The Mission Marketing Group PLC Trading Statement (8502C)
January 25 2018 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMTMMG
RNS Number : 8502C
The Mission Marketing Group PLC
25 January 2018
The Mission Marketing Group plc
Trading update, Board changes and Notice of results
The Mission Marketing Group plc ('the mission(tm) ' or "the
Company", AIM: TMMG), the technology-embraced marketing
communications and advertising group, today issues a trading update
for the year ended 31 December 2017.
Trading update
We are delighted to report that 2017 has been another year of
growth, and results for the year are expected to be in line with
market expectations. We expect revenue to be 6% ahead of last year,
reflecting like-for-like growth of almost 4% and the first
contribution from our 2017 acquisition, RJW & Partners.
Headline profit before tax** is expected to be 10% higher, at
GBP7.7m, representing the seventh consecutive year of growth.
2017 was an exceptional year for working capital reductions and
the year ended with a net bank debt position below GBP7.5m,
materially better than market expectations. The ratio of net bank
debt to EBITDA has accordingly reduced below x1.0, thereby
triggering a 0.5% reduction in interest rates on the Group's debt
facilities from this month.
Board changes
Last year we announced our ambition to improve our headline
operating profit margins from 11.5% to 14% by March 2020. One of
the initiatives we identified to help us achieve this was increased
centralisation of a number of back-office functions and, to oversee
it and identify further cost saving opportunities, we have
appointed Giles Lee, currently an Executive Director and Chairman
of Bray Leino, as Commercial Director.
Separately, non-executive director Christopher Morris has
advised the Company of his intention to retire from the Board
during 2018. He has kindly agreed to stay on, including fulfilling
his duties as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and member of
the Audit Committee, until a successor is appointed.
Notice of results
The Company expects to announce its preliminary results on 10
April 2018.
David Morgan, Chairman, commented: "Despite some ongoing market
challenges, our Group performed strongly in 2017. Our increased use
of proprietary technology-enabled systems has strengthened the
depth and breadth of service that we bring to our Clients and has
added significant value to what we do for them. Alongside our drive
to identify operating efficiencies, embracing technology will
improve our margins and continue to fuel our core growth through
2018.
"I cannot thank Chris Morris enough for his unstinting support
and contribution over many years and especially in steering us
through the major restructure in 2010 that has provided the
platform from which today's Group now prospers. I am also delighted
to say that, while retiring from the Board, Chris has agreed to
take on some ongoing consultancy work for the Group as well as
continuing to mentor key people and Chair our PR Agency."
Enquiries:
David Morgan, Chairman
Peter Fitzwilliam, Finance
Director
The Mission Marketing Group
plc 020 7462 1415
Mark Percy / Patrick Castle
(Corporate Finance)
Shore Capital (Nomad and
Broker) 020 7408 4090
** Headline profits are calculated before losses from start-up
activities, acquisition adjustments and exceptional restructuring
costs, expected to total approximately GBP1.9m in 2017 (2016:
GBP1.2m). Losses from start-up activities are expected to be lower
than in 2016 whilst acquisition adjustments are expected to be
higher, as estimates of future acquisition payments have increased.
In addition, and as flagged last March, restructuring costs of
GBP0.6m were incurred in 2017 (2016: nil) as part of our
streamlining of activities to help drive improvement in profit
margins.
the mission(tm) is a network of entrepreneurial marketing
communications Agencies employing 1,000 people in the UK, Asia and
US. The Group comprises three divisions: Integrated Generalists,
Sector Specialists and Activity Specialists, which work together to
provide Clients with the expertise and resource to make them more
successful in today's dynamic environment.
www.themission.co.uk
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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