(Alliance News) - Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC on Thursday expressed confidence going forward despite a profit drop in the first half of its current financial year.
The FTSE 250-listed information services provider reported revenue growth of 1% for the six months to the end of March to GBP186.3 million from GBP184.9 million a year earlier.
Data & Market Intelligence revenue grew by 4% on an underlying basis and Pricing by 3%. However, Asset Management revenue declined by 5%, in line with recent trends, Euromoney said.
Adjusted pretax profit declined 15% to GBP39.3 million, primarily hurt by events cancelled due to Covid-19 and the Asset Management revenue decline. Statutory pretax profit was down 24% to GBP37.4 million year-on-year.
Euromoney said it has implemented a robust plan to return the Asset Management segment to growth, which is already showing promising early signs.
The company confirmed it will not be paying a dividend for the first half, having distributed 10.8 pence a share a year earlier. Euromoney previously had announced the skipped dividend, saying it will save the company GBP1.2 million. It said on Thursday it will consider the final dividend for financial 2020 in November when it has better visibility on the business environment.
"We have underlying growth in two of our three segments; strong performance in Pricing, and good growth in Data & Market Intelligence following our investment in that segment; and we see promising signs that our turnaround plan for our Asset Management businesses is working. We have taken swift action to address and manage the impact of covid-19, which creates short-term uncertainty in our business, particularly our events," said Chief Executive Andrew Rashbass.
"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," added Rashbass.
Euromoney shares were trading 14% higher in London on Thursday at 879.00p each.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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