Outdoor media specialist oOh!media reported 22% fall in first quarter revenue in Australia and a 6% dip in New Zealand.
CEO Cathy O’Connor says May is stronger, particularly in the road format, as the industry recovers from the 2020 pandemic year.
Market share was gained during the first quarter and preliminary April data indicates oOh! has held share in April year to date.
"oOh! remains well positioned to leverage the audience and revenue recovery already evident across our key formats," she told the company's AGM.
The fall for the March quarter in Australia compares to an overall 24% decline in the broader out-of-home sector as measured by the Outdoor Media Association.
oOh!’s key formats of Road, Retail, Street Furniture and New Zealand, accounting for 75% of group revenue in a pre-COVID environment, continued to recover strongly in the first quarter.
In aggregate they are performing about 95% of the first quarter of both 2019 and 2020 and represented about 88% of March quarter revenue.
The other more affected COVID formats of Fly, Office, Rail and Youth, about 25% of revenue, are expected to recover over the financial year.
In the first quarter, these audience formats were trading about 36% of the first quarter in 2019 and 2020 and represented about 12% of March quarter revenue.
"We are well placed to leverage the improvement in market conditions and audience growth with the most comprehensive network of assets across Australia/NZ and the most insightful data to help advertisers reach desired audiences," says O'Connor.
Revenue fell by 34% to $426.5 million in the 12 months to December and the underlying loss was $8 million compared to $52.4 million profit the previous year.
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