Main Web Site : http://www.firstartist.com/index.asp

20th June 2007 Broker Note : http://www.esnips.com/web/PPOtherStuff/


Major News/Events :

Trading Update July 2007


First Artist Corporation plc, is one of the worlds leading integrated marketing, sport and entertainment management businesses. Our companies are recognised experts in entertainment and sport representation, wealth and media management, advertising and events, and the complementary nature of their skills makes our offer truly exciting.

Group Web Sites :

MARKETING
http://www.sponsorshipconsulting.co.uk
http://www.newman-displays.com/
http://www.dewynters.com
http://www.theatremerchandise.com/
http://www.firstrights.co.uk/

SPORT
http://www.firstartistsport.com/
http://www.firstartistscandinavia.dk/

WEALTH
http://www.optimalwm.com/

EVENT MANAGEMENT
http://www.finishingtouchevents.co.uk/

ENTERTAINMENT
http://www.firstnci.com/

Broker Forecast 25th June 2007 :

2007 PTP 2.6m
2007 EPS 13.30p

2008 PTP 3.6m
2008 EPS 15.70p

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2fb2b586-6580-11dc-bf89-0000779fd2ac.html

West End resurgence lifts First Artist

By Roger Blitz, Leisure Industries Correspondent

Published: September 18 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 18 2007 03:00

A resurgent West End helped boost revenues last year at First Artist Corporation, the marketing, sport and entertainment management businesses.

The Aim-listed group benefited from theatre advertising of West End shows such as Grease and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

West End theatres are enjoying record attendances, ticket revenue, and advance booking revenue. Ticket revenues in 2006 broke 400m for the first time, up nearly 5 per cent on the previous year.

Theatreland attracted more than 12m visitors last year and contributed to the wider UK economy in terms of tax revenues and restaurants and bars, with film or TV-linked musicals in the vanguard.

Jon Smith, chief executive, said live entertainment was in demand in spite of higher new technology spending.

"There is a counter-balance in the marketplace. People are spending more and more time on live entertainment," Mr Smith said.

"You can't download it. It was our belief that the more people buy into technology, the more they will also go out and enjoy themselves in equal size and proportion."

Issuing a year-end trading statement, First Artist said revenues in all its five divisions rose over the past year in line with expectations and a strong pipeline ofcontracted income was in place for the coming year.

Client revenues rose in its entertainments division, working with programme production companies to develop new formats, and the company completed 120 football deals in the year.

First Artist bought Dewynters, the theatre marketing agency, last year, as well as Newman Displays, the front-of-house and fascia display company, both of which were heavily involved in the promotion of high-profile West End shows.

The wealth management and events divisions were both ahead of last year. The shares fell p to 105p.

More from The Times :

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d667b1ee-687b-11dc-b475-0000779fd2ac.html

Money makes the theatre world go around

By Roger Blitz and Jeremy Lemer

Published: September 22 2007 07:54 | Last updated: September 22 2007 07:54

From marketing companies to ticket agencies, hotels and restaurants to casting agents, it has been hard not to make money from the boom in Londons theatreland.

Market turmoil is passing the West End by as theatre audiences flock to central London by the bus-load and theatres elitist tag wanes. Critics may bemoan the orgy of musicals along Shaftesbury Avenue but, as Stephen Crockett, casting agent, says: Thats what people want to go and see.

Theatre attendances are set to smash last years record of 12.4m, revenues breaking through 400m. Advanced bookings of 57m were double the previous year and, according to the Society of London Theatre, attendances are running 12 per cent ahead of 2006.

It is a boom time and we dont see the bottom falling out of the market, says the societys Paul Jones.

Andrew Lloyd Webbers Sound of Music, according to one theatre insider, is estimated to have made 25m after nine months. His reality television show, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? , which drew millions of viewers to cast votes for the actress to play the lead role in the West End production, has attracted a wave of first-timers.

Theatre advertising companies have made impressive profits from the boom. First Artist Corporation, listed on Aim, has seen its share price rise by a third since it bought Dewynters, the theatre marketing agency, and Newman Displays, the front-of-house and fascia-display company.

