Monday 17 June 2024
Ascential
plc
Capital markets event and
trading update
Group trading in line with
its expectations
Capital markets event
Ascential plc (LSE: ASCL.L), the
specialist events, intelligence and advisory company, will host a
capital markets event at Cannes Lions in Cannes, France on
Wednesday 19 June 2024.
The event will outline the
investment case and vision for the continued growth of Ascential as
a world-leading, events-led business and will be hosted by Philip
Thomas (Chief Executive) and Mandy Gradden (CFO), including
presentations from business leaders.
The presentations will be attended
by a number of investors and analysts and will also be broadcast
live via www.ascential.com/investors/reports-and-presentations
from 12:30pm to 2:30pm BST (1:30pm to 3:30pm CET)
on Wednesday 19 June. The presentations will also be made
available on the Company's website during the event and a recording
will also be available on-demand from our website in due
course.
No new material financial
information will be provided, beyond the content of the trading
update on the continuing operations of the Group as set out
below.
Trading update
Given the proximity of the capital
markets event to the half year end, Ascential confirms that the
Group is trading in line with its expectations for the full
year.
In the first half of the year, the
Marketing division is
expected to deliver revenue growth in excess of 10% led by strong,
double-digit growth from Cannes Lions delegates and sponsorship,
driven by a combination of strong delegate volume growth, new pass
launches and successful expansion of the physical footprint of the
festival.
Also, in the first half of the year,
the Financial Technology
division is expected to deliver double digit revenue growth.
Following particularly strong growth in 2023, the European
edition's revenues earlier in June were approximately 8% lower than
the prior year, reflecting the broader funding conditions in the
Fintech end market observed in the second half 2023. Earlier
in the half, Money20/20 successfully launched its Asian edition in
Bangkok, Thailand in April, with more than 3,000 attendees and
revenues of just over £6m.
Following completion of the £300m
tender offer, the £450m special dividend and the associated share
consolidation, we remain focused on our 2024 priorities as
communicated at our 2023 year end results and confident in our
medium-term growth targets and ambitions.
About Ascential
Ascential takes the world's leading
brands to the heart of what's next for their industries. We do this
through our events, intelligence products and advisory services.
Our 700 people serve a global customer base from more than 100
countries in the large and growing Marketing and Financial
Technology sectors. Ascential plc is listed on the London Stock
Exchange (LON: ASCL).
Contacts
Ascential plc
Philip Thomas
Mandy Gradden
Rory Elliott
|
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Investor Relations
Director
|
+44 (0)203 657 8950
|
Media enquiries
Matt Dixon
Jamie Ricketts
Edward Bridges
|
FTI Consulting LLP
|
+44 (0)20 3727 1000
|
IMPORTANT NOTICES
The person responsible for arranging
the release of this announcement on behalf of Ascential is Naomi
Howden, Company Secretary.
This announcement contains
"forward-looking statements" which includes all statements other
than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation,
those regarding the Company's financial position, financial
performance, financial condition, business strategy, plans and
objectives of management for future operations of the Company and
its subsidiary undertakings ("the Group"), or any statements
preceded by, followed by or that include the words "targets",
"believes", "expects", "aims", "intends", "will", "may",
"anticipates", "would, "could" or similar expressions or negatives
thereof. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other important factors beyond the Group's
control that could cause the actual results, performance or
achievements of the Group to be materially different from future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are
based on numerous assumptions regarding the Group's present and
future business strategies and the environment in which the Group
will operate in the future.
Nothing in this announcement should
be construed as a profit forecast or to imply that the earnings of
the Group for the current year or future years will necessarily
match or exceed the historical or published earnings of the Group.
These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this
announcement and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the
cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. New
factors will emerge in the future, and it is not possible for the
Company to predict which factors they will be. In addition, the
Group cannot assess the impact of each factor on its business or
the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may
cause actual results to differ materially from those described in
any forward-looking statements. As a result, you are cautioned not
to place undue reliance on such forward-looking
statements.
Neither the Group nor its affiliates
undertakes or is under any duty to update this announcement or to
correct any inaccuracies in any such information which may become
apparent (whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise) or to provide you with any additional information, other
than any requirements that the Group may have under applicable law
or the Listing Rules, the Prospectus Regulation Rules, the
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules or the Market Abuse
Regulation MAR as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. To the fullest extent
permissible by law, such persons disclaim all and any
responsibility or liability, whether arising in tort, contract or
otherwise, which they might otherwise have in respect of this
announcement. The information in this announcement is subject to
change without notice.