HYVE.L Regulatory News (HYVE)

3rd February 2022

Hyve Group plc

("Hyve" or the "Group")

Trading update

Strong performance across key indicators, despite ongoing disruption of Omicron

Hyve Group plc today announces a trading update for the period from 1 October 2021 to the date of this announcement. This coincides with the Group's Annual General Meeting which is being held at 9am today.

Trading

The Group has seen resilient trading and continued strong like-for-like customer spend, forward bookings and cash collection during the first four months of FY22. The majority of the Group's global events in the period ran to schedule, including YugAgro in Russia, a top 10 event, which outperformed the 2019 edition.

Events in China continue to be affected due to ongoing government restrictions. As a result, two of the four events scheduled to run were cancelled and one was postponed.

Elsewhere, Omicron has had limited impact on the Group's events schedule and has so far only resulted in the postponement of Bett in the UK from January to March and Paperex in India, which has moved from January to May.

The integration of 121 Group acquired in November 2021 is progressing in line with plan. The acquisition not only continues to accelerate the Group's omnichannel strategy, but also further enhances its growth opportunities.

Board Changes

Following today's AGM, Stephen Puckett, Non-Executive Senior Independent Director will step down and Nick Backhouse will take on the role of Senior Independent Director.

In addition, Sharon Baylay, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee, has indicated her intention to stand down from the Board of Hyve with effect from 1 March 2022. 

The Group has strengthened its Board with the appointment of two new Non-Executive Directors, Anna Bateson and Rachel Addison, with effect from 1 March 2022.

Full details are provided in a separate announcement issued today.

Mark Shashoua, CEO of Hyve Group plc said:

"Hyve has started 2022 with strong trading, forward booking and cash collection. We were pleased to see the relaxation of travel restrictions in some of our key markets and are encouraged by the limited impact of Omicron on our events schedule.

However, uncertainty with regards to new variants and geo-political developments in Russia and Ukraine remain. Preparations for all scheduled events continue as planned, while contingency plans are well rehearsed.

We are confident in the continuing recovery of our portfolio, have a strong liquidity position and remain focused on accelerating our omnichannel strategy."

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About Hyve Group plc

Hyve Group plc is a next-generation global events business whose purpose is to bring together and connect entire sector ecosystems from all corners of the globe. We meet our customer needs to learn, network and trade via both market-leading in-person and online events. Hyve Group plc is all about globally consistent best practice and unrivalled quality. Our vision is to create the world's leading portfolio of content-driven, must-attend events delivering an outstanding experience and ROI for our customers. Hyve's market-leading portfolio of global brands include: Shoptalk, Spring Fair, MosBuild, Bett, Mining Indaba and recently acquired Retail Meetup, a ground-breaking digital platform enabling online networking and trade to take place at scale.

Where business is personal, where meetings move markets and where today's leaders inspire tomorrow's.