Financial highlights
• Revenue up 21% to $204.2 million
• Underlying EBITDA up 22% to $45.8 million
• Statutory NPAT up 10% to $18.4 million
• Digital revenue represents 79% of Australian media revenue and 70% of total group media revenue
Commenting on the results, QMS group chief executive officer Barclay Nettlefold said:
“QMS has delivered another convincing performance as we continue to focus and deliver on our strategic imperatives across our digital, outdoor and sports media platforms, as well as advancing our data and analytics capabilities. I am very pleased that QMS has once again outperformed the market, with revenue growing faster than our competitors.
“The 2018 financial year was one of significant growth for the business, driven by our continued focus on building an industry-leading digital portfolio in key strategic markets. Our digital development rollout has maintained momentum, with 37 new landmark billboards switched on during 2018, and more than 135 sites planned to be live by June 30, 2019.
“The out-of-home industry continues to experience strong structural growth with roadside billboards, the core of QMS’s portfolio, outperforming the market and realising growth of 35% year-on-year, compared to the industry average of 13%. This category remains the cornerstone of the out-of-home industry and is integral to the industry’s ongoing and sustainable growth.
“We will continue to leverage our diversified customer base and low-level contract risk, with a market-leading average digital lease tenure of 13 years in Australia and 11 years in New Zealand.
“QMS is always looking to enhance its quality portfolio to fund and manage future growth, seek alignment across the operation and to maximise value. We will continue to look for opportunities that support our unique strengths in digital and outdoor and realise the untapped potential of sport, both locally and internationally.
“The recent announcements of an agreement in principle to acquire the majority interest in key internationally recognised sport media companies and our investment in Place Capital provides significant opportunities to unlock additional value from our unique portfolio. We remain focused on balancing financial discipline with our entrepreneurial spirit to create shareholder value,” Nettlefold concluded.
FY19 outlook
The QMS board of directors confirmed FY19 EBITDA guidance of $56m-$58m. Guidance includes the impact of the international sport acquisi