Financial news and media group Euromoney (ERM) made a record underlying pre-tax profit of £116.5m this year, up 9 per cent and - despite splashing out on four acquisitions - it cut net debt to a 16-year low. It has plenty of fire-power for bigger purchases, too, and the first quarter is going well. However, financial institutions are still not using fatter profits to spend on advertising and a sharp increase during the fourth quarter looks to have been just a blip.
Less volatile subscription revenue grew 2 per cent to £206.3m, even without help from acquisitions, driven by emerging markets data and Institutional Investor's membership. It still represents over half of sales and management expect further growth here. The outlook for events, meanwhile, is seen as "reasonably robust", and event sponsorship sales rose 7 per cent in constant currency terms. That easily offset a dip in delegate revenue during the first half following the absence of some biennial events. Euromoney's training business has picked up, too, although high operational gearing meant that a slightly thinner top line generated a 23 per cent slump in adjusted operating profit to £5.4m. Still, the launch of a new content platform next year will drive more digital content and higher-margin new products.