LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in Be Heard Group PLC dropped a third Thursday after it expects revenue for the first half of its current financial year to increase significantly, although warned that profit will not "mirror" this progress.
Shares in Be Heard were trading 33% lower on Thursday at 1.28 pence each.
The digital marketing services firm said it expects revenue for the six months to the end of June to increase by "in excess" of 70% to GBP14 million. The prior year, Be Heard reported GBP8.3 million revenue.
Like-for-like revenue is expected to improve by 15%, driven by notable client gains and increased spend from existing client relationships.
However, Be Heard warned that the first half and full-year earnings progress will not mirror the high rate of revenue growth. The company expects its margins to reflect the increased costs associated with winning new business, uncertainty around contract timing and client spend volatility.
To mitigate this, the company said it has begun a process of reducing costs, streamlining business and centralising its functions where appropriate.
The benefits of these actions are expected to appear in the second half of 2018, with the full effect in 2019.
For the full-year to the end of December, Be Heard now expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation to be in the range of GBP3.0 million and GBP3.3 million on revenue of GBP29.0 million. The prior year earnings totalled GBP3.6 million, GBP19.6 million, respectively.
"The board remains confident that Be Heard is well positioned to take full advantage of the demand for integrated, end-to-end marketing services," the company said in the statement.
Be Heard plans to announce its results for the first half on September 18.
