30 September 2019

LIVE COMPANY GROUP PLC

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

HALF-YEARLY RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2019

Live Company Group Plc (AIM: LVCG), a leading live events and entertainment group, announces its half-yearly results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2019.

Highlights

·        Revenue for the first six months was £2.0m (1H 2018 £2.8m), in line with expectations

·        Full year results weighted to second half, with majority of the larger BRICKLIVE shows, including the Group UK flagship show at the NEC, held in the second half of 2019

-   Revenue of £4.8m for 2019 already secured from shows and builds, with a further £0.4m of fixed fee contracts for 2019 currently out for near term signature. This excludes the majority of revenues from the Group's flagship NEC show and other upcoming BRICKLIVE shows for 2019 where the Group receives a share of the profits

·        Group has been trading EBITDA profitably since Q2 and in line with expectations

·        The Group has good visibility going forward, with a strong pipeline of events, with forward contracted sales of £2.3m for 2020 and £0.75m for 2021 already in place

·        63 events secured for 2019, against a projected target of 60, with further events expected to be contracted before the year end

·        The Group has invested heavily in expanding its asset base in the year to date and, with the integration of Bright Bricks, the Group now has

-   Increased the number of touring shows from 9 to 15, ahead of schedule, expanding the Group's ability to host multiple shows and events at the same time

-   Approximately 850 brick-based models across the Group

·        The Group has secured multi-year contracts with

-   Nickelodeon UK Limited to provide themed tours associated with the Nickelodeon brand, including the Nick Jr. brand in UK and Ireland, with the first BRICKLIVE Paw Patrol tour launched at the end of August 2019

-   Snowman Enterprises Limited, part of Penguin Random House, to produce a themed tour of The Snowman and The Snowdog

·        The appointment of Mark Freebairn to the Board as an independent Non-executive Director, with effect from 1 October 2019

Investor Meeting and Call

Following release of the interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019, the Company will host an investor meeting at Shard Capital LLP's offices at 10 Hill Street, London, W1J 5NG at 11.00 a.m. today. Investors who are unable to attend the meeting in person will be able to join the meeting via teleconference. Investors wishing to attend the meeting and or join via teleconference, should register their interest at info@livecompanygroup.com.

David Ciclitira, Chairman, said: "2019 has seen us invest in expanding our asset base to enable us to host multiple shows and events across numerous locations and geographies at any one time, providing the foundations for long term sustainable growth in the business.

This has enabled us to have already exceed our target of 60 events for 2019, having already hosted BRICKLIVE events in China, Japan, South Korea, America, Germany and the UK, with a very busy end to the year ahead. We have also secured international IP partners such as Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Snowman Enterprises and established new partners in Europe, and America and I'm delighted with the progress that has been made in the year to date.

We have made multiple new appointments over the last 12 months and I am pleased to welcome Mark Freebairn to the Board as an independent Non-executive Director who joins us tomorrow.

I'm very excited about the opportunities that the remainder of 2019 and 2020 will bring and, with the Group trading in line with expectations, I'm confident for the overall outcome for 2019."

Enquiries:

Live Company Group Plc                                                                          Tel: 020 7225 2000

Ruth Cunningham, Chief Operating Officer

Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser)                                        Tel: 020 7409 3494

Stuart Faulkner / Richard Tulloch / James Dance

Shard Capital Partners LLP (Broker)                                                      Tel: 020 7186 9952

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.

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

The first nine months have been a time of significant growth and activity in every area of the Group.

I'm delighted to report the full operational integration of Bright Bricks Holdings Limited ("Bright Bricks") into the Group has now completed and our internal processes have been streamlined. The Board believes that following the integration of Bright Bricks, the Group is now one of the largest and most significant brick-based companies in the world.

The acquisition of Bright Bricks also provided the Group with security of bricks supply, enhanced speed to market and increased competitive advantage whilst raising barriers to entry. Following the fundraise in February 2019, this has enabled us to rapidly grow and expand our asset base, and I'm pleased to announce that we have already hit our target of 15 touring shows for 2019 and are now seeking to have 16 touring shows in place by the year end. This further expands our offering and enables us to host multiple shows and events at any one time.

