LADbible publisher LBG has confirmed plans to make around 10 per cent of its staff redundant.
The Manchester-headquartered publisher, which has not confirmed the exact number of job losses to come, also owns sites including UNILAD, SPORTbible, Tyla and GAMINGbible. It blamed the state of the economy for the move, which it attributed to the war in Ukraine, the hangover from Covid lockdowns and price inflation caused by “political instability.”
Staff were told the redundancies, which follow a recent hiring spree, were necessary to “put ourselves in a better position when markets have settled and economic growth returns”.
The group was co-founded in 2012 by chief executive Alexander Solomou and chief operating officer Arian Kalantari while they were at university. It has since grown into one of the UK’s biggest online success stories. Solomou retains a substantial stake, although he cashed in shares worth about £50m when the group floated on AIM last December for £360m.
Since the float shares have slumped, to 69p today. They had seen a high of 206p in the middle of February but have been declining since the start of May.
The company posted a loss of £1.9m for the six months to June 30, 2022, compared to a profit of £5.6m during the same period in 2021. Its revenue increased from £23m to £24.8m. Its recent hiring spree increased its average number of employees to 473. The group’s global audience grew from 253 million to 315 million while its content views rose from 26 billion to 35.8 billion to June.
