UNAUDITED INTERIM RESULTS

Mirriad Advertising plc

("Mirriad" or the "Group")

H1 Mirriad revenue improves as costs fall and drive towards adoption continues

Mirriad, the computer vision and AI platform company, today announces unaudited half-year results for the six months ended 30 June 2020.

Highlights:

Strategic Development

Financial

Our key performance indicators

Stephan Beringer, Chief Executive Officer of Mirriad, said:

"We have made significant progress in increasing revenue and driving adoption among our top-tier partners, despite the challenging macroeconomic conditions which have had a negative impact on demand for advertising and disrupted the production of new content. The improved revenue picture is supplemented with positive news from our work to reduce the company's operating loss. We have been able to respond to the Covid-19 headwinds effectively thanks to the efforts of our team, the strong relationships with partners, and a relentless focus on the execution of our strategy and the fundamental effectiveness of our technology.

"In China, June was the busiest month for brand campaigns carried since our operations began, building on positive numbers recorded in April and May, as confidence tentatively improves in the country post lockdown. Our positive experience with key partner Tencent in this market shows how Mirriad insertions can become integral pieces of the advertising and media mix, swiftly driving new levels of success and scale for advertisers and content partners alike.

"Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we are focusing on the areas that offer the best routes to adoption and scale. We expect to further expand our footprint with new and existing broadcast, VOD and streaming partners, and build on successful forays into new markets, such as music video content. This will be guided by the fact that audiences actively prefer our format, and that we are able to open up entirely new opportunities and revenue streams for advertisers and creators - a reality that is more important than ever in the current climate. Furthermore, while the macro-economic headwinds linked to Covid-19 are likely to remain in place, at least for the near term, we are pleased to see the business continuing to trade in line with our expectations and, should the current trends within the business continue during the second half of the year, we are cautiously optimistic of achieving our full year expectations." 

For further information please visit www.mirriad.com, or contact:

Chairman's Statement

The positive signs reported in these interim results clearly demonstrate Mirriad's unique ability to capitalise on the new opportunities offered by the rapidly-changing advertising landscape. As well as the increase in revenue, the company's cost base has been carefully controlled as part of the strategy implemented in 2019, resulting in a stronger cash position than previously anticipated. Our focused global footprint has enabled us to ride out the individual market challenges posed by recent events, and I am confident the Group is in a strong and well placed position for the future.

We are in the process of navigating a period of unprecedented global economic and social uncertainty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Mirriad's staff and management, in many cases reacting swiftly and creatively to changed working conditions, we have been able to deliver the expected increase in revenue, despite these unexpected macroeconomic headwinds. This agility will continue to be the norm as we continue to carefully monitor and respond to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic to ensure Mirriad remains in a robust position for the future.

The pandemic has also amplified existing industry trends, with clear increases in consumer streaming and ad skipping bringing Mirriad's core proposition into sharp focus with continued consumer aversion to interruption. On top of this, agencies are under more pressure than ever to defend their value propositions and deliver solutions that secure reach, impact and ROI. The resulting momentum that is building behind the adoption of Mirriad's solution shows our unique technology addresses the fundamental challenges faced by the industry.

Research has proven that viewers prefer Mirriad's non-intrusive format, and that it also drives brand awareness, favourability and consideration - all vital factors in a market that is under intense scrutiny in terms of value.

We remain in uncertain times however I am very confident that Mirriad has the technology, the team and the global footprint to continue building upon on the recent progress made in revenue growth, adoption and effectively managing the business through this disruption.  While the effects from the continued macroeconomic uncertainty look like they will remain at least in the near term, we remain cautiously optimistic for the future.

John Pearson

Non-executive Chairman

10 September 2020

Chief Executive's Statement 

2020 has so far been defined by our resilience and our focus on driving adoption of Mirriad's award winning technology. With significant increases in revenue,  reduced costs and true momentum behind us, it is the time to further accelerate our efforts to attract ever more interest from leading broadcasters, advertisers and content creators.

Our strategy now is to focus on three key objectives that will support Mirriad in addressing the full potential of the opportunity ahead:

1.   expand - our global footprint, drive adoption and exploit new sources of content, providing greater inventory and scale.

2.   extend - our business model to include a direct-to-advertiser/agency marketplace approach, accelerated with industry partnerships and alliances that allow us to leverage third party distribution and buying power.

3.   establish - Mirriad as the leader in next generation brand and advertising experiences, powered by ground-breaking technology and innovation.

This targeted approach is building on the momentum created to date and we are currently in talks or negotiations with a large number of global entertainment platforms, new categories of content partner, brand advertisers and their agencies.

In China, our partnership with Tencent continues to go from strength to strength and the ability to integrate our API with their systems is a tangible demonstration of how Mirriad can become a 'line item' in the advertising sales process. In-video advertising powered by Mirriad has become an integrated part of Tencent's offer, connecting our technology with other solutions - a vital step in achieving true scalability.

Elsewhere, discussions that had been delayed by Covid-19 in the US, UK, Germany and France are now restarting as economic activity slowly begins to return. In the US, we have signed agreements with Condé Nast, one of the world's outstanding video and digital brands, and Tastemade, the global media company, whose food, home and travel content reaches 250 million monthly active viewers. As a result, we have run campaigns with brands such as P&G, demonstrating not only the scale but the trust our partners are building in our technology. We are looking forward to continuing our steady path to broad market adoption and more activity as the market begins to open up.

More recently, our cinematic hinterland has opened up a series of exciting creative avenues for Mirriad, as evidenced by our new agreements with ZigZag Productions and B-Unique Records. This includes our work on the striking music video for Kodaline's Say Something which underlines how Mirriad can deliver creative activations in a short time frame, to the benefit of the content producer and viewer alike. It also demonstrates how our technology can be used beyond normal broadcast content to bring creativity to life within the music video market, creating new revenue streams for artists, and new opportunities for Mirriad insertions.

We have also made progress in the important task of telling our story to investors. We have addressed the issue of a lack of research in the market by appointing Canaccord Genuity Limited as our retained nominated adviser and broker, as well as working with Edison Research to deliver vital insight for investors.

With the rapidly evolving marketplace, the breadth of exciting opportunities available to Mirriad continues to grow.  The Group will use this time to accelerate its progress with key partners and potential partners even more swiftly to further cement its leadership position in the marketplace.

Stephan Beringer

Chief Executive

10 September 2020

David Dorans

Chief Financial Officer

10 September 2020

Company Information

Consolidated statement of profit or loss and statement of comprehensive income for the six months ended 30 June 2020

All activities are classified as continuing.

Consolidated balance sheet

At 30 June 2020

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

For the six months ended 30 June 2020