Despite a bumpy year Pilat Media made progress in Q4 to end FY12 in a strong position and with new ventures to explore during 2013. Revenue was up 4.2% yoy to £23.5m which was better than the c3% FY10/11 increase (see here). It has a better handle on costs too, resulting in operating profit of £2.8m vs. £2.4m, while PBT moved from a loss last year to a £1.98m profit.
Delving into the results, several positives emerge for this provider of business process and content management software to the media industry. Licence revenue was up 50% for example, although at £4.5m it is only 19% of overall revenue, and 2012 saw a good mix of renewals and extensions alongside new licences. The company secured a strategic customer who will use the IBMS platform for its new media services across EMEA, and is also taking Pilat Media’s advertising sales software, which demonstrates cross sale capability. And the company is less reliant on its top three customers – they account for c25% of revenue, down from 32%. In addition, the new OTTilus subsidiary (it started as a JV then Pilat Media acquired the whole operation – see here) which delivers services over the internet to PC and mobile devices, has scope to generate new business during 2013.
The only blot is that revenue from the largest part of the business, professional services, was essentially flat at £13.5m. Activity levels and costs related to this area of the business fluctuate and impact profitability, making it one of the more volatile aspects of the business.