LONDON (Alliance News) - ITE Group PLC said on Wednesday its performance for the first half of its financial year was in-line with management expectations, fostering confidence in its full-year outlook.
For the six months to the end of March, revenue rose by 42% to GBP107 million from GBP75 million the year before, and grew by 6% on a like-for-like basis.
The exhibitions and conference organiser attributed the revenue growth to a strong organic performance, as well as the addition of acquired events, including the Mining Indaba in October and seven events from Ascential PLC in July 2018.
ITE's net debt as at March 31 was GBP114 million, up from GBP51 million the same date the prior year, due to the acquisitions and integration investment. This was in line with management expectations, it said.
Operationally, the group said it is on-track to launch its TAG programme, and the integration of the Ascential Events business is mostly complete. ITE expects to realised annualised synergies of GBP5 million from the business, at the upper end of its guidance.
Looking ahead, forward bookings as at March 28 were GBP191 million of revenue for the year ending September 30, representing around 89% of market expectations for the year.
On a like-for-like basis, booked revenue for the year is 6% ahead of the year before, and for the 2020 financial year, booked revenue is 18% ahead.
ITE will publish its interim results on May 14.
Shares in ITE Group were up 2.0% at 72.20 pence on Wednesday.
Ascential (ASCL)