LONDON (Alliance News) - Events company Tarsus Group PLC on Wednesday reported a surge in pretax profit for 2015 and upped it full year dividend, as it saw revenue rise on a biennial basis.
The company posted a pretax profit of GBP19.1 million, up from GBP7.1 million, after its revenue came in at GBP86.9 million for the year ended December 31, from GBP60.6 million the previous year.
Tarsus is in an 'odd' year, meaning that it does benefit from large biennial shows and on a biennial basis revenue was up 15%, the company said, from GBP75.9 million in 2013.
Tarsus proposed a final dividend of 5.9 pence, taking its total dividend for the year up to 8.4 pence from 7.8 pence a year before.
It said it expects further growth in the future, coming from its focus on markets with high growth potential, having sold its French business in July 2015. It named the US and emerging markets, such as Dubai, Mexico, south-east Asia, Turkey and China, as high growth and, in 2015, these markets made up 86% of the group's revenue, excluding disposals.
Tarsus added its forward bookings for its major events in 2016 were tracking 10% ahead of 2015, adjusted for biennials and acquisitions. Tarsus said trading for the first two months of 2016 has been in line with management expectations and it was "well positioned to deliver a good performance in 2016".
The company said it was progressing well with its Quickening the Pace strategy, geared to accelerate financial returns to shareholders through organic growth. It said it this growth was coming from its delivery of larger numbers of buyers to exhibitions, and visitor numbers were up 9.0% in 2015, compared to an industry average of 3.0%.
"2015 was an important year for Tarsus. We passed a significant milestone in the strategic progress of the group with the sale of our French business. This will allow us to concentrate resources on our selected core geographies which offer the best opportunities for growth," said Group Managing Director Douglas Emslie.
Shares in Tarsus were down 2.4% at 230.87p on Wednesday.
By Hannah Boland; hannahboland@alliancenews.com; @Hannaheboland
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