We have also continued to build our pipeline of events and shows and I am pleased to announce that we have also now exceed our target of 60 BRICKLIVE events in 2019, with 63 BRICKLIVE events now scheduled to be held in 2019 and more are expected.

This provides us with significant visibility for the year and currently we have booked revenues of £4.8m for 2019 from shows and builds, with a further £0.4m of fixed fee contracts for 2019 out for near term signature, and with income from BRICKLIVE events, such as our flagship UK event at the NEC, to come, we are confident for the outcome of 2019.

We have developed new partnerships, announcing AWC AG in Germany, Imagine Exhibitions in USA and Pal Expo in Geneva. We have also created new partnerships with global IP partners this year including Nickelodeon UK Limited and Snowman Enterprises Limited, part of the Penguin Random House group of companies, we also have good visibility for forward sales in 2020 and 2021.

I'm delighted that our network of global partners continues to grow from strength to strength which is a testament to the BRICKLIVE brand, and we continue to seek to expand the number, quality and depth of relationship with our partners.

The Company is also in advanced discussions with the Bright Brick vendors regarding the deferred consideration due in October 2019, relating to the Bright Brick acquisition completed in October 2018, being settled through the issue of new ordinary shares and we will keep shareholders updated in this regard.

Asia

Asia continues to deliver its target and in spite of tough conditions, continues to perform in line with expectations. After the successful launch of BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise in the Birds Nest, Beijing, we have started to launch touring shows in Asia which have included models from our BRICKLIVE Brickosaurs collection in the New Yansha Mall and BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise in Niigata, Japan, where visitor numbers exceeded expectations with 19,000 attending the event.

We were also pleased to announce a three-year agreement with BRICKLIVE Korea Co., Ltd, to exhibit a new touring show each year and the first show will be Mythical Beasts exhibited later in 2019.

Europe

2019 has seen significant growth in the Group's activities in Europe.

During the October half term, there will be four BRICKLIVE Shows running simultaneously across Europe over a two week period and will take place in the NEC, Birmingham (UK); Liverpool (UK); Brussels (Brussels); and Geneva (Switzerland). In addition, we will be launching BRICKLIVE Brickosaurs in Cologne, Germany.

I believe that this is an incredible milestone for the Group and demonstrates the significant growth trajectory in building the European network over the last 12 months and demonstrates the popularity and demand for the BRICKLIVE brand. The Group will work to identify suitable partners to further expand our European network.

North America and South America 

In January 2019, we staged a BRICKLIVE Show in Dallas, Texas in partnership with Live Nation and the Dallas Cowboys, the Group's first BRICKLIVE Show in the US which was a huge success. We also recently announced a new partnership with Imagine Exhibitions, an established global travelling entertainment exhibitor to help expand our touring presence in this market.

The Group has also seen the expansion of the BRICKLIVE Zoo programme with BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise launched in Brookfield Zoo, Chicago in May 2019 before making its journey to New England Zoo in Boston, Massachusetts. Alongside this, we also attended the American Zoos and Aquarium Association with Imagine Exhibitions in September 2019 and following the event, I am delighted to report that we have secured a contract for 2020 with John Ball Zoo in Michigan and discussions are ongoing with other zoos and aquariums for 2020 and 2021.

In 2020, we expect America to be a significant growth area as we have a clear and focussed strategy to expand the BRICKLIVE brand. As a result of this North America focus, the Board has decided to put a hold on activity in South America for the time being. Instead those assets currently in South America will be redeployed to North America to assist with our North American expansion programme.

UK

In April 2019, we announced that we would be managing, operating and self-promoting the Group's flagship BRICKLIVE show at the NEC, Birmingham for the first time. We are delighted to announce that Nickelodeon, one of our flagship IP partners, will become the show's sponsor.

The BRICKLIVE Show will feature brand new content and interactive features, launching at the NEC and will, therefore, set the benchmark for future BRICKLIVE shows. I would like to welcome any shareholder and their family to the event - all enquiries should be directed to info@livecompanygroup.com.

We have also launched a BRICKLIVE Show in Aberdeen and will shortly be launching a BRICKLIVE Show in Liverpool bringing the total number of BRICKLIVE shows in the UK to three and I would expect this to grow in 2020.

