Azzet reports on three stocks with market-moving updates to share today.
oOh!media drops after losing high margin contract
Shares in oOh!media Outdoor (ASX: OML) were trading 11% lower at the open after the advertising company posted mixed half-year result that clearly disappointed investors.
Despite posting 17% jump in revenue to $336.2 million in the six months to June 30, the company took a $30 million hit after losing the high-margin Auckland Transport contract, comprising a $25 million impairment in goodwill, and a $5 million impairment to “identifiable intangible assets”.
Given the company informed shareholders of the loss in July - which represented 4% of its FY24 reported revenue - today’s update shouldn’t have been a surprise to the market today.
Putting a brave face in today’s update, CFO Chris Roberts tried to appease the market by noting that more than half of the company’s revenue was now locked up in contracts beyond 2029 and that “importantly, no single contract represents more than 5%” of the company’s overall business.
Management also pointed to headwinds facing its NZ operations, ongoing cost reductions equated to between $6-7 million annually and a one-off restructuring cost of $1 million in the second half of this year.
Net finance costs of $28.7 million added to the first-half expenses, resulting in the company posting an $11.3 million net loss after tax.
While gross profit of $225.6 million was up 16% year-on-year, the adjusted underlying net profit of $26.5 million, up 46% year-on-year, painted a far rosier picture for the company’s shareholders.
Commenting on today’s update, outgoing CEO Cathy O’Connor reassured the market that the company is well-positioned to continue strong momentum in a rising market.
“EBITDA growth of 27% to $62.2 million reflects the strong operating leverage evident in our business, driven by revenue growth and disciplined cost control,” she said.
“The win of Transurban’s Melbourne and Brisbane motorway contracts during the period demonstrates our capability to secure and retain premium assets. It has added 42 premium motorway sites to our network, further cementing our market leadership position in all five capital cities.”
Key numbers for the half announced today:
- Billboards made $120.3 million, up 19% year-on-year.
- Street furniture and rail network earning $108 million up 19%.
- Airport revenue was up 43% to $31.8 million.
- Earnings up 23%, to $153 million.
- $98.9 million depreciation and amortisation charge.
- Interim dividend up 29% to 2.25 cents per share, fully franked.
Outlook
Following O’Connor’s plans to step down, James Taylor will take up the position of CEO in late 2025/early 2026.
Market share growth, excluding retail and New Zealand, is expected for the remainder of CY25 as new assets from contracts announced in 2023 and 2024 come online.
2H25 adjusted gross margin performance is expected to improve on 1H, with the full year to be circa 44.0%.
Full-year operating costs expected to be $159 million to $161 million with higher variable incentives based on stronger revenue and earnings performance than expected earlier in the year, as well as additional investment in Reo and supporting sales execution.
Capital expenditure for CY25 is expected to be between $53 million and $63 million.
oOh!media Outdoor has a market cap of $829 million; the share price is up 5.8% in one year and up 30% year to date.
The stock appears to be in a long-term uptrend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus is Moderate Buy.
Audinate slumps on disappointing FY25 result
Shares in Audinate (ASX: AD8) were down around 17% at noon after the digital Audio Visual networking solutions provider delivered a mixed FY25 result, which clearly fell short of market expectations.
Management was quick to frame FY25 as a transitional year, with financial performance temporarily impacted by an inventory overhang at OEM customers and softening AV industry growth rates.
The company also pointed to the shipment of 1 million Dante devices, the launch of its first cloud-based management platform and a return to growth in the second half of the year despite earlier challenges due to inventory overhang and a slowdown in AV industry growth.
Signs of a turnaround are evident within Audinate’s expanded gross margins, the launch of multiple new software and cloud products, and double-digit growth in embedded software revenue.
But despite Audinate entering FY26 with renewed focus on execution, growth, and long-term value creation, the market clearly wants to see runs on the board.
The key numbers announced today have dominated market sentiment, with underlying earnings declining to $0.7 million for FY25.
