Power Blames Economy

UK concert promoter Vince Power’s publicly traded Music Festivals group saw its share price fall 3.5 pence to 42.5 pence, after warning that the economic situation and a scarcity of top talent are slowing sales at its Hop Farm event in Kent and its Benicassim Festival in Spain.

Power said tickets for Hop Farm, which takes place at the end of June and features Bob Dylan, are currently “slower than last year.”

Benicassim, which is July 12-15, is also suffering from flagging ticket sales, despite having a lineup that includes Dylan, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, New Order, and The Stone Roses.

“The festivals market in general has been affected by the continued depressed economic climate and the availability of strong revenue-generating acts,” the AIM-listed company said in a statement. Musicl Festivals went public in June 2011.

The stock price has since fallen by about 30 percent from its opening price of 67.5 pence.

Power previously ran Mean Fiddler Music Group, which he sold to fellow Irish promoter Desmond and Live Nation for £39 million in 2005.

He then launched Vince Power Music Group, which was put into administration in 2010.

The £6.5 million raised through the floatation of Music Festivals was to secure full ownership of Hop Farm and Benicassim, plus to help fund three new festivals in the UK.

The other Music Festivals stakeholders were Desmond and the Workers Beer Company, which both used the alternative investment market launch to cash in their shares.

Last year the company reportedly made a pre-tax profit of £796,000 on sales of £13 million.