HNT.L Regulatory News (HNT)

12 December 2018

Trading update

Huntsworth plc, (the "Company" or the "Group"), the international healthcare and communications group, today issues a trading update for the 11 months to 30 November 2018.

Current trading

The Group continues to trade well and expects to reach at least market consensus* headline profit estimates for the year to 31 December 2018.

Trading has been led by continuing strong growth in the Medical and Immersive divisions, with both showing double digit annual revenue growth. The Marketing division, led by Evoke, returned to like-for-like revenue growth in the second half, posting 2% growth, although as expected annualised revenue performance will decline around -3% on a like-for-like basis. Giant and Navience, which the Group acquired in the past five months, have both been integrated well and are trading in line with the Board's expectations and are increasingly engaged in joint new business with the broader Evoke group. The Communications division continues to trade in line with the Board's expectations with annual revenue decline stabilised at 5%, and second half margin improved over the first half.

Financial Position

The Company remains in a strong financial position, operating well within its £115m facility, and expects the year end net position to be circa 2x net debt to pro forma EBITDA**.

Outlook

The Group is focused on delivering superior growth led by its healthcare agencies and recent acquisitions continue to complement this. Management is confident about the Group's future trading and expects continued good growth across all of its businesses into 2019.

*Consensus Headline PBT is £29.4m

**Pro forma EBITDA takes into account a full year's contribution from acquisitions made during 2018