Quarterly Operational Update

RNS Number : 1840S

Live Company Group PLC

07 July 2020

 

7 July 2020

LIVE COMPANY GROUP PLC

("LVCG", the "Company" or the "Group")

Quarterly Operational update

Live Company Group plc (AIM: LVCG) provides the following operational update for Q2.

Overview

· Significant cost saving initiatives delivered during the quarter

· BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise now open at John Bull Zoo, Michigan, BRICKLIVE Supersized now open at Marwell Zoo and BRICKLIVE Ocean opening at Bristol Zoo Gardens soon. Banham Zoo with our BRICKLIVE Big Cats due to open at the end of July

· New contracts agreed for BRICKLIVE Ocean at the Da Vinci Science Centre, Pennsylvania and for Paw Patrol at the Odysseum, Köln

· Working Capital of £1.0m (net) raised from loans and equity during the quarter

New Contracts and H1 revenues

The Company is pleased to announce two new contracts one for the Da Vinci Science Centre in Pennsylvania where our BrickLive Ocean will be displayed and one for the Odysseum museum in Köln in Germany where our Paw Patrol tour will be until August 2020.

As previously announced, the Company was beginning to demonstrate strong growth in Q1 but this fell rapidly away in March as the effects of the COVID-19 measures began to take hold with unprecedented trading conditions to follow. With the closure of all Zoos, exhibition centres and retail hubs globally Q2 was understandably a challenging quarter for the Company and this was reflected in revenues although they have been building over the quarter. Overall, the cost reductions set out below, have mitigated the decrease in revenue.

A number of events booked for Q2 have naturally been postponed to the second half of 2020 and the first half of 2021 as a result of COVID-19.

However, green shoots are now emerging globally, with Zoos, exhibition centres and retail hubs reopening and the Company looks forward to updating shareholders in due course as new contracts are agreed and trading hopefully returns to normal.

Cost Saving Initiatives

In order to mitigate the impact on the Group of Covid -19, and the measures taken to contain it, the Group has:

· Identified total savings of £2.1m of overheads and other operating costs against the original budget for the year.

· Made further use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough 61 out of our total 77 staff, with different staff being furloughed in different groups at different times up to the end of June.

· Extended the temporary 50% pay cut for staff earning above the £2,500 furlough scheme cut-off until the end of June. This includes all senior management and Directors with the decrease in pay being made up with the issue of shares in the Company.

· Some part-time staff continued to be paid exclusively in shares

· Unfortunately, it has also been necessary to make a total of 29 redundancies across the Group, this represents an annualised saving of £0.7m (net of associated costs).

Increase in working capital

As previously announced the Company has also increased its working capital over the quarter with:

· £0.25m loan from NatWest under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

· £0.5m loan from Chairman David Ciclitira and;

· Raised £0.4 million gross (approximately £0.36 million net) via a placing

Existing Warrants Instrument

As announced on 26 June 2020 the Company was considering making proposals to existing warrant holders to place these on similar terms. The Company can now confirm that it is, via its corporate broker Shard Capital, consulting existing warrant holders, excluding David Ciclitira and Mark Freebairn  who are recused from the consultation and will provide further detail as to the result in due course.

David Ciclitira, Chairman of LVCG said : "Q2 has been an extremely challenging quarter for all companies that have been involved in the sector with a global shutdown of all events, zoos and exhibition centres. The board and the executive team used this time to review our business model, reduce costs and I believe we have emerged stronger and leaner with a core team of highly motivated individuals who are absolutely committed  to take advantage of the green shoots emerging globally as the we come out of lockdown.

Over recent weeks the conversations with existing and new clients and partners have been extremely positive and I look forward to updating shareholders in due course. "

Enquiries:

Live Company Group Plc     Tel: [phone]

Sarah Ullman , Chief Operating Officer

Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)    Tel: [phone]

Roland Cornish/Rosalind Hill Abrahams   

Shard Capital Partners LLP (Broker)   Tel: [phone]

Damon Heath

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

LIVE COMPANY GROUP

Live Company Group plc ("LVCG", the "Company" or the "Group") is a live events and entertainment Company, founded by David Ciclitira in December 2017.  The Company was admitted to trading on AIM in December 2017, following the reverse acquisition of Brick Live Group and Parallel Live Group by LVCG.

The Group is a network of partner-driven fan-based shows using BRICKLIVE created content worldwide.  The Company owns the rights to BRICKLIVE - an interactive experience built around the creative ethos of the world's most popular construction toy bricks.  BRICKLIVE, which is fast becoming a leading children's education and entertainment brand, actively encourages all to learn, build and play, and provides inspirational events and shows where like-minded fans can push the boundaries of their creativity.  Bright Bricks is the Group's production centre for building brick based models.  The Group is an independent producer of BRICKLIVE and is not associated with the LEGO Group.

Website: www.livecompanygroup.com .

 

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