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Time Out Group PLC on Thursday said it had raised £8 million to support the business, which did not meet its annual financial targets. The London-based media and hospitality company posted a pretax loss of £58.8 million in the year that ended June 30, widened from £9.4 million a year earlier. Revenue fell to £73.2 million from the £103.1 figure reported in financial 2024. However, following a change to the company’s accounting policy, it has restated 2024 revenue as £78.7 million. According to Time Out, the change did not impact gross profit. An impairment charge of £35.1 million damaged the bottom line in financial 2025, with no impairment booked the previous year. This comprised a £25.4 million impairment on Time Out Market, the company’s dining and leisure business, and a £9.6 million charge attributed to the Media business, after the company determined the latter to be £8.5 million below carrying value, based on forecasts of future earnings. Time Out cited ‘underperformance relative to budget’ as an issue in Media and at certain Market locations, specifically Barcelona, Chicago and Boston. Still, Time Out stressed the ‘strong fundamentals and sustainable cash generation’ of its markets. Rather than goodwill, charges related to Markets were on right-of-use assets and on property, plant and equipment. Market revenue rose 9.1% to £46.7 million from £42.8 million on-year, with the accounting change applied retrospectively. Media sales declined 26% to £26.6 million from £35.9 million. The Market division’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell to £10.7 million in financial 2025 from £12.0 million on-year. Media swung to an adjusted Ebitda loss of £1.0 million from a £5.3 million profit the year prior. Time Out noted ‘an ongoing continuing structural shift in consumer channel preference, from text-based websites toward video, particularly via social media, as well as AI search impacting web traffic.’ Having reviewed the Media branch, the company aims to return to adjusted Ebitda profit in the first half of financial 2026. The goal is to boost revenue in its largest UK and US units by ‘increasing video output on social media/YouTube, whilst also increasing the output of higher-engagement best-of-the-city content,’ Time Out said. It expects about £3 million in annualised proforma savings from operational expenditure cuts since June. Net debt totalled £86.3 million at the end of June, compared with £73.4 million on-year. Time Out plans to open at least six markets by the end of 2028, with management deals already signed for venues in Vancouver, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Prague. ‘Whilst our financial performance was below our internal targets, Time Out continues to be trusted and relevant as we inspire and enable growing numbers of people every month to experience the best of the city. We are confident that actions taken are swift and appropriate and we remain focused on executing our growth strategy,’ said Chief Executive Chris Ohlund. Also on Thursday, Time Out conducted a £8 million fundraise with £3.6 million to go towards technology and £4.4 million to cover ‘restructuring costs’, which the company expects to result in yearly savings of £3.5 million. This includes a share placing and a retail offer, both priced at 8.0 pence per share, which is roughly 30% lower than its 11.5p closing price on Wednesday. Time Out shares were down 25% at 8.60 pence on Thursday afternoon in London. The stock is down 83% over the past year. Time Out’s three largest shareholders took part in the placing, which was announced earlier on Thursday. Panmure Liberum Ltd served as nominated adviser and sole bookrunner for the conditional placing, which raised £5.1 million. A separate firm placing raised gross proceeds of £2.9 million. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd subscribed for 29.4 million conditional placing shares. Oakley Capital Ltd was allocated 9.3 million conditional placing shares. Oakley Capital Investments Ltd subscribed for 2.3 million conditional shares, plus 35.7 million firm placing shares, with the latter expected to be admitted to trading on December 22. Separately, Oakley Capital Ltd has agreed to subscribe for an additional 63.0 million shares, as part of a £4.9 million debt-to-equity conversion. Time Out CEO Chris Ohlund subscribed for about 1.3 million conditional shares, raising his stake in the company to about 0.3%. Chief Financial Officer Matt Pritchard subscribed for 250,000 shares, upping his stake to just under 0.1%. Their combined subscriptions amounted to £120,000. Following the fundraise, Lombardier Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd’s stake is just under 26%. Oakley Capital Ltd and Oakley Capital Investments Ltd are expected to hold a combined share 50% in Time Out, provided that admission of conditional shares is approved. Stockholders will meet to decide this on January 6, with admission expected the next day. Ownership stakes depend on the outcome of the retail offer, which remains open, though Time Out plans to report on its results later on Thursday. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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