TNL Mediagene Issues Shareholder Letter Providing H2 and 2025 Corporate Update | TNMG Stock News

, /PRNewswire/ -- TNL Mediagene (Nasdaq: TNMG) (the "Company"), a Tokyo-based next-generation digital media and data group in Asia, today issued a letter to shareholders from Joey Chung, Co-Founder and CEO, and Motoko Imada, Co-Founder and President of TNL Mediagene, discussing key recent positive and notable developments, milestones and achievements of the Company year-to-date in 2025 and plans for the year ahead.FY2025 summary performance guidance of $49.1 million Revenue, $17.8 million Gross Profit and $0.8 million Management Adjusted EBITDAPerformance highlights strength in our Technology and Digital Studio business units offset by pressure in our Media & Branded Content business unit as a result of industry-wide AI SEO shifts, stable Gross Profit margin and expanding Management Adjusted EBITDA margin driven by cost reduction initiativesKey capital structure milestones and new capital raised include repayment of our $4.7 million outstanding convertible note balance, $2.15 million in common equity and $375,000 in convertible notes raised from existing shareholders and new private investors, $1.5 million through a new convertible note from 3i at improved terms including 18-month maturity and 6-month interest and amortization holiday, and amendments to our existing outstanding ELOC agreement with Tumin Stone with improved terms to allow for more efficient and lower-cost strategic use of this instrument at our sole discretionSeveral significant new strategic partnerships signed in the year including CMoney, Taiwan's largest stock information and financial education platform serving over 10 million active users each month; PChome, one of Asia's largest e-commerce platforms similar to an Amazon; and Geniee to expand access to advertising creative solution "Cr.ED", a data-powered creative platform and SaaS service that helps marketers create rich and engaging interactive digital advertisements more efficiently, among othersLarge and active investor conference and event hosting calendar with some key wins including TechGALA Japan 2025 and appointment as Lead Partner for TechGALA Japan 2026; hosting 2025 Becoming Aces Awards and Launch of "Rising Star in Digital Impact" with 91APP Foundation; hosting INSIDE Future Day 2025 "Next-Gen AI Agents: Building a New Era of Human-AI Collaboration"; and co-hosting 2025 Generative AI ConferenceSeveral key initiatives were launched in the year to better position the Company competitively on a revenue and cost and basis including continued diversification into Technology, Digital Studio and new media verticals; expanding proven successful media properties into new language markets with our multilingualization strategy; hiring and promoting key C-level and editorial talent; and continued strong progress on staff restructuring and reorganization efforts that we expect to bring significant cost savingsDear Shareholders,As we conclude 2025, we want to give an update on some notable developments at the Company as well as look back at key milestones achieved throughout this transformative year, and we will also highlight some of our plans for the year ahead.FY2025 Summary Performance GuidanceWe are issuing the following summary performance guidance for FY2025:Revenue: $49.1 million, revenue growth driven by Technology and Digital Studio business unit performance, Media & Branded Content business unit expected to be flat or slightly down year-on-year as a result of industry-wide AI SEO impactsGross Profit: $17.8 million, Gross Profit margin in the range of 36-37%, in-line with FY2024Management Adjusted EBITDA*2: $0.8 million, expected to exceed FY2024, driven by cost efficiency and cost reduction initiativesPublic Company Costs: projected at approximately $3.75m to $4mFY2025 performance highlights the bifurcation between strength in our Technology and Digital Studio business units as they continue to experience growth and expansion, offset by our Media & Branded Content business unit that has been pressured by industry-wide AI SEO shifts.Our Gross Profit is expected to remain approximately in line with FY2024, while our Management Adjusted EBITDA, which adjusts for the impact of public company costs to enhance comparability with FY2024, is expected to exceed FY2024 as a result of the implementation of our cost efficiency and cost reduction initiatives. We expect FY2025 to be our first year of Management Adjusted EBITDA profitability which is an important and exciting milestone for us.Capital Structure Improvements & New Capital RaisedWe recently announced key updates on the Company's capital structure and funding:Repaid the outstanding balance of our convertible note with the initial principal of $4.7 million which we took on in December 2024 to help pay our closing costs in connection with our NASDAQ listingRaised $2.15 million in common equity and $375,000 in convertible notes during 2025 from existing shareholders and new private investors including David Chu, the Taiwanese American founder of Nautica and former design head for Tumi and George Jenson, among