Directors happy despite Storyful losses
EXPANSION costs at the online news agency established by former RTÉ presenter Mark Little contributed to accumulated losses at the firm more than doubling to €15m.
Storyful was purchased by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for €18m in December 2013 and new abridged accounts for Storyful show that accumulated losses jumped from €6m to
€15.1m in the 18 months to the end of June last. Numbers employed by the firm almost doubled during the period, going from 54 to 100, with staff costs increasing almost four-fold to
€12m.
In the year under review, Storyful announced a major expansion, confirming that it has invested more than €10m into the company since the acquisition. It now has offices in Dublin, Sydney, New York City, Hong Kong and counts Google, Coca Cola, ABC news, AT&T among its clients.
A note attached to the accounts state that the directors have considered the losses to date and report that they are satisfied that appropriate measures have been taken to bring about the company’s profitability.
Founded in 2010, the company started out as a discovery and verification service for the social news space and today has diversified to serve three distinct markets: news media companies; corporations and government agencies searching for social media intelligence; and brands and advertising agencies in need of social video content for marketing campaigns.
In a post balance sheet event, the company used a cash injection of €7.2m to pay off debt owed to group undertakings.