising announcement of 2 May," said chairman John Pearson.

"In addition, we have implemented approximately £0.2m out of the £0.75m of potential annualised operating cost savings that had been identified and which were also referenced in the fundraising announcement.

"We continue to monitor costs carefully and expect to be able to implement further cost savings in the second half, with some offset by selected recruitment, in particular to maintain Trusted Partner Network (TPN) Gold status and scale programmatic activation and sales."

At 1443 BST, shares in Mirriad Advertising were down 29.14% at 0.7p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.