Vinyl chair tips in another $2 million in loans – and its shares soared by half a cent

Vinyl Group continues to burn cash as it adds more brands to its portfolio, with chair Ken Gaunt providing another $2 million in lending capacity for the Richard White-backed media and music tech company.

The ASX-listed portfolio business generated $6.33 million in revenue in the September quarter, up 30% year-on-year, and 38% on the June quarter. Operating cash outflow narrowed 56% to $1.84m.

The growth includes the first full quarter from its earlier acquisitions – Val Morgan Digital, Pedestrian Group and Time Out Australia. The ASX reporting didn’t offer a breakdown of separate organic growth figures.

Vinyl (ASX:VNL) nabbed Val Morgan Digital for $10.5 million in March, paying $7m cash and $3.5m in scrip, as well as adding Pedestrian from Nine and then Time Out, both in June, for nominal considerations.

Gaunt increased his unsecured loan facility from $10m to $12m. It carries interest at the RBA cash rate plus five percentage points, with principal due in March 2031. The support comes against a thin cash buffer. Vinyl ended September with $777,000 cash and just $53,000 in undrawn facilities.

Before the October top-up, that represented 0.45 quarters of funding at September’s operating cash burn.

Customer receipts rose 37% annually to $5.52m, at the bottom end of the revised guidance of $5.5-6.5m, well below July’s $7m+ forecast.

Collections are a weakness, with more than $5m outstanding at Sept 30, including $1.5m+ overdue. The company blamed it on inherited billing systems and said it was tightening debtor oversight.

More than $8m in existing receivables and amounts to be invoiced were due during the December quarter.

Publishing matters

Despite its positioning as a music tech, publishing is the beating heart, with the FY26 accounts, released last month, showing $14.49m, or 77% of revenue, from that side of the business.

The group’s FY26 net loss reduced to $8.6m, from $15.9m in FY25. Vinyl’s auditor noted material uncertainty over its ability to continue as a going concern, dependent on forecast profitability and, if needed, further funding, which five weeks on, has arrived.

Having made a similar claims in previous years, CEO Josh Simons once again dangled the carrot of impending financial viability.

In February 2024, after The Brag Media acquisition, Simons said: “We now have a very clear path to profitability”. “.Seven months later, he said the Funkified acquisition “accelerates our path to profitability.”

The expectations became more specific in 2025. His half-year report letter said the company expected to “reach profitability by the end of the calendar year” and in April, he wrote that “we remain confident in hitting breakeven during the first half of FY 2026”, backing it up in August when Simons said Vinyl was working towards “our first profitable quarter in December 2025”.

He delivered. Vinyl subsequently reported a $305,000 operating cash inflow in its December quarter. But in last month’s annual report, Simons acknowledged that “revenue growth did not translate into profitability as quickly as we intended”, citing integration delays, revenue mix and the timing of acquisitions.

This week’s announcement targets a sustainably positive monthly EBITDA run-rate from December 2026.

There are encouraging signs: monthly gross margins increased from 53% in July to 56% in September. Operating expenses are trending lower, with further savings are expected this quarter by shedding duplicate personnel, software, property and administration costs from its M&A deals

“We have built the audience scale. Our priority now is profitable business scale,” Simons said.

Vinyl maintained its $38–40 million FY27 revenue forecast and says December-quarter bookings are already at record levels, helped by campaigns postponed from September.

But based on that guidance, it needs roughly $10.6–11.2m in average quarterly revenue across the remaining nine months – huge leap on September’s result.

Investors nonetheless welcomed today’s news with the shares soaring by nearly 18% on Thursday, adding half a cent to reach 3.3 cents.

Vinyl shares have fallen 64% in 2026.