AGM Statement

25 May 2005 14:21

Adventis Group PLC25 May 2005 Adventis Group plc AGM Statement 25 May 2005 At today's Annual General Meeting of Adventis Group plc ('the Group'), PeterMitchell, Chairman of the Group, made the following statement: "In the financial year ending 31 December 2004 Adventis achieved excellentresults, both in its core business and in setting the foundations for aprogramme of strategic growth through the formation of a joint venture and amajor acquisition. On July 1st 2004 Adventis was admitted to AIM and raised anet figure of £2.6 million for the Group to finance an acquisition programme toexpand from predominantly property marketing services into the FinancialServices and Healthcare sectors. In August 2004 the Group announced the formation of Adventis NMG Limited as ajoint venture with NMG Financial Services Consulting Limited. This new ventureis an advertising agency specifically designed to service the Financial Servicessector. Subsequently the acquisition of Affiniti (UK) Ltd, a specialisedhealthcare advertising agency, was completed at the end of the 2004 financialyear. It builds on the foothold the group has already in this profitable marketand is likely to act as a vehicle for all future healthcare activity. On 10 March 2005, the Group announced its maiden preliminary results, which wereahead of expectations. The core business of the Group was underpinned by majorclient wins throughout 2004. Profit before tax increased by 83% to £0.77million on turnover which rose by 32% to £12.09m and the Group had in excess of£3m on deposit. Earnings per share were up 32% at 2.20 pence per share and theCompany announced a total dividend for the year of 0.85 pence per share. The management team evolved during 2004 to meet the new challenges and I joinedthe board as Chairman in April 2004. Each business stream is managed by anexperienced manager who reports directly to the Chief Executive and the Board. We attach great importance to continuity of leadership and are pleased with ourrecord of senior staff retention leading to consistent business growth. As the business expands the Board ensures that new business streams are fullyintegrated into the Group and that, in particular, the financial systems of theGroup are adopted. It is very encouraging to see that cross fertilizationbetween the new and existing companies goes beyond this and that a recentimportant business win by our Healthcare sector agency involved a majorcontribution from the core Adventis creative team. The Group is actively assessing further acquisition opportunities that meet thestated strategy of building a specialised marketing services group. We areparticularly pleased to note that our new media planning and buying company,Adgenda Media Ltd, formed on 30 March 2005, has signed in excess of £5m ofindicative new business for the current financial year from clients such asFairview Homes, Barratt Homes, Durkan Homes, Fairbriar plc and Harrods Estatesand has been profitable from the beginning of trading. The Board continues tobe very demanding of any possible acquisition and a stringent set of managementand financial criteria must be met if any prospect is to be seriouslyconsidered. With regard to current trading our main business sectors - Property, Healthcareand Financial Services - are all influenced by the presently uncertain economicenvironment yet the Group has had significant business wins with clients such asRoche, Barclays Bank, Prudential, Invesco, St James Homes, Grosvenor HouseApartments and Rio Laranga, Algarve. Trading for the current financial period is broadly in line with expectations,given the current economic environment and we continue to identify a number ofpromising new business prospects and acquisition opportunities which we shallpursue. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the directors and staff who haveall contributed to an excellent performance in our first year as a quotedcompany and our shareholders and clients for their continued support and beliefin our business. Details of the further progress made in the current financial year will beprovided in the Group's interim results statement, due to be announced inSeptember 2005." Enquiries: Charles Phillpot, Managing Director Sarah Gestetner, Justin GriffithsAdventis Group plc Citigate Dewe RogersonTel: 020 7034 4750 Tel: 020 7638 9571 Philip Haydn-SlaterWH Ireland LimitedTel: 020 7397 300 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange