Tarsus Regulatory News (TRS)

22 May 2015

Tarsus Group plc

Corporate Activity and Trading Update

Tarsus Group plc (LSE: TRS, "Tarsus" or the "Group"), the international business-to-business media group, today announces that it has further strengthened its portfolio in the US by acquiring PAINWeek and provides a trading update on the current financial year.

The acquisition of PAINWeek completes the exposure of the Group's medical business to the four main sectors of the US preventative medical market - neurology, endocrinology, cardiovascular and oncology.

Group trading for the year to date has been in-line with the Board's expectations with visitor attendance especially strong. Forward bookings for 2015 are tracking 10%+ ahead on a like-for-like basis.

US - PAINWeek

Tarsus has acquired 100% of the assets of PAINWeek from Aventine Co. (the "PAINWeek Acquisition"). PAINWeek runs the leading US event for pain management, which takes place annually in September in Las Vegas. PAINWeek addresses a key part of neurology, pain management, providing Tarsus with increased exposure to a key area of the preventative medicine market. In 2014 the main annual event attracted 2,200 medical practitioners. It is supported by a series of satellite events in the US and a strong digital presence.

PAINWeek has enjoyed strong growth since it was established in 2007 and the existing management team will continue to lead the business after acquisition and are contracted through to 2018.

The acquisition of 100% of the assets of PAINWeek is for a total cash consideration of up to US$27.5 million (the "Consideration") with US$5 million payable on completion and deferred payments linked to the performance of the business up to the end of 2018 of up to US$22.5 million. The Consideration will be met from existing financial resources.

For the year ended 31 December 2014, the assets subject to the transaction recorded unaudited profit before tax of approximately US$1.0 million. The PAINWeek Acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in the financial year ending 31 December 2015 and thereafter.

Current trading

A number of events have taken place since the publication of the Group's Annual Results on 4 March 2015 and trading has been in line with the Board's expectations.

Emerging Markets

Trading in Turkey has continued to be good across the Group's portfolio of events, including very strong performances from the biennial shows Asansor (lifts) and Komatek (construction).

In China, SIUF - Asia's largest underwear show - showed good progress over the 2014 edition.

We have had an encouraging start to our accelerated replication program in the Emerging Markets. The education event GESS in Mexico (partnership with EJ Krause), and the Big 5 Construct exhibition in Indonesia (partnership with DMG Events) both had successful launches.

United States

The Group's first major medical event of the year in Florida performed well. Our program to transition our existing medical business toward the mainstream preventative medical market is on track.

We successfully launched the first two regional events for the CMHC (cardiology) business in Atlanta and Dallas and expect to hold a further regional event in Las Vegas in August 2015.

The first edition under our ownership of the South Beach Symposium dermatology event performed ahead of our expectations. We are making good progress in integrating this business and with expanding its revenue offerings.

Europe

The 3D Printshow business has showed good progress with events in both New York and London, in addition to successful events launched in Berlin and Madrid. Revenue for this business is well ahead of the same position in 2014.

Outlook

Revenues for the year as a whole are heavily second-half weighted owing to the timing of the Group's larger exhibitions. Forward bookings for the Group's major events in 2015 continue to be strong with the two largest exhibitions, Labelexpo Europe and the Dubai Airshow, well ahead of their previous editions. Across the portfolio, bookings are tracking 10%+ ahead on a like-for-like basis.

Douglas Emslie, Tarsus Group Managing Director, said:

"The acquisition of PAINWeek complements our existing medical businesses enabling us to address all four pillars of the preventative medical market. We see a number of opportunities for us to expand the PAINWeek business and to cross-promote our other medical events.

"The Group has seen encouraging performances from its exhibitions so far this year and has strong forward bookings. We remain positive about our trading prospects for 2015."

Tarsus is today hosting an event for analysts and investors at its 3D Printshow eventbeing held at The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane,London E1 6QL at 2pm. No material new information will be provided during the event.

The Group plans to release its next trading update on 29 July 2015 with the announcement of its Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2015.

For further information:

Notes to editors

Tarsus Group plc (LSE:TRS) is an international business-to-business media group with interests in exhibitions, publishing and online media. The Group operates globally in key verticals including aviation, medical, labels and packaging, discount clothing (Off-Price), housewares and automotive. Tarsus runs more than 80 events and websites and its flagship brands include the Labelexpo exhibitions in Europe, the Americas and Asia and the Dubai Airshow.

The Group operates across a worldwide network of offices in Dublin, London, Paris, Milwaukee, Boca Raton (Florida), Dubai, Shanghai, Jakarta, New Delhi and Istanbul. Tarsus is building on its strong presence in the emerging markets of the Middle East, China, Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico.