Proactive Investors - Next 15 Group PLC (LON:NFG) crashed by almost 50% as it warned subsidiary Mach49 had lost its contract with its largest customer.
In a statement, the marketing group said the contract had not been renewed after its initial three-year term and would now end on 31 December 2024.
Next 15 had been expecting £80 million in revenues from the contract in 2026.
As a result, forecasts for the financial year to 31 January 2026 have been 'materially reduced', though in some consolation Next 15 said the earnout obligation to Mach49’s owners would now also go down.
AIM-listed Next 15 added it was also suffering from lower marketing spending by tech firms across the ad space plus a reduction in revenues from its public sector clients.
With the Mach 49 contract ending before the last month, January 2025, revenue this fiscal year will also be lower than planned and profits to be materially below management expectations.
Following the statement, shares in the acquisitive group that at its peak was likened to a mini-WPP tumbled 413p to 415p.
That compares to 1,304p early in 2022 and just before it made an abortive bid to acquire ad agency M&C Saatchi.