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

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.