Dianomi Reports H1 2025 Loss as Revenue Dips 7%, But Sees Growth in New Advertisers

Dianomi H1 2025: revenue slip, bigger loss, but a busier pipeline and new marquee partners

Dianomi’s interim results for the six months to 30 June 2025 show the strain of a tough ad market and AI-driven traffic shifts. Revenue fell 7% to £13.2 million as publisher traffic softened and advertisers stayed cautious, with a stronger pound also biting. Gross margin was broadly steady at 25.5%, but a higher cost base from planned sales investment pushed the business to an adjusted EBITDA loss of £0.6 million and a basic loss per share of 2.63 pence.

That’s the glass-half-empty view. The other half: Dianomi added 43 new high-quality advertisers (up 59% year on year), signed CNN News and AP News as platform partners, grew programmatic distribution sharply, and is guiding to a better second half with a return to profitability in Q4. Cash was £5.7 million with no debt at period end.

Key numbers at a glance

Metric	H1 2025	H1 2024
Revenue	£13.2 million	£14.2 million
Gross margin	25.5%	26.2%
Gross profit	£3.3 million	£3.7 million
Adjusted EBITDA	£0.6 million loss	£0.1 million profit
Loss before tax	£0.7 million loss	£0.1 million loss
Basic loss per share	2.63 pence	0.22 pence
Adjusted basic EPS	-2.63 pence	0.24 pence
Cash at 30 June	£5.7 million	£8.1 million
Net assets	£7.3 million	£8.9 million
Advertisers using platform	197	221
New advertisers added	43 (up 59% YoY)	Not disclosed
Publishers on platform	285	289
Publisher churn by revenue	2.8%	4.6%
Impressions	Down 16% YoY	–
Revenue per click	£0.53	£0.51
CTR (click-through rate)	0.119%	0.117%
Programmatic supply revenue	£857k	£209k

What drove the first-half performance

Traffic headwinds, cautious budgets and FX

Dianomi faced three headwinds: softer publisher traffic, cautious advertiser demand, and foreign exchange. Impression volumes were down 16% as “zero click search” – where readers scan AI-generated summaries without clicking through – dented traffic for non-subscription publishers. With around 80% of revenue in the US, a stronger pound also reduced translated revenue.

Despite that, campaign quality indicators nudged up, with revenue per click at £0.53 and CTR at 0.119%. Gross margin held in the mid-20s, suggesting pricing and revenue share remained broadly disciplined.

Sales and product investment by design

Management leaned into the downturn to build capacity. The global sales team was expanded with senior hires from Meta and the Financial Times, and Dianomi launched sector-targeted products. Two standouts:

• Dianomi Audiences – pre-packaged, buyable audiences built from curated publisher lists, contextual keywords and Dianomi’s first-party data. Adoption is growing.
• Dianomi Insights – analytics showing how brands’ media coverage translates into actual readership, not just article counts. This has been used for industry reports and client conversations.

The engineering team also deployed an AI-driven bidder trained on years of campaign click data, using deep neural networks to select ads and compute optimal bids per request. Better page categorisation using AI is in development to sharpen targeting and improve advertiser insights.

Programmatic and partner expansion

• Programmatic distribution stepped up, helped by a Q1 Aramco campaign in non-core countries. Programmatic supply revenue rose 310% to £857k.
• A new integration with Microsoft Monetize opens access to more than 500,000 advertisers across 170 countries, subject to brand-safety standards. Revenue is currently small but growing.
• Dianomi entered affiliate marketing as cost-per-click models become more prevalent. The first project, in Gifts, launches in October.

Premium publisher signings: CNN and AP News

Two high-profile wins landed during the half: CNN News and AP News. AP has already become a top ten publisher on the platform. CNN extended its relationship from CNN Business to the whole of CNN in June, which management highlights as validation of Dianomi’s premium niche in US financial media inventory. Both relationships are scaling positively into H2.

Advertiser trends: fewer total, more new logos

The total number of advertisers using the platform fell to 197 from 221, but Dianomi added 43 new advertisers – up 59% year on year – and reports that several prior advertisers have returned post period end. Average advertiser spend dipped modestly to £113.1k from £117.7k, which is respectable given the market backdrop.

On the supply side, the publisher count edged down to 285 from 289, with churn mainly among smaller outlets. Revenue-weighted churn was just 2.8%, down from 4.6%, which supports the claim of stability within the core premium publisher base.

Cash flow and balance sheet

Operating cash outflow was £2.6 million, driven by the operating loss and a £1.9 million decrease in payables as the company paid publishers who had invoiced late for FY24 balances. Cash was also hit by a £0.4 million adverse FX impact. Period-end cash was £5.7 million with no borrowings, and net assets stood at £7.3 million.

In short, the balance sheet is clean but cash has stepped down. The Q4 profitability target implies a focus on slowing cash burn in H2.

Outlook and my take

Trading in July and August was flat year on year, but September saw new budgets come through. The Board expects H2 to be stronger than H1 and guides to a return to profitability in Q4. That will be the key milestone for sentiment.

Positives I see:

• New advertiser momentum and marquee publisher wins with CNN and AP News.
• Programmatic growth and the Microsoft Monetize integration broadening demand access.
• Product innovation around Dianomi Audiences and Insights, plus an AI bidder that should improve efficiency.
• Low revenue-weighted publisher churn and improving CTR and revenue per click.

Watch-outs:

• Traffic pressure from AI “zero click” behaviour is real and knocked impressions by 16%.
• Cash fell £3.1 million since December, with FX a drag and payables unwinding. The H2 cash trajectory matters.
• Execution risk on Q4 profitability in a still-cautious ad market, plus FX sensitivity with c.80% US revenue.

Overall, this reads like a classic investment phase: near-term profitability sacrificed to add distribution, product and data capabilities. If management delivers the H2 upturn and Q4 profitability, the first-half pain could prove well timed. If not, the cash cushion becomes the next debate.

Jargon buster

• Native advertising – ads that match the look and feel of the page they appear on.
• CTR (click-through rate) – clicks divided by impressions. A basic effectiveness measure.
• Revenue per click – average revenue earned each time a user clicks an ad.
• Programmatic – automated, data-driven buying and selling of ad inventory.
• Adjusted EBITDA – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and share-based payments. Used to show underlying trading.
• Zero click search – when users read AI-generated summaries on search engines without clicking through to the source site.

What to track next

• Revenue re-acceleration in September and through Q4 to hit the profitability target.
• Scaling of CNN and AP News across more inventory and geographies.
• Share of spend via programmatic and early contribution from Microsoft Monetize.
• Gross margin stability as mix shifts and partner terms evolve.
• Cash burn trend and FX effects, given the US-heavy revenue base.
• Initial results from the affiliate marketing expansion launching in October.