ITE Group Share News (ITE)

ITE Group, the trade exhibitions and conferences organiser, said it experienced a "challenging trading environment" in the third quarter with revenues well below last year.The company generated sales of £73m in the three months to June 30th, compared with £96m last year.The decline reflected the absence this year of the biennial Moscow International Oil & Gas Exhibition along with continued negative currency movements and the impact of the political crisis on its Ukrainian business.Like-for-like (LFL) revenues on a constant currency basis fell by just 2%, with the shortfall in Ukrainian revenues completely to blame. LFL revenues on an actual basis were down 16%.During the quarter, Turkish construction event Turkeybuild delivered a small increase in volumes, while the Turkey-focused beauty and cosmetics firm Beauty Eurasia which ITE acquired last year performed ahead of expectations. However, the Moscow construction event Mosbuild reported lower volumes than last year.As of July 11th, ITE had contracted revenues of around £167m for the full year, which is down 10% on a LFL basis. However, the firm said it still remains "confident" in the outlook for the full year: "The group remains in a strong financial position, generating strong cash flows and is well placed to continue to diversify its business into new markets and geographies."BC