HYVE.L Regulatory News (HYVE)

ITE Group plc

("ITE" or the "Group")

Trading update

ITE Group plc is today publishing a trading update ahead of its interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2019, which will be announced on 14 May 2019.

Trading update

The Group's performance in the period was in line with management expectations.

Revenues for the period were up 42% to circa £107m (six months to 31 March 2018: £75m). This is due to the addition of acquired events - seven former Ascential events and Mining Indaba - as well as strong organic performance from core events, including Africa Oil Week and YugAgro.

On a like-for-like1 basis, revenues for the six month period were 6% higher than the comparative period. Excluding Acetech Delhi - where we have temporary venue capacity constraints as previously signalled - our like-for-like revenue growth is 8%. The five largest shows in the period which have had TAG investment collectively delivered double-digit revenue growth.

Financial position

Net debt as at 31 March 2019 was approximately £114m, an increase of circa £31m since 30 September 2018 (31 March 2018: £51m) as a result of the acquisition of Mining Indaba and planned TAG and Ascential Events integration investment, and is in line with our expectations.

TAG programme and Ascential Events integration

The TAG programme - which is in its final year - is on track, and our current focus is on the roll out of the new People systems across the business and the design and build of a new global ERP solution.

Integration of the Ascential Events business is now largely complete and we are confident of realising annualised synergies of £5m, at the upper end of our guidance. The investment plans to drive growth in FY20 are well developed and on track.

Managing the portfolio

We continue to actively manage our portfolio, to enable the Group to focus both management time and investment on our key events. In the period we closed 24 small events, which collectively made a small loss.

Outlook

Investments into products and operational improvements are driving growth, despite some known headwinds including Brexit and macro-economic issues in Turkey, and their resulting currency impacts.

As at 28 March 2019, forward bookings were circa £191m of revenue for FY 2019 (29 March 2018: £137m), representing circa 89% of current market expectations for the full year. On a like-for-like basis, booked revenues are 6% ahead of this time last year, reflecting strong growth from our core events. Looking ahead to FY20, booked revenues are 18% ahead of this time last year.

The Board is pleased with the Group's performance to date, and remains positive in achieving full year expectations.

Notes

1. Like-for-like results are stated on a constant currency basis, after excluding events which took place in the current period but did not take place under our ownership in the comparative period and after excluding events which took place in the comparative period but did not take place under our ownership in the current period. This excludes all:

- Biennial events;

- Timing differences (i.e. events that ran in only one of the current or comparative periods, due to changes in the event dates);

- Launches;

- Cancelled or disposed of events that did not take place under our ownership in the current year;

- Acquired events in the current period; and

- Acquired events in the comparative period that didn't take place under our ownership in the comparative period (i.e. they took place pre-acquisition).

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About ITE Group plc

ITE Group plc was founded in 1991 and is now one of the world's leading organisers of international exhibitions and conferences.

ITE Group's strategic vision is to create the world's leading portfolio of content-driven, must-attend events delivering an outstanding experience and ROI for our customers. In May 2017 the Group launched its Transformation & Growth (TAG) programme, which is designed to transform the Company from a geographic-led business to a product-led business that focuses on market-leading events, wherever they are in the world. ITE strives to run the best shows and offer the best service to its customers throughout the world regardless of location. By putting exhibitors and visitors at the heart of everything we do, we plan to drive sustainable growth for our shareholders.

ITE Group is a public limited company and has been listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange since 1998.