Management clearly failed to convince the market today to look beyond the headline numbers today, and refocus on some positives like the inventory rebalancing, the acquisition of Iris - a U.S.-based leader in AI-powered, cloud-first camera control technology - accelerating the company’s video roadmap, and several new platform initiatives gaining traction.
Commenting on today’s result, Audinate Co-founder and CEO Aidan Williams told the market that with more than 8 million AV devices available in its product ecosystem, the time has come to invest in the third leg of the stool – control.
“We have an exciting combination of talent, products and commercial opportunity that will advance our long-term vision to provide the dominant interoperable audio, video & control platform for the AV industry,” he said.
Key numbers announced today:
- gross margin increased to 82.1% from 74.2% in FY24.
- Adaptors revenue was $6.3 million (FY24: $9.5 million), with second-half revenue increasing 18% over the first-half.
- Embedded CCM revenue fell to US$15.8 million from US$34.3 million in FY24.
- Embedded software revenue grew 15%.
- Platform software revenue grew 4%.
- Operating expenses increased by 6% to $50.5 million.
- Employment costs rose 5% to $36.1 million.
- Sales and marketing expenses increased 12% to $6.7 million.
- Administration and other expenses rose 4% to $7.7 million.
- Operating cash flow of $7.5 million down from $25.4 million last year.
Outlook
For FY26, Audinate expects U.S.-dollar gross profit growth between 13% -15% over FY25, representing 2–3 times the industry growth rate and prudently factoring in the potential impact of U.S. tariffs.
Gross margin percentage is expected to remain broadly consistent with FY25, supported by a revenue mix weighted toward higher-margin software solutions.
In FY26, Audinate will invest in strategic opportunities with Iris, Dante Director and the Dante platform.
As a result of these investments, operating costs in FY26 are expected to increase by 25% over FY25.
Audinate expects to report negative free cash flow in FY26, reflecting the purchase of Iris and planned strategic investments.
Cash and term deposits: $110 million, with pro-forma balance of A$72.8 million post-Iris acquisition.
Audinate has a market cap of $423 million; the share price is down 46% in one year and down 22% in the last week.
The stock’s shares appear to be weak with little demand from investors.
Consensus is Moderate Buy.
Andean Silver moves higher after updating on Cerro Bayo mill
Shares in Andean Silver (ASX: ASL, formerly Mitre Mining Corporation Limited), were up over 3% at the open after the small-cap explorer announced the discovery of multiple new high-grade silver-gold veins at its 100% owned Silver-Gold project at Cerro Bayo project in the Aysen region of Southern Chile, 1km from the existing processing mill.
However, despite this update, the stock struggled to hold onto any of that gain in early afternoon trading.
Assays are understood to have returned spectacular results, including samples grading up to 7,344g/t silver and 85g/t gold.
Commenting on today’s update, Andean CEO Tim Laneyrie told the market the discovery of these stacked veins shows yet again how much low-hanging fruit the company has at Cerro Bayo.
“We already had a huge number of opportunities for resource growth through new targets and extensions of existing veins. And now we have this extremely prospective area 1km from the plant,” said Laneyrie.
“We have three rigs turning, one of which will now be moved to test these new veins. But given our strong cash position and the number of opportunities we have, we may expand the fleet.”
The company is moving drill rigs to the new target area, and given the company’s strong cash position and the number of opportunities it has, Laneyrie also advised the market that fleet expansion is also a possibility.
With resources already at 111Moz silver equivalent, the new finds highlight significant near-infrastructure growth potential as Andean pushes towards a restart of Cerro Bayo.
The company completed a $30 million placement to sophisticated and institutional shareholders in July 2025, and cash and cash equivalents at the end of the June quarter amounted to $12.2 million.
Andean Silver has a market cap of $257 million; the share price is up 87% in one year and down 8% in the last week.
The stock appears to be in a strong bullish trend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
