oOh!media roars back, but with focus on digital

Billboards are leading oOh!media out of the pandemic, with roads advertising racing to record levels, and overall revenue for 2021 within touching distance of the pre-pandemic 2019 figure.

However oOh!media has said it will continue the move from print to digitisation in its billboards, street furniture and retail displays.

During the year it added another 30 large format billboards to its digital inventory, taking the number to 200 across the country.

Speaking on the full year results CEO Cathy O'Connor told Print21 sister title AdNews: "The revenue for road across November and December 2021 is at record levels."

The road (billboard) division was the standout performer in the just released full year results for 2021. Revenue was up 34 per cent to $158m.

Overall company revenue for the March quarter was pacing 15 per cent higher than the same three months 2020. Overall for the full year oOh!media got to 93 per cent of the  pre-pandemic 2019, rising by $77.2m in the year to $503.7m.

Its net profit after tax crept back into the black to the tune of $800,000, off the back of a $25m loss in 2020.

Combined road, retail and street formats across Australia and New Zealand in the March quarter are running at 14 per cent higher than the first three months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic first quarter.

And audience levels in February have returned in aggregate to pre Covid-19 levels.

Omicron’s impact on overall demand for advertising media has been limited, with the interim January SMI (Standard Media Index) numbers showing a 12.7 per cent increase in non-digital media year-on-year.

"It (roads) has pushed past the impacts of the pandemic, right beyond the levels it was trading at the end of 2019," says O'Connor.

"That's a really great leading indicator for the sector, roads, a big part of what we do both in street furniture and large format.

“And so we're really optimistic that that trend can continue."

She says billboards are a great format for brand awareness and big impact campaigns. Brands are back advertising, and consumers are getting about.

“I think after two years in hibernation, many advertisers are really wanting to get back out there and assert their positions in their marketplaces," says O'Connor.

“And equally, car travel is reasonably non-controversial, not really something that consumers are afraid to do. Some other forms of transport, and some other sort of environments like offices, can be a little more tentative.”

While the recovery is good news for print, less welcome is the part of the company strategy to continue digitisation of billboards.

“Large format is really a high demand format for us and therefore, for the opportunities that make sense to our network coverage, showing good returns and good revenue opportunities," says O'Connor. "We're going to continue to digitise our large format funds while we look at further digitisation in retail and street furniture."

oOh!media's results by products:

Street Furniture and Rail (formerly Commute)
Revenue in Street Furniture and Rail (formerly Commute) increased by 23 per cent to $182m as audiences continued to return, notwithstanding lockdowns in NSW and Victoria in the third quarter. Street Furniture revenue for the month of December 2021 was nearly flat with December 2019 (pre Covid). Revenue in Rail continued to be impacted by passenger declines in key stations in Sydney and Melbourne.

Road
The Group’s Road (billboard) division continued to be the standout performer in the portfolio continuing its strong result from the first half. Revenue increased by 34 per cent to $158m. Following a soft third quarter, which included the New South Wales and Victorian lockdowns, revenue rebounded strongly in November and December which were both record revenue months for Road.

Retail
Revenue in the Retail segmented rebounded significantly from the prior year with an increase of 18 per cent compared to CY20 to $125m. December 2021 was a record revenue month for oOh! as it successfully leveraged audience growth in this segment.

Fly
Covid-related restrictions in air travel continued to impact revenue in the Fly segment beyond what was experienced in the key Street Furniture, Road and Retail formats. However the reopening of state borders resulted in a stronger performance towards the end of the year with revenue approaching 40 per cent of 2019 levels in December. Full year revenues declined by 46 per cent to $12m.

Locate
Revenue in the Locate format continued to be affected by employees working from home during lockdowns and the pandemic more broadly. Revenue was $12m, noting that Locate predominantly has a variable rent profile.