We are delighted that our touring shows including the BRICKLIVE Zoo programme is going from strength to strength, having successfully launched new shows this year which included BRICKLIVE Brickosaurs in Marwell Zoo and BRICKLIVE Ocean in Edinburgh Zoo. We expect the touring shows and the BRICKLIVE Zoo programme to grow in 2019 and 2020 as the pipeline of enquires remains strong as demonstrated by the forward sales achieved so far. We have also launched the hugely successful BRICKLIVE Paw Patrol tour in Blackburn in August 2019 and it will be visiting venues in 2019 and 2020.

Appointments and Corporate Governance

Strand Hanson was appointed as the Company's Nominated Advisor in January 2019.

We have strengthened our Board with the announcement today of our appointment of Mark Freebairn as a Non-Executive Director. Mark has significant experience with AIM quoted companies and following his appointment, which is effective as of the 1 October 2019. Mark will also sit on the Remuneration Committee. Serenella Ciclitira will step down from the Remuneration Committee and I would like to thank her for her services and contribution to the Committee.

We have also strengthened the Group's senior management team with the appointment of Andy Smith as BRICKLIVE Group Deputy Chairman, having until recently been on the Group Board. Jon Gayton as Managing Director of BRICKLIVE International and Snehal Lakani as Group Financial Controller to the Group's Executive Board. Snehal has a wealth of experience in an AIM quoted company.

The Group has undertaken an entire review of the operating costs and implemented cost saving measures to deliver efficiencies. We are continually reviewing the Group's operating costs to maximise returns and deliver value for our shareholders.

With effect from today, I have decided to forgo my rental agreement for the use of my premises, which relate to the use of my home as the Company's London office as well as the use of my property in Italy. The Group will still have access to both properties as and when required.

Outlook

2019 has been a year of significant investment and we are now seeing the fruits of our hard work, with 63 BRICKLIVE events already scheduled for 2019 and more to follow, and a strong pipeline for 2020 and beyond and we look forward to continuing to develop our relationships and offering with our partners and clients.

With results very much weighted to the second half of 2019, the Board remains confident for the outcome for the remainder of 2019 and with a strong and growing pipeline for 2020, we look forward to keeping shareholders updated on our continued progress.

Finally, I would personally like to thank all of our staff, advisors, shareholders and others who have supported me and the Group over the last year.

David Ciclitira

Chairman

29 September 2019

Number of BRICLIVE events/shows scheduled for 2019

Number of Touring Shows

Number of Models

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER UPDATE 

Revenue and operations

I am pleased to report that first half revenues and EBITDA for 2019 were in line with expectations. Following completion of the integration of Bright Bricks in the first half of 2019 and the upward growth curve of the Group, revenue and profits will be heavily weighted to the second half of the year. The Group continues to trade in line with budget as the number of shows and events continues to grow.

As of the date of this report, the Group has already secured revenues of £4.8m for 2019 from shows and builds, with a further £0.4m of contracts for 2019 out for near term signature. Taking into account revenues from our shows in which we participate in the profits, as opposed to receiving a fixed fee, which includes the Group's flagship show at the NEC in October 2019, the Board is confident for the outcome for 2019.

Amounts invoiced in advance of being released to the income statement amounted to £1.67m as at 30 June 2019. This is an increase of £1.0m compared to 31 December 2018.

When compared to the first half of 2018, revenues are down approximately £0.8m, primarily as a result of an unusually high sale in the first half of 2018 relating to Animal Paradise in China, amounting to US$0.8m in respect of upfront content fee. Of the three year contract, US$1.6m related to sale of content, which was received in full during 2018, and US$1.5m related to annual licence fees to be received over the three year term.

EBITDA

In line with projections, EBITDA for the first six months amounted to a loss of £482,000.

A reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to profit for the period is provided as follows:

Operating expenses

The absorption of Bright Bricks Limited into the Group had a significant impact on overheads, increasing to £1.9m (1H 2018: £1.4m). The Group is continuing to identify efficiencies and is actively streamlining processes to reduce overheads.

As of 24 September, the Group had £140,000 of available cash.

Bryan Lawrie

Chief Financial Officer

29 September 2019 

Unaudited condensed consolidated income statement for half year to 30 June 2019