othersRaised $1.5 million through a new convertible note from 3i at improved terms including 18-month maturity and 6-month interest and amortization holidayAmended our existing outstanding ELOC agreement with Tumin Stone with improved terms to allow for more efficient and lower-cost strategic use of this instrument at our sole discretionThese updates enhance our financial flexibility and reduce dilution pressure on our stock price. We now benefit from a simpler capital structure that better fits our operational needs and strategic goals.New Strategic Partnerships Drive Commerce Revenue & Retail Media Network GrowthOn the business development front, we have signed several new and significant strategic partnerships that we believe will position us well in the commerce space:Strategic partnership with CMoney, Taiwan's largest stock information and financial education platform serving over 10 million active users each monthStrategic partnership with PChome, announced in March, one of Asia's largest e-commerce platforms similar to an AmazonStrategic partnership with Geniee to expand access to advertising creative solution "Cr.ED", a data-powered creative platform and SaaS service that helps marketers create rich and engaging interactive digital advertisements more efficientlyThese strategic partnerships support our strategy to connect large pools of retail data with our leading AI, AdTech and technology products to build out a much more accurate view of our customers we can monetize with precision targeting. This strategy taps into the broader rise of retail media networks (RMN) and harnesses their significant power and potential to position our company on the cutting edge of ecommerce and has the potential to drive significant revenue for our business.Active Event Hosting Schedule Drives Enhanced Visibility for Our BrandWe've hosted, co-hosted and curated several high-profile global and regional events this year, including:TechGALA Japan 2025, we played a central role in this year's event that was sponsored by leading Japanese and global corporates and included representatives from some of Japan's largest banks, trading houses and universities as well as over 400 international and Japanese speakers and more than 5,000 participants from over 20 countriesTechGALA Japan 2026, following 2025's success we've joined the 2026 event as Lead Partner and have organized some globally relevant Keynote Speakers and Special Session Speakers including: Monika Bielskyte, Nike Futurist in Residence, and expert in immersive media and information technology; Shradha Sharma, Founder & CEO, YourStory, India's leading startup media platform; Hiroshi Amano, Distinguished Professor, Nagoya University / Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Meijo University, and recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics; and Jacques Attali, French Economist and public intellectual and special adviser to French President François Mitterrand from 1981-1991. In addition, over 90 speakers from Japan and abroad have been announced to date2025 Becoming Aces Awards and Launch of "Rising Star in Digital Impact" with 91APP Foundation to Advance Youth Innovation and Sustainable Impact, Becoming Aces aims to spotlight young leaders and amplify the public value of civic-driven innovation. Over the past nine years, the program has recognized around 200 youth changemakers nationwide. We hosted the 9th annual awards ceremony in Taipei in November and launched the inaugural "Rising Star in Digital Impact" award in collaboration with the 91APP Foundation, recognizing outstanding youth changemakers advancing social impact through digital technology, e-commerce and AIINSIDE Future Day 2025 "Next-Gen AI Agents: Building a New Era of Human-AI Collaboration", a recurring event that we're hosting again this year on December 9 that focuses on emerging trends in technology and innovation and brings together key figures from the tech industry, including entrepreneurs, investors and senior executives, to share their insights and experiences on future technologies, industry shifts and startup trends. This year's forum attracted more than 400 registrations, with nearly 60% of attendees at manager level and above, reflecting broad interest from participants across technology and business sectors2025 Generative AI Conference, we co-hosted one of the most influential AI event in Asia, with participants from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. The event drew approximately 1,000 attendees and 2,000 virtual attendees post-event, and expands the Company's presence in the AI ecosystem in AsiaThese events bolster our visibility and reach globally and regionally in Asia and most importantly spark other business opportunities and collaborations with key innovators and technologists.Diversification into Technology, Digital Studio & New Media Verticals Bears FruitAs the tectonics of the Media industry continue to shift as a result of advancements in AI, we've positioned our business for the future by making early investments in building out our Technology and Digital Studio business units, and those investments