Blue Ant Media Q1 2026 Blue Ant Media Corp Earnings Call | AllMind AI Earnings | AllMind AI
Q1 2026 Blue Ant Media Corp Earnings Call
Speaker #1: Good morning. My name is Sylvie, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Blue Ant Media Q1, fiscal 2026 conference call.
Speaker #1: Note that all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session.
Speaker #1: Instructions on how to queue up to ask questions will be given at that time. A reminder that, for purposes of recording, today is Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
Speaker #1: I would now like to turn the conference over to Madeline Cohen, Head of Investor Relations for Blue Ant. Please.
Speaker #1: go ahead. Thank you,
Speaker #2: Sylvie: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Blue Ant Media's Q1 2026 conference call for the period ended November 30, 2025. Before we begin, I would like to remind listeners that today's remarks include non-IFRS measures, specifically adjusted EBITDA.
Speaker #2: These should be considered as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, IFRS financial measures. Reconciliations between the two, and relevant disclaimers, can be found in our earnings press release, which is available on our investor website.
Speaker #2: The company will make forward-looking statements on our call today that are based on assumptions and therefore subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected.
Speaker #2: The company undertakes no obligation to update these statements except as required by law. A description of the risks and uncertainties that may affect future results is contained in our Q1 2026 MD&A and our annual information form dated November 26, 2025, available on Cedar Plastic.
Speaker #2: And finally, please note that all amounts today are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated. With that, I'll turn the call over to Michael.
Speaker #3: Thanks, Madeline, and welcome, everybody. 2025 was a transformative year for Blue Ant. In August, we went public via a reverse takeover, and we acquired three companies: Insight Productions, Jamfield Entertainment, and Proper Television.
Speaker #3: Which significantly expanded our studio operations. Two months later, in October, we acquired US-based Magellan TV, enhancing our global channels and streaming business. And in November, we announced the proposed acquisition of Thunderbird Entertainment.
Speaker #3: Which we expect will add scale, create meaningful cost synergies, strengthen our earnings and cash flow profile, and enhance our presence in the capital markets overall.
Speaker #3: Together, these acquisitions strengthen Blue Ant's position as a leading streamer, producer, and distributor. We're a growing media company aligned with today's shift to digital content.
Speaker #3: We have diverse revenue streams and a model that derives recurring revenue and strong cash conversion. You'll see these factors at play in our Q1 results.
Speaker #3: As well as the integration of our newly acquired companies. I will remind listeners that Blue Ant is also a seasonal business, and as we previously noted, our strongest earnings power is in the second half of our fiscal year.
Speaker #3: As such, our Q1 results are broadly in line with our expectations. Consolidated revenue was $80.5 million, a 65% increase from Q1 2025. Adjusted EBITDA was $5 million, compared to $6.4 million in Q1 2025.
Speaker #3: We exited the quarter with a strong balance sheet, with surplus cash, minimal debt, and substantial undrawn credit capacity to support our expansion plans. We generated $5.2 million of cash from operations this quarter, and have a total of $34 million in cash on hand.
Speaker #3: As previously discussed, we anticipate receiving a capital contribution of $34.7 million from Fairfax Financial in connection with the RTO by March of this year.
Speaker #3: So, with $63.2 million of undrawn capacity under our corporate debt facilities, we have an excess of $100 million to further fuel our growth.
Speaker #3: This quarter, we saw meaningful activity across all of our reporting segments, particularly in global channels and streaming, and in our studio business. We continued to expand our free ad-supported TV footprint during the quarter, with multiple channel feeds launched across several platforms globally, including Roku, Samsung, Vizio, Pluto TV, LG, and Fire TV.
Speaker #3: The launches included five Magellan-branded channels, which helped further expand our global advertising distribution, which we expect will benefit our business in the future. We also launched our Love Nature pay TV channel on Telia, the largest telecom company in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
Speaker #3: Production was underway on a slew of returning shows, including unscripted titles: Extracted season two for Fox, Top Chef Canada season eight for Global, Slakation season two for Crave, The Great Canadian Baking Show season eight for CBC, and animated titles The Loud House season nine for Nickelodeon, and Wild Park, also for Nickelodeon.
Speaker #3: The quarter also included several notable sales titles from our Content and Distribution team. These included Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, sold in more than 50 territories worldwide, and Mike Holmes: Building a Legacy, Seasons One and Two, licensed to Warner Bros. Discovery for HGTV US.
Speaker #3: Our content production, library sales, channel distribution, and advertising capabilities create diverse revenue streams. Capitalizing on the ongoing shift to digital across our industry, this positions us well as we move into the remainder of this fiscal and future years.
Speaker #3: I'll now turn the call over to our CFO, Rob Chase, who will provide more commentary on our financials.
