AGM Statement

17 May 2005 09:30

CSS Stellar PLC17 May 2005 CSS StellarAGM Statement17 May 2005 CSS Stellar plc, the global entertainment and sports management and marketinggroup, held its Annual General meeting at 9.30am today at which time JohnWebber, Chairman, updated shareholders on current trading. "Overall trading across the Group in the first four months of this year wasbroadly in line with the Board's expectations. The Events and Talent Managementdivisions performed in line with the Events Division having a particularly goodstart to the year and performing well above expectations. The MarketingDivision has had a mixed start to the year with some offices ahead of theirprojected budgets and some below. Our Events division secured a number of lucrative new contracts during the firstquarter. These included the signage contract for the new BMW Championship golfat Wentworth. It was also an extremely busy period involving our work onLondon's 2012 Olympic bid and we eagerly anticipate the announcement by the IOCin July. We are also completing our fifth successful year of giving the UEFAChampions League its unique and distinctive stadium look. Our Talent Management division is showing strong signs of growth. Long termclients, Michael Parkinson and Anne Robinson continue to be in great demand fromthe major TV networks while newer clients include Piers Morgan, who is enjoyingnewfound success as a television presenter. Writer and actor, Meera Syal iscelebrating the success of her latest venture "Life isn't all Ha Ha Hee Hee"which she wrote and now stars in on BBC. Ricky Gervais has teamed up withStephen Merchant writing, directing and starring in Extras, a new comedy aimedat both the UK and American markets. On the sports side we have recently secured legendary Indian batsman SachinTendulkar as a client. Andrea Dovizioso has followed his 125cc WorldChampionship by taking the lead in this season's 250cc World Championship. Inthe US, Dan Wheldon has won three out of the first four races of the IRL seasonand leads the Championship. Rally driver Sebastien Loeb is currently leading theWorld Rally Championship. Our Marketing Division has achieved some successes. We are continuing to expandour work for global clients such as UBS, B&Q, 3M and Vodafone. This is an areawhere we are beginning to reap the benefits of our Global network and are ableto offer clients in Europe and America a wider offering in terms ofinternational presence and expertise. We have also recently secured newcontracts from Engage and Sportsmatch in the UK and GE Lighting in the US. Our central overhead costs have been further reduced in the early part of 2005and further rationalization and savings are in place. The Board will continueto look at ways of maximizing shareholder value and this may involve thedisposal of non-strategic assets." For further information please contact: CSS Stellar Tel: 020 7078 1400 Sean Kelly, Group Chief Executive Kevin Rose, Group Finance Director Buchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000 Bobby Morse/Rebecca Sky Dietrich This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange