R4E.L Regulatory News (R4E)

29 Jul 2008 07:00



Date: 29 July 2008

On behalf of: First Artist Corporation plc ("First Artist" or "the Group")

Embargoed for: 0700hrs

FIRST ARTIST CORPORATION PLC

Trading Update

First Artist Corporation plc (AIM: FAN), the media, entertainment and events group, today provides an update on current trading prior to the end of the financial year on 31 August 2008. 

Media

Dewynters, the UK entertainment industry's leading full-service agency, continues to trade in line with historical performance. Recent wins include the West End musical Never Forget, based on the boy band Take That, and the new musical Oliver!, which opens in December 2008.  Newman Displays, Dewynters' front of house and fascia display subsidiary, worked on the Indiana Jones, Love Guru and Tropical Thunder projects at the Cannes Film Festival.

Sponsorship Consulting is ahead of budget with trading much improved on last year. There has been a steady stream of new business wins throughout the year, in addition to improved terms with existing clients.

First Rights, established by the Group in 2007 to market sponsorship rights, has grown rapidly and now has ten clients. Recent client wins include the National Museum of Liverpool, whilst negotiations with potential sponsors for the 2009 Special Olympics, to be held in Leicester, are progressing well.

Entertainment / Sport

Our Football division has experienced a strong start to the summer football trading window, with 17 deals, across our offices in the UK, Italy and Denmark, being completed in June and July.

Highlights include:

Sulley Muntari from Portsmouth to Inter Milan

Andrea Dossena from Udinese to Liverpool

Mikael Forsell from Birmingham City to Hannover 96

Kevin Phillips from West Bromwich Albion to Birmingham City

Michael Silberbauer from FC Copenhagen to FC Utrecht

Asamoah Gyan from Udinese to Rennes

Giovanni Trapattoni as the new manager of the Republic of Ireland National Team

The division also benefited from West Ham United finishing in the top ten of the Premier League and West Bromwich Albion's promotion to the top tier, due to performance clauses in certain contracts.

There is a strong pipeline of contracted income for the remainder of the summer trading window, although the majority of the larger new deals are forecast to conclude towards the end of August.

First Artist Management, our 'total management' celebrity and media agency representing actors, sport and TV presenters and other media personalities, continues to trade well in a competitive market.  It has recently signed a deal for Gillian McKeith to film the pilot of a new show, 'Eat Yourself Sexy' in North America, which is being launched at the International MIP TV festival in Cannes in October, and has also negotiated a new deal for Andy Townsend at Talksport Radio. In addition, First Artist Management has recently secured the services of a highly respected agent, formerly at Princess Talent, who is expected to expand the client base.

Optimal Wealth Management, the high net worth Independent Financial Advisory firm, experienced a difficult March and April due to a poorer than normal ISA season and the impact of the new capital gains tax rules. Trading since has been positive in very difficult market conditions.

Events

As previously announced, our event management company, The Finishing Touch, exceeded the third and final set of financial performance targets during the earn-out period. 

The Finishing Touch is trading ahead of last year, despite the challenging corporate market. The public sector division and the newly created venue finding business continue to produce a very satisfactory performance.

Current Trading & Outlook

Whilst there is scope for further material transactions in the football transfer market the Board expects EBITDA to be below current market expectations. As revenues are heavily weighted towards the financial year end the Board anticipates an EBITDA level of between £3.5 and £3.7 million for the financial year ended 31 August 2008.

The Group expects to report its results for the twelve months ended 31 August 2008 in November 2008.

- ends -

Notes to Editors:

First Artist Corporation plc was admitted to AIM in 2002.

First Artist's group companies are among the leading brands in their fields under the following categories: 

Events - offers a broad range of events such as conferences, company activity days, venue finding, delegate management and client events for private and public sector clients such as the Training & Development Agency, under its Finishing Touch business.

Entertainment/Sport - representation of media personalities and football players/clubs across the UK, Europe and the US by First Artist Management, First Artist Entertainment, Promosport and First Artist Scandinavia, together with wealth management through the Independent Financial Advisory firm, Optimal Wealth Management.