Otello Corporation announces termination of AdColony CEO
The Board of Directors of Otello Corporation today announced the departure of AdColony’s Chief Executive Officer, Will Kassoy. Mr. Kassoy will step down from his position effective immediately. Lars Boilesen, Otello CEO, will act as interim CEO for AdColony while the company searches for his permanent replacement. Mr. Kassoy’s severance will be paid according to contractual obligations.
The Chairman of Otello’s Board, Audun Iversen, thanked Mr. Kassoy for his service with AdColony.
2017 has been a disappointing year for AdColony, which has been impacted by product delays and poor execution in the midst of a strong and growing mobile advertising market. Based on the preliminary numbers and developments thus far in 4Q17, Otello expects AdColony’s revenues to be down between 5 and 10% versus 3Q17.
Despite the challenging year, AdColony remains uniquely positioned to play a key role in the massive mobile advertising market as the largest independent mobile video advertising player. AdColony’s strong SDK footprint, publisher and developer relationships coupled with some of the brightest minds in the industry are all key components that Otello believes will lead to AdColony's return to growth and profitability.
The mobile advertising market remains strong. AdColony is experiencing increasing gross margins in 4Q17 compared to 3Q17. In addition, the restructuring announced in connection with Otello’s 3Q17 report has been successful, and we expect to enter 2018 with a cost base 40% below where we entered 2017. The persistent cost focus has lowered AdColony’s break-even run-rate significantly and has set AdColony up for a faster return to profitability.
Otello continues to have a very strong financial position, which was further enhanced by the sale of SurfEasy in November 2017. In addition, continued strong performance from Bemobi and Skyfire’s turnaround makes us optimistic looking into 2018.
This press-release contains, and is i.a. based on, forward-looking statements regarding Otello Corporation ASA and its subsidiaries. These statements are based on various assumptions made by Otello Corporation ASA, which are beyond its control and which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may in some cases be identified by terminology such as “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “predict”, “potential” or “continue”, the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. These forward looking statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially, and a number of factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from any such statement. Such factors include i.a. general market conditions, demand for our services, the continued attractiveness of our technology, unpredictable changes in regulations affecting our markets, market acceptance of new products and services and such other factors that may be relevant from time to time. Although we believe that the expectations and assumptions reflected in the statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievement.
Petter Lade, CFO
Phone: +47 91143878
E-mail: petterl@opera.com
About Otello: Otello holds shares in several different businesses, including AdColony which helps publishers monetize their content through advertising and advertisers reach the audiences that build value for their businesses, capitalizing on a global consumer audience reach that exceeds 2 billion; Apps and Games (Bemobi); "Performance & Privacy" (Skyfire); and Connected TV (Vewd).