Outdoor player QMS Media has posted double-digit growth in both its profit and revenue for the first half of the 2018 financial year.

Revenue for QMS was up 25 per cent to $99.0 million in the six months to 31 December 2017, with digital representing 66 per cent of total group media revenue.

The company’s net profit after tax was $8.3 million – up 11 per cent from the first half of FY17 – while its underlying expenses before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 27 per cent to $22.7 million.

Commenting on the results, QMS group CEO Barclay Nettlefold said: “This is a pleasing result, which has been driven by our continued focus on premium quality landmark digital expansion in strategic markets.

“Our landmark digital development roll-out has strong momentum, with 24 new billboards switched on during the half. As a result, we have updated our full-year development target to over 112 sites to be operational by the end of June 2018.

“Our smaller-format digital presence is an important complement to our landmark network, and we are continuing to invest in strategic expansion to support integrated campaigns across multiple formats.

“Out-of-home industry growth was strong in the first half, with roadside billboards – the core of QMS’ portfolio – outperforming the market.

“We continue to see an attractive opportunity in Sport and are making good progress towards our goal of becoming the largest sports media rights holder in the market, with recent contract wins and renewals in FFA and NRL, and deepening audience engagement opportunities using virtual innovation.

“We are always looking at new ideas and technology globally, to bring the power of Sport to an expanded audience and will continue to assess further opportunities for growth in this key sector.

“Developing our digital and data capabilities remains an ongoing area of focus. Our DataLab is enabling us to better understand our audiences, and deliver more targeted and valuable campaigns for advertisers, and our investment in Digital Commons provides the capability to expand online and mobile media audience buying into outdoor media.

“We have also launched an industry-first digital transaction platform in New Zealand during the half, which provides a significant opportunity for digital outdoor to be considered with, and compete for, online media investment.

“Looking ahead, we continue to see significant opportunity to unlock additional value from our portfolio through harnessing the power of digital advertising across multiple platforms.”