Vice UK Ltd, the millennial media brand’s digital arm, saw revenue fall by £10m in 2017, but Vice’s UK businesses as a whole saw turnover rise to £103m, according to its latest full-year financial figures.
Vice UK Ltd’s accounts for the year to 31 December show it took its pre-tax losses from £9.7m in 2016 to £2.2m the following year.
Its turnover fell by 30 per cent to £25.7m for 2017 – a shift Vice UK put down to TV production revenue moving to new company Vice UK Studios.
However, revenue across all of Vice’s eight UK businesses stood at £103m in 2017, up more than £10m year-on-year, while shared earnings (EBITDA) amounted to a £169,000 profit, up from a loss of £7.6m in 2016.
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Its other businesses include bi-monthly lifestyle magazine I-D, film production company Pulse and pubs and restaurant group Old Blue Last.
Total losses across Vice UK businesses in 2017 stood at £6.4m, new figures show.
In a statement, Vice Media international president Dominique Delport said: “The Vice UK business is consistently delivering year-on-year double-digit revenue growth as we continue to diversify our business model and innovate to remain the most relevant global new media company.
“We feel incredibly well positioned to navigate the ever-shifting sands of the current media landscape.”
Vice UK Ltd attributed its slashed losses to success “producing more projects with better margins” and £1.2m of exchange gains thanks to the weakening of the US dollar.
Before amortisation, depreciation and £2.7m of shareholder payouts, its operating profit stood at £980,000 compared to £64,000 in 2016.
The average number of employees at the company fell by 15 as a result of TV production passing over to Vice Studios.
The Vice UK Ltd staff wage bill fell by £1.3m from 2016 while overall staff costs dipped from £9.4m to £8.1m.
The firm’s overall net assets were put at £1.6m with £181,000 of cash at bank at the end of 2017.
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