23 September 2026

Zinc Media Group plc

(“Zinc Media”, the “Group” or the “Company”)

Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2026

Zinc Media Group plc (AIM: ZIN), the award-winning television and content production group, is pleased to announce its unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 June 2026 (“H1 2026”).

Commenting on the results, Mark Browning, Chief Executive, said:

“The first half of the year saw the Group significantly advance all three of our strategic growth pillars, win a good level of new business and deliver several productions to great critical acclaim with high audience ratings. Notable new business wins in the reporting period include our first entertainment TV production outside the UK, recommissions of returning IP series, and the company’s first ever cinema release. 

Our priority growth areas are on track to exceed their medium-term growth targets. Geographical expansion, particularly in the Middle East, is significantly ahead of plan, as is high margin IP exploitation as we monetise more of our back catalogue. We are expanding into future IP generating genres with the recommission of our prime-time BBC Quiz show and received excellent ratings for another of our first run entertainment formats.

The war in Iran has delayed a significant amount of business from H1 into H2, and subsequently from FY26 into FY27. This includes a large international event production along with delivery of a Middle East brand campaign, which are now expected to be delivered in FY27.

The fundamentals underpinning Zinc’s growth and its long-term prospects remain strong. The Group is reducing its underlying cost base, improving gross margins, maximising efficiencies from previous acquisitions and accelerating IP exploitation in AI and digital. Most importantly we are winning large new contracts and delivering on our strategic growth priorities”.

H1 Financials

• H1 revenue of £13.2m (H1 2025:  £22.9m, H1 2024: £13.3m), with revenue expected to be weighted towards the second half of the year.
• £8m of revenue, reflecting £3m of gross margin initially anticipated in H1 moved into H2 predominantly due to the Iran conflict.
• Gross margin of 44%, up 7 percentage points (H1 2025: 37%). This reflects the investments made in prior years into new genres, which reduced gross margins at that point but are now enabling the Group to deliver high-margin IP revenues.
• Adjusted EBITDA[1] loss of £0.9m (H1 2025: profit of £0.9m, H1 2024: loss of £0.7m) in line with revenue phasing.
• H1 Adjusted Loss Before Tax[2] of £1.5m (H1 2025: profit of £0.2m, H1 2024: loss of £1.3m) in line with revenue phasing.
• Gross Cash of £2.8m as at 30 June 2026 (June 2025: £4.2m) the movement is due to investment outflows such as earn out payments, acquisition and restructuring costs as well as movement in working capital. Net debt was £1.1m at 30th June 2026 (June 2025: net cash £0.7m).

H1 Operational and Strategic Highlights

• Raw Cut, which was acquired in Q4 2024 has co-located into Zinc’s London HQ and is performing significantly ahead of pre-acquisition expectations. It has continued to perform strongly in H2 securing two major returning series.
• The Group introduced its ‘One Zinc’ initiative aimed at maximising the creative and commercial firepower of the whole Group, improving internal efficiency and enabling more than £1m of annual cost savings.
• Zinc launched an AI production label which sits within the Group’s central platform of services shared by all Group labels to promote AI and emerging technology production solutions across all workflows.
• The global premier of ‘Wham! 10 days in China’, the Group’s first cinema release which is showing in 34 countries worldwide.
• The Group agreed terms to acquire the Doha-based event production company WMP Qatar, subject to completion, which is expected to happen before the end of October.

Outlook

• As at 18th September 2026, revenue contracted and expected to be recognised in FY26 is £32m, an increase of £7m since 30th June 2026, with a further £6m that is highly advanced for delivery in H2 2026.
• £7m of production which was expected to contract for FY26 is now expected to be delayed into 2027. This delay is due to the war with Iran causing a major production to be postponed. The Group therefore expects revenue for the year to be £38m, with associated EBITDA of £1.4m.

• The Group’s three strategic growth pillars are on course to deliver the majority of their 3-year target inside the first 12 months, which is significantly ahead of management assumptions:

• Geographical Expansion: The Group is expecting to deliver £17m in total Middle East business in FY26 which compares to £8m in FY25.
• Genre Diversification: this will grow year on year, with a strong pipeline of Event and Entertainment titles as well as the agreed acquisition of WMP Qatar.
• IP (intellectual property) and high margin format led revenues are growing well year on year.

• The Group has an excellent pipeline of business for FY27, with £9m revenue contracted or contracting and opportunity of a further £39m revenue across the pipeline.  In addition, the Group is engaged in a number of substantial multi-million-pound opportunities which would be record contract sizes for the Group.

