ERM.L Share News (ERM)

(Sharecast News) - Euromoney reported a 1% improvement in group revenue in its half-year report on Thursday, to £186.3m, which included a five percentage point reduction from events cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, with its underlying revenue change flat.
The FTSE 250 company said data and market intelligence revenue was up 4% on an underlying basis, with pricing rising 3%, while its asset management revenue declined by 5% for the six months ended 31 March, in line with recent trends.

It said subscription revenue made up two thirds of the total, with pricing subscription revenue growing 8% on an underlying basis.

Data and market intelligence grew its subscription revenue by 6% on an underlying basis, including growth in the people intelligence and 'Next Gen' operations.

Adjusted profit before tax was down 15% at £39.3m, which Euromoney said had been primarily impacted by events cancelled due to Covid-19, and the decline in asset management.

Euromoney said it had a "robust" balance sheet, with net cash standing at £8.1m as at 31 March, adding that its bank facilities totalled £188m, having been extended to December 2022.

On the operational front, the board said the company had "responded quickly" to challenges from the pandemic, saying rapid action had been taken to reduce costs and preserve cash.

It said "nimble execution" would allow the firm to restart events as soon as markets opened, while running virtual events in the meantime.

Euromoney said it had a "robust plan" to return the asset management segment to growth, which was reportedly showing "promising" early signs.

The board said the non-vote subscription 'Book of Business for Investment Research' was targeted to return to growth by the end of financial year 2022.

It was also making continued investment in data and market intelligence, driving growth in that segment.

The board said it was also finding "attractive" opportunities for mergers and acquisitions, having acquired Wealth-X and Census Commodity Data, or 'AgriCensus', during the period.

"Euromoney's 3.0 strategy delivers must-have, embedded content," said chief executive officer Andrew Rashbass.

"This strategy has never been more relevant and drives the momentum we see across our businesses.

"We have underlying growth in two of our three segments; strong performance in pricing, and good growth in data and market intelligence following our investment in that segment; and we see promising signs that our turnaround plan for our asset management businesses is working."

Rashbass said it had taken "swift action" to address and manage the impact of Covid-19, which created short-term uncertainty in the business, particularly its events.

"We are ready to run our market-leading events when restrictions on face-to-face gatherings are lifted; until then, we will run virtual events where they deliver value to clients.

"Our strong balance sheet and resilient renewal rates in our subscription businesses, which make up two thirds of revenues, give us confidence that we will emerge strongly from the current global crisis."

At 0848 BST, shares in Euromoney Institutional Investor were up 11.76% at 865p.