Speaker #3: Rob? Thanks,
Speaker #4: Michael, and good morning, everyone. As Michael mentioned, consolidated Q1 2026 revenue was $80.5 million versus $48.7 million in Q1 2025. This 65% increase was primarily earned in our production and distribution segment from both proprietary and service productions.
Speaker #4: These results reflect the acquisition of the production companies Insight, Jamfield, and Proper, which were not in the prior year results. While revenue grew sharply, reported net income reflects two non-recurring items rather than a change in underlying momentum.
Speaker #4: The company recorded a net loss of $6.8 million in Q1 2026, compared to net income of $1.2 million in Q1 2025, driven by, firstly, a $3.1 million non-cash accounting loss related to monetizing the vendor take-back note, and secondly, $3.4 million in transaction and restructuring costs associated with acquisition activity, both consistent with our integration phase.
Speaker #4: On the vendor take-back note accounting, the note was recorded at $16.7 million, reflecting a 3% discount rate, and sold for net proceeds of $13.6 million, reflecting a 7.7% effective rate.
Speaker #4: Net proceeds are consistent with our expectations at the time of the RTO. Because fair value change is recognized upon sale, this resulted in a non-cash loss this quarter, while also strengthening liquidity and simplifying the balance sheet.
Speaker #4: Outside of these one-time items, margins this quarter reflect product mix and timing in a seasonally lighter period. I'll touch on the specifics by segment.
Speaker #4: Global channels and streaming generated $22.7 million in revenue, up 8% year over year, led by smart TV advertising via Media Pulse and subscriber growth from the launch of our Love Nature pay TV channel in the Nordics, as Michael mentioned.
Speaker #4: Adjusted EBITDA was $3.3 million, versus $6.3 million in the prior year. The variance primarily reflects industry-wide ad softness, one-time Magellan integration costs, and a tough comparable versus Q1 last year for a number of reasons, including a significant one-time partnership deal on a block of programming from our Homeful channel.
Speaker #4: We are executing our plan to improve margins at Magellan, and are in the process of migrating approximately 1,500 hours of owned content and optimizing costs.
Speaker #4: Despite near-term headwinds, we continue to believe in this sector's long-term growth prospects. Ad dollars follow audiences, and audiences are undoubtedly moving from cable to internet-based viewing.
Speaker #4: Global smart TV ad sales alone are projected to grow from $29 billion in 2024 to over $38 billion by 2027. In production and distribution, our Blue Ant Studios revenue increased 259% to $43.4 million from a mix of production and distribution.
Speaker #4: Adjusted EBITDA improved to a loss of $0.2 million from a $3.6 million loss last year, with overall EBITDA margin improving 95%. Adjusting for fair value accounting in connection with the RTO, our studios margin would have been significantly higher.
Speaker #4: As shows from Insight and Proper were in various stages of production at the closing of the RTO, an amount of gross margin was attributed to the prior owner.
Speaker #4: On delivery, Blue Ant recognized the full revenue and full amortization of each show, negatively impacting the margin reflected in our results. Had we not had this accounting treatment flowing from the RTO, we would have recognized $1.9 million additional margin in the production and distribution segment in Q1 2026.
Speaker #4: Adding materially to the positive movement in adjusted EBITDA from the comparable period. Normalizing for these accounting adjustments, Blue Ant's margin on production licensing is relatively consistent year over year.
Speaker #4: In Canadian media, revenue was $14.4 million, versus $15.5 million last year. We saw continued growth in live event consumer shows, and significant royalty payments.
Speaker #4: While staying disciplined on SG&A and content spend, despite linear ad headwinds, adjusted EBITDA was flat year over year at $4.8 million, underscoring the segment's resilience and cash contribution.
Speaker #4: Turning to the balance sheet, we remain well-positioned to fund growth with $34 million of cash, half a million of bank indebtedness, and $63.2 million of undrawn capacity under our corporate facilities.
Speaker #4: During the quarter, we applied the vendor take-back note proceeds and treasury cash to repay $19.1 million on our operating facility, fund the initial cash consideration on Magellan, and make scheduled reductions in interim production financing aligned with deliveries.
Speaker #4: As Michael noted, we also expect $34.7 million by March via the Fairfax Value Assurance payment. In total, this gives us an excess of $100 million of liquidity to continue to execute on our gross model that includes strategic M&A opportunities in our pipeline that are in addition to Thunderbird, as well as organic growth initiatives.
Speaker #4: Overall, Q1 showcases a larger, more diversified platform, the onboarding of our new companies, positive cash generation from operations, and continuing balance sheet strength against a seasonally lighter backdrop.
Speaker #4: We continue to manage through industry volatility, while setting up the business for stronger back-half performance, consistent with our historical seasonality. With that, I'll turn the call back to Michael for closing.
Speaker #4: remarks. Thank you, Rob.
Speaker #2: Our Q1 results reflect the scale that we've been building through disciplined execution of our growth strategy. Looking ahead, we expect to further accelerate our growth with the announced acquisition of Thunderbird, which we expect will close in the first quarter of calendar 2026.