This week, it attributed the boom in West End shows to strong revenues in its entertainment division. There is an amazing amount of product, says Jon Smith, First Artists chief executive. The funny thing is the promoters who were doing it 30 years ago are still doing it now........................................

With results now due in around 4 weeks time, I would suspect that some buying action will come in in the coming weeks.

The upside is decent imv, the present price incorrect, and undervaluing the company.


Initiation Note June 2007 : http://www.firstartist.com/UserFiles/File/pdfs/070620%20-%20DanielStewartBrokerNote.pdf



.

Showing some strength now. One would hope for around 140p prior results......

First Artist Corporation PLC 07 November 2007

On behalf of: First Artist Corporation plc ('First Artist' or 'the Group')
For immediate release

First Artist Corporation plc

• Notice of Preliminary Results

First Artist Corporation plc (AIM: FAN), the media, entertainment, and events
group, will announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 August 2007
on Monday, 19 November.

An analyst briefing will be held at 0930hrs on the day at Redleaf
Communications, 9-13 St Andrew Street, EC4A 3AF. Please contact Michael Ward at Redleaf on 020 7822 0200 or

mw@redleafpr.com

if you would like to attend.

RNS Number:3844H
First Artist Corporation PLC
09 November 2007

Date: 9 November 2007
On behalf of: First Artist Corporation plc ("First Artist" or "the Group")

First Artist Corporation plc

* Acts in Ruud Gullit Move to Galaxy

First Artist Corporation plc (AIM: FAN), the media, entertainment, and events group, announces that it acted for Ruud Gullit in his engagement as new coach for Los Angeles Galaxy. The deal extends the Company's delivery of its sports management business in the United States. Corrinne Goodhall of First Artist negotiated the terms of the three year deal and acts as Ruud Gullit's commercial advisor.

Commenting on the announcement, Jon Smith, Chief Executive of First Artist, said:

"Ruud Gullit is a global football icon and teaming him with David Beckham embodies Ruud's belief in sexy football. The US is becoming a key market for high profile soccer stars and we are delighted to be at the heart of this latest move. First Artist looks forward to continuing to work with Ruud in his new role in California and further extending our activities in the US."

Ruud Gullit has been managed by First Artist since 1996. He was previously manager at Chelsea and Newcastle United football clubs. As a player, he starred for Dutch clubs such as Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven, and achieved world recognition in the 1990s with AC Milan where he won two European Cups and a world club championship. His international career spanned 66 games for the Dutch national team between 1981 and 1994, captioning the team to European Championship success in 1988.

Results on this coming Monday, lets see how bullish things have been.

Just a reminder of the trading update :

First Artist Trading Statement

RNS Number:9186D First Artist Corporation PLC
17 September 2007

First Artist Corporation plc
("First Artist" or "the Group")


Year end close trading statement and final results release date

First Artist Corporation plc, the integrated marketing, sport and entertainment
management group is pleased to issue a trading statement for the year ending
31st August 2007. Preliminary results for the year ending 31st August 2007 will
be released on Monday 19th November 2007.

Revenue in all divisions has increased over last year in line with market
expectations, with a strong pipeline of contracted income already in place for
the coming year. Significant investment has been made in information, management
and operating systems, resulting in an important enhancement of the management's
ability to execute its growth strategy.

Performance within the group's five divisions is summarised below;

Events
Corporate event revenues are ahead of last year and, following the recent
significant Public Sector contract win this division has had a strong finish to
the year.

Marketing
Following their successful integration into the Group, which considerably
expanded this division, both Dewynters' UK and US operations along with Newman
Displays, the UK's leading front of house and fascia display company, continue
to deliver strong growth. The division has been heavily involved with a
significant number of new West End shows this year, including Grease and Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, both of which had very high profile
launches through their associations with prime time television programmes. Other
projects the division has worked on include the heavily marketed film launches
of Simpsons the Movie and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well as
the handling of the US merchandising rights for Young Frankenstein, a musical
soon to be opening on Broadway, further developing the US merchandising business
which currently has contracts with hits, The Color Purple and The Phantom of the
Opera (Las Vegas).

