Crowd Media’s solid results for the half are testament to its successful turnaround strategy.

Disruptive media tech company Crowd Media (ASX:CM8) has delivered strong results for the first half of FY22 as part of their turnaround strategy which is now accelerating to a monetisation phase.

Crowd finished the half with an underlying EBITDA profit of $36,099, a marked improvement from the $411,494 loss in the prior half year.

Although net loss for the half was $280,550, it also represented a big improvement from the $1,364,908 loss incurred in the prior half- year.

Crowd said the solid results are part of a strategy that it’s been able to execute successfully under stringent financial management and their newly appointed CEO.

“The turnaround phase of Crowd Media is now complete. We have the right strategy, the right people, and the right culture,” commented Crowd Media’s chairman, Steven Schapera.

“Every aspect of the business has been strengthened – the board, management, operations and R&D.”

Schapera added that the results  have confirmed his belief in the company, and its future as a serious media tech challenger. The impressive financial turnaround further validates Schapera’s vision which he first commenced in 2019 following a $2.7m investment in Crowd by a European consortium of industry tech leaders that he represented.

Mobile Subscription’s ongoing profitability

Crowd also recorded positive operating cash inflow for the half of $5,517, compared to a cash outflow of $1,215,642 in the prior half-year.

The swing to positive cashflow was underpinned by the ongoing profitability of its Mobile Subscription division which has seen an increase in activity following the appointment of Idan Schmorak as CEO in September 2021.

Around 310,000 new subscribers were acquired in the Mobile Subscription business in the half year, an improvement of 49% compared to the prior half year where 208,000 users were acquired.

Part of this success has been the optimisation measures the company has implemented across its personnel, sales and marketing functions. Growth in the division has now been forecast for the first time in two years with Crowd confirming new verticals would be integrated into the division soon.

To further support revenue growth and encourage innovation within this space, an in-house media buying process has been initiated which is expected to result in better long-term growth prospects, and lessen dependence on third parties.

 

The launch of Talking Head

The company will leverage years of know-how to expedite the commercialisation of its Talking Head platform in the gaming and entertainment space. As part of their progress reporting to shareholders, Crowd has recently released a variety of interactive demos of the platform, showcasing its commercial appeal in the fields of healthcare, education and entertainment.

Talking Head is a proprietary AI-based digital marketing platform that utilises more than 10 years of data analytics extracted from over 180 million customer Q&As.

The healthcare version, developed for PangeaMed which became the first paying client of the platform,      draws upon Crowd’s conversational AI capabilities utilising machine learning to answer medical questions, alleviating pressure from the healthcare industry. The platform essentially enables one medical professional to utilise AI to answer hundreds of patients.

Crowd says the development of Talking Head is continuing according to plan, with clear tech development objectives set for the next eight months.

The Med-Tech proof of concept has been completed, and the milestone of securing the first paying customer was achieved after the signing of PangeaMed.

The second working proof of concept is being finalised two months ahead of internal deadlines, and Talking Head will soon be ready for its first commercial deployment.

Separately, Crowd has commenced activities in the metaverse with land acquisition in leading digital world Decentraland and an establishment of a Crowd Media billboard as a digital asset that can interact with avatars within the metaverse      A video of the interactive capabilities has been released by Crowd and can be viewed here.

 

Well-funded

Confirming its solid balance sheet position, Crowd reported cash in the bank of $1.70 million as at 31 December 2021.

During the half, the company invested the final $0.9 million in AI voice-cloning company Aflorithmic Labs, completing the agreed acquisition price of GBP 1.0 million.

Overall, Crowd reported a fair value gain of $479,648 on all its investments, taking its net assets to $5.8 million on the balance sheet.

With a working capital of $2m and no debt, the company says it’s set to build on this momentum in the second half.

Crowd Media’s CEO, Idan Schmorak, said: “Following our quarterly report, this half year report is another milestone that represents the fresh wind in Crowd’s journey.”

“With positive EBITDA and operating cashflow, we are strongly positioned to pursue the development and drive the commercialisation objectives of our new AI platform.

“We are growing our team responsibly, alongside strengthening our Subscription division to push the group forward.”.

This article was developed in collaboration with Crowd Media, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Read MoreTech

Featured Companies

You might be interested in