Zinc Media books first-half loss; expects to be profitable in second half of 2021

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TV and multimedia content producer Zinc Media posted a first-half loss after revenue halved due to delayed productions resulting from Covid-19 lockdowns.

Pre-tax losses for the six months through June amounted to £2.1m, compared to losses of £2.1m on-year. Revenue fell 50% to £7.3m.

The company not declare an interim dividend.

It said it expected the vast majority of phase one of its transformation plan, announced in September 2019, to be completed by the end of September 2020.

'The group is now confident that it can deliver profit and be cash generative in the second half of 2021 even if revenue doesn't fully recover to pre-Covid-19 levels in 2021,' it added.

Zinc Media said the majority of the first-half revenue shortfall due to production delays would be delivered in the next six months, subject to no further Covid-related delays.

Pre-Covid, first-half revenues were on course to be almost £14m and £28m for the 12 months to June 2020.

'Unsurprisingly the Covid-19 pandemic has made delivery of the group transformation plan significantly harder and has forced the acceleration of cost reductions throughout the business,' Zinc Media said.

'It has distorted the TV commissioning market and made forecasting future performance very difficult.'

'However, the increasingly diversified client base of the group, the closure and restructure of loss-making divisions, and the improvement in gross margins does gives Zinc the best possible opportunity to navigate the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.'