For further information, please contact:

About Zinc Media Group

Zinc Media Group plc is a premium television and content creation group. The award-winning and critically acclaimed television labels comprise Atomic, Brook Lapping, Electric Violet, Raw Cut, Rex, Red Sauce, Supercollider, Tern Television, Tomas TV, along with Bumblebee Post-Production, and produce programmes across a wide range of factual genres for UK and international broadcasters.

Zinc Media Group's commercial content creation unit includes The Edge, one of the UK's largest brand film-making companies, and Zinc Audio, specialising in podcasts and radio production.

For further information on Zinc Media, please visit www.zincmedia.com

CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

H1 has seen the Group deliver extremely well against its strategic plan. The growth from geographical expansion, genre diversification and IP-related revenues is particularly impressive and underpins our confidence in delivering an additional £10 million of organic turnover over the medium term. Gross margins are up significantly in the reporting period, and we have been successful in winning materially bigger contracts, as well as returning commissions from brands and broadcasters.

Zinc’s production reputation continues to command global respect, and we are winning new business outside the UK at the highest ever rate. Our new entertainment TV format in Qatar, alongside our feature documentary for a client in Saudi Arabia demonstrate the effectiveness of our strategic plan, which has been further boosted by the latest significant new contract in the Middle East announced earlier this month.

We continue to trade steadily in the UK with new television commissions including Sunday Morning Live which is now in its 17th season, the return of The Inner Circle with Amanda Holden both for the BBC, and our returning series Cars that Changed History for National Geographic. The Edge, which produces short form and long form content for brands and businesses in both the UK and Middle East is on course for record full-year revenues, and Raw Cut, which we acquired in 2024 is on track to deliver its best year too. H1 saw the Group deliver its first cinema release, premiering to the highest level of critical acclaim, and Zinc was named Production Company of the Year Worldwide at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards for the fourth consecutive year.

H1 saw the implementation of the ‘One Zinc’ initiative which is simplifying how the Group operates internally.  There is now single oversight of all creative business winning, single oversight of all cost of sales, a streamlined leadership team, and less duplication around the Group. In turn, this has allowed the Group to accelerate efficiencies which will see the underlying cost base reduce by over £1m by the end of this year.  

The market is very challenging and the impact of so much uncertainty both in the UK economy and due to the Iran war can be seen in the amount of business which moved out of H1 into H2, and more recently business which has been postponed from FY26 into FY27. These market factors are beyond our control and while they can affect a single reporting period, they do not change the fundamental business foundations within the Zinc Group which remain very strong. We are winning new contracts, have high levels of returning customers, a diversified revenue mix across price, product and geographical region, excellent gross margins and outstanding senior leadership. The Group is ideally positioned to deliver medium-term growth when market conditions normalise.

The Board would like to thank the management, employees and freelancers for their professional and dedicated work, and our shareholders for their continued support.

Christopher Satterthwaite

Chairman

CEO’S REPORT

CURRENT TRADING, STRATEGY AND MARKET OUTLOOK

Zinc has won new contracts across all areas of the Group in H1 totalling £32m, and within this there are a small number of substantially larger contracts, which include recommissions of existing television series, new series with the potential to return in future years, and significant new international contracts, especially from the Middle East. High margin IP revenues were particularly strong driven by the return from our investments in the prior year, boosting the Group’s gross margins to 44%.

In accordance with international accounting standards (IFRS), Zinc reports production revenue in our accounts based on the activity of each production. H125 benefited from a large £3m event in May, and a number of large productions with H1-weighted activity. The converse has happened in H126 with £8m of commissions which were delayed into H2 distorting half year-on-year comparators. This includes a number of Middle East productions which were delayed earlier this year due to the Iran war.

Notable new business wins in H1

H1 saw the Group deliver significant new contracts. These include the second series of Street Cops Catching the Yobs’ for Channel 5. Planes that Changed History, and Cars that Changed History, for National Geographic, which has established this ‘Changed’ franchise as a returning format, Series 26 of the police access documentary Police Interceptors, a lucrative format which Zinc owns and sells globally, and numerous reputationally enhancing feature documentaries from returning clients including Brexit: A Very British Civil War for the BBC, 9/11: The Unseen Footage for Channel 5, and the Group’s first ever cinema release, Wham! 10 days in China.  Numerous new productions were also delivered for brands and businesses via The Edge label, which is Zinc’s B2B short-form and long-form production business.

