MIDAS SHARE TIPS: Investment that could see you turn Zinc to gold

Not only is The Beechgrove Garden one of the UK’s best-loved TV garden shows, it’s also a personal favorite of King Charles. This weekend, viewers across the country can watch Aberdeen-based Beechgrove plant the King’s favorite flowers, delphiniums, in honor of the coronation.

Beechgrove is produced by Tern TV, a subsidiary of Aim-listed Zinc media. The company makes dozens of top-rated programs and its stock, at 83p, should go far.

Zinc is led by Mark Browning, a media veteran known for taking over troubled companies and getting them back on track. Browning helped Heart Radio become London’s most popular radio station and a leading force in the country today. He moved to ITN, turning it from a news producer for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 into a wide-ranging media production company.

Now he is engaged in a similar exercise at Zinc. Originally the brainchild of Bob Geldof, under the name Ten Alps, the company was renamed Zinc Media in 2016. It evolved into a TV production company, but the transition was a pain and Browning was hired in 2019 to fix it.

Early progress was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent challenges, but Zink is now booming. Revenue rose 72 per cent to £30.1 million in 2022 and the company made a small underlying profit of £100,000. Further gains are forecast, particularly as the group has already achieved over £25m in revenue so far this year, with significantly more in the pipeline.

The increase in sales reflects a change in strategy initiated by Browning shortly after he joined the company. In the past, Zinc focused on documentaries. While these were often well valued, they were usually one-time commissions, so sales and profits could be unpredictable from one year to the next.

Now the group has expanded its scope to include any form of factual entertainment. Documentaries are still an integral part of the business, with high profile programs such as Putin vs The West, Afghanistan: Getting Out and Tom Daley’s Illegal To Be Me. But Zinc also makes long-running series, from Beechgrove Garden to Bargain Loving Brits to Sunday Morning Live.

Most programming is made for the BBC, ITV and channels 4 and 5 as these still account for the majority of UK TV work. But Sky is also a major customer, alongside American broadcasting giants such as Netflix, Disney+ and Discovery.

After some smart acquisitions, Browning has added several new clients to its client list: organizations that want to use films and videos to promote what they do, to train staff, or simply to raise awareness. Drinking group Red Bull commissioned Feeling Supersonic: Felix Baumgartner to commemorate the Austrian skydiver’s extraordinary space jump in 2012. Lego City Stuntz brings a Lego range to life. Saving Lives At Sea charts the work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Some companies also finance major TV productions, such as Best Laid Plans, developed with the insurance company Hiscox. And there are also podcasts in the mix, including Cunningcast from former Baldrick actor Tony Robinson. Not so long ago, TV production companies turned their noses up at assignments from broadcasters other than regular broadcasters.

Today, the lines are much more blurred, with major TV broadcasters, corporations, streaming services and governments all eager to create distinctive films and distribute them on every kind of screen, from TVs to mobile phones.

Browning believes Zinc’s success lies in appealing to anyone looking for a high-end production outfit that can transform facts and achievements into compelling stories. The opportunity is certainly huge. In the UK TV market alone, around £1 billion a year is spent on factual programmes, with company-funded films driving the total significantly higher. If zinc can capture even a fraction of that market, revenues and profits should skyrocket.

Browning is also eager to start paying dividends as the company becomes more established.

Midas verdict: Zinc Media shares were pushing £3 before the pandemic and economic uncertainty sent them tumbling to just 83p. Mark Browning is determined to reverse that trend and recent results suggest he is on the right track. The Hollywood screenwriters’ strike could also help the company, as US networks look beyond California for new assignments. Buy now and watch the stock move forward.

Traded on: GOAL ticker: SENTENCE Contact: zinmedia.com or 020 7539 2000