Trading Update / Directorate

RNS Number : 0185K

Zoo Digital Group PLC

12 April 2010

 



ZOO Digital Group plc

("ZOO" or "The Group")

Trading Update and Directorate Change

ZOO Digital, the provider of software and software-led services for the filmed entertainment market, is pleased to provide shareholders with a trading update ahead of its audited full year results and to announce a change in the Chairmanship of the company.

The company expects to report turnover for the 12 months ended 31 March 2010 of circa $15m and EBITDA (excluding exchange losses) of circa $1.6m, both significantly ahead of market expectations and the prior year. The company expects to make an exceptional provision for the impairment of intangible assets of around $0.8m. In addition, the company expects to report a year-end cash position of $1.2m, which is significantly better than market expectations.  

The company also announces that Dr Christopher Honeyborne has decided, in line with best practice, that he should stand down from the board after ten years as a non-executive Director of ZOO, during the last four years of which he has been Chairman. Following a thorough selection process ZOO is pleased to announce that Dr Honeyborne will be succeeded by Mr Roger Jeynes who has over 20 years experience in the technology sector, encompassing senior sales, marketing and general management roles in the UK, Italy and the USA with IBM, Pyramid Technology Inc., and EMC Corporation. His most recent executive position was Chief Operating Officer at technology merchant bank Interregnum Plc through which he worked on the boards of more than a dozen technology companies.

Disclosures required pursuant to Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of Roger Jeynes are set out below.

The change of chairman will take effect from 28 April 2010.

Stuart Green, CEO of ZOO, commented, "I am delighted with this performance in a very tough economic climate. Our ability to deliver outstanding quality software to reduce our clients' costs and time to market is more compelling than it has ever been. On behalf of the board I would like to thank Christopher for his excellent stewardship and wisdom over the last decade."

Christopher Honeyborne, Chairman of ZOO commented, "I am very pleased with the progress that ZOO has made and I leave confident that the company is well placed for continued, profitable expansion in the future."

Ends

For further enquiries please contact:

ZOO Digital Group plc	0114 241 3700
Stuart Green - Chief Executive Officer
Helen Gilder - Group Finance Director
FinnCap	020 7600 1658
Marc Young/ Henrik Persson
Threadneedle Communications	020 7653 9850
Alex White / Graham Herring

DISCLOSURES REQUIRED PURSUANT TO SCHEDULE 2(G) OF THE AIM RULES FOR COMPANIES Name: Roger David Jeynes (Age 57)

Current directorships:

·    Charborough Capital Limited

·    AIM Distribution Trust plc (LSE: AMD) - to be renamed Downing Distribution VCT 1 plc (LSE: DDV1)

·    Pennine AIM VCT 6 plc (LSE: PNEA)

·    Keycom plc

·    mxData Holdings Limited

Former directorships held in the last 5 years:

·    Interregnum plc (AIM: ITR)

·    Interregnum Advisory Partners Limited

·    Respond Group Ltd (formerly GW909 Limited)

·    Cellular Design Services Ltd

·    Interregnum Wireless Holdings Ltd (renamed Red-M Services Limited)

·    Red-M Group Ltd

·    Red-M Communications Limited (renamed Red-M Products Limited)

·    Yospace Technologies Limited

·    Sapphire Group Limited

Former directorships where the company has entered into an administration or liquidation:

·    Nanomagnetics Ltd (entered into administration on 11 January 2006)

·    Computerwire Group Ltd (entered into administrative receivership 11 October 2002; subsequently sold to Datamonitor)

·    On board info Ltd (entered into voluntary liquidation with its creditors 2 July 2002; dissolved April 2005)

·    Sapphire International Ltd (entered into administrative receivership 10 May 2004; liquidation 20 April 2005).

About ZOO Digital Group plc:

ZOO Digital Group plc is a provider of creative media transformation software and related services. ZOO's products form an integrated suite of desktop applications and on-demand systems that work with printed materials and audio/visual content, adapting these media to different languages, sizes, and technical formats.  ZOO makes this process extremely quick and cost effective and is clearly differentiated in the market.

ZOO's services are built on its proprietary patented software and enable customers to reduce considerably the costs and time to market of regionalized filmed entertainment titles and marketing campaigns across multiple territories and across a wide range of applications and formats, including printed materials, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, video on demand, electronic sell-through and broadcast.  Working closely with language translation partners, ZOO's media adaptation software transforms computer-based workflows through radical process re-engineering and provides clear differentiation for the company's production, consulting and custom development services. 

ZOO is focused on the worldwide creative media production markets and in particular video production for entertainment applications, with customers including major film studios and other producers and publishers of video-based consumer products.

 

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