AGM Statement

RNS Number : 0048L

SpaceandPeople PLC

29 April 2010

 



29 April 2010

SpaceandPeople plc ("SpaceandPeople" or "the Company")

AGM Statement

At the Annual General Meeting of SpaceandPeople (AIM:SAL), the experiential marketing location and media sales group, at 11 am this morning,  David Henderson-Williams, Chairman, will make the following statement:

"Against the backdrop of a challenging year for the retail sector and a reduction in advertising and marketing spend, the Company was pleased to be able to report in January a strong financial performance for the 12 months ended 31 October 2009. The Company has benefitted from the innovative and hard working approach of management who took the strategic opportunity to add new venues through the downturn as landlords looked to find additional revenue streams as rental growth slowed. This was a highly successful programme, resulting in the enlargement of the portfolio.

A number of targeted sales campaigns resulted in brands switching their advertising and marketing budgets to experiential marketing from other, less measurable media.  The Company believes it offers brand-led businesses a powerful alternative to traditional marketing formats and this has been borne out by the results of 2009 and the strong start to 2010.

Additionally, the Company took the opportunity to restructure the UK team to improve efficiency and reduce overall costs.  The Company now operates with reinforced management support in its centralised base in Glasgow which has had a very positive impact on sales.

The Company's international aspirations have progressed at an encouraging pace. The German business has had a good year with some significant contract wins and is now operating out of an increasing number of venues using an expanded telesales team. In India our associate company has opened further sales offices to meet the strong demand from other regions in India for experiential marketing, and business there is progressing well.

As per the announcement of 18 February 2010, the Company has made a strong start to the new financial year, recording its best first quarter since admission to AIM. This was largely a result of the operational efficiencies commenced in 2009, improved billings, and a freeing up of marketing budgets by larger corporate brands.

Importantly, the Company announced yesterday that it was delighted to have acquired, subject to shareholder approval, Retail Profile Holdings Limited, one of the UK's leading operators of Retail Merchandising Units. This is a transformational deal for the Company and combines two great businesses which will benefit our customers, employees and shareholders. The acquisition is earnings enhancing and cash generative, and we look forward to integrating the two complementary businesses and creating a stronger platform to drive revenue synergies and future growth both in the UK and internationally.

Management is very encouraged by current trading which remains in line with expectations."

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 For further information please contact:

Contact details

SpaceandPeople	0845 241 8215
Matthew Bending, Chief Executive
Pelham Bell Pottinger	020 7337 1512
David Rydell / Kate Catchpole / Francesca Tuckett
Seymour Pierce	020 7107 8000
John Cowie / David Foreman

About SpaceandPeople plc

The Company facilitates and manages promotional space for marketing campaigns in shopping centres and other high footfall locations, such as theme parks and airports. Brands include BT, Hilton, Coca-Cola, Orange, Mazda, Gillette, Siemens, Smirnoff and Pepsi. SpaceandPeople is at the forefront of developing the concept of space as an advertising and promotional medium.  It offers consumer brands the opportunity to promote their products through direct engagement with consumers through a mix of experiential marketing events and complementary above the line advertising and multimedia campaigns. SpaceandPeople offers a comprehensive service covering brokerage, consultancy and venue centric media buying.  SpaceandPeople is independently funded and its shares are admitted to trading on AIM.

 

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