EVS Broadcast Equipment Q1 2021 Business update
May 20, 2021 00:30 ET | Source: EVS Broadcast Equipment
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English
Publication on May 20 2021, before market opening Regulated information.
EVS Broadcast Equipment S.A.: Euronext Brussels (EVS.BR), Bloomberg (EVS BB), Reuters (EVSB.BR)
EVS Q1 2021 Business update – Strong post-Covid recovery in our 3 Market Pillars
EVS global leader in live video technology for broadcast and new media productions today announces its business update for the first quarter ending 31 March 2021.
HIGHLIGHTS
2021 Booked revenues* as of March 31st are EUR 54,0 million (excl Big Event Rental), vs EUR 36,9 million at the same date last year (+ 46,3% vs last year). Considering the high probability that the large European and Asian summer sport events will take place, there is an additional EUR 13,2 million of revenues to be recognized for the Big Events Rental later this year.
Operational expenses continue to be closely managed and EVS expects those costs to slightly increase compared to 2020 mainly based on the full year impact of the addition of our MediaInfra solutions (through the acquisition of Axon in May 2020).
The EVS General Assembly approved the payment of a dividend of EUR 0,5/share for the year 2020 to EVS’ shareholders, to be paid in May 2021.
Based on the assumption that the pandemic is getting worldwide under control by Q3 2021 and that the major summer sport events are taking place as planned, we expect 2021 revenues to be in the range between EUR 110 million and EUR 120 million.
COMMENTS
Serge Van Herck, CEO comments the business development: “Based on our Q1 results and a continued strong order intake, I am cautiously optimistic for 2021. Our customers are showing clear signs of post-Covid recovery. This provides us sufficient confidence to release a revenue guidance for 2021 of EUR 110 million to EUR 120 million. Compared to EUR 88 million revenue in 2020, this shows the level of expected recovery.
Our 3 Market Pillars (Live Service Providers, Live Audience Business and Big Event Rental) are showing revenue growth compared to 2020.
Our Live Service Providers (LSP) customers are restarting their LiveCeption (our live production replay and highlights solution) upgrade programs, leveraging our new LSM-VIA for remote production as it has been proven once again during the Superbowl and many other major sporting events. The recent launch of XtraMotion is a great addition to our LiveCeption solution and is expected to further revolutionize the quality and intensity of our customers’ storytelling. XtraMotion is our cloud-based super slow-motion service that is based on our own innovative Artificial Intelligence implementation and was extensively and successfully tested by Fox Sports in the US for various sports. Thanks to XtraMotion our customers will be able to turn images from any type of camera into a super slow-motion effect but without the hefty investment in a large and expensive super slow-motion camera.
*Booked revenues include:
- already recognized revenues from previous years and current year orders
- previous years and current year orders currently planned to be recognized in the current calendar year
Next to this, I am particularly happy with the traction that we experience with our Live Audience Business (LAB) customers for their broadcast center modernization projects. Our EVS MediaCeption solution (content management for live productions) currently in operation by several customers is a proof point for the market that EVS is a trusted partner for these challenging transformation journeys.
For our Big Event Rental, EVS will support the live production of the major sport events this summer. I’m also proud to say that the host broadcasters for two major sport events in 2022 have recently renewed their trust in our solutions and services.
Since the major acquisition of Axon in May 2020, it is good to see that the operational integration has progressed according to plan. Our new MediaInfra solutions have been fully integrated into our solution portfolio and have started to generate the expected customer interest across the globe. Thanks to the involvement of many stakeholders, EVS is now proposing a disruptive, future safe and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) optimized approach for our customers engaging in the modernization of their media infrastructure.
To overcome potential shortages of electronic components due to the current market conditions, we have secured our inventory and we expect to be able to deliver our products to our customers within normal timeframes.
Overall, we feel the resilience of our teams and we hope to get out stronger from this period of pandemic.”
Commenting on the results and the outlook, Ingrid ROGY, CFO ai, said: “Our 2021 booked revenues* (without Big Event Rental) as of March 31st amount to EUR 54,0 million, with about 85% expected to be recognized as revenues in H1 2021. There is also an additional EUR 13,2 million of revenues that will be recognized in 2021 for Big Event Rental that will take place during the summer of this year. Until end of March, the order intake progressed well versus the same period last year, with +39.8 % order intake (excl. Big Event Rental). End of April, we have a strong order book especially thanks to our strong EMEA and NALA activities.”