DMGT pre-close trading update

September 25, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

DMGTDaily Mail and General Trust plc has issued a pre-close trading update.

Ahead of the year end on 30 September 2013, the statement provides an update on the Group’s progress in the current year.

It covers the eleven month period to the end of August 2013 and includes comments on September.

Summary

  • Solid Group revenue performance, up 2% underlying#
  • Good revenue growth from B2B operations, up 6% underlying#
  • Resilient revenue performance at dmg media, down 2% underlying#
  • Active portfolio management; targeted acquisitions and non-core asset disposals
  • Share buy back programme of £69 million to date
  • Net debt/EBITDA ratio expected to be less than 2.0 at year end
  • Full Year guidance unchanged and in line with market expectations

DMGT results1 2013

Click on the table for an enlarged view

The full statement can be read here.

UK, London

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Euromoney revenues for the fourth quarter increase by 9%

September 24, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Euromoney logoEuromoney Institutional Investor PLC, the international online information and events group, has issued a pre-close trading update ahead of the announcement of its results for the year to September 30, 2013.

Since issuing its Interim Management Statement on July 25, 2013, trading has continued in line with the board’s expectations.  The recovery in US markets, and in particular in the profitability of US financial institutions, has continued, while European markets have remained weak and emerging markets have settled down after the uncertainty earlier in the summer.

Revenues for the fourth quarter are expected to show a headline increase of 9% on the same period last year, and an underlying increase, excluding acquisitions, of 5%.  The improvement in advertising highlighted in the July IMS has continued, with advertising revenues returning to growth for the first time in two years.  Underlying subscription revenues, excluding acquisitions, increased by 4%, helped by the reversal of timing differences from the third quarter.

Total revenues for the year to September 30, 2013 are expected to show a headline increase of approximately 2% on 2012, of which half has come from acquisitions.

Exchange rate movements have not had a significant impact on headline or underlying revenues.

The group expects to announce an adjusted profit before tax* of not less than £114 million for the year to September 30, 2013 (2012: £106.8 million) including a contribution from acquisitions, after financing costs, of nearly £2 million.

At current exchange rates, group net debt at September 30, 2013 is expected to be no more than £10 million, against £38 million at March 31.  This reflects the group’s traditionally strong second half operating cash flows as well as acquisition payments of £13m in the period.

The year end results will be announced on November 14, 2013.

UK, London

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Trinity Mirror first half results to June 2013

August 5, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Trinity Mirror has announced its half-yearly financial report for the 26 weeks ended 30 June 2013

Highlights

  • Revenue falls £30.8 million to £332 million (2012: £362.8million)
  • Profit before tax up 2.5% to £49.3 million
  • EPS growth of 5.5% to 15.4 pence – Driven by increased profit before tax and reduced tax rate.
  • Strong cash flows drive further reduction in net debt of £36.7 million
  • Net debt reduced to £120.3 million and on track to repay £54.5 million of maturing debt in October 2013 without the need to draw on the Group’s bank facility.
  • Strong growth in digital audience and digital display advertising
  • Average monthly unique users grew by 36.9% and average monthly page views grew by 48.6% year on year across all publishing operations with digital display revenue growing by 15.1%.

Click on the results table below to enlarge the image

Trinity Mirror 6 mths to Jun13

Commenting on the results, Simon Fox, Chief Executive, Trinity Mirror plc, said, “I am pleased with the progress we have made in the first half. The Group is producing some outstanding journalism and in a challenging market is outperforming its peers on a number of measures in both print and online. Whilst still at an early stage, our transformation plan has got off to an encouraging start and this provides me with confidence in the performance for the year.”

UK, London

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UBM report a decline in profits for the first six months

August 5, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM have reported a decline in profits for the first six months to 30th June 2013, largely reflecting a tough first quarter, lower biennial contribution and continuing investments in their events portfolio.

