Ascential unveils £850m shareholder payout following £1.2b divestments of Digital Commerce and WGSN
- FTSE 250 firm Ascential has seen its share price rise by more than 20% in the past year
Ascension shares rose on Thursday after the events group unveiled an £850m capital return to shareholders after beating analyst forecasts for last year.
The capital return, which will be achieved through a combination of an offer, special dividend and market buyback programs, will be funded by the £1.2 billion sale of Digital Commerce and WGSN completed since the end of the year.
FTSE 250-listed Ascential, a specialist in business-to-business exhibitions and festivals, said it would pay a special dividend of at least £450m.
This is expected to be announced following the completion of a public takeover bid and accompanied by a share consolidation.
On the rise: Shares in London-listed exhibitions and festivals specialist Ascential have risen more than 20% in the past year
There will be a public offer to acquire up to £300 million of Ascential shares, with the price range to be finalized at the time of the publication of the shareholder circular.
The board expects the top end of this range to be no greater than 331p, which represents a 10 percent premium to the closing price of 301p on March 20, 2023.
Ascential said revenue from continuing operations rose 13 percent to £206.4 million last year, with strong growth marketing offsetting a 1 percent increase in financial technology.
Adjusted profit before nasties for the year stood at £56.4 million, up 17 percent on the previous year, supported by a 1.2 percentage point increase in margins to 27.3 percent.
The group said operating costs will be 50 percent lower from this year than in 2023, at £13 million per year.
Boss Philip Thomas said: ‘Following our strategic review, Ascential is now a focused, events-focused business with a compelling strategic framework, built around two of the world’s leading events platforms.
‘The sale of Digital Commerce and WGSN announced in October 2023 has given us the opportunity to return to our shareholders a value equal to nearly 90 percent of Ascential’s pre-announcement market capitalization, and our shareholders now also own a company that our leading events are central and sole focus.’
Shares in the group rose 3.65 per cent or 11.00p to 312.00p on Thursday afternoon, having risen more than 20 per cent in the past year.