are now bearing fruit and generating very substantial revenue. The split of our businesses is now roughly 30% Media & Branded Content, 30% Technology and 40% Digital Studio and we expect that ratio to continue in the near future.Within our Media & Branded Content business unit we correctly identified short-form video as a key growth area and focal point with continued high traffic and engagement and we've spent the last 18 months pivoting more content toward video. We've also made key talent acquisitions to bolster our video capabilities including Toru Nakamaru, a veteran broadcast journalist from leading "Big Six" Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi, as the new Video Editor-in-Chief for Business Insider Japan.We are reimagining the traditional media and e-commerce model with a strong emphasis on content commerce – building relationships with customers through consistent creation of interesting and relevant content which we can then monetize with targeted and relevant commerce offerings. Our recent launch of GIZMART is a successful example of this, whereby we have created a new, media-linked e-commerce platform modelled as a "tech station supermarket" curated by Gizmodo Japan to sell unique gadgets and designs to its tech and gadget engaged audience. Our recent GIZMART launch of the Keychron Nape Pro trackball has been a strong success, generating over ¥200 million in GMV sales in the first 12 days of its launch, upon which we earn a sizeable % of GMV sales for our contributions in promotion, platform usage and intellectual property, representing a large revenue opportunity as we scale the program.We've also selectively identified and partnered with innovative new media brands that have reached a critical mass in their home market and we think bring something unique and scalable that we can optimize and deploy in our markets. A great example of this is our recently announced licensing agreement with Mexico City's Capital Digital media group, owners of acclaimed Mexican media brand PICTOLINE. PICTOLINE produces distinctive, engaging visual content, including illustrations, infographics, animated graphics, comics and games that have been extremely successful as a media format in Latin America, with engagement metrics including 132 million monthly content views and 9.5 million followers and subscribers*1. We'll be working with PICTOLINE's founder in the weeks and months ahead to roll out this special media property in the Japanese market in early 2026.Expansion of Media Through MultilingualizationAnother key strategic area for us is the expansion of our successful media properties into new language markets via our AI-driven multilingualization strategy which we supplement with key local talent including:Launched Business Insider Taiwan, the global Mandarin language version of our successful Business Insider Japan media property in September this yearHired veteran journalist April Lin as Editor-in-Chief, who brings over two decades of media and business experience including prior roles as President and Editor-in-Chief of Money Weekly, Producer and Host of FTV News' finance program Financial Frontline Forum and Director of FTV New Media CenterReached key milestones with Roomie International, our leading Japanese lifestyle blog launched in the global Mandarin language market and surpassed an important 1 million monthly active user milestone in May this yearPromoted veteran editor Kate Lin to lead Roomie International as Editor-in-ChiefHired veteran journalist Benjamin Chiang as Editor-in-Chief of The News Lens, who brings over two decades of media management and digital strategy experience including prior roles as General Manager of NOWnews, Special Assistant at AUO's Innovation Design Center and executive leadership positions at CommonWealth Magazine and Business Weekly, where he spearheaded AI integration and subscription-based enterprise learning platformsThe global Mandarin language market is a strategic growth area for us as it is a market of over 1 billion readers globally, is culturally similar to the other Asian geographies in which we operate and is considered a highly lucrative market. As our recent multilingualization launches have been successful, we expect that we will launch other proven media properties into this market going forward.M&A Pipeline Remains ActiveM&A continues to be a key part of our expansion plans whereby we aim to acquire both pan-Asia audience footprint as well as select novel technology assets that complement our existing technology and data offering. We've acquired 10 companies in this manner since 2018 and we continue to operate an active M&A pipeline and dialog with potential M&A targets. Looking ahead into 2026 we aim to execute on this pipeline selectively in situations where we can finance acquisitions accretively, which is largely a factor of our share price performance in the year ahead. Our pipeline contains a short-list of some high-quality assets we are excited about that we think fit very well with our existing business and we believe we can execute on quickly given the appropriate market conditions.Key New Hires & Staff