The Group won £32m of new commissions, including four returning or returnable TV commissions of over £1m per series, with an aggregate value of £10.5m. These notably included the Group’s first entertainment TV show in the Middle East, the return of The Inner Circle primetime quiz format for the BBC and Sunday Morning Live for the BBC which is returning for its 17th series. The Edge also had a number of successes with new clients for brands and businesses.

A list of Zinc television programmes which are available to watch is on the Group’s website: https://zincmedia.com/what-to-watch-on-tv/.

Strategic Growth Pillars

H1 saw significant progress made on the three growth priorities which underpin the Group’s ambitious 3-year organic growth plans. These aim to add an additional £10 million of organic topline revenue growth by the end of 2028.  In aggregate they will grow £9m year on year, meaning they’ve almost achieved their 3-year growth objective within the first year.  They are:

1. Geographical Expansion: targeting £4m of additional Middle East revenue, which will take us from £8.5m in FY25 to £12m by end of 2028.

The Group has £17m revenue secured or highly advanced from the Middle East, representing 100% growth over the full year last year (FY25: £8.5m) and 160% growth since the full year in FY24, putting us significantly ahead of our 3-year target.

Some productions have been postponed due to the Iran conflict, most notably £7m of production, including a large event production and brand film, which were due in 2026, are now expected in 2027.

Despite these headwinds, our Middle East pipeline continues to grow and our performance underpins our increasing confidence in the medium-term potential in the region. This geographical diversification provides us with strong protection against the disruption we have seen in the UK market more recently.

2. Genre Diversification: targeting £4m of additional revenue, to grow from £2m in FY25 to £6m by the end of 2028. 

Genre diversification is progressing well with the Group expanding in to live event production, digital and AI content creation with the launch of its new AI focused label Cicada. Content is produced using existing IP and via originals, and the Group aims to expand into the more lucrative format driven entertainment genre, which can command multi-million-pound recurring opportunities. The Group is expanding its events and entertainment portfolio in Middle East, including via the acquisition of WMP Qatar, as well as achieving success via the recommission of formats such as The Inner Circle and Race Against The Tide. The latter has recently delivered excellent ratings, which increases the probability of a recommission for FY27.

3. IP (intellectual property) and high margin format led revenues: targeting £1m-£2m of additional revenue, to grow from £2.7m of high margin revenue in FY25 to £4.5m by the end of 2028.

FY26 IP revenue is on track to exceed its growth plan for the year. Since the launch of Zinc Distribution in 2025, the Group has been successful in relicensing several existing formats from its back catalogue, and selling new shows via its own distribution company, including Brexit: A Very British Civil War. The BBC ONE Quiz show The Celebrity Inner Circle, which is being distributed by BBC Studios, has started selling to overseas territories.

We expect to add an additional £9m of new revenue from these 3-growth pillars this year, meaning we now have very high confidence of achieving our medium-term target of £10m revenue by the end of 2028.

The Group’s intention is not to rely solely on organic growth, but to pursue strategic acquisitions.  The performance of two of our most recent acquisitions, Raw Cut in 2024 and The Edge in 2022, and their contribution to our strategic pillars, increase confidence in the success of future acquisitions. In both cases they’ve delivered record levels of revenues since being part of the Group, and delivered cost and revenue synergies, leading to performance exceeding acquisition expectations in both cases.

Outlook

As at 18th September 2026, revenue won and expected to be delivered in FY26 is £32m an increase of £7m since 30th June, with a further £6m that is highly advanced for delivery in H2 2026. There is a further £6m which is under discussion for FY26. Due predominantly to the delay of a significant multi-million contract in the Middle East, which is now expected to be produced in FY27, the Group now expects to deliver £38m of revenue and £1.4m of EBITDA.

The outlook for FY27 and FY28 looks strong and demonstrates the strong fundamentals underpinning Zinc’s ability to grow revenue and profits over the years ahead. The Group has £9m of new business contracted or contracting, and visibility of a further £39m. This is further ahead than at the same stage last year.  In addition to this, the Group has line of sight of a meaningful number of large multi-million pound new business opportunities for FY27 and FY28.  These are not currently assumed in any forecasts, due to being in early conversations, but should they come through they represent significant opportunity.

We are winning more large-scale contracts and commissions and investing organically in our three strategic growth pillars.  Notwithstanding the near-term challenges attributable to the Iran War, we remain confident in our medium-term targets of £50m revenue and £5m EBITDA which will deliver good levels of PBT and cash generation.

