Trading Statement

Trading Statement

Next Fifteen Communications Plc

Next Fifteen Communications Group plc

Trading Update

Next Fifteen Communications Group plc ("Next Fifteen" or "the Group"), the international public relations consultancy group is issuing a pre-close trading update ahead of its preliminary results for the year ended 31 July 2009.

Next Fifteen is pleased to report that its top line reported revenues will be ahead of expectations as 463 Communications LLC , a 40% owned subsidiary entity, will now be fully consolidated within the Group results in accordance with IFRS. Excluding this, underlying revenues will be in line with expectations. Adjusted profit before income tax for the period is also expected to be in line with market expectations prior to the inclusion of certain one-off costs including, aborted deal costs relating to a target in China and the takeover approaches received earlier this year, higher than anticipated restructuring charges and the movement in the fair value of financial instruments, referred to at the half year.

Separately, the Group has today announced the acquisition of M Booth & Associates, a leading New York based consumer and B2B agency whose clients include Unilever, Remy Cointreau USA and JC Penney (see separate announcement). This agency had revenues of $10.4m and profit before tax of $1.0m for the year ended 31 December 2008, with net assets of $4.3m at 31 December 2008.

The Group will see some further restructuring in the early part of the 2009/10 year following the loss of Sun Microsystems as a client after it was recently acquired by Oracle; however the costs will be substantially lower than those in the current year. In addition, the Group has chosen not to renew its hedging contracts that lead to the large currency losses in the current year. The combination of these factors and the addition of M Booth, should see the Group achieve operational progress in the new financial year.

Will Whitehorn, Chairman of Next Fifteen, said:

"The market during the first quarter of this calendar year was very tough as sales by all the major technology companies were under pressure. However, since then we have seen budgets stabilize and we are cautiously optimistic about our prospects for the coming year. The Group continues to benefit from its strong reputation in social media, this combined with the Group’s strategy of acquiring compatible firms to strengthen our role as an independent public relations group, gives good reason for this optimism. I’m therefore particularly pleased to see the addition of M Booth, as this should enable us to expand our existing client relationships over time through the addition of sophisticated consumer PR services.”

For further information, please contact:

Next Fifteen Communications Group plc	Â
Tim Dyson, Chief Executive		[phone]
David Dewhurst, Finance Director		[phone]
		Â
Canaccord Adams Limited
Mark Williams Adria Da Breo Richards		[phone]