The combined allure of Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel and Sir Bruce Forsyth was unable to save Music Festivals from posting a profits warning because of poor sales at the group’s Hop Farm Music Festival.
The three headliners were not enough to entice revellers to the lossmaking Kent festival, as poor weather, tightened wallets and competition from other festivals weighed on ticket sales.
The Aim-traded music festival producer warned on Thursday that it would post a “material loss” in its full-year results, largely because of Hop Farm Music Festival’s weak performance. The group said Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, an indie music festival held each summer near Valencia, was profitable but “at a much lower level than 2011”.
Music Festivals confirmed that it was exploring ways of raising extra capital, just weeks after Vince Power, chief executive, advanced an unsecured loan of £750,000 to the group. The group’s net cash position stood at nearly £600,000 at the end of 2011.
Funding worries heaped further pressure on the group’s share price, which fell 75 per cent to 3p over the week.