A decent full-year performance from exhibitions group Tarsus although a 15 per cent rise in revenues across Europe was offset by struggles in the US, where turnover slumped 23 per cent to £11.7m.
But exciting emerging markets - including China, India and the Middle East - remain an ace up its sleeve and management believes could contribute half of the group's revenues by 2013 compared with a third now. Emerging market events include the blossoming Dubai Airshow, where income soared 19 per cent, and the Gulf Pack and Print exhibition, which showed a 26 per cent rise in revenue. Revenue can fluctuate because many exhibitions only happen once every two years.
Net debt was cut by a bigger than expected £3.3m to £30.7m, while 49 per cent of this year's revenue is already booked.
TARSUS (TRS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 120p | MARKET VALUE: | £82m | |
| TOUCH: | 118-122 | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 124p | 63p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 5% | PE RATIO: | 7 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 49p* | NET DEBT: | 87% | |
| Year to 31 December 2009 | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 23.2 | 5.51 | 9.00 | 3.25 |
| 2006 | 26.0 | 7.00 | 7.00 | 4.50 |
| 2007 | 46.0 | 12.0 | 11.9 | 5.00 |
| 2008 | 42.5 | 5.68 | 5.70 | 6.00 |
| 2009 | 57.5 | 6.80 | 6.30 | 6.00 |
| % change | +35 | +20 | +11 | - |
Ex-div: 26 May Payment: 05 Jul * Includes intangibles of £95m or 139p per share | ||||
More analysis of company results
Bolt-on acquisitions and joint ventures are likely to accelerate emerging market expansion. Meanwhile, prospects in the US are improving and managing director Douglas Emslie is not ruling out acquisitions there either. To that end, Tarsus has just sealed a £6.6m move to buy the 20 per cent it did not already own of US anti-aging and preventative-medicine exhibitions business MCII. The business targets the high-margin education and training markets.
KBC Peel Hunt analyst Malcolm Morgan is expecting pre-tax profit of £8.8m, implying an adjusted EPS of 9.7p, rising to 19.5p in 2011 (2009: £14.4m/17.2p)
