In business, and in life, success can depend on timing. And Cathy O’Connor, the now outgoing CEO of oOh!media, has nailed it.
She has just released the company's first half results, showing better than we expected underlying revenue growth and prospects for a better advertising market ahead.
Outdoor media company reported revenue up 17% to $336.2 million in the half year to June, driven by strong performance in road, street furniture, rail and fly.
The current quarter revenue is pacing up 5% year-on-year, with August and September improving after a softer July.
“And as you can see from today's results, picking your timing is an art and I think I've done that incredibly well,” she told AdNews.
“The business is really set up for an extraordinary growth run, and the sector is in very good health.”
SMI numbers, aggregating agency bookings, show outdoor media’s share of the media spend pie at 16.5% and growing.
“I feel good and by the end of this calendar year, when I trottle out, I think that will be a better business than the one I walked into in the middle of a pandemic,” she said.
At the end of the year, when oOH!’s new CEO, James Taylor, starts, O’Connor is looking for some rest time.
“My plan, in the first instance, is to have a break,” she said.
“Other than the one commitment I have, which is to chair the not for profit Sony Foundation, which I've done for a number of years, I am going to commit to nothing.
“Obviously, I am very keen to stay in business, to contribute in some way. But I'm not being drawn on what that might look like.”
She has a beach house on the south coast of NSW. “I expect I'll be spending more time there,” she said.
“After 40 years of full time work and no break other than maternity leave, I think it's about time. I'm actually looking forward to the reset.”
oOh! Is reporting a stronger environment for sales in August and July and a better December quarter ahead.
“Agencies and brands are very upbeat about out-of-home,” O’Connor said..
“I think they can see that there's a lot of innovation going on in the industry, a lot of new assets coming through.
“There's a lot of anticipation around the new measurement system, and I think you've got very good operators in the space who are advocating for the channel well.
“We've seen a very big rebound in automotive, which was one of the staples of OOH.
“Whether it's banking and finance or automotive, travel, food, beverages, they're all spending in very strong ways into OOH.”
A slide from O'Connor's presentation to market analysts:
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