International exhibition and event organiser ITE Group has posted revenues of £107.8m for the six months to 31 March 2019 representing growth of 6% on a like-for-like basis.
The company says the interim results have been driven by its Transformation and Growth (TAG) initiatives and focus on Core events.
ITE’s headline profit before tax for the period was £24.5m, growth of 7% on a like-for-like basis, with increased margins. The company reported statutory profit before tax of £1.9m after increased M&A-related costs, including amortisation on acquired intangible assets, the loss on disposal of non-core events, transaction costs and integration costs. The company reports volume sales of 354,300sqm for the period, 1,000sqm more than previously.
Net debt has increased, however, from £51.2m to £108.9m following the Ascential Events and Mining Indaba acquisitions. The company reports that the Ascential Events and Mining Indaba integrations are on track, however.
Interim dividend maintained at 0.9p.
Other notable figures in the interim results include forward bookings of £200m already contracted for FY19 and FY20 forward bookings up 11% on a like-for-like basis.
The TAG programme is now in its final year. Expect to reach most TAG targets earlier than planned and all targets within planned timeframe.
The period also saw the sale of non-core events in Russia and closure of a further 24 less profitable events.
ITE has also reported securing multi-year deal with Crocus Expo for Russian events.
ITE Group CEO Mark Shashoua commented: “2019 is all about execution and embedding the people and processes that we have put into place since the inception of our Transformation and Growth programme.
“The benefits of the programme are clear, with like-for-like revenue growth of 6% (8% excluding Acetech Delhi), and overall revenues including acquisitions up 43%.”
Shashoua continued: “As the quality of our events improve and TAG investment levels out, we have improved our headline operating profit margin, which has increased from 23% to 25%.
“The outlook for the remainder of the year is strong, owing to our continued focus on forward bookings. Contracted revenues already stand at 94% of full year consensus and are 6% ahead of this time last year on a like-for-like basis. We have also contracted £58m of revenues for FY20, representing a like-for-like increase of 11% giving us good visibility into next year.
“We continue to trade in line with Board expectations for FY19 and looking further ahead, we expect to see the full benefits of the investments we have made into our acquired events from FY20 onwards, and we have a much-improved portfolio of events that is well positioned to deliver further sustainable growth in the years to come.”
