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- Broadcast media advertiser GTN (GTN) forecasts lower revenue and adjusted earnings for the 2021 financial year compared to last year
- Nevertheless, GTN maintains it has a strong cash balance and has locked in revenue for the next half-year, superior to the prior corresponding period
- Adjusted EBITDA is tipped to land between $13 million and $14 million, and group revenue is projected to reach a maximum of $144 million
- While advertising spending picked up later in the year in Australia and the UK, the company blamed pandemic for eating away at its Canada and Brazil revenue
- Shares are trading 15.6 per cent higher at 37 cents at 1:54 pm AEST
Global Traffic Network (GTN) is forecasting lower revenue and adjusted earnings for the twelve months to the end of June 2021, compared to the 2020 financial year (FY20).
Nevertheless, GTN maintains it has a strong cash balance and has locked in revenue for the next half-year, superior to the prior corresponding period.
The company provides traffic updates to radio networks in exchange for sort-after advertising slots, and operates in Australia, the UK, Canada and Brazil.
FY21
For the current financial year, the broadcast media adviser is expecting to record earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of between $13 million and $14 million. In FY20, GTN recorded an adjusted EBITDA of $14.2 million.
This follows on from subdued group revenue predictions for FY21 of between $142 million and $144 million, as opposed to revenue of $160.9 million in FY20.
GTN noted that in Australia revenue had picked up by 23 to 24 per cent over the second half of the financial year. Additionally, revenue in the UK grew across the full year.
However, in Canada where there were prolonged pandemic lockdowns, revenue is tipped to be slightly lower in the second half.
In Brazil, where the COVID-19 situation has deteriorated, the company said revenue was also subdued and it expects it to remain impacted for the foreseeable future.
Nevertheless, GTN stated it has already locked in revenue for the first half of the 2022 financial year, above that of the first half of the current financial year.
The company also noted it expects to have cash balances of around $50 million at the end of June 2021, and had paid back $10 million of its bank facility to reduce its outstanding balance of $50 million.
Shares are trading 15.6 per cent higher at 37 cents at 1:54 pm AEST.