Mark Browning

Chief Executive Officer

CFO’S REPORT

1.       Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA before Adjusting Items comprising share-based payment charges, gains on disposal of fixed assets, reorganisation and restructuring costs, acquisition costs and contingent consideration.
2.       Adjusted PBT is defined as PBT before adjusting items and acquisition-related costs (amortisation and interest on unwinding of intangible assets related to acquisitions).

INCOME STATEMENT

Group revenue in the reporting period has returned to the same level as H1 2024 at £13.2m (H1 2025: £22.9m, H1 2024: £13.3m). The decrease since H1 2025 is due to exceptionally high activity during H1 2025 in TV whether there was a number of multi-million-pound commissions delivered as well as several productions being delayed into H2. At H1 2025 TV revenues were up 113% versus the same point in 2024 and in FY26 TV revenues are back at the same level as FY24 at £8.2m.

Content Production for brands and businesses, largely delivered through The Edge, performed well in H1 delivering £5.0m revenue (H1 2025: £5.3m) and is expected to increase significantly in H2, driven by the delivery of a multi-million-pound contract in Qatar, and the finalisation of a documentary for a major multinational in Saudi Arabia.

Gross margins for the period were 44% (H1 2025: 37%). The year-on-year margin increase reflects the level of investment in prior years, which has now borne out in the high-quality IP revenues being achieved as well as our continued focus on production cost control. The Group has achieved permanent cost savings through restructuring, implementing more than £1m savings to date and achieving its target, which it will surpass by the end of the year. It also targets production margin control through a focus on internal recoveries and the ‘One Zinc’ initiative which aims to harness the Group’s collective buying power.

Total H1 operating costs have been held in line with prior year at £8.9m (H1 2025: £8.8m).  H1 has seen a higher level of one-off acquisition costs (£0.3m) and restructuring costs (£0.5m) incurred as the Group has implemented its savings plan.  

In H1, the Group executed its reorganisation plan under the ‘One Zinc’ initiative which aims to streamline the Group and improve organisational effectiveness. £1m of permanent annual cost savings have been implemented so far in FY26. We expect to realise the full benefit of all savings in FY27.  The Group intends to deliver a further £0.2m permanent savings during FY26 which will be fully realised in FY27, increasing the total net annualised savings implemented in FY26 to £1.2m.

As a direct result of the lower revenue levels, Adjusted EBITDA is a loss of £0.9m (H1 2025: £0.9m).

The statutory loss before tax increased by £2.8m to £3.4m (H1 2025: £0.6m) and the statutory loss after tax increased by £2.8m to £3.3m (H1 2025: £0.5m). The loss is largely driven by operating losses for the period of £3.2m, which reflect a slower H1 compared to H1 2025, and includes a net increase in contingent consideration of £0.9m. At the reporting date, the adjustment to contingent consideration was driven by the continued stronger performance of Raw Cut in H1. Raw Cut has continued to outperform expectations in H2, winning new commissions including two major returning series due to go into production this year. The Group   will reassess the contingent consideration liability at the year end, noting that the fair value of the maximum potential liability is £4.7m. The Group has also incurred £0.3m of acquisition related costs, £0.5m of adjusting items relating to staff restructuring, share-based payments and unrealised foreign exchange losses. Excluding acquisition-related costs and adjusting items the adjusted Loss Before Tax was £1.5m versus a profit in H1 2025 of £0.2m.

Earnings per share

Basic and diluted loss per share from continuing operations in the period was 12.39p (H1 2025: 2.16p).

Dividend

No dividend is proposed. The Board considers the Group’s investment plans, financial position and business performance in determining when to pay a dividend.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

Assets

Gross cash at the end of June 2026 was £2.8m (June 2025: £4.2m and December 2025: £3.5m).  

The lower cash balance is due to investments made in top or bottom-line growth including acquisition investments via earn outs (£0.34m), acquisition costs (£0.3m) and restructuring costs (£0.4m) incurred in reducing the Group’s cost base. The Group also used cash of £1.1m in its operations in the period (H1 2025: cash used of £0.9m) and has seen a shift during FY26 in the working capital needs of the business due to winning a number of large shorter-delivery contracts and the longer payment terms and slower payment patterns of our Middle East customers. The impact of this has steadily increased given the significant growth we have seen in that part of our business and we expect it to continue as our pipeline of opportunities expands in the region. The Group is actively managing its working capital and facilities and closely monitoring the receipt of payments from a number of large contracts in the Middle East.

