CEO of One Great Studio (1GS) Djuvane Browne said the company is now realising gains from its acquisition of High Voltage SEO LLC (HV SEO), which it took over in September 2022.

The digital marketing agency acquired HV SEO in September 2022, just one year ahead of its listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s Junior Market, and increased both its customer base and access to international markets. As a result, the company saw both increases in its top and bottom lines for the year ended December 2023.

Compared to 2022, 1GS’s revenue grew by 93 per cent to $461.05 million, up from $238.93 million.

“So what you saw last year was as a result of the full integration of our new business line in HV SEO and then what you can start expecting to see going forward are the other benefits coming over,” Browne told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.

The other benefits to which he referred are the gains from its capital raise of $338 million through an initial public offering last year. With this amount, 1GS paid down its debt and by extension, it reduced interest payments and increased its spend on talent acquisition.

“We had debt and that debt was expensive, and so we’ve deployed that capital first to significantly pay down that debt and then second, starting to invest in different growth initiatives, which include building up the team,” he explained.

While the company has integrated its support services, it has also increased staff complement on the service delivery and business development sides. Additionally, with what the CEO calls a “healthy cash balance”, the 1GS will continue to build its asset base noting that the company is well positioned to grow even further.

Total capital for 2023 was $649.38 million compared with $478.08 the year before.

Still, Browne said the company is looking for both inorganic and organic growth opportunities. When asked if the company is eyeing other acquisitions, he confirmed that there are now local and international opportunities under consideration without providing more details.

Moreover, he said the company will introduce new initiatives to augment revenue growth in the upcoming quarters. So far this year, 1GS has rolled out three initiatives targeted towards micro, small and medium-sized companies: snap site, a small website offering at a favourable price point; real deal, a social media content production service; and Google business profile, to improve a company’s visibility online.

While some of the clients for these services are beneficiaries of the Development Bank of Jamaica’s (DBJ) Innovation Grant, the company does not have a formal partnership with the institution. Browne is, however, optimistic about engaging the DBJ in this regard.

“We have a Caribbean-focused SEO campaign that we are actually rolling out, and that’s something we’re pretty excited about because we do believe there’s an opportunity for Caribbean businesses to benefit from this,” Browne added.

He is confident the new measures will continue to drive profitability going forward. Net profit for 2023 increased by 183 per cent to $79.08 million

“As we look ahead, we are excited about the opportunities we have in our line of sight. We are confident that just as this company has been transformed over the last 18 months, we have the right strategy in place to continue producing excellent results, and to press towards great things at 1GS,” Browne said.