Perform's revenues leap

Digital sports media group Perform has reported a leap in revenue and profits on the back of a larger number of live events it streamed to customers in 2011.

Excluding acquisitions, flotation costs and share-based payments relating to the group's growth share option plan, profit after tax rose 45% from £10.1m to £14.7m, on revenues of £103.2m compared to £67.4m in 2010.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which also excludes the exceptional items mentioned above, surged 79% to £18.5m from £10.3m in 2010.

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Actual group profit before tax fell from £7.35m to £3.49m, hit by rising finance costs, depreciation, and exceptional items.

During 2011 the firm's total video and data subscribers rose by 126,000 to 375,000, while the average number of ePlayer monthly unique users soared 220% from 25m to 80m. The number of watch & bet licensees rose from 23 to 35 and the number of these live events increased by 40% to 11,376 (2010: 8,129).

Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose 40% from 4.5p to 6.3p, while basic EPS fell from 4.6p to 1.4p.

Oliver Slipper, joint Chief Executive Officer said: "These results highlight the strong operational and financial performance we have delivered since coming to market. We've reported substantial increases in revenues and earnings whilst significantly expanding our rights portfolio, licensees, video streams and subscriber numbers.

"The opportunities for long-term sustainable growth are significant and we have significant visibility over full year revenues, with in excess of £90m already contracted, and remain confident that we will deliver strong full year revenue and EBITDA growth in line with the board's expectations."

Cash at the end of the year soared from £16.9m to £75.9m as the group trousered the proceeds from its flotation. Despite having plenty of readies in the bin, the directors have better uses for the cash than paying dividends at present.

The group paid out £5.1m in share based payment charges in 2011, including £300,000 on the Performance Share Plan for senior management.

NR