Sheffield-headquartered ZOO Digital says it has emerged from a year of restructuring with a leaner business, stronger profitability and growing confidence that it can return to growth.
The AIM-listed technology company, which provides localisation and digital media services for the global media and entertainment industry, reported revenue of $42.3m for the year to 31 March 2026, down 14.7% from $49.6m as difficult market conditions continued to weigh on demand.
However, a restructuring programme completed during the year significantly improved profitability.
Adjusted EBITDA increased from $1.1m to $4m, while the operating loss narrowed by 75% from $6.5m to $1.6m. Reported pre-tax losses also fell sharply, reducing from $8.3m to $2.3m.
The business also improved its gross profit margin from 36% to 42%, reflecting what it described as a leaner and more efficient operating model.
Chief executive Stuart Green said: “FY26 has been a transformational year for ZOO. We completed the restructuring programme, improved profitability and strengthened cash generation, while maintaining our position as a trusted partner to the world’s leading media and entertainment companies.
“Demand for faster, high-quality technology-enabled localisation solutions continues to grow and our reshaped business is well positioned to continue to capture this opportunity.
“With a stronger rightsized financial platform, improving customer activity and recent contract wins, we enter FY27 focused on returning the business to profitable growth.”
The company also strengthened its balance sheet over the year, with cash increasing to $3.6m from $2.7m. Current liabilities reduced from $18.3m to $14.3m, supported by tighter cash management and the use of invoice financing facilities.
Operationally, ZOO secured new framework agreements spanning localisation, media and end-to-end services, helping diversify revenues while continuing to work with all major Hollywood studios.
During the year it also launched its premium Fast Track service for live and near-live streamed events, cutting subtitle turnaround times to three hours and dubbing to 24 hours. The service has already been used on several projects for a global streaming platform.
Artificial intelligence is also playing a bigger role across the business. ZOO said it has continued integrating AI into its localisation workflows alongside human expertise, helping improve its external customer quality score from 98.4% to 99.3%.
Looking ahead, the board said trading in the first quarter of the new financial year had been strong, giving it confidence in delivering a return to revenue growth and further profit progression during FY27.
