Australian-listed mobile entertainment and digital media company Crowd Mobile increased net revenue by 16% to $43.9 million in FY17, the company’s second full year on the ASX.
And Crowd Mobile’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 2017 were up 49% to $9.4 million, underpinned by what the company says was the continuing and growing demand for its Q&A and Subscription divisions in a record year and investment in its new Crowd Media division.
The Q&A division, a global service that matches those seeking answers with qualified experts, saw revenue increase by 26% to $24.9 million which marked the third consecutive year of growth of the division, the company’s main earner.
Crowd Mobile also reported:
- Underlying EBITDA up 32% to $11 million;
- Operational cashflow down 36% to $4.5 million;
- Net debt down 81% to 2.8 million;
- Number of countries serviced up from 54 to 64; and
- Number of telco mobile payments partners up from 160 to 212.
{loadposition peter}Crowd Mobile (ASX:CM8) chief executive Domenic Carosa says the company has been making significant investment into its new digital influencer business, Crowd Agency – a global, data-driven influencer marketing business which connects digital influencers with brands looking for new and more effective ways of reaching customers.
According to Carosa, as millennials increasingly use ad blockers and turn to social media and live streaming, brands are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of digital influencers.
“The reason influencers work well is that their followers trust them much more than a traditional TVC or banner advertising. A large part of our Q&A divisional growth has occurred due to our increased use of digital influencer as a market channel.
“We are very excited by the momentum we have seen in Crowd Media. Right now, digital influencers are the hottest thing in marketing and we are looking at opportunities for how we can leverage that popularity into the sale of physical and digital products. For this, we have a powerful mobile payment distribution network in place, which will allow us to bill customer’s mobile phones directly.”