Next Fifteen ahead of forecasts as activity recovers

Next 15 is a family of marketing businesses spanning digital content, PR, consumer, technology, marketing software, market research, public affairs and policy communications.

Together, the company delivers a unique brand of technology-driven marketing.

(, ) said the strong trading that fuelled a 69% surge in interim adjusted pre-tax profit continued into the third quarter.

“We are currently seeing no sign of a slowdown in client demand,” the technology-driven marketing and communications business told investors.

“Despite being against a strong comparable period, we anticipate delivering double-digit organic revenue growth in our second half.

“Our new positioning as a growth consultancy is clearly resonating with our clients and we are confident in a positive financial performance for the rest of the year.”

(, ) expects full-year results will be ahead of previous expectations after a strong second quarter.

Although organic growth is expected to moderate in the second half of the financial year (to end-January 2022), management said organic growth should be ahead of previous guidance. In June, when the marketing group last raised full-year expectations, it said like-for-like revenues should grow by a low double-digit percentage from the year before; the group now expects organic growth to be in the mid-to-high-teens.

() saw growth accelerate in the second quarter and now expects full-year results to be ahead of expectations.

For the three-month period to 30 April 2021, the marketing group’s total revenues were up by roughly 21% compared with the same period last year, with organic revenue growth of 17%. This growth rate has improved since then as the year-on-year comparison takes in the pandemic-affected period of 2020.

On Tuesday morning, AIM 100 digital marketing firm () became the latest ‘buy and build’ star on the junior market to add another brand to its burgeoning portfolio.

The acquisition of consultancy and communications firm Health Unlimited brings the total number of brands under Next’s umbrella to around 20 as it looks to boost growth through a buy and build strategy of acquiring smaller (sometimes referred to as ‘bolt-on’) companies to boost its earnings and corporate footprint.

(, ) has been upgraded by a City broker following interim results, which provided an upbeat assessment of current trading.

Small- and mid-cap specialist Peel Hunt moved to ‘add’ from ‘hold’ as well as increasing its stock valuation to 1,220p from 1,130p.

It also nudged higher its forecasts after for the digital marketing and communications specialist said the momentum it had seen in the six months to June 30 had continued into the third quarter.

() CEO Tim Dyson tells Proactive the group has raised expectations for the current fiscal year after a strong final quarter, the third hike in its current financial year.

Dyson says revenues for the three months to the end of January are expected to be up by roughly 9% year-on-year, citing its strong customer base.

He’s not concerned a post-pandemic world will adversely affect the business because of the expected longevity of its digital and data-driven-focused product offering.