Headline figures failed to reflect the solid progress made by exhibitions group ITE (ITE) in the first half. In fact, adding back amortisation and other costs left underlying pre-tax profits down a more manageable £2m at £11.1m. A chunk of this was due to the absence of revenue from events held every other year. Moreover, the first month of the second half is typically the busiest, and booked revenue for the full year is already up from £156m this time last year to £174m. So analysts at Numis have modestly upgraded their full-year pre-tax profits and EPS estimates to £58m and EPS of 18.3p, up from £53m and 16.9p in 2012.
Solid organic growth was complemented by the acquisition in December of a 28.3 per cent stake in Indian exhibition organiser, ABEC. This was followed by the purchase of a 75 per cent stake in Malaysian exhibition organiser Trade-Link in January, and a 50 per cent stake in another Malaysian organiser ECMI last month, although neither of these made a contribution to first-half results.
Of the group's existing operations, sales of event space fell 12 per cent in Russia due to the absence of two biennial events, although on a like-for-like basis revenue actually rose 13 per cent. In Central Asia and the Caucasus, like-for-like volume grew by 3 per cent.
Group finances remain in good shape, with cash generated from operations up from £31.2m to £39.7m.
| ITE GROUP (ITE) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 298p | MARKET VALUE: | £742m | |
| TOUCH: | 297-299p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 305p | LOW: 173p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.2% | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 35p* | NET CASH: | £21.7m | |
| Half-year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 68.6 | 6.33 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| 2013 | 69.4 | 2.64 | 0.9 | 2.3 |
| % change | +1 | -58 | -57 | +10 |
Ex-div: 3 Jul Payment: 8 Aug *Includes intangible assets of £138m, or 55p a share | ||||