Highlights

  • Revenues from continuing operations of £391.1m (H1 2012: £397.2m)
  • Adjusted operating profit from continuing operations of £80.7m (H1 2012: £88.7m) – decline largely reflecting tough Q1, lower biennial contribution and continuing investments in the events portfolio
  • Continuing operating cash flow generation increased to £98.8m (H1 2012: £95.9m), with cash conversion of 110.9%
  • Continuing fully diluted adjusted EPS of 21.6p (H1 2012: 22.7p)
  • Events Q2 organic revenue growth of 6.5% – PR Newswire Q2 organic revenue growth of 3.9%
  • Forward bookings for Top 20 shows up 11.7%
  • Emerging Markets revenues up 10.4% to £89.5m with operating profit of £19.6m
  • Restructuring of Marketing Services progressing – £9.6m of exceptional reorganisation and restructuring cost – expect restructuring to be substantially complete by the end of the year – £16.2m of revenues under Strategic Review
  • Receipt of £99.7m of cash proceeds upon completion of Delta disposal, applied to reduce debt

David Levin, UBM’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“As highlighted at the IMS in April, challenging market conditions, particularly in the UK construction sector, meant we had a tough first quarter. A good second quarter substantially offset the Q1 performance, thanks in large part to healthy growth at our shows in China. With continued strong forward booking trends for our H2 Emerging Markets events we feel confident about the second half.

“During the first half we completed the Delta disposal and accelerated the restructuring of Marketing Services. We are aligning Marketing Services more closely with our events and focusing it on more profitable, community-based business models which take advantage of our strengths in high quality content and audience reach. We’re already seeing improved profitability, albeit on lower revenues. We expect this restructuring programme to be substantially complete by the end of the year.

“These steps underline our determination to focus UBM’s business on delivering faster growth and higher quality of earnings, as evidenced by our strong cash flow performance in the first half. We look forward, with confidence, to the second half of the year and beyond as UBM continues to develop as an events-led marketing services and communications business. ”

UBM 6 mths to Jun13

UK, London

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ITV plc – half year results

July 30, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

itvITV plc has announced its interim results for the half year ended 30 June 2013.

Strategic highlights

  • ITV continues to deliver  growth and continues to rebalance
  • The company has completed acquisitions in the UK and the US (see related articles below)
  • £20m of cost savings are on track
  • Profit to cash conversion is strong at 100%
  • Net debt of £52m following acquisitions, dividends and further debt repayments
  • The board has declared an interim dividend of 1.1p up 38%

Financial highlights

Click on the Financial Highlights table below to see an enlarged view

ITV half year 13

Adam Crozier, ITV Chief Executive, said:

“We’re making good progress with our strategy of growing and rebalancing the business as we build new revenue streams and improve margins. In the first six months of the year ITV continued to increase group profits and revenues despite the expected fall in our H1 advertising revenues.  Non-advertising revenues were up by 11% to £568m, driven by significant growth in Online, Pay & Interactive and in ITV Studios.

ITV Studios delivered further growth in the UK and internationally both organically and through selective acquisitions in our key target markets – with total Studios revenues up 11%. We’re showing real momentum in our strategy of creating a robust international content business and in building substantial strength and scale in the US market.

The improved variety and quality of the ITV schedule has driven a strong on-screen performance in the first half of the year with ITV Family SOV up 1%. Our cash generation remains strong and we continue to have a robust balance sheet to support the strategy and invest in our future growth.

As we anticipated, the shape of the television advertising market this year is very different to 2012. In spite of monthly volatility we expect ITV Family NAR to be broadly flat for the nine months to the end of September with Q3 up 9%.  We expect both ITV Studios and Online, Pay & Interactive to deliver double digit revenue growth for the year as a whole as we continue to rebalance and strengthen ITV.”

Click here to see the full announcement.

UK, London

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Euromoney Institutional Investor – 6 months results to March 2013

May 16, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Euromoney logoEuromoney Institutional Investor PLC, the  online information and events group, achieved an adjusted profit before tax of £52.4m for the six months to March 31 2013, against £48.6m for the same period in 2012. Total revenues fell by 1% to £187.3m.  Underlying revenues, after adjusting for timing differences on events, increased by 1%.  Subscriptions returned to growth after a decline in the first quarter; event revenues were broadly flat after adjusting for timing differences; and advertising remained weak but only accounts for 12% of total revenues.

Highlights

Euromoney 6 month results May 13

Click on the table for easier viewing

  • Revenues down 1% to £187.3m, as expected
  • Revenues excluding event timing differences up 1%
  • Subscriptions return to growth in second quarter
  • Adjusted profit before tax up 8% to £52.4m
  • Adjusted operating margin unchanged at 30%
  • Increased investment in new products and digital migration
  • Net debt remains at historically low levels and less than 0.5x EBITDA
  • Four bolt-on acquisitions announced since January
  • Interim dividend maintained at 7p a share
  • Second half trading in line with board’s expectations

Commenting on the first half results, chairman Richard Ensor said, “The group’s strategy of building a focused global online information business has underpinned the company’s bottom line growth despite the challenging markets.  We have continued to invest in technology and new products to drive organic growth, and have made acquisitions from which we expect to drive future revenue synergies.  Overall, trading remains in line with the board’s expectations. ”

For full details click here

UK, London

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Strong financial results for Moneysupermarket.com

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

ms-logoMoneysupermarket.com has produced a strong set of financial results for the year ended 31 December 2012. Adjusted revenue for the year increased by 15% to £204.8m (2011: £178.5m), generating adjusted EBITDA which was 26% higher at £66.5m (2011: £52.5m). This included external revenues of £1.8m and EBITDA of £2.8m respectively, resulting from the acquisition of MoneySavingExpert.com which was acquired on 21 September 2012.

