Analytics strong for Ebiquity in first half, but ad monitoring slows

Revenue in the Platform division was down 9.6% year-on-year to £2.6m due to a softening in the advertising monitoring renewal rate and a slowdown in new sales of the ad monitoring platform. In comparison, the company said its editorial monitoring platform Newslive 2.0 had seen “good sales traction” for the six months ended 31 October.

The Analytics division – which houses Ebiquity’s media auditing, consultancy and marketing effectiveness businesses – saw sales increase by 15.4% to £6.7m, helped in large part by a 40% growth in international revenue which now represents 51% of division revenue. Total group revenue was up 7.8% to £9.3m.

Operating profit was down 37% to £270,000. Excluding share-based expenses, amortisation and restructuring charges underlying operating profit was £760,000, a decrease of 17% on the prior year.

CEO Michael Greenlees (pictured) said: “Notwithstanding the difficult economic environment, the business continues to show good growth… Looking ahead the board believes that we can expect to see the current positive trends continue as advertisers seek out data-driven, independent and informed advice, designed to improve their media and business performance.”