Ascential plc (LON:ASCL), 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, Ascential remain focused on our 2024 priorities as communicated at our 2023 year end results and confident in our medium-term growth targets and ambitions.
