Tarsus Regulatory News (TRS)

8 January 2014

Tarsus Group plc

Year end trading update

Record results and strong strategic progress

Tarsus Group plc (LSE: TRS, "the Group", "Tarsus"), the international business-to-business media group, has ended the year strongly with record revenue and profitability.

Group like-for-like organic revenue growth, at constant exchange rates, increased by approximately 11%.

The Board anticipates that adjusted pre-tax profits and net debt for the year ended 31 December 2013 will be in line with its expectations. 

Strategy 

The Group's "Quickening the Pace" strategy - introduced at the beginning of 2013 - is focused on accelerating the pace of financial returns to our shareholders. We have made significant progress on strengthening and investing in the core business to drive organic growth.

We have added value to our key brands through continuous innovation and brand replication in faster growth markets. We have made two notable strategic deals in the year, establishing footholds in Mexico and Indonesia. These moves have established a foundation in key markets we aim to develop in the future.

Corporate Activity

We have today announced the following transactions (see separate release):

· China - our acquisition of 50% of the China (Shenzhen) International Brand Underwear Fair ("SIUF") - providing the Group with exposure to a leading exhibition in China and offering strong synergy potential with our US Off-Price business.

· Turkey - the acquisition of the remaining 25% of our subsidiary IFO in Turkey. This business has shown strong growth under Tarsus' ownership and the transaction further consolidates our position in the fast-growing Turkish market.

· France - the part disposal of up to 18% of our French business to Romuald Gadrat, the Managing Director of the division, continuing our strategy of reducing our exposure to France.

In addition, the Group announced on 26 November 2013 the acquisition of a 50% interest in a Joint Venture company from EJ Krause which owns two events in Mexico, giving Tarsus exposure to a territory which we believe has strong growth potential.

These recent additions to our portfolio provide strong replication opportunities internationally and demonstrate the way in which our strategy can deliver value.

Emerging Markets

Dubai

The major event of 2013 was the Dubai Air Show in November which was held for the first time at a new purpose-built venue. The event was a great success for our exhibitors who received world record orders of over $206 billion. Performance at this event was ahead of expectations with our revenues 25% higher than the 2011 show and a strong rise in visitor numbers of 11% on a like-for-like basis.

China

Labelexpo Asia, held its 10th anniversary event in December in Shanghai and performed well, with revenues 10% ahead of the previous edition.

Hope, the Group's Chinese joint venture, delivered another strong performance in 2013, with revenues up 19%.

The Group's commitment to the Chinese exhibition market is underlined by the 2012 acquisition of GZ Auto as well as the recent acquisition of SIUF announced today.

The GZ Auto show held in the first half of 2013 performed strongly and this brand is being launched into other territories in 2014, including Indonesia and Thailand.

Turkey

Our Turkish business continues to perform well with a total of seven shows held during the year and like-for-like revenues up 13% overall.

Zuchex, the international housewares and gifts exhibition held in September produced an excellent performance. This is another brand the Group is replicating in other emerging markets, with a Jakarta show announced for 2014. Our most recent shows, Sign Istanbul and the Flower Show Istanbul, both took place in November and performed in line with the Board's expectations.

Indonesia

PTIA held its first IIICE (infrastructure) show under our ownership in November. This show performed very strongly and is expected to benefit in 2014 from the joint venture with EJ Krause to run EXPO COMM alongside it.

US 

The February and August Off-Price Shows in Las Vegas performed well, with revenues up 4% overall.

Overall, the Medical division's revenues for the year were slightly ahead of the previous year. This division's largest event was held in December in Las Vegas and performed well, with revenues up 23%. We are continuing to see a changing mix in our education revenue streams with more being delivered online and a reduction in the volumes of on-site educational revenues. As previously announced, we have been preparing this division for a launch into the mainstream medical education arena in 2014 which we anticipate will accelerate future growth.

Europe

Labelexpo Europe took place in September in Brussels. It produced record increases of 11% in both like-for-like revenue and visitor attendance. As a result, re-bookings of 87% for the 2015 exhibition were secured. On-site sales for other Label products were also at record levels.

Trading in the Group's French business ended the year broadly in line with the Board's expectations.

Douglas Emslie, Tarsus Group Managing Director, said:

"2013 has been another excellent year for the Group. Our major shows continue to go from strength to strength underlining the importance of continuing to invest in our market leading brands. Our moves into Mexico and Indonesia have substantially completed the footprint in the geographical markets we are aiming to develop.

"Like-for-like bookings for our shows in 2014 are tracking 12% ahead of the equivalent time last year notwithstanding slower sales on GZ Auto caused by protracted venue discussions which have now been successfully concluded.

"We remain confident of delivering a good performance this year on a constant currency basis."

The Group expects to announce its final results for the year ended 31 December 2013 during the week commencing 3 March 2014.

The Company will be hosting a presentation to analysts at 11.00am today at the offices of Investec Bank plc, 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QP.

For further information contact:

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, India 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, India, Indonesia and South America.

www.tarsus.com