Digital surges at QMS

Outdoor media business QMS Media (QMS) increased its half-year revenue by 25 per cent, with digital now accounting for 66 per cent of its total sales, up by more than 50 per cent from the same period last year when it was 43 per cent

It is the highest mix of digital to print among the publicly traded outdoor media companies, with APN being 38 per cent digital, and oOh! now at 60 per cent digital.

QMS owns print houses Omnigraphics, MMT Print and BMG.

For the HY ending December 31, QMS improved its underlying EBITDA from the prior corresponding period (pcp) by 27 per cent, reaching $22.7m.

Statutory NPAT is also up, reaching $8.3m, an 11 per cent increase from the pcp.

The company now has 99 digital billboards operational, and has updated its FY target from 100+ to 112+.

QMS says its focus on sport, and small-format digital rollout across the Gold Coast and Auckland, contributed to the increase in revenue and profit.

Barclay Nettlefold, CEO, QMS, explains, “This is a pleasing result, which has been driven by our continued focus on premium quality landmark digital expansion in strategic markets. Our landmark digital development roll-out has strong momentum, with 24 new billboards switched on during the half.

“As a result, we have updated our full year development target to over 112 sites to be operational by the end of June 2018. Our smaller format digital presence is an important complement to our landmark network, and we are continuing to invest in strategic expansion to support integrated campaigns across multiple formats.

“Out-of-home industry growth was strong in the first half, with roadside billboards, the core of QMS’ portfolio, outperforming the market.

“We continue to see an attractive opportunity in sport and are making good progress towards our goal of becoming the largest sports media rights holder in the market, with recent contract wins and renewals in FFA and Nrl, and deepening audience engagement opportunities using virtual innovation. We are always looking at new ideas and technology globally, to bring the power of sport to an expanded audience and will continue to assess further opportunities for growth in this key sector.

“Developing our digital and data capabilities remains an ongoing area of focus. Our DataLab is enabling us to better understand our audiences, and deliver more targeted and valuable campaigns for advertisers, and our investment in Digital Commons provides the capability to expand online and mobile media audience buying into outdoor media.

“We have also launched an industry-first Digital Transaction Platform in New Zealand during the half, which provides a significant opportunity for digital outdoor to be considered with, and compete for, online media investment.

“Looking ahead, we continue to see significant opportunity to unlock additional value from our portfolio through harnessing the power of digital advertising across multiple platforms.”

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One thought on “Digital surges at QMS

  1. Wonderful “up by more than 50 per cent from the same period last year”
    The digital age of LED billboard advertising is here and going strong.
    Regards
    David
    Design Manager
    http://www.ddesigns.space.

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