Ascential 's (ASCL) Cannes Lions advertising festival attracts such luminaries as Anna Wintour and Ban Ki-moon. Some of the glitz rubbed off on its first-half results. The company, which listed in February, reported a pleasing 9 per cent organic rise in revenues driven by its exhibitions and festivals business.
More than 10,000 people paid to attend Cannes Lions, helping to grow its constant-currency revenues by 17 per cent to £52.9m. Chief executive Duncan Painter says the "geo-cloning" of the company's Money 20/20 event was another big driver in the first half, which is to say that the American convention was rolled out in Europe, generating £7.7m of revenue, with another event planned for Asia.
The company's big UK event, Spring and Autumn Fair, showcasing gifts and homeware, is so far holding up amid post-Brexit vote uncertainty. Mr Painter says there are "no obvious concerns" around bookings.
Information services, which includes fashion market intelligence service WGSN and environmental risk expert Groundsure, had a quieter first half. Revenues ticked up 1 per cent organically as the expected decline in print revenues played out.
Numis expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £75.2m for the full year, giving EPS of 15p (from £48.8m and 10.5p in 2015). The broker expects a full-year dividend of 4.5p.
| ASCENTIAL (ASCL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 246p | MARKET VALUE: | £985m | |
| TOUCH: | 246-247p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 274p | LOW: 199p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.6% | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 90p* | NET DEBT: | 54% | |
| Half-year to 30 June | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 178 | -0.8 | 0.5 | nil |
| 2016 | 203 | 10.3 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
| % change | +14 | - | +300 | - |
Ex-div: 6 Oct Payment: 7 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £633m, or 166p a share | ||||
