Brave Bison LON:BBSN the AIM-listed, London-based digital advertising agency published a trading update today (27th January) for the year ending December 2024.
As previously reported, Brave Bison has been trying to quickly increase its market share through acquisition, failing to acquire rival The Mission Group LON:TMG in June, but successful in its pursuit of Engage Digital Partners, a privately-owned, London-based global sports marketing company, acquiring the firm in December.
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TMG last week published its own trading update last week (21st January), to the end of 2024, reporting a 2% increase in revenue to GBP88m from 1H24, and said that it was expecting profits for the year of between GBP9m and GBP9.2m, up 38% year-on-year, with an improvement in operating margins to 40%, up 10.5% y-o-y.
Brave Bison performing better than expected
Brave Bison came in ahead of market expectations and reported net revenue of GBP21.3m, up 2% y-o-y with earnings of GBP4.5m, a 5% improvement on 2023. This led to an expected profit of GBP3.9m, up 8% y-o-y.
Brave Bison had GBP7.5m in the bank, despite its acquisition of Engage, an improvement of GBP700,00 over the year. The company said that it has been saving up its pennies and will deploy its spare cash on future acquisitions this year.
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The company, founded in 2011 as Rightster and renamed Brave Bison in 2016, listed in 2013 and has had a consistent upward growth trajectory over the last five years. In 2020 the company was pulling in revenues of GBP4m and had net cash of GBP2.7m and seems set continue its positive direction in 2025.
Strong set of results, despite difficult conditions
Oliver Green, chairman of Brave Bison said in a statement to the market this morning: “We are pleased to have delivered a strong set of results for FY24 despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. This performance is a testament to our future-facing trade brand and proposition to global advertisers and the work we have done around integration and technology enablement.”
Green explained that Engage was due to start the integration with Brave Bison in January, and as previously reported, the GBP10.6m acquisition gives Brave Bison an opportunity to expand further into digital sports marketing, as Engage has a client list that includes F1, the International Cricketing Council (ICC), football giant Real Madrid and the famed New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.
Brave Bison already has client relationships with golf’s PGA Tour and Ryder Cup, tennis’ US Open and Australian Open, the Caribbean’s 20:20 cricket tournament CPLT20, and motor racing’s 24-hour Le Mans endurance race, and so the acquisition fits in nicely with Brave Bison’s existing client portfolio.
The chairman said the Engage acquisition gives Brave Bison a physical presence in India and Australia. Brave Bison’s shares opened the week at 2.38p up 5.8% over one-year, with the company’s share price ranging between 1.8p and 2.96p over the last 52-weeks. Brave Bison has a market capitalisation of GBP28.1m.
Analyst has Brave Bison as ‘Outperform’
Bridgewise, the AI-powered analyst has a ‘Outperform’ rating for Brave Bison. The analyst concluded: “Taking into account Brave Bison Group’s recent financial performance, the company’s stock seems to offer a promising investment opportunity in the Interactive Media & Services industry. Based on Brave Bison’s most recent financial results, the company ranks in the top 30% of Communication Services companies. This is primarily driven by its overperformance in Net Change in Cash and EBITDA, Lease Adjusted when compared to its peers. Analysing historical performance, better results in these two metrics have frequently coincided with an increased probability of a stock outperforming industry rivals.”
As reported, Brave Bison’s acquisition of Engage Digital Partners marks a strategic leap into the global sports marketing arena, further cementing its reputation as a dynamic player in digital advertising. With a strong financial performance in 2024, an expanded client portfolio, and new geographical footprints in India and Australia, the company is well-positioned to capitalise on growth opportunities in 2025 and beyond. As integration efforts commence, Brave Bison continues to demonstrate its commitment to innovation and market leadership in the competitive digital marketing landscape.