As at 30 June 2026, the Group’s net debt (excluding contingent consideration) stood at £1.1m, due to the decrease in gross cash, reduction in long-term debt by £0.6m and drawing £1m on the Group’s revolving credit facility.

Equity and Liabilities

The £2m decrease in equity and liabilities is largely driven by the loss for the period of £3.3m, partially offset by an increase in share premium due to shares issued in relation to earn out (£1.4m) and conversion of debt to equity (£0.6m), as well as an increase in total liabilities to £20.8m (H1 2025: £19.6m) due to a net increase in contingent consideration relating to earn outs of £0.9m to £2.7m and a net increase in borrowings of £0.4m, offset by a reduction in trade payables. The net increase in contingent consideration to £2.7m (December 2025: £2.15m of which £0.35m was paid in shares during H1) is due to Raw Cut, the Group’s 2024 TV acquisition, performing beyond expectations. Since the end of H1, Raw Cut has continued to outperform expectations winning new commissions including 2 major new returning series, all of which go into production in FY26. The earn out completes at the end of FY26 payable in cash or shares at the Group’s discretion.

The Group had an outstanding balance on long-term debt of £2.9m as at 30 June 2026 which has reduced due to a conversion of debt to equity by Herald Investment Fund (30 June 2025: £3.5m). The long-term debt holders are also major shareholders who own 38% of the Group’s shares, and the debt has no financial covenants. 

The Group has a revolving credit facility in place with Lloyds Bank (with a total availability of £3m), under which it had drawn £1m as at 30 June 2026.

Laura McGaughey

Chief Financial Officer

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

1.        GENERAL INFORMATION

The Company is a public limited company incorporated in the United Kingdom. The address of its registered office is 4th Floor, Saltire Court, 20 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2EN. Its shares are traded on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange plc (LSE:ZIN).

2.        BASIS OF PREPARATION

The interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2026 have been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies expected to be used in the 2026 Zinc Media Group plc Annual Report and Accounts and in accordance with the recognition and measurement requirements of UK adopted International Accounting Standards (IAS) but do not include all the disclosures that would be required under IAS and should be read in conjunction with the accounts for the period ended 31 December 2025.

The same accounting policies, presentation and methods of computation are followed in these interim condensed set of financial statements as have been applied in the Group’s latest annual audited financial statements.

The interim results, which were approved by the Directors on 21 September 2026, are unaudited. The interim results do not constitute statutory financial statements within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.

Comparative figures for the 12 months ended 31 December 2025 have been extracted from the statutory accounts for the Group for that period, which carried an unqualified audit report, did not include a reference to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by way of emphasis of matter, did not contain a statement under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006 and have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.

3.        SEGMENTAL INFORMATION

The operations of the Group are managed in two principal business divisions that generate revenue: Television and Content production. These divisions are the basis upon which the management reports its primary segmental information. The activities undertaken by the Television segment include the production of television. The Content Production segment includes brand and corporate film production.

4.        ADJUSTING ITEMS

Adjusting items are presented separately as, due to their nature or the infrequency of the events giving rise to them, this allows shareholders to understand better the elements of financial performance for the period, to facilitate comparison with prior periods and to assess better the trends of financial performance.

5.        EARNINGS PER SHARE

Basic loss per share (EPS) for the period equals the loss after tax from continuing operations attributable to the Company’s ordinary shareholders divided by the weighted average number of issued ordinary shares.

When the Group makes a profit from continuing operations, diluted EPS equals the profit attributable to the Company’s ordinary shareholders divided by the diluted weighted average number of issued ordinary shares. When the Group makes a loss from continuing operations, diluted EPS equals the loss attributable to the Company’s ordinary shareholders divided by the basic (undiluted) weighted average number of issued ordinary shares. This ensures that EPS on losses is shown in full and not diluted by unexercised share options or awards.

6.        GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS

7.        PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

8.        TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES

The carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates to their fair value. The creation and release of provision for impaired receivables have been included in operating expenses in the income statement.

The maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting date is the carrying value of each class of asset above. The Group does not hold any collateral as security for trade receivables. The Group is not subject to any significant concentrations of credit risk.

9.        LEASES AND RIGHT OF USE ASSETS

Right-of-use assets

Lease liabilities         

Lease liabilities are presented in the statement of financial position as follows:

10.     TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLES

The Directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other payables approximates to their fair value. The Group’s payables are unsecured.

11.     PROVISIONS

Movement in provisions

The provisions relate to dilapidations on property leases.

12.     SHARE CAPITAL

13.     POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS

There are no post balance sheet events to report.