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LONDON, January 30, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
30 January 2025
Next 15 Group plc ("Next 15" or the "Group")
Trading update
Next 15 delivers reshaped business, increases AI product focus to drive growth
Next 15 Group plc, the tech and data-driven growth consultancy, today provides an update on trading for the year ending 31 January 2025.
Profits are expected to be at the bottom of analyst expectations1. The Group has seen an encouraging uptick in new business wins in the latter half of the current financial year, the impact of which will come through in the new financial year. The balance sheet is healthy, and the Group anticipates its year-end net debt will be less than half of the Group’s adjusted EBITDA.
Tim Dyson, CEO of Next 15 said: "The Group is excited about the year ahead. We have undergone a lot of change in the last 12 months. We have made, and will continue to make, some important investments, most notably in AI. These will set us up well to deliver growth in the medium term. Our Group is evolving, with a series of steps underway to simplify and strengthen the business, while retaining the specialist model that sets us apart."
Reshaped business
Over the last six months the Group has continued to review operations to focus on meeting customer needs while driving efficiency that can fund further investment. Restructuring across the Group will deliver net annualised savings of approximately £40m, of which £14m relates to employees previously engaged within Mach49. Of the residual £26m saving, approximately £9m will have been realised in the current financial year. As a result of this work, the Group expects to post exceptional redundancy costs of approximately £15m in its results for the year to 31 January 2025.
Investment in AI-driven product enhancements/customer experience
In the coming year, the Group will increase AI investment by £5m and will make investments in other areas that it believes will support its medium to long-term growth. In 2024 we launched the Marker Collective which brings together our tech-focused communications brands Archetype, Outcast and Nectar as a simplified platform business that shares common product and back-office capabilities. Marker recently launched its first AI-powered product, Delve, to the market and will introduce more new products in 2025. This year we also expect to launch our new B2B tech marketing business. This will be built on a set of next generation AI-powered tools and data. In addition, we continue to invest in a number of new initiatives in the Group’s retail media specialist, SMG, including the expansion of its US business and a range of products for mid and top tier retailers.