Here’s a summary of Nick Brien’s comments at the Citi 2025 Global Tech, Media and Telecom conference, analyzed and sponsored by SignValue.
On his background
I’ve been always in the media marketing industry, but always on the agency side. So some would say, I’m now the poacher turned gamekeeper. It’s the first time, let’s say, on the supply side, on the sell side. But I’ve always been a big fan of the out-of-home medium. I always felt that there was a lot of potential that strategically wasn’t optimized maybe because of the marketing and the positioning but also because of the sales approach.
Don’t expect much M&A from OUTFRONT in 2025
We’ve talked about this a lot as a team, and we agree that for 2025, this was going to be the year of transformational focus on the existing core business and the M&A was not going to distract any of us… The M&A side of it, we are always open and interested, especially tuck-in opportunities. But it’s fair to say we are not having any ambitions on any big M&A.
On being willing to pass on poor leases.
You have seen us exit from two significant leases this year that were basically breaking even at best… We really improve our profitability by making sure every lease is great.
On what he says to people who hate transit because of a high revenue share when the market is good and a high fixed monthly payment when the market is bad.
It’s in the family and I’ve inherited it, and it’s part of my plan. So what I’m going to do is not look at it through the lens of weakness and frustration. I’m going to look at it through the lens of opportunities and success. And to do that, first and foremost, I’ve had to change the team. The entire team from marketing, product, marketing, research and sales is entirely new…they meet with me on a biweekly basis.
SignValue’s Take: We like Nick’s enthusiasm and hope it’s contagious for the company. Outfront does have great transit assets that can be leveraged better with strategically planned experiential campaigns. However, those assets are short lived and shareholders know it. Obviously, the assets that keep them in business are their traditional billboards, so maintaining those signs they have, building new signs and converting existing vinyl to digital is critical to their long-term health and growth.
If you have questions, contact one of SignValue’s experienced analysts for a free and confidential consultation at info@signvalue.com or call 480-657-8400.
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