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Trading update and new loan facility

In brief · summary, not quotable

FY25 revenue £75m, adjusted EBITDA £7-9m, below guidance; £6m loan facility raised from Oakley Capital.

vs expectations: below

  • FY25 Group Revenue £75 million (prior £78 million)
  • FY25 Adjusted Group EBITDA £7-9 million (prior £12.4 million)
  • Markets Revenue £47 million (prior £42 million)
  • Media Revenue £28 million (prior £36 million)
  • New Loan Facility £6 million
  • Markets Customer Transactions 11 million (prior up 21% year on year)
Full announcement

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FY25 Summary

  • Markets revenues grew to £47 million, an increase of 10% versus FY24 (£42 million), +13% in constant currency
  • Media revenues of £28 million, 22% lower than FY24 (£36 million), 20% lower in constant currency
  • Group revenues of £75 million, 4% lower than FY24 (£78 million), 2% lower in constant currency
  • Opex reduction programme ongoing. To date, £10 million of savings actioned of which £4 million will deliver pro-forma savings FY26 vs FY25
  • Trading performance in the final quarter of FY25 was below management expectations:

o Lower media revenues than forecast, partially due to a delay in contracts that subsequently completed in FY26

o Extreme heat impacted June US market revenues, the markets have since returned to growth

o Other commercial negotiations on opex items that were forecast to conclude in Q4 FY25, that are now expected to conclude in Q1 FY26

  • Adjusted Group Ebitda for FY25 is now expected to be in the range £7-£9 million vs previous withdrawn guidance of £11-£13 million (FY24 £12.4 million)

New Loan Note Instrument and Related Party Transaction

Today, Time Out entered into a loan note instrument ("LN") to raise £6.0 million of additional growth capital with its existing shareholder Oakley Capital Limited ("OCL"). An initial £1.5m of the instrument has been drawn for working capital, with potential for further drawdowns to fund the Group's continued growth strategy. The loan facility has a maturity date of 31 December 2026, is unsecured, carries an interest rate margin of 8% accrued in kind and an arrangement fee of 1.25%. The related-party transaction is explained in more detail below.

Time Out Markets Division

  • The current portfolio of Markets is growing in line with management expectations.
  • Two new markets are on track to open in H2 CY25: Manhattan (an owned and operated market) and Budapest (a management agreement market).
  • A further four management agreement markets are contracted to open by 2027, with a strong pipeline of additional opportunities. New site negotiations are ongoing such that further announcements are expected later in this calendar year.
  • The expanding footprint, including management agreement locations, has driven strong growth in customer transactions, up +21% year on year to over 11 million transactions in the period.

Media Division

  • Global monthly brand audience reach(1) for Media has grown +44% to 224 million, driven by social media growth.
  • The division generates revenue from advertising and by creating customised campaign solutions for brands. The media business has seen a decline in traditional advertising revenue following a structural switch in consumer habits from Web to social media and AI - the Board expects this trend to continue, therefore Media opex has been materially reduced during H2 FY25, and into FY26, with £4 million of year-on year savings actioned FY26 vs FY25.
  • The strategy review previously announced in May 2025 is progressing, with the evaluation of potential growth strategies to deliver sustainable Media division profitability through effective monetisation of unique content and growing global audience and driving customer visits and revenue to our Markets.

Outlook

The Group remains focused on the growth that Markets will deliver with the objective of doubling Market EBITDA over the next two years, whilst improving the profitability of media, by converting a strong pipeline of potential new sites, driving like-for-like growth in existing Markets, out-of-home advertising, loyalty programmes and a growing and valuable customer database. The Group expects to announce the outcomes of the media review alongside the FY25 audited results this autumn.

Commenting on the update, Chris Ohlund, CEO of Time Out Group plc, said:

"While Media and Market performance during June was softer than anticipated, our markets have since reverted to growth and we see considerable headroom, both through deepening our presence in existing locations and accelerating rollouts into new ones. The strategic review of Media is progressing well, with clear momentum emerging in high-value areas including social media, email engagement, and the delivery of scalable brand campaigns and live events. These strengths position us to drive sustainable revenue growth and enhanced returns for shareholders.

"Our audience is highly engaged and continues to seek out trusted human advice and recommendation. In a world where algorithmic and AI generated content is pushed higher up search rankings, we are developing and evaluating multiple new ways to reinforce a direct connection between human editor and people seeking the best of the city."

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTION

Oakley Capital Limited ("OCL"), as the parent company, is an associate of Oakley Capital Investments ("OCI") which is interested in 136,082,622 Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 38.08%. of the Company's issued share capital. OCI is therefore a substantial shareholder in Time Out. As a result, OCL is a related party of the Company, and the execution of the LN constitutes a related party transaction under AIM Rule 13. The Directors of the Company (excluding Peter Dubens, Non-Executive Chairman of the Company, David Till, Non-Executive Director of the Company and Alexander Collins, Non-Executive Director of the Company, who are not considered independent for the purposes of this transaction as a consequence of being partners of Oakley Capital Private Equity L.P. and Oakley Capital Limited, and Peter Dubens being a non-executive director of OCI) consider that, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, Panmure Liberum Limited, the terms of the LN are fair and reasonable insofar as shareholders in the Company are concerned.

Notes

  • H1 CY25 vs H1 CY24 average global monthly brand reach across all channels.

596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended. Upon the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.

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