Speaker #2: The Thunderbird shareholder vote is scheduled for January 22, and the final court approval is scheduled for January 26. The transaction remains subject to other customary closing conditions.
Speaker #2: Our recent corporate developments advance the long-term objective of building a larger, more diversified, and more competitive modern media company for an evolving industry. We believe that we are well positioned for a strong 2026 and beyond, and look forward to updating you on our progress in the coming months.
Speaker #2: Now let's open up the call for any questions. Back to the operator.
Speaker #3: Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you do have any questions at this time, please press star followed by one on your touch-tone phone.
Speaker #3: You will then hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. And should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by two.
Speaker #3: And if you're using a speakerphone, we ask that you please lift your handset first before pressing any keys. Please go ahead and press star one now if you have any questions.
Speaker #3: And your first question will be from David McFadden at Cornmark Securities. Please go ahead, David.
Speaker #4: Okay, hi everybody. A couple of questions. Maybe I'll just start on the global channels and streaming business first. So, when you talk about growth in smart TV ad sales, you're referring primarily or solely to Media Pulse, is that—
Speaker #4: right? Well, smart
Speaker #2: TV ad sales would affect us in, I guess, two ways. One way is Media Pulse, where we're selling ads, and the other way is for our own channels, where we derive—where we share, really—advertising revenue with the platforms that carry us.
Speaker #2: So, both of those. And enjoy that CTV advertising. Yeah.
Speaker #4: So, on the lower FAST TV ad revenue, how much was that down year over year in the—
Speaker #2: Well, it's not down.
Speaker #4: It's not down. The total global channels and streaming was up 8%. There was a variety of cost factors. Some of Magellan contributed negatively; we only had it for two months.
Speaker #4: We had a lot of the costs and not all of the benefit of revenue. So, there were a number of factors. Revenue was actually strong.
Speaker #4: Audience viewing, audience viewership is strong. It's CPMs, and that's where we're challenged. Okay, because it just says in the end—I think it says in the press release—that the smart TV advertising sales were up, but they were offset a little bit by FAST ad revenue.
Speaker #4: So I was just wondering how much the FAST ad revenue declined.
Speaker #2: Oh, I see. Yeah, FAST ad revenue is growing, but it's not growing— I mean, the CPM, our larger comment is that CPMs have been challenged.
Speaker #2: What's happening in smart TV viewing and internet viewing is that viewership is significantly moving to that area, and that area has grown as a category a lot as Netflix and Amazon Prime have added advertising inventory over the past couple of years.
Speaker #2: So between FAST channels, those premium products like Netflix and Amazon Prime, and YouTube—all that viewership is growing significantly. All that is connected TV, and the ad dollars are moving; they're following the audiences, but they follow the audiences.
Speaker #2: They come along afterwards. So that extra amount of advertising inventory has depressed CPMs in the past.
Speaker #2: year. Okay.
Speaker #4: All right. And then just on the Canadian media side of the business, we saw the promotion advertising down 24%. Is it continuing to trend at that decline in Q2 so far, or is it easing up a little bit?
Speaker #2: I don't think it's—I don't have—we're not going to give forward-looking numbers specifically. It's still a soft ad market, I can tell you that.
Speaker #2: And one of the things about the ad market in the past couple of years is that there's, at least for us anyway, there's been more spot buying and last-minute buying.
Speaker #2: So, the visibility of ad dollars in the Canadian market and others report the same thing. So, the visibility of advertising in Canada—or TV advertising, anyway—the visibility has become reduced, so we have less visibility into the ad demand for Q2. We know we're right in the middle of it.
Speaker #2: Actually, we're halfway through it now—almost for Q3. We don't have the visibility that we would like, but there's nothing new to say, put it that way.
Speaker #4: Okay, okay. And just on Magellan, I think you increased its distribution on five services, I think, so I was just wondering what the upside is for that.
Speaker #4: acquisition. Well, we're
Speaker #2: Very, very optimistic and very positive about it. We mentioned in our remarks that we have launched it in the quarter, on a variety of platforms, and we can also say that subsequent to the quarter end, we've got other deals to launch it in various other territories, and we'll have more updates as the quarters go along.
Speaker #2: So, absolutely, we are seeing the first evidence of our theory that we can partly change the cost structure by changing how some of the programming on the channel is owned by us and not RevShare from other suppliers.
Speaker #2: That's one thing. But another part of our idea for growing value in Magellan is increasing its distribution outside of the U.S. And we absolutely are seeing the initial green shoots of that.
Speaker #2: It's
Speaker #2: encouraging. Okay.
Speaker #4: Okay, I think that's it for me. Thank you.
Speaker #2: Okay. Thank you,
Speaker #3: At this time, we have no other questions registered, which will conclude our conference call for today. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending. We appreciate your participation, and at this time, we do ask that you please disconnect your lines.