First Rights, which was established in May 2007, acting on behalf of rights
holders has already completed three deals, including developing a sponsorship
strategy and implementation plan for The Art of The Simpsons and a leading
Football League Championship club.

Wealth
Optimal Wealth Management has increased revenues and maximised on its earn-out,
as announced on 13th September 2007. Post earn-out completion, senior management have been retained on new contracts.

Entertainment
This division has had a solid year with many client revenues increasing. The
business is now working with programme production companies to develop new
programme formats for its clients, which are expected to complete next year.

Sport
This division has had its best performance for a considerable number of years
completing over 120 deals throughout the division, of which 17 were
international deals, many involving collaboration between our UK and
international group offices.

Jon Smith, Chief Executive of First Artist Corporation plc, said:

"This year has been a great success with growth in all divisions and further
sizeable growth already contracted for the coming years. We have witnessed a
step change for the group with all acquisitions now fully integrated and each
experiencing strong trading. I would like to thank all staff and senior
management for facilitating such smooth transition. The group is now positioned
to enter that next stage in its development as a major player in the
entertainment delivery sector".

Lets hope the market likes the results as currently trading on low forward PE and PEG

Daniel Stewart Roadshow in London on the 19th for the results :


First Artist 19/Nov - Results - Katie Shelton (Contact 020 77766 ext 593)

Nice results (and nice to see a director buying), this is the comment from Daniel Stewart today :

First Artist - BUY
Price: 102p Target price: 194p Code: FAN.L Analyst: James Hollins | 020 7776 6571

Earnings and target price upgrades

First Artist has announced FY07A results ahead of our expectations. We retain our Buy recommendation and raise our target price by 10% from 176p to 194p on the back of an increase in our FY08E and FY09E earnings estimates of 9% and 11% respectively.

First Artist has reported top-line growth of 411% to 48.6m, relative to our estimate of 47.4m and reflecting a 10-month contribution of 32.9m from Dewynters (acquired November 2006).

First Artist FY07A EBITDA is up from 1.8m to 4.1m (+130% year-on-year, vs our forecast of 3.9m), with clean PBT of 2.8m (vs 1.4m in FY06A and 8% ahead of our 2.6m forecast).

A lower-than-expected fully diluted shares in issue led to a 19% earnings outperformance against our forecast (15.71p reported vs 13.26p forecast), showing year-on-year earnings growth of 95%.

A net cash inflow during FY07A of 2.7m led to year-end group net debt of 9.7m (2.4x EBITDA) against our forecast of 10.3m. Net debt is forecast to fall to 9.2m in FY08E (1.8x EBITDA).

Following the trading outperformance announced today, compounded by reduced net debt and dilutive shares in issue relative to our estimates, we are increasing our FY08E earnings estimate from 15.66p to 17.05p (+8.9%), with FY09E rising from 16.80p to 18.64p (+11.0%).

This places the shares on a P/E to FY08E of 6.0x (FY09E 5.5x) and an EV/EBITDA of 4.3x in FY08E (FY09E 3.9x).
On this basis, with a strong and diversified business model underpinned by expected earnings resilience and cash generation in its largest division, Dewynters (71% of forecast FY08E revenue), and multiple avenues of organic and acquisitive growth across the groups operations, we retain our Buy recommendation and increase our target price by 10% from 176p to 194p (90% upside).

Excellent results and future looks very promising. Under-valued stock on current and forward PE/PEG. I will be adding.

To much debt for maintaining progress as FY08 may not be as spectacular with credit sqeeze theatening the business expansion through aquisition. Great results would have produced a dividend! FAN is one to watch carefully.

I agree sold my holding as not sure where the growth is going to come from in a more difficult economic climate.

Latest news of police arrests following investigations into "bungs" in football will not help those involved in the players transfer market.

In case you havn't noticed, FAN is a more diverse company.

Yes but it is still very involved in the player transfer market.

Lost 30%...this was a Shares Mag favourite recently.

And strongly tipped by TW!

Very rare for PapalPower to promote a dud! Mortal after all! :o)