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HARRIS TECHNOLOGY GROUP LIMITED — Management Reports 2008
May 19, 2008
65074_rns_2008-05-19_cebbab57-f18e-4395-b1d8-8097ab40c88c.pdf
Management Reports
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20 May 2008
Dear Shareholder,
Shareholder Update – May 2008
I am delighted to provide you with an update on the progress of your Company during what has been a period of significant activity and considerable growth.
Swish Group continues to develop and expand its various digital media businesses in this rapidly growing sector which is increasingly receiving attention and investment from the consumers of various forms of digital media and investors alike.
You may have seen a number of the announcements that the Company has made over the past nine months as we have continued our efforts to grow the Swish Group. Our growth is partially reflected in the revenue of the Group growing rapidly from $737,000 in the September 2007 quarter to $1.78m in the December 2007 quarter (quarterly increase of 128%) and $2.84m in the March 2008 quarter (quarterly increase of 76%).
At the same time the Company has continued to dramatically reduce its losses from an EBITDA loss of $1,38m in the first half of the 2008 financial year and now expects to come close to break even for the second half of 2008. While the Company believes on current indications that it will make a profit in the 2009 Financial Year, it is still too early, at this stage, to make any detailed forecasts in respect of next year.
As you know the Company has spent the past 2-3 years establishing the foundations of its current businesses and now believes it is in a position to capitalise on the significant work that has been done.
Swish Group has achieved market leadership in Australia in a number of the areas in which it operates, in particular in its digital signage, digital music and film, television, advertising production and distribution businesses and has established the relationships with a number of international companies that will assist it to further expand its businesses in these areas in the years ahead.
I have set out below a brief summary of some of the highlights from each of the Company’s businesses during the financial year.
DIGITAL SIGNAGE
The Company’s Digital Signage business continues to grow rapidly both in terms of number of sites which it owns and on which it sells advertising, (having grown from 2000 screens in July 2007 to approximately 7,000 as at May 2008), and revenues which have grown almost 500% over the same period last year.
The principal networks are the Good Health TV and the Pharmacy TV networks, which encompass 2,000 audio visual screens in approximately 2,000 medical centres, hospitals and pharmacies throughout Australia and the newsagency and convenience store network which has approximately 5000 screens operating in almost 2,200 sites throughout Australia. A majority of these screens now operate utilising internet protocol (IP) systems which allows significantly greater flexibility and the remote updating of the content and advertising that appears on the screens.
Digital signage is becoming increasingly accepted by retailers and advertisers because of its greater efficiency, flexibility and cost-effectiveness when compared with traditional static in-store merchandising. Digital signage enables the screening of television style advertising and promotional message to shoppers at the very time they are making their purchasing decision. Swish Group produces the content and sells the advertising space onto the screen network for some of Australia’s best known brands and businesses.
Having now reached what the Company considers to be critical mass in terms of screen numbers and audience (the programmes and advertising now being seen by in excess of 20,000,000 people per month throughout Australia), we believe that digital signage will become an increasingly accepted and utilised advertising medium.
SWISH AMPHEAD
In the first quarter of 2008 the Swish AmpHead digital music business renewed its agreement with US-based and Nasdaq listed, The Orchard, the largest distributor and marketer of independent music in the world for a further 5 years until 2012. This effectively entrenches Swish AmpHead’s leading position in the online music business in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific for the foreseeable future.
During the year Swish AmpHead also broadened its business from purely online wholesale distribution of music to a wholesaler and distributor of physical CD’s and DVD’s to most of Australia’s leading music retailers including Virgin, Sanity, HMV, Leading Edge and JB Hi Fi. Swish AmpHead is now releasing approximately 40 new albums each month to those retailers.
The Company has also allocated significant resources to signing up new and existing Australian talent and labels and showcasing them to the world through The Orchard/Swish Amphead network. The Company is also increasing its business by bringing leading independent talent to the Australian market.
As its digital music business grows, Swish AmpHead expects to be able to expand its relationship with The Orchard both in Australia and New Zealand and other territories. The Company recently signed an exclusive 5-year worldwide digital distribution agreement with one of Singapore’s only independent record companies.
Sales of digital music via the internet is the rapid growth sector of the music industry when compared with the sales of physical CD’s both singles and albums. Sales of CD singles fell 47.02% and CD albums 12.99% between January and June 2007 when compared with the same period in the previous year while the sale of digital singles increased 61.61% and digital albums increased 146.35% during the same period. In the most recent data covering the period to December 2007 the trend continued with sales of digital tracks continuing their significant rise while sales of physical CD singles continued to fall. The Australian numbers back the global trend which saw the single track download market grow by 53% around the world to 1.7 Billion tracks per annum (Source:ARIA).
The Orchard/Swish AmpHead catalogue now consists of over 1.1 million tracks and 3,000 hours of video content from more than 20,000 artists including multi-platinum artists such as Ray Charles, Coldplay, Tom Waites, Blink 182 as well as audio material from Justin Timberlake, The Beatles, Greenday and Elvis.
SWISH FILMS
The Company continues to increase its production business and in particular its Indian feature film production business with an increase in the number of Indian/Bollywood studios wanting to shoot feature films in Australia. Following the recent success of the Chak de India, our Swish Films business has shot two more films, one in the USA and one in Sydney and is currently shooting another major Indian/Bollywood production in and around Melbourne. These feature film deals add to the projects already successfully completed by the Swish Films business and consolidate our relationships with the leading Bollywood studios.
Further Bollywood films are at various stages of development and we will advise the market as soon as negotiations are concluded.
FILM, TELEVISION, DVD AND CD DISTRIBUTION
The increasing popularity of Indian/Bollywood films in Australia and New Zealand is driving the success of our film, television, CD and DVD distribution business. The highlights this year have been the success of the Bollywood feature film, “Jodhaa Akbar”, which was released by the Company in Australia and New Zealand in February 2008 and generated box office receipts of approximately $500,000 and “Race” released in April 2008 which generated box office receipts of over $420,000. The Company currently has another film in release, “Tashan” which has just passed the $275,000 box office mark. The Company continues to receive some of the highest box office screen averages (box office receipts per screen) in Australia and New Zealand through its screenings in Hoyts and Greater Union cinema’s.
The Company also runs the annual Australian/Indian Film Festival, now in its 6[th] year, which showcases a range of Indian/Bollywood films and generates additional interest and awareness of Indian films and culture in Australia and box office revenues for the Company.
SWISH TORQUE COMMUNICATIONS
Swish Torque Communications continued to be a good revenue producer for the Group over the financial year. The Company has agreements with telecommunications companies Vodafone and Primus Communications, for the marketing and sale of phone packages and handsets and receives an up front commission and annuity revenue based on the customer’s monthly phone bill.
The Company’s executives and staff have worked extremely hard during the year and I would like to extend my appreciation to them for their efforts on behalf of all shareholders.
The Company continues to believe that the businesses it has established, acquired and developed, in the digital media area are well placed to continue the rapid growth they have experienced recently and justify the patience that some shareholders have exhibited while these businesses have been developed.
The Company remains extremely confident as to its prospects and looks forward to your continued support
Yours sincerely
Cary P Stynes Managing Director