Flat Year for System1 as AdRatings Spend Continues

Marketing and MR Agency System 1 has reported flat constant currency revenue of £26.90m for the twelve month period ended 31st March 2019, and says it continues to invest heavily in its new AdRatings product.

The Ad Ratings service enables subscribers to compare the effectiveness of their advertising with that of competitors', and to correlate ad effectiveness with media spend. The product is being trialled by a number of the firm's clients and investment in AdRatings will continue in 2019/20, to support a plan to roll it out further during this financial year. During the period to the end of March, System1 has made a £3.03m investment in AdRatings.

Overall System1, which was previously known as BrainJuicer, saw gross profit of £22.05m, and profit after tax (including AdRatings) of £1.26m, both close to 2017-18 figures. However, Underlying Profit Before Tax increased by 80% to £3.70m, from £2.05m in the prior year.

Commenting on the company's results, CEO John Kearon (pictured) said: 'The previous year, our first as System1, was a painful one, but with the support of our future-focussed investors and dedicated staff, we held our nerve and pushed on with the work needed to turn our intellectual leadership into a scalable business, capable of becoming the industry leader over time'.

'This year's results may not be spectacular, but they were significant. Flat revenues, 7% growth in Ad Testing, a 23% increase in the number of clients and 5% growth in H2 revenues against H2 2018, leave us cautiously optimistic the changes are working. We're looking forward to what we can achieve in the years ahead, both from established products and new offerings such as AdRatings'.

Web site: www.system1group.com .