Full Year Trading Update

Mission Group PLC (The)

13 January 2026

 

13 January 2026

The Mission Group plc

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

Full Year Trading Update

Plan for future strategic success underway: agency consolidation

Refreshed Board

The MISSION Group plc (AIM: TMG), provides a trading update in respect of its financial year ended 31 December 2025 ("FY2025").

FY 2025 Trading Update

Since our Interim Results announcement on 23 September 2025 underlying trading has remained resilient across all business segments, with strong Client retention continuing and new business wins across the Group. This has been achieved despite trading conditions remaining challenging.

At the same time, as macroeconomic uncertainty has continued this has impacted certain project completions in some business lines, most noticeably in our integrated consumer marketing agencies. Pipelines remain strong and growing, but completions of certain major projects have carried over from H2 2025 into H1 2026, which has impacted FY2025 revenues. As a consequence, we expect FY2025 revenues to be £68.0m and headline operating profit to be £5.1m, below market expectations¹.

Our balance sheet improved over the year, with net bank debt on 31 December 2025 at £9.0m (31 December 2024: £9.5m). Total debt including outstanding acquisition liabilities at 31 December 2025 is £10.3m, a substantial reduction and improvement on the 31 December 2024 balance of £14.2m following strong cash conversion.

Plan for future strategic success

Following the appointment of John Carey as Chief Executive in September 2025, the Board has undertaken a review of the Group's strategy to position the Company for its next chapter of growth and achieve a positive net cash position.  

As outlined in the Group's Interim Results presentation in September 2025, this review has centred around three key focus areas: simplification, prioritisation and investment. 

As part of the review the Board has assessed the Group's approach to investment in its core strategic assets to ensure that they retain relevance and scale in a fast-evolving marketplace to deliver enhanced, sustained operating margins and cashflows for the Group. 

After assessing the existing structure of the Group through this lens and working closely with agency leadership teams, the Group is rationalising its B2C and B2B advertising agencies and will consolidate capabilities and leadership across these. Simultaneously, the Group will also consolidate the capabilities of its Sports Marketing and Events businesses under one leader. 

This simplified structure alongside our continued investment in AI will unlock significant opportunities, broaden geographic reach, enable more effective deployment of talent and investment, and improved delivery for Clients.

Annualised cost savings of between £1.5m and £2m are expected, with operational efficiencies achieved through shared infrastructure, streamlined processes, and the consolidation of office and technology platforms. 

Notice of FY25 Results

The Board expects to announce Full Year results on 24 March 2026.

PLC Board

As announced separately this morning, the Group is pleased to welcome Jon Kempster and Emma Wright as Non-Executive Directors of the Group, effective 1 February 2026. Alongside the recent appointment of Claudine Collins as a Non-Executive Director they bring vast experience and expertise in their respective fields, with extensive Boardroom experience and leadership in emerging technology such as AI.

Jon will also take over as Audit Committee Chair, replacing Mark Lund OBE who will step down from the Board, effective today. These appointments complete the strengthening and refreshment of our PLC Board.

Change in accounting reference date

The Group's business activities and revenues are weighted towards the second half of the calendar year and particularly the final quarter. After engagement with certain Shareholders and having considered our internal processes, the Board has decided to change the accounting reference date to achieve a more balanced first half and second half weighting. Accordingly, the Group's next financial year (which would otherwise end on 31 December 2026), will be reduced by three months to 30 September 2026. The changes to the Company's reporting timetable are set out in the appendix below.

John Carey, MISSION'S Chief Executive, commented:

"As widely reported across the industry, trading remained challenging in Q4 and I would like to thank all of our people for their continued commitment to delivering for our Clients.

We have not been immune from the impact of uncertainty on Client decision-making, which impacted our FY2025 result. But I am encouraged by the resilience of our underlying performance and the outcomes of our strategy review as we look into 2026 and beyond.

The actions we have taken to significantly simplify the structure are an exciting first step in the next phase of the Group's growth and we look forward to providing further updates in due course. The management team and Board are laser focused on unlocking the growth potential in the Group."

1.     For the purpose of this announcement, the Group believes market consensus for FY25 to be revenues of £73.0 million and operating profit of £8.5 million.

2.     Headline results are calculated before acquisition and disposal adjustments, start-up costs, goodwill and business impairment, bank refinancing, equity placing and restructuring costs.

Inside Information: This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

ENDS

John Carey, Chief Executive Giles Lee, Chief Financial Officer	Via Houston
The MISSION Group PLC
Simon Bridges/Andrew Potts/Harry Rees
Canaccord Genuity Limited (Financial Adviser, Nominated Adviser and Broker)	020 7523 8000
Peter Tracey Blackdown Partners Limited (Financial Adviser)	020 3807 8484
Kate Hoare/Charlie Barker Houston PR	077 3303 2695 / 0204 529 0549
E: [e-mail]

NOTES TO EDITORS  

The MISSION Group Plc. is the Alternative Group for Ambitious Brands. 

Delivering measurable, results-driven campaigns as the preferred creative partner for real business growth. We offer top-tier agencies, strategic specialisms and global reach delivering outstanding performance for brands. We call it Work That Counts™ www.themission.co.uk   

Appendix - Change of Accounting Reference Date

As a result of the change in the Group's accounting reference date, the Group's financial year will now end on 30 September annually, with its reporting timetable as follows:

·    publication of audited annual financial statements for the 12-month period to 31 December 2025, by no later than 30 June 2026;

·    publication of unaudited interim accounts for the 6-month period to 30 June 2026, by no later than 30 September 2026;

·    publication of audited annual financial statements for the 9-month period to 30 September 2026, by no later than 30 March 2027;

·    publication of unaudited interim accounts for the 6-month period to 31 March 2027, by no later than 30 June 2027; and

·    publication of audited annual financial statements for the 12-month period to 30 September 2027, by no later than 31 March 2028.

From then, annual and interim results will be published each year for the 12 months to 30 September and 6 months to 31 March, respectively.

 

END