During 2012 the Group has continued to see good growth. Trading during the second half of the year improved relative to the comparable first half performance in the Insurance, Home Services and Travel verticals. Revenues in the Money vertical however were broadly flat in the second half of the year as savings revenues declined as a result of the introduction of the Bank of England’s ‘Funding for Lending’ scheme, which enables financial institutions to seek low cost funding centrally rather than through retail deposits from the consumer markets.

The Group acquired MoneySavingExpert.com on 21 September 2012 for a total consideration of up to £92.5m including deferred consideration of up to £27.0m. Trading since acquisition has been strong.

Financial highlights

  • Adjusted revenue increased by 15% to £204.8m (2011: £178.5m);
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased by 26% to £66.5m (2011: £52.5m);
  • Adjusted EBITDA margins increased by 3% to 32%;
  • Adjusted gross margin increased to 74.1% (2011: 71.9%);
  • 97% of EBITDA converted to cash;
  • Cash balance of £18.7m (2011: £35.0m) at the year-end reflecting the acquisition of MoneySavingExpert.com; the Group is debt free;
  • Dividend increased by 27% to 5.74p;
    • Final dividend increased 30% to 3.94p per share (2011: 3.03p);
  • £10.6m (2011: £nil) net credit in statutory profit following agreement of new VAT recovery method with HMRC;
    • Credits of £4.5m and £1.9m recognised for 2012 and 2011 respectively, in lower irrecoverable VAT charge.

Full details of year end results

UK, Wales, Ewloe

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Informa plc – Full year results for the Year Ended 31 December 2012

February 22, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

informa2Informa plc have announced full year results for the Year Ended 31 December 2012.

Key highlights below

Full report here

Highlights

  • Academic publishing unit saw a 2.4 per cent increase in revenues
  • Sales dropped 4.4 per cent at the business information unit
  • Sales dropped 3% at the events and training unit
  • Total revenues £1232.5 million, a drop of 3.4%
  • Emerging market growth – now 18% of Group revenue (2011: 14%)
  • Core revenue stream – 67% of publishing revenues from subscriptions
  • Digital revenue strew – 74% of publishing revenues fully digitised
  • Diluted EPS 15p, a drop of 20%
  • Adjusted diluted EPS 40.7p, up 7.7%
  • Full year dividend 18.5p, up 10.1%
  • Profit before tax £67 million, a drop of 24.4%
  • Adjusted operating profit of £349.7 million, up 4.0%
  • Adjusted operating margin of 28.4%
  • Adjusted profit before tax of £317.4 million, up 7.3%
  • Statutory profit after tax of £90.7 million
  • Operating cash flow £329 million, up 5.7%
  • Balance sheet  – net debt/EBITDA ratio of 2.1 times

Peter Rigby, Chief Executive, said:

“Informa has performed strongly once again in 2012, delivering earnings ahead of market expectations and strong cashflow, despite what have remained very challenging market conditions. This is testament to the resilience of our businesses, underpinned by strong brands, leading market positions, digital excellence and a growing presence in emerging markets. Our performance has enabled us to keep investing in our business, while maintaining our progressive dividend policy, with 10.1% growth in the total payout in 2012, underlining our commitment to delivering attractive returns to our shareholders.

Commenting on acquisitions and disposals, Peter Rigby said:

We were very proactive in managing our portfolio in 2012. This was evident through the acquisitions of Zephyr, which bolstered our digital subscription base, and MMPI, which expanded our portfolio of large exhibitions, as well as the disposals of Robbins Gioia and some small European local language Conference businesses. Internally, our focus on operating excellence also led us to proactively exit a number of lower quality publishing products and events, cutting out over £25m of revenue. This has impacted top-line growth trends but leaves the group in a stronger position going forward, with a higher underlying quality of earnings.

