Ascential shares exhibit growth on break-up plan
EVENTS group Ascential is plotting to break up its business in a move that could see its digital arm listed in the US.
Shares in the FTSE250 exhibition organiser surged 2.1pc, or 7p, to 338p after it entered the ‘early stages’ of considering a demerger that would separate certain assets of its business.
It came amid growing speculation that the company wants to stay listed in London but move its digital operations to New York, which could see its stock market rating rise. Ascential, which owns the Cannes Lions advertising festival, said in a statement that the plans remained ‘exploratory’ at this stage.
The company, which is valued at £1.49bn, last month published its results for 2021 and saw revenues climb up to £349.3m from £229.9m in 2020.
And digital commerce, the fastest growing area of the business, soared by a third despite Ascential suffering a continued operating loss of £26.7m.
Roddy Davidson, analyst at the broker Shore Capital, said that the ‘well-managed’ company has an ‘increasingly compelling digital commerce offering and the potential for its marketing division to bounce back strongly’.
He added: ‘Our estimates suggest that, taken together Digital Commerce and Product Design businesses will account for around 70pc of group revenue during the current year and generate 30pc year-over-year revenue growth.’
The FTSE 100 slid 0.7pc, or 51.25 points, at 7618.31 and the FTSE 250 was down 0.3pc, or 59.24 points, to 21115.08.
The blue-chip index saw the life insurance firm Prudential fall back 4pc, or 43.5p, to 1059p as factory-gate and consumer prices in China soared.
Fellow FTSE 100-listed company Reckitt Benckiser, which makes Durex condoms and Strepsils throat lozenges, was also down 1.1pc, or 68p, to 5890p.
But defence giant BAE was the top climber. Its shares were up 2.9pc, or 21.4p, to 765p.
In the second-tier, engineer group John Wood rose the highest – 12.7pc, or 19.6p, to 174.45p – after confirming its full-year results for 2021 would be published on April 20. The company was forced to delay posting its annual results in February following a £77m charge on one of its projects.
John Wood said that the underlying results for 2021 remain in line with the guidance provided at the start of this year.
Russian gold mining company Petropavlovsk saw its shares surge 6.4pc, or 0.18p, to 2.98p after announcing it had appointed Roman Deniskin as independent non-executive director with immediate effect.
In 2018, Deniskin briefly served as the chief executive officer and director of the company. He takes over from Natalia Yakovleva, who last week resigned from the board, having joined in December 2021.
While Petropavlovsk continues to remain on the London Stock Exchange, there have been calls for all Russian firms to be delisted following the war in Ukraine.
Mining company Glencore surged above its initial public offering (IPO) price of 530p for the first time since its IPO in 2011 yesterday, but then fell back later in the day to close down 1.4pc, or 7.6p, at 520.4p.
Meanwhile, online electrical goods retailer Marks Electrical Group saw its shares rise 3.2pc, or 3p, to 98p after posting record annual revenue in a trading update for the 12 months to the end of March 2022.
A strong demand for domestic appliances saw the AIM-listed company, which was floated in November, deliver a record fullyear revenue of £80.5m, up 44pc from £56m in 2021.