LBG Media, the UK-based multi-brand, multi-channel digital youth publisher of LADbible and its associated websites, has announced that co-founder Arian Kalantari has resigned as chief operating officer and as a director of the company with immediate effect.
Kalantari has been on a sabbatical since the start of the year to spend more time with his family and has made the decision not to return to the company. His operational responsibilities had been distributed among colleagues and will now be permanently retained by those members of the group’s established and strong leadership team.
CEO Solly Solomou (pictured) said: “On behalf of the board and everyone at the company, I would like to thank Arian for his support over the years, both in the terms of the vital contribution to the founding of the business and the years of success that have been achieved since. It has been a great pleasure to work side by side with my good friend and I wish him all the best and look forward to his continued support as a shareholder.”
Kalantari added: “It has been an incredible journey to see this business grow and thrive over the last 11 years since Solly and I founded it. LBG Media is very well-positioned to continue to succeed in the years to come and I will remain a passionate supporter.”
The news came as the group issued a trading update which said it expects to report first-half revenue of £27.2m, representing growth of approximately 10 per cent and reflective of the seasonality we anticipate between H1 and H2. The group also reported expected adjusted EBITDA of approximately £3m, (HY22: £1.6m) an increase of over 80 per cent on last year, while cash and cash equivalents as at 30 June 2023 stood at £32.7m, compared to £29.3m at 31 December 2022.
Solomou commented: “We have delivered a strong first-half performance in line with our expectations, notwithstanding the tough macroeconomic backdrop. The significant increase in content views demonstrates our effective ongoing engagement with the hard to reach 18-34 year-old demographic: this is a highly attractive proposition for advertisers and will continue to fuel our growth.
LBG Media has a well-defined set of strategic growth pillars, a strong balance sheet with which to execute on and the ability to capitalise on the growth drivers – I’m excited by the opportunities that lie ahead.”
The group will announce its full half-year results on September 20.
