The Mission Marketing Group plc 

Trading update, Board changes and Notice of results

The Mission Marketing Group plc ('the mission^tm' or "the Company", AIM: TMMG), the technology-embraced marketing communications and advertising group, today issues a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2017.

Trading update

We are delighted to report that 2017 has been another year of growth, and results for the year are expected to be in line with market expectations. We expect revenue to be 6% ahead of last year, reflecting like-for-like growth of almost 4% and the first contribution from our 2017 acquisition, RJW & Partners. Headline profit before tax** is expected to be 10% higher, at £7.7m, representing the seventh consecutive year of growth.

2017 was an exceptional year for working capital reductions and the year ended with a net bank debt position below £7.5m, materially better than market expectations. The ratio of net bank debt to EBITDA has accordingly reduced below x1.0, thereby triggering a 0.5% reduction in interest rates on the Group's debt facilities from this month.

Board changes

Last year we announced our ambition to improve our headline operating profit margins from 11.5% to 14% by March 2020. One of the initiatives we identified to help us achieve this was increased centralisation of a number of back-office functions and, to oversee it and identify further cost saving opportunities, we have appointed Giles Lee, currently an Executive Director and Chairman of Bray Leino, as Commercial Director.

Separately, non-executive director Christopher Morris has advised the Company of his intention to retire from the Board during 2018. He has kindly agreed to stay on, including fulfilling his duties as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and member of the Audit Committee, until a successor is appointed.

Notice of results

The Company expects to announce its preliminary results on 10 April 2018.

David Morgan, Chairman, commented: "Despite some ongoing market challenges, our Group performed strongly in 2017. Our increased use of proprietary technology-enabled systems has strengthened the depth and breadth of service that we bring to our Clients and has added significant value to what we do for them. Alongside our drive to identify operating efficiencies, embracing technology will improve our margins and continue to fuel our core growth through 2018.

"I cannot thank Chris Morris enough for his unstinting support and contribution over many years and especially in steering us through the major restructure in 2010 that has provided the platform from which today's Group now prospers. I am also delighted to say that, while retiring from the Board, Chris has agreed to take on some ongoing consultancy work for the Group as well as continuing to mentor key people and Chair our PR Agency."

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** Headline profits are calculated before losses from start-up activities, acquisition adjustments and exceptional restructuring costs, expected to total approximately £1.9m in 2017 (2016: £1.2m). Losses from start-up activities are expected to be lower than in 2016 whilst acquisition adjustments are expected to be higher, as estimates of future acquisition payments have increased. In addition, and as flagged last March, restructuring costs of £0.6m were incurred in 2017 (2016: nil) as part of our streamlining of activities to help drive improvement in profit margins.

the mission^tm is a network of entrepreneurial marketing communications Agencies employing 1,000 people in the UK, Asia and US. The Group comprises three divisions: Integrated Generalists, Sector Specialists and Activity Specialists, which work together to provide Clients with the expertise and resource to make them more successful in today's dynamic environment.

www.themission.co.uk