LONDON (Alliance News) - ITE Group PLC Monday expressed confidence for its full-year results, as it posted a decline in pretax profit for its first half that was in line with its expectations, citing a stabilised trading environment in the events company's largest market, Russia.
ITE posted a pretax profit of GBP7.8 million for the half year to end-March, down from GBP12.2 million a year before, as a decline in revenue to GBP56.1 million from GBP71.2 million was party offset by a foreign exchange gain of GBP4.2 million. The company cited difficult trading in Russia and Ukraine due to ongoing geo-political issues, weakness in the currencies of those countries, and a weaker biennial pattern.
This offset strong growth from its share of its associated businesses in Asia, and contributions from newly acquired events in China and Turkey.
ITE continued to work on diversifying its portfolio outside of Russia, acquiring a 50.1% stake in Africa Oil Week in March for GBP12.0 million, but also said that the trading environment in Russia has now stabilised.
It proposed an interim dividend of 2.5 pence, maintained from the previous year.
In April, the company's largest trading month, it saw more stability in the ruble exchange rate. But its Mosbuild event in Russia saw volumes down 40% compared to the previous year, and other leading events in Russia also reported lower volumes.
"ITE remains in a strong financial position and we continue to seek opportunities to expand the business that are consistent with our strategy of building market leading positions in higher growth markets. The group enters the second half with good visibility on current year bookings and the board has confidence in the full year outcome," said Chief Executive Officer Russell Taylor in a statement.
Shares in ITE are trading up 3.6% at 195.81 pence Monday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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