UK, London

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Daily Mail & General Trust PLC – Interim Management Statement to 30/12/12

February 6, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

DMGTDMGT has published its Interim Management Statement for the first quarter of their financial year, the three month period to 30th December, 2012.

It describes the Group’s financial position and performance during the period, updated to the latest practicable date.

Headlines

Trading in line with expectations; outlook for the year unchanged:

  • Revenue for the first quarter of £503 million, underlying# growth of 3% on last year
  • Continued good underlying# growth of 8% from the B2B businesses
  • Underlying# revenue decline of 4% at Associated Newspapers (now dmg media); improved profit margin driven by cost efficiencies
  • Further B2B bolt-on acquisitions
  • Disposal of Northcliffe Media effective 30th December, 2012
  • Commencement of share buy back programme
  • Outlook for the year unchanged

UBMDec12

Acquisitions

The principal acquisitions in the quarter were FirstSearch Environmental Information Network (FEIN), a £21 million bolt-on purchase by dmg information’s US propertyI nformation business, Environmental Data Resources (EDR) and the £5 million acquisition by Euromoney of an 87% stake in TTI/ Vanguard.

  • FEIN provides environmental professionals across the US with products that allow them to assess environmental contamination risks in respect of commercial real estate. The acquisition brings opportunities to upsell FEIN’s customers to EDR’s broader portfolio of products, improve EDR’s product offering and deliver cost synergies.
  • TTI/Vanguard is a private membership organisation for senior executives who lead technology innovation in global organisations. Enterprises subscribe to TTI/Vanguard’s conference series to explore the potential effects of emerging and potentially disruptive technologies. Euromoney has a successful record of acquiring events businesses and accelerating their growth globally and TTI/Vanguard is an expansion for Euromoney into the high-technology content sector.

Other acquisition payments in the quarter included £5 million for the remaining stake in RMS Japan; £2 million for Beat the GMAT, a bolt-on acquisition for Hobsons; £1 million for Renaissance, a bolt-on acquisition for Landmark, and earn-out payments in respect of historic acquisitions.

Disposals

Following dmg media’s November 2012 disposal of its central and eastern European digital consumer jobs and motors businesses, the remaining Hungarian print business, Lapcom, was sold in January 2013, completing dmg media’s exit from the region. In the year to September 2012, the disposed businesses contributed £4 million of profit before tax and £27 million of revenues. Disposal proceeds in the first quarter were £27 million and a further £62 million was received in January 2013 in respect of the disposals of Lapcom and Northcliffe Media.

Read the full announcement here

# See the full announcement for the definition of “underlying”

UK, London

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Centaur Media PLC – half year trading update

January 11, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Centaur Media plccentaur, the business information, events and marketing services group, has issued a trading update for the six months to 31 December 2012.

The Group expects to report results in line with the Board’s expectations, with reported revenues 14% ahead of the same period last year and EBITDA margins increased to 10% from 6%. Underlying revenues across the Group as a whole declined by 3%.

The Group has continued to maintain good momentum in improving its revenue mix. Digital and events revenues now account for 39% and 28% respectively of total Group revenues, up from 32% and 22% in the same period last year. Over the same period, the share of total Group revenues generated in print format has reduced, as expected, to 31% from 45%.

The improving mix of revenues in favour of events and paid-for content has also increased levels of visibility into the second half of the financial year.  Deferred revenues at 31 December 2012 were approximately £15m, 30% ahead of the same period last year.

Growth in underlying revenues across the Business Information and Exhibitions divisions has been offset by weaker revenues across the Business Publishing financial and marketing communities. Reported revenues across the Business Information division are substantially up, reflecting the impact of recent acquisitions, despite the deferral of some corporate training engagements into H2.

Net debt at 31 December 2012 was £24.5m, representing leverage of approximately two times. The Group’s earnings and cash flows continue to be weighted towards the second half of the financial year and leverage is expected to fall rapidly in the next six months.

As anticipated, the Group will report exceptional costs for the first six months of the year related to reorganisation costs, IFRS3 earn-out charges and acquisitions.

Geoff Wilmot, Chief Executive, said:

“We have maintained momentum in improving the quality of our portfolio of activities as we continue to grow revenues from digital and events. We continue to focus on increasing margins and we have a strong pipeline of new product development initiatives which positions us well to deliver further growth in the medium term.

“We anticipate trading to be in line with our expectations for the current financial year, although the second half of our financial year continues to account for the large majority of our earnings.”

The Group expects to release its half yearly earnings report on 20 February 2013.

UK, London

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