Restructuring Drive Cost DisciplineOn the operational side, since our public listing on NASDAQ in December 2024, we've implemented a group-wide restructuring to better integrate our businesses across Japan and Taiwan, improve operational efficiency and have made some significant key hires into leadership roles including:TJ Park as General Counsel from leading international law firm Morrison FoersterAya Miyake as Chief Governance Officer from Japan Exchange GroupCarly Ma as Chief HR Officer coming from Porche TaiwanNaoko Okumoto, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor with two decades of experience, joining our board as a directorThese accomplished individuals bring industry best practices to our company from leading regional and international companies.In addition, as a result of our efforts to better integrate our businesses and improve operation efficiency, we have reduced our full-time headcount from 501 full-time employees as of December 2024 to 478 as of November 2025.Looking into the remainder of the year and beyond, we are fully focused on running our business and executing on our exciting growth plans, and with our improved capital structure and streamlined cost structure, we're focusing less on financing contingencies and more on innovation and execution. We believe the ingredients are now in place for share price appreciation in the new year and a return to an emphasis on the long-term fundamental value of our market capitalization with less emphasis on technical-driven short-term moves.We thank our shareholders for their continued support and we remain committed to shareholder value.Joey Chung, Co-Founder and CEOMotoko Imada, Co-Founder and President*1 According to PICTOLINE's internal data and estimates*2 Management Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS Company-specific performance measure that excludes the impact of public company costs to enhance comparability between performance of the private Company in FY2024 and the public Company in FY2025; this performance measure may not follow conventional calculationAbout TNL MediageneHeadquartered in Tokyo, TNL Mediagene was formed in May 2023 through the merger of Taiwan's The News Lens Co. and Japan's Mediagene Inc., two of the region's leading independent digital media groups. TNL Mediagene's operations span original and licensed media brands in Japanese, Chinese, and English, covering topics such as news, business, technology, science, food, sports, and lifestyle. It also offers AI-driven advertising services, marketing technology platforms, ecommerce, and innovative solutions tailored to the needs of advertising agencies. Known for its political neutrality, appeal to younger audiences, and high-quality content, TNL Mediagene has approximately 500 employees across Asia, with offices in Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.https://www.tnlmediagene.com/Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are based on beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to TNL Mediagene. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or TNL Mediagene's future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," "target," "seek" or the negative or plural of these words, or other similar expressions that are predictions or indicate future events or prospects, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements in this communication include, but are not limited to, statements about TNL Mediagene's future business plan and growth strategies and statements by TNL Mediagene's management. Any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including strategies or plans, are also forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication or elsewhere speak only as of the date made. New uncertainties and risks arise from time to time, and it is impossible for TNL Mediagene to predict these events or how they may affect TNL Mediagene. In addition, risks and uncertainties are described in TNL Mediagene's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks and uncertainties set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in TNL Mediagene's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on April 30, 2025, as may be supplemented or amended by the TNL Mediagene's Reports of a Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K. These filings may identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. TNL Mediagene cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this communication will prove to be accurate. There may be additional risks that TNL Mediagene presently does not know or that TNL Mediagene currently does not believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by TNL Mediagene, its directors, officers or employees or any other person. Except as required by applicable law, TNL Mediagene does not have any duty to, and does not intend to, update or revise the forward-looking statements in this communication or elsewhere after the date of this communication. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing the views of TNL Mediagene as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication.SOURCE TNL Mediagene