Ascential slumps as Money 20/20 China event deferred
Shares of Ascential slumped on Friday after it said the Money 20/20 China event had been deferred and would not take place this year.
Ascential
311.80p
15:25 25/04/24
FTSE 250
19,593.12
15:25 25/04/24
FTSE 350
4,426.60
15:25 25/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,380.44
15:25 25/04/24
Media
11,669.81
15:24 25/04/24
"The decision to defer Money20/20 China has been taken in light of a short-term hiatus for international companies in the Chinese Fintech market, arising from a combination of macro-economic trends and changes in local market dynamics including significant changes in the peer-to-peer lending sector (an important revenue source in 2018)," it said.
It said management intends to return the event to Hangzhou in China in due course "when market conditions are conducive to a high quality event that befits its importance".
The 2018 edition of Money20/20 China generated £2.5m of revenue. Ascential said the one-off costs relating to Money20/20 China are not expected to impact adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 2019 by more than £1.5m.
Broker Liberum said that while the news is "unarguably negative", the impact on group revenues and profits is "negligible".
At 1015 BST, the shares were down 5.6% at 343.17p.