LadBible owner claims it is the ‘number one’ news publisher on TikTok

The group behind LadBible has shrugged off a disappointing financial performance with claims it is has become the ‘number one’ news publisher on TikTok. 

LBG Media told investors on Wednesday its TikTok follower numbers grew by 72 per cent in the year to 31 December, when compared against the previous year.

Its global audience grew by 39 per cent year-on-year to 366million, with 98billion content views in the period, up 56 per cent year-on-year, according to the company. 

But pre-tax profits sank 10 per cent to £7.3million over the period, as revenues growth of 15 per cent to £62.8million missed forecasts. Adjusted EBITDA for the year was down six per cent at £15.7million.

LBG said: ‘Whilst we acknowledge that the Group did not achieve its initial revenue and profit targets for 2022, we are pleased with our robust performance given the rapidly changing macro-economic issues affecting the UK and international markets during the year.’

LBG Group shares sank 3.9 per cent by midday on Wednesday to around 74p. 

The Manchester-based media group made 43 staff redundant in the second half in a bid to cut costs, but opened a new office in New York in efforts to expand in the US ‘with content for the local audience’.

LBG also said its acquisition of the social pages of Go Animals, which it rebranded to Furry Tails, saw solid growth in 2022.

It is yet to deploy the £30million it raised via an initial public offering, which it said gives the group ‘significant firepower for both acquisitions and organic growth opportunities’.

On dividends, the group, said: ‘The Board understands the importance of dividends to many shareholders, but given the high-growth nature of the Group, the Directors plan to reinvest much of the Group’s earnings to facilitate this growth. The Board will consider a progressive dividend policy at the appropriate time.’ 

Boss Solly Solomou added: ‘We have made continued financial and operational progress in 2022. H2 was particularly strong, delivered amid a challenging backdrop, with both our core revenue streams demonstrating the resilient nature of our business. 

‘LBG is well positioned to capitalise on the fast-growing digital media market. We have a diverse range of brands catering to the hard to reach 18–34-year-old demographic, have expanded our capabilities, with our survey platform LADnation forming an increasingly key part of our offer, and we are taking advantage of the significant growth opportunity that the US market has to offer.

‘We ended 2022 with a great deal of positive momentum, as evidenced by our record direct revenue performance for Q4, and with this momentum continuing into 2023 I am excited by what lies ahead for the business.’

Fiona Orford-Williams, director at Edison Group, said: ‘After a difficult opening to last year, LBG had a much better second half, with particularly good momentum in Q4, which has reportedly continued into the new year. 

‘The good Q4 was partly natural seasonality, part helped by the FIFA World Cup and part from the repositioning of the group further towards short-form video (with particular success on TikTok) and a more diversified content base – all still focused on younger audiences.’

She added: ‘The big prize for LBG will depend on its success in building up its US presence. It is still early days here, but the first signs are encouraging and the group has the experience of building its brands in Australia and Ireland. The group still has much of the cash that it raised on listing in late 2021, so has the resource to continue to invest and buy where appropriate.’

Analysts at Peel Hunt, said: ‘The shares are down 40 per cent YTD, and trading on 12x FY23E PE. We believe they continue to look cheap and see scope for outperformance as the year progresses given the traction in short